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Azerbaijan 2018 report

General Information
Executive Summary
Please summarize in max 3500 characters the main achievements and challenges in implementing the Convention and the outlook for the future. Please note this is not an introduction to the report or an annotated table of contents.

In Azerbaijan, implementation of the 2005 Convention draws its full support from Article 40 of the Constitution, which protects the "[...] the right to take part in cultural life, to use the services of organizations in the field of culture and values of culture". Under the reporting period and several years before, the country has mainstreamed the principles of the 2005 Convention in all its major legal and policy documents in the field of culture. Despite the challenges of the war that broke out in early 1990s and its aftermath, Azerbaijan has managed to effectively promote respect for the diversity of cultural expressions, placed active focus on development of specific policy areas (theatre, publishing, cinematography, etc.), efficiently involved and supported civil society entities and individual artists, as well as raised awareness of the value of contemporary cultural expressions at different levels. The country made active use of its cultural resources to foster multiculturalism at international level and has been an active advocate to promote culture as one of enablers of sustainable development. 

The Convention encouraged stakeholders to invest in diversification of cultural offer and cultural industries. Policy discussions on the implementation of the Convention resulted in emergence of strong state-led cultural organizations (e.g. Azerbaijan’s National Art Museum, Carpet Museum) and civil society-led organizations (e.g. Yarat, Arts Council) in terms of initiative-taking, partnerships, management and communication. In arts education, new actors evolved that are developing new approaches to fine arts and crafts while preserving passion for national and traditional sources of arts. 

The evaluations undertaken in the past 4 years in the field of diversity of cultural expressions showed the need to draw on these achievements to implement further actions in specific policy areas. These include reinforcing communication and marketing component of cultural and creative projects, further developing of general awareness about Azerbaijani young entrepreneurs and creators and their artistic products, supporting the link between business development and creativity, as well as multiplication of creative hubs. Partnerships need to be fostered between tourism and creative industries to strengthen and diversify souvenir production.

The occupation of Nagorno Karabakh and 7 adjacent regions of Azerbaijan by Armenia, breaking the principle of sovereignty under Article 2 of the 2005 Convention, continues to hinder the sovereign right of Azerbaijan “to adopt measures and policies to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions within its territory”, thus affecting the mobility of artists in these areas, as well as the displaced creators and artists who had to flee their cultural contexts and abandon their creative work to survive. Their creative works, as the case of many other artists in the country, have been and continue to be linked to their contexts and the local culture of the occupied territories. 

The Government has foreseen measures to take specific actions to respond to many of these challenges. These will be put into 4 year framework to be coordinated by the Ministry of Culture, which will include desk studies, consultancies, training seminars, inter-ministerial consultations and policy actions. Time will be set aside for monitoring and evaluation of the efficiency of these measures and actions. 

Technical Information
Party:
Azerbaiyán
Date of ratification:
15/2/2010
Organization(s) or entity(es) responsible for the preparation of the report:
  • Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan
Officially designated Point of Contact
Title:
Mr
First Name:
Vasif
Family Name:
Eyvazzade
Organization:
Head of Department of International cooperation and innovative development, Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan
Mailing Address:
84 Ü. Hacıbeyli Str. AZ1000, Baku, House of Government
Telephone:
(+99412) 493-43-98, 493-30-02
Fax:
E-mail:
r.abbakirov@mct.gov.az; ramil.abbakirov@yandex.ru
Name of stakeholders, including civil society organizations, involved in the preparation of the report:
Describe the multi-stakeholder consultation process established for the preparation of this report

This report has been the result of multi-stakeholder consultation process initiated by the Ministry of Culture, which involved government ministries, parliament commissions, relevant local authorities, civil society organizations, associations and individual artists that have contributed so far to the implementation of policies and programmes to promote diversity of cultural expressions at international, national and local levels. 

On 30 January 2018, the Ministry organized the 1st meeting of all the government stakeholders involved in the preparation of the report, as well as a number of civil society organisations and representatives of local authorities. As a result of this meeting a working group and a work plan for the report preparation were established. Two experts from the Ministry have been entrusted the task of undertaking a desk study on the status of implementation of policies/programmes/activities having direct link to the 2005 Convention, while ensuring wide range consultations. These experts were also in charge of preparing the relevant documents for the meetings of the working group. The experts undertook consultations in March-April 2018 with representatives of civil society organizations, such as Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Arts Council Azerbaijan, ASMART Creative Hub and coordinated the 2nd meeting of the working group on 26 April 2018. This meeting has also discussed the first draft version of the report using the online tool and focused especially on statistics and policy measures. Having taken into account and integrated the feedback of participants of the 2nd meeting, the draft report has been presented to the 3rd final meeting of the working group on 9 August 2018. The Ministry of Culture is currently drawing from the results of this process and the partnerships established to build synergies with mechanisms and activities under other international programmes (e.g. Creative Europe) directly related to the implementation of the 2005 Convention in Azerbaijan.

Overview of Cultural Policy Context
Parties shall describe the key objectives and priorities of their current cultural policy and the impact the Convention has had in their formulation or reformulation. They will also report on the opportunities and challenges to promote the diversity of cultural expressions in a digital environment.:

Since gaining its independence Azerbaijan has accumulated wide experience in developing policies in the field of culture. Numerous normative acts and policy frameworks have been adopted that shape the objectives and outline priorities of the country’s cultural policy. The revised ‘Law on Culture’ 2012 sets out the main principles of such policy - humanism, democratic approach, equality, integration, quality, continuity, secularism, protection of talented persons, balanced approach and efficiency. In 2014, Azerbaijan adopted ‘Concept of Culture’ that sets the main priorities in the field of culture: preservation of cultural heritage (tangible and intangible), development of professional arts (including music, fine arts and theatre), as well as development of cultural industries. These priorities will be implemented with the help of a set of methodology lines: improvement of legislative frameworks, use of contemporary methods of cultural management, diversification of financial resources, improvement of information technologies related to culture, development of education and human resources in the field of culture, development of infrastructure and international cooperation.

The 2005 Convention and its developments since the entry in force have had a direct and indirect impact on the development of policy in the field of culture. The direct impact of the Convention resulted from a number of external assistance partnerships, based on the methodologies and tools developed by UNESCO. These include, among others, the Culture for Development Indicators Programme for Azerbaijan and Creative Industries Report, implemented in Azerbaijan in 2017 under the umbrella of Culture and Creativity Program of the European Union, as well as through a twinning program funded by the European Union and the Italian Government. The indirect impact of the Convention, includes raising awareness of nationals stakeholders, local cultural institutions and producers about the importance to sustain and strengthen the diversity of contemporary cultural expressions in all their forms.

The Ministry of Culture has undertaken huge steps in digitalization of cultural goods and building capacities of cultural institutions to work and provide services in digital environment. 57.4% of cultural institutions have websites, 24.8% of institutions  use newsletters to communicate with their audiences and 13.4% produce digital catalogues of cultural goods. 40.5% of the institutions are present on at least one of the major socia media. Libraries, as well as other cultural institutions (Academy of Sciences, Institute of Manuscripts) have computerized most of their services and launched a massive digitization; designing new, value-added services based on digital features and data remains, however, a challenge. Online ticketing (currently only 6.6% of all concerned cultural institutions) is still to be further developed and is a part of the priority to improve cultural services. The new Culture Concept foresees a number of measures to improve these areas and the Ministry is commited to work on further linking all the subjects related to cultural management, which would allow to take advantage of all the potential of the digital environment, and greatly expand the range of cultural services to the public.

a) It is (or has been) the basis for changing one or more policies?:
Yes
How?

As mentioned in the previous section, the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression, its developments and provisions related to cultural policies for sustainable development have directly impacted policies in the field of culture in Azerbaijan. The direct impact of the Convention resulted from a number of external assistance partnerships, based on the methodologies and tools developed by UNESCO. The revised "Law on Culture" of 2012 and the "Culture Concept" of 2014 are clear examples of such impact policies in Azerbaijan. The new Law on Culture directly articulates that the national cultural policy is based on the principles of equal opportunities to create and use cultural values in Azerbaijan, as well as, in line with Article 40 of the Constitution on cultural rights, underlines the right of every person to create, use and disseminate cultural values, irrespective of her or his social and material status, nationality, race, religion and gender. Based on principles of equality, democracy, humanism, integration, balance, quality, efficiency and talent, the Culture Concept of 2014 in its turn puts emphasis on actions to support and enhance the development of creative activity, promotion of participation in cultural life, as well as promotes better balance between culture industries and market of cultural products and services.

A number of policy initiatives, such as the State Program "The theatre of Azerbaijan in 2009-2019" and "State Program on development of children's music, art and painting schools in the Republic of Azerbaijan 2014-2018" draw their approaches from the provisions of the 2005 Convention, especially in terms of respect of Principles 1, 3, 4 and 6 of the Guiding principles of Article 2, as well as provide opportunities to improve enabling environment for communities and social groups to benefit from education programmes and create, produce, disseminate, distribute and have access to cultural expressions in the field of theatre, music, arts and painting. 

b) It is (or has been) a tool to promote policy discussion?
Yes
How?

In Azerbaijan, the 2005 Convention has triggered policy discussions in a number of contexts. These include most importantly the integration of culture in the Development Concept "Azerbaijan 2020: Look into the Future", which constitutes the major development policy document currently under implementation. The culture-related pillar of the Concept puts the primary goal to achieve greater contribution of culture and cultural heritage to socio-economic development and make them a greater contributor to the non-oil  economy sector of the country. Moreover, the provisions of the 2005 Convention have been taken into account when re-designing the institutional infrastructure of the Ministry of Culture in 2015 and 2018, which now has a full dedicated Arts Department and focuses exclusively on contemporary cultural expressions.

The Government of Azerbaijan systematically involves artists, individual creators, non-governmental organizations, and civil society unions in policy discussions having direct impact on the areas of interest and involvement of these artists and organizations. 

The 2005 Convention has also inspired government stakeholder to initiate, support and reinforce the leadership of Azerbaijan in Baku Process and World Forum on Intercultural dialogue, thus also contributing to facilitating dialogue among parties on cultural policy, as well as to reinforcing partnerships with and among civil society, non-governmental organizations and the private sector in fostering and promoting the diversity of cultural expressions, as required by Article 12 of the Convention.

c) It is (or has been) a reference for ongoing policy development?
No
Policies and Measures
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
Name of the measure Alcance de la medida Nature
Tax exemptions for a category of cultural workers in Azerbaijan National legislative, regulatory, financial
State Program "The theatre of Azerbaijan in 2009-2019" National legislative, regulatory, financial
Adoption of the Law on Culture in 2012 National legislative, regulatory, financial, institutional
Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan National legislative, regulatory, financial, institutional
INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL COOPERATION
Name of the measure Alcance de la medida Nature
Establishment of Cultural Centres of Azerbaijan abroad International legislative, regulatory, financial
YOUTH
Name of the measure Alcance de la medida Nature
State Program on development of children's music, art and painting schools in the Republic of Azerbaijan 2014-2018 National regulatory, financial
❭ CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES

Tax exemptions for a category of cultural workers in Azerbaijan

Context of the measure: 
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

The measure, introduced in 2001, aims to stimulate artistic production by exempting artists from income and property taxes. This resulted in number of intra-governmental consultations, with participation of the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Taxes, together with the Parlimanent of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

According to Tax Code, exemptions and privileges are defined for income tax of physical persons (article 102), profit tax of legal persons (article 106), property tax (article 199) and tax on land (article 207). Article 102.1.12 of the code  foresees that income of physical persons from craft production of copper, tin and pottery products, house appliances, gardening instruments, national music instruments, toys, souvenirs, house appliances made of reeds and cane, involved in embroidery and production of house appliances from wood shall not be subject to income tax. Similarly, Article 199.2. of the same code establishes that buildings of art workshops or parts of buildings where such workshops are located that belong to natural persons involved in entrepreneurial activity without establishing the legal entity on craft production of copper, tin and pottery products, house appliances, gardening instruments, national music instruments, toys, souvenirs, house appliances made of reeds and cane, involved in embroidery and production of house appliances from wood shall not be subject to property tax. 

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The current measures has already brought a number of positive results, which is testified by increase of artists making use of the tax exemptions between 2001 and 2017, as well as more interest from young artists to get involved in production and cultural industries. The measure enabled its main beneficiaries and creators to sustain their living through artistic production, which was particularly important for young creators, and created an enabling environment for diversification of creative products. 

It is also important to note that the demand for artistic products has increased in the meantime, with the greater development of incoming tourism in parallel, especailly since 2014 with more tourists coming from Arab countries, but also Asia and Europe. Combined with increased opportunities the crafts market started to offer locally, this measure proved to be crucial in satisfying the demand for cultural goods and services and resulted in income increase for local and national economy.

The local departments of Ministry of Taxes and Ministry of Culture have played huge role in the implementation of the measure by raising awareness of local artists and providing regular monitorying of its efficiency. The measure proved to be most efficient in the regions and cities with large concentration of craftsmen and artists falling under the beneficiary category of the measure, such as Baku, Ganja, Sheki, Lahij and Ismayilli.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Taxes
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

25 000 AZN, coming from the state budget. The measure did not involve huges costs, since the decisions was purely regulatory.

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
No
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
No
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES

State Program "The theatre of Azerbaijan in 2009-2019"

Context of the measure: 
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

This State Program outlines the development prospects of Azerbaijani theatre and theatre artists and aims to sustain and multiply the rich artistic creativity of Azerbaijani theatre artists, to encourage artistic exchanges and mobility of theatre artists nationally and internationally, as well as to ensure the effective use of information and financial resources, enrich theatres' artistic repertoire. More concretely the Program has the following objectives: 1) developing a new more comprehensive and results-based theatre policy and optimization of theater management process, undertaking a theatre reform; 2) development of theatre creativity in Azerbaijan by ensuring the preservation of universal and national cultural values ​​and promotion theatre-related creative exhanges; 3) supporting young artists in all the theatre genres and professions; 4) improvement of theatre training and professional development system of theatre artists, while conducting and promoting joint initiatives and projects in the field of theatre creativity with other countries; 5) renovation of the theatre premises, bringing them to contemporary standards and strengthening their facilities to support creativity of artists; 6) undertaking measures to improve substantially information and communication technologies in the field of theatre creativity; 7) promoting theatre culture locally, nationally and internationally.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

The measure has been making an attempt to provide a large approach to sustain and promote theatre creativity and widen the creative opportunities of the artists. It includes organization of publishing and advertising products, decor and costume-making, as well as the creation of a Theatre Training Centre, which is supposed to supplement university studies in the field of theatre creativity and wider the range of arts education possibilities in this field. The measure also allowed for creation of studios in State Russian Drama Theatre, State Puppet Theatre, Nakhchivan State Musical Drama Theatre, Ganja State Drama Theatre, Lankaran State Drama Theatre, as well as Sheki State Drama Theatre.

In terms of mobility of artists in the field of theatre education, the measure foresees concluding partnership agreements and contracts with education institutions abroad to support exchange and internships opportunities in the field of theatre. With this particular measure, the state wishes to enlarge possible employment opportunities for theatre artists and develop diverse learning experiences for young artists. 

The measure has also been strong in reinforcing the visibility of theatre creativity among the general public in Azerbaijan by multiplying and supporting the creation of visiblity and awareness raising products, as well as digital platforms for knowledge and creativity exchange. In the field of puppet theatre creativity, it also foresees holding regularly a Puppet Theatre Week with the participation of UNIMA (International Puppet Theaters Association).

Finally, the measure included taking necessary steps to carry out repair and restoration works in Baku, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and other regions, as well as in the premises of state theatres operating in the areas of refugee and displaced persons (as a result of occupation by Armenia of the Nagorno Karabakh Region and 7 adjacent regions). 

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The expected results of the measure are following: 1) national theater art preserved, developed and enhanced. 2) enabling environment for artistic performances created;
3) normative-legal bases in the field of theater creativity improved; 4) the material-technical base of theater institutions strengthened; 5) conditions created for the theater network to meet the modern requirements and meet the theater needs of local communities; 6) more young, talented and professional artists involved in the theater creativity; 7) interregional, international and international cultural relations in the field of theater stregthened; 8) opportunities to represent and promote Azerbaijan's theater creativity worldwide created.

 

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture and Tourism
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

The measures envisaged by the State Program are funded from the state budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including funds provided for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the state budget, as well as other sources in conformity with the legisilation of the country.

g. Name of NGOs and/or private companies engaged in the implementation of the measure, if any: 
Name: 
Union of Theatre Artists of Azerbaijan
Type of Entity: 
NGO
h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
Yes
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES

Adoption of the Law on Culture in 2012

Context of the measure: 
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

Adopted and signed by the President in Azerbaijan in 2012, this law replaced the old “Law on culture” of 1998. The Law on culture has been a result of large-scale consultation process undertaken by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan from January 2010 to September 2012, which involved consultation meetings with government stakeholders, Members of the Milli Mejlis Parliament and especially the Culture Committee, as well as non-governmental organizations, individual creators, universities, experts, researchers and academics. The law has made an ambitious attempt to address the whole diversity of issues related to protection, promotion and safeguarding culture and heritage in the whole diversity of issues that need to be considered at larger policy level in Azerbaijan. The Law made it clear that the national cultural policy is based on the principles of equal opportunities to create and use cultural values and to preserve the heritage (both tangible and intangible) in Azerbaijan. This cultural policy aims to give the right to every person to create, use and disseminate cultural values, irrespective of her or his social and material status, nationality, race, religion and gender. The Law aimed to guarantee freedom of intellectual and creative expression and to provide a legal basis for the development of national culture as a constituent part of world culture. The law also put an ambitious objective to create enabling environment to support development of cultural industries through investments in these area. This means that the government aims to explore opportunities to reduce barriers to investments in creative industries, such as architecture, arts, crafts, design, fashion, film making, music, performing arts and publishing, as well as to use any opportunity to attract internal and external investments in the development of these areas. The Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Culture Committee of the Parliament undertake regular monitoring of the implementation of the Law.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
institutional
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

The Law defines culture as a set of features that determine the material, moral, intellectual and emotional specificities of society or social groups, embrace people’s way of life, criteria of their cohabitation, as well as the system of moral values, including literature and art.

Compared to the previous law, the new law included 26 new concepts that were put forward into line with the requirements and principles of international conventions, including the 2005 Convention. The law focuses especially on ‘creative persons’ and outlines the ways of state support to them. Creative persons, who have special services in the development, promotion and promotion of culture are awarded with honorary titles, scholarships and prizes by the relevant executive authority. The relevant executive authorities are supposed to keep databases of biography, professional and creative activities of cultural workers, creative persons and creative groups, who are involved in the development of culture.

Under its Article 9, the law for the first time introduced the term “freedom of creativity”, which reconfirms that any person has the right to engage in any creative activity on the basis of professional and amateur creativity in accordance with his / her interests and abilities. The results of creativity of individuals are protected by the laws of the country on copyright and related rights. Creative individuals have the right to sell, present and transfer to the foreign countries the results of their creativity.

The Law under its Article 14 emphasizes that the state guarantees the right of use of cultural institutions and cultural resources in Azerbaijan. It therefore is entitled to undertake investment projects to support development of cultural industries and create enabling environment for such investments.

The law also reflected the issues of state monitoring in the field of culture, material and social security of creative individuals.

The text of the law is available in Azerbaijani using the following link: https://www.president.az/articles/7392

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The law provided a multi-dimensional and encompassing policy framework for the field of culture with the focus on heritage (tangible and intangible), artistic expressions, as well as cultural industries. It determined the whole variety of roles that were attributed to different actors involved in the field of culture, such as government agencies and primarily the Ministry of Culture on one side, and creative individuals, private companies, entrepreneurs, investors and non-governmental organizations on the other. The most important expected results of the Law were improving legislative basis for the field of culture, ensuring efficient management in the field of culture, creating favourable environment for development of culture in all its spheres, strengthening conditions for developing partnerships, as well as enhancing legal protection of intellectual property rights of creators.  

Since the adoption of the law, a numerous consultations have been provided by the Government in the capital city Baku and different regions of the country, such as in Siyazan, Ujar, Khizi, and Samukh regions in 2014. These consultations enabled to ensure better understanding of the provisions of the law by various stakeholders, but also allowed for development of new partnerships and networking at local level. In 2015, a working group was sent to Dashkesen, Gadabay and Goranboy regions to conduct further trainings on the implementation of the Law by regional departments of culture and tourism. Regular meetings are undertaken by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Culture Committee of the Parliament for monitoring of the implementation of the Law.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

145 000 USD per year

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
Yes
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES

Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Context of the measure: 
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

Adopted by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 14 February 2014, the “Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan” has been developed to streamline with European cultural policy principles and aims to ensure the development of Azerbaijani culture, enhancement of cultural policies, strengthening its resilience against internal and external threats, ensuring the successful integration into the world culture, protection of human and civil rights and freedoms in the field of culture.

The Culture Concept attempts to develop the mechanisms of guaranteeing development of all aspects of culture, including cultural policies, such as governance, legal, financial, information, human resources, material and technical infrastructure and international cooperation, high level of cultural awareness and reform of cultural heritage management mechanisms. The main policy objectives comprise the adjustment of culture policy mechanisms to actual requirements and reality of this area: 1) protection of cultural heritage, 2) support and development of creative activity with the focus on the integrity of the people, 3) promotion of identity and diversity, and participation in cultural life. Cultural policy objectives of the Concept are implemented using the following mechanisms: 1) development of legal guarantees, 2) implementation of modern methods in culture and arts administration, 3) diversification of financing sources, 4) enhancement of information provision, 5) human resources development, 6) modernization of the material and technical bases, and 6) development of international cooperation.

The Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan thus aimed to propose a new functional management model for the field of culture. The Concept created a road map and an administrative reform plan, which later shaped and continues to shape the enabling environment for its implementation.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
institutional
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

The Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan made an attempt to present a holistic and encompassing approach to culture and cultural policies, based on current priorities and past experiences in implementing culture, heritage and creativity-related policies. It formulated a number of key cultural policy principles in Azerbaijan, such as equality, democracy, humanism, integration, balance, quality, efficiency, as well as talent factor.

It dedicates a whole chapter (4) to the so-called “Development of the professional art”, which includes the development of professional theatre art, music art, as well as fine and decorative-applied arts.

Chapter 5 presents the vision of the development of cultural industries. It states that cultural industries, as an area of ​​activity that allows for production and realization of cultural products and services, is one of the key fields of cultural policies in Azerbaijan. One of the aims of cultural policies is to ensure the balance between culture industries and market of cultural products and services. The Chapter therefore states that the development of future oriented cultural industries, such areas as cinematography and publishing, drawing and based on historical traditions, is and will continue to be one of the promising directions of the state cultural policy.

The Concept is implemented through state programs on cultural activities, which are presented for the endorsement by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The implementation of the Concept implies the involvement of local authorities, cultural institutions and civil society organizations in this process along with the activities of state bodies in this area, as well as foreign and local investors. The Concept is implemented through state budget allocations, as well as via alternative financing mechanisms. The Concept is coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The full text of the Culture Concept is available in Azerbaijani at the following address: http://www.e-qanun.az/framework/27056

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The Culture Concept was conceived to establish a wide and encompassing cultural policy framework, through which all the legal, institutional and financial efforts in the field of culture could be further channeled at local and national levels. Since its adoption in 2014, the Concept resulted in greater awareness of different stakeholders working in the field of culture of the integrity and multidimensional nature of culture, creativity and cultural industries, as well as enabled to bring the provisions of the 2005 Convention to the context of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It further put upfront the particular attention of the Government to a number of areas of cultural industries where further support was needed to enable their contribution to creative economy, such as film making and distribution as well as publishing.

It also reiterated again the difficulties the culture sector in Azerbaijan has been facing in the context of the occupation by Armenia of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, as a result of which creators, artists, cultural workers and communities still do not have access to cultural institutions, including 927 libraries, 807 cultural palaces, club and culture houses, 85 music and painting schools, 22 museums and museums’ branch offices, 4 art galleries, 13 monuments of international significance, 242 monuments of national significance, as well as 434 historical and cultural monuments of local significance. A large number of artists coming from refugee communities who had to leave their homes because of the Armenian occupation now continue to associate and reflect in their creative works their homeland. The Culture Concept in that sense provided political recognition of the specific needs of the artists and creators coming from among refugees, while ensuring policy priority to this specific group of creators.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture and Tourism
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

36 000 USD per year

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
Yes
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
Yes
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL COOPERATION

Establishment of Cultural Centres of Azerbaijan abroad

Context of the measure: 
INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL COOPERATION
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

The Cultural Centres of Azerbaijan have been legally established in 2010 by the relevant decrees of the President and following months of joint work between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The overall objective of such centres is to support bilateral and multilateral foreign cultural policy of Azerbaijan, as well as to promote the culture and language of Azerbaijan in hosting countries and create the atmosphere of mutual understanding and cooperation among the peoples of Azerbaijan and the hosting states. Such centres have been created so far within the embassies of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Paris (France) and Vienna (Austria).

The specific objectives of the Azerbaijani Cultural Centres are the following: 1) to raise awareness of the general public of the hosting state about the internal and external policy, culture, history, social, economic development, scientific and technical and tourism potential of the Republic of Azerbaijan; 2) to provide access to books, newspapers, magazines and multimedia, as well as cultural, scientific and technical documents of Azerbaijan to the general public of the hosting country; 3) to initiative and reinforce teaching and promotion of the Azerbaijani language in the hosting state; 4) to participate in establishing and maintaining contacts with the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan studying in the hosting state, as well as with students and graduates of the hosting state studying in the Republic of Azerbaijan; and finally 5) to establish relationships with the Azerbaijanis living in the hosting state and strengthen, within the limits of its authority, the development of bilateral cooperation.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
International
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

The centres perform the following functions within their competencies: 1) holding conferences, colloquiums, meetings, performances, concerts, presentations, exhibitions and other events on domestic and foreign policy, culture, history, social, economic development, scientific and technical and tourism potential of Azerbaijan; 2) promoting the establishment and development of relations and co-operation between Azerbaijan and the institutions of the hosting state working in the field of culture and tourism, science, education, as well as non-governmental organizations (public associations and foundations); 3) participation in the development and implementation of cooperation programs in the field of culture, science, education, tourism, information and  communication; 4) carrying out exchange of information and promotional materials in the fields of culture, science, education and tourism; 5) organizing presentation and promotion of films and audiovisual documents; 6) creating conditions for establishment of clubs and associations of citizens of Azerbaijan studying in the hosting state, as well as clubs and associations of students and graduates of the hosting state studying in Azerbaijan; 7) creating conditions for teaching of the Azerbaijani language at higher educational institutions of the hosting state, as well as in the Cultural Centres themselves; and 8) promoting the establishment and development of friendly and fraternal relations between the cities and regions of Azerbaijan and the hosting country.

According to the established guidelines the centres have the rights to initiative and develop cultural cooperation, through: 1) establishing and maintaining relations with the official or non-formal cultural and tourist organizations of the hosting state and media; 2) establishing and collaborating with the cultural centers of the third countries; 3) holding conferences, colloquiums, meetings, performances, concerts, presentations, exhibitions on Azerbaijan's culture, history, social, economic development, scientific and technical and tourism potential.

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

Though the implementation of the measure is unbalanced due different contexts of functioning of cultural centres, it has already proved to be a valuable source of promoting the knowledge about culture and creativity of Azerbaijan. If the number of tourism arrivals from the countries hosting the cultural centres tripled since 2010 and totaled 27500 arrivals from France, Uzbekistan and Austria in 2016.

The measure is further expected to continue developing the implementation of cooperation programs in the field of culture, science, education, tourism, information and communication, as well as carry out exchange of information and promotional materials in these fields. The Cultural centres now host and lead language courses offering Azerbaijani language teaching to local audience, both diaspora and foreigners.

Apart from the results achieved so far, the Cultural centres are expected to further contribute to exchanges among Azerbaijani and host countries’ artists, policy-makers and cultural workers that can potentially enhance and reinforce intercultural links, investments in field of culture, further boost tourism and promote respect for cultural diversity.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

350 000 USD per year

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
No
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ YOUTH

State Program on development of children's music, art and painting schools in the Republic of Azerbaijan 2014-2018

Context of the measure: 
YOUTH
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

The State Program aims to take stock of the past developments in the field of arts educations in Azerbaijan and implement measures, activities and actions that would aim to fulfil the specific current needs of music, art and painting schools in the country by building capacities and enhancing schools infrastructure to support young talents and develop opportunities of interested young people to engage in creativity.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
regulatory
financial
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

Being institutionally framed under the Ministry of Culture, the public children's music, art and painting schools in Azerbaijan operate with 5-7 years system. At present, 237 children's music, arts and painting schools function in the country. Of these institutions, 70 are located in rural areas. Currently, more than 80,000 students attend these educational institutions and over 16,000 music, arts and painting teachers are engaged in their education.

At the same time, taking into account the growing demand of young people willing to engage into creativity in recent years, several children's music schools with great pedagogical experience and relevant facilities and technical base have been transformed into eleven-year education institutions. Nowadays, 16 music and art schools (15 schools in Baku, 1 school in Mingachevir) operate based on 11-year education system.

The State Program is composed of a number of components, which include improvement of material-technical basis for the functioning of the children's schools, renovation of schools premises and buildings, identification and fulfillment of pedagogical needs of the schools, in terms of adequate availability of teachers and teaching materials, including specific equipment, such as musical instruments and relevant equipment and facilities.

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
No
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The Program has already proved its efficiency. In 2015-2017, during the implementation of the Program, more young people studying in the schools under this Program have managed to take first places in various national and international competitions and festivals. Artistic products from Azerbaijan created by young artists have become an integral part of arts world. Children’s schools are now well equipped to boosts children's interest in music, art, painting and support their talent. As results of Program, several schools have been completely renovated, including eleven children's music school No. 26 named after M.Magomayev. A new building was constructed for the Children's Music School No. 9 named after Garyagdioglu and the schools is now completely operational. At present, major repairs and reconstruction works are being carried out in some children's music and art schools, construction of new school buildings is underway.  The musical schools have received more than 60 musical instruments. Every new academic year the schools are provided with musical instruments, solid equipment, books, song books, as well as other types of equipment. A monitoring activity has been foreseen at the end of the program to analyze its efficiency in terms achieved results in 2019.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

75 500 USD

g. Name of NGOs and/or private companies engaged in the implementation of the measure, if any: 
Type of Involvement: 

75 500 USD

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
Yes
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
Civil Society
Parties
Have you taken initiatives involving civil society in activities to:
Promote the objectives of the convention through awareness raising and other activities:
Yes
Please explain how:

On 26 August 2014, guidelines on State Funding for Non-Governmental Organizations were approved by Decision No. 292 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan, which include criteria for funding of projects and activities from NGOs. In the framework of implementation of this policy, the Ministry of Culture has for several years undertaken yearly open calls to provide funding to the organizations working in the field of culture and creativity. To give an example, in 2017, out of the total 56 projects approved by the Government overall, seven directly focused on arts, culture and creativity. 

To promote the objectives of the 2005 Convention, expand cooperation and effectiveness of partnerships with such organizations, the Ministry of Culture regularly holds provincial consultations on the 'role of non-governmental organizations in the sustainable development of culture'. During the consultations, ministry representatives discuss with representatives of NGOs the potential of civil society organizations in promoting culture, different types of support that can be provided by the Ministry to specialized NGOs dealing with cultural issues, joint reflections on areas of common interest, priorities of funding and subjects for grant calls that may be announced by the Ministry of Culture in the future, establishing regional coordination teams to ensure better cooperation of activities among civil society organizations and local and national government agencies, increasing the participation and involvement of young people in the work of NGOs, current issues related to legislation in the field of culture, establishment and maintaining cooperation with the provincial departments of culture of the Ministry and many others.  At the same time, representatives of NGOs get to know local cultural facilities and opportunities to implement activities. The consultations also dedicate time to discuss activities related to arts and creativity in formal and non-formal education and training, as well as issues related to promotion of Azerbaijani culture abroad. 

Collect data and share and exchange information on measures adopted at local and international level
Yes
Please explain how:

The Minister of Culture regularly undertakes visits to cities and provincial centres of Azerbaijan to receive civil society representatives. During these meetings, the Minister himself and his staff share recent policy and institutional developments in terms of promotion of cultural expressions and creativity.

The country has taken a lead in the study and promotion of the good practices of multiculturalism and tolerance by regularly hosting in Baku World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, a bi-annual convention which gathers several hundreds of participants, civil society actors from all continents representing governments, academia, social innovators and cultural activists. The Baku International Centre for Multiculturalism (established by the President of Azerbaijan) ensures adequate representation of the cultural rights of minorities in Azerbaijan.

Representatives of the creative unions (Composers' Union, Writers' Union, Theatre workers' Union, Artists' Union etc.)  are regularly involved in the ad hoc committees called up by Presidential Decrees, as well as in large-scale activities and long-term projects launched by the Ministry of Culture. Discussions are being carried out on the possible establishment of permanent committees, with regular meetings to further develop cooperation and partnership between governmental bodies and civil society.

Every year, the State Statistics Committee collects data on social economic activities related to culture and creative industries, as well as arts education and media and disseminates the data through its website www.stat.gov.az. These data are the only statistics existing in the field of culture and are widely used by non-governmental organizations.

Azerbaijan through its embassies and permanent delegations at various international organizations around the world continuously supports requests and submissions from civil society organizations working the field of crafts, creativity and creative industries that seek for international accreditation, funding or partnerships.

Provide spaces where ideas of civil societies can be heard and discussed while developing policies:
Yes
Please explain how:

In terms of communities of artists, creators, ethnic minorities and independent professional cultural experts (affiliated or not with any kind of organization or association), Azerbaijan has demonstrated a high level of engagement of non-governmental actors into the discussion and formulation of strategic documents and high-profile events and programmes. The Government of Azerbaijan systematically involves artists, individual creators, non-governmental organizations, and civil society unions in consultation process when developing policies in the field of culture and creative industries. This has been the case when elaborating the Law on Culture of 2012 and Culture Concept of Azerbaijan of 2014, where such organizations have been consulted in developing specific policy areas of their competence and interest. These opportunities enabled to share ideas and provided spaces for closer cooperation between state and civil society actors. Such organizations and centers of creativity as Yarat Contemporary Art Space, ASMART Creative Hub, Azerbaijan Arts Council, Icherisheher Centre for Traditional Arts, as well as Composers' Union, Writers' Union, Theatre workers' Union, Artists' Union are among the most active civil society organizations contributing to policy development in the field of culture and creative economy. 

Implement Operational Guidelines
No
Other
No
Is Civil Society contributing to this report?
Yes
Civil Society
Has the civil society taken initiatives to:
Promote the principle and the objectives of the Convention locally and internationally:
Yes
Please explain how:

Civil society organizations have actively participated in the research undertaken by the Ministry of Culture to explore the ways in which their have participated in the implementation of the 2005 Convention. The information below contains an example from the entire scope of information collected.  

Yarat Contemporary Art Space (www.yarat.az) is an excellent example of promotion of the principles of the 2005 Convention locally and internationally. It is non-profit organisation dedicated to nurturing an understanding of contemporary art in Azerbaijan and to creating a platform for Azerbaijani art, both nationally and internationally. Based in Baku, YARAT (meaning CREATE in Azerbaijani) was founded by Aida Mahmudova in 2011. YARAT realises its mission through an on-going program of exhibitions, education events and festivals. YARAT facilitates exchange between local and international artistic networks including foundations, galleries and museums. A series of reciprocal residencies further fosters opportunities for global cultural dialogue and partnership. Educational initiatives include lectures, seminars, master classes, and the Young Artist Project ARTIM (meaning PROGRESS in Azerbaijani). ARTIM aims to encourage the next generation of Azerbaijani creative talent to seek a career in the arts, and gives young practitioners the opportunity to exhibit their works in a professional context. Founded as part of YARAT’s on-going commitment to growing local art infrastructure in 2012, YAY Gallery (meaning SHARE in Azerbaijani) supports both national and international artists. YAY is a social enterprise, so all proceeds from sales are shared between the artist and YARAT. Since its inception in 2011, YARAT has produced over 70 events, both in Azerbaijan and abroad. These include participation in biennales; two public art festivals; education courses for artists, art students and children; lectures, screenings and film festivals for the general public; and exhibitions of both Azerbaijani and international artists.

Promote ratification of the Convention and its implementation by governements:
No
Bring the concerns of citizens, associations and enterprises to public authorities, including vulnerable groups:
Yes
Please explain how:

Numerous organizations have brought concerns of citizens and associations working in the field of creativity and cultural industries to public authorities.

ASMART Creative Hub is a private civil society initiative created by group of experts specializing in culture and art development. Main goal is to provide a creative space for young artists, designers, specialists in art and for people who have a passion for arts. The hub organizes long and short-term courses, workshops, performances and screenings, debates, exhibitions, as well as makes available free co-working spaces for artists.

Sheki Disabled People Care Association. Since 2002, the association has made efforts to raise funds to support crafts and artists with disabilities in one of Azerbaijani cities  - Sheki, which has been famous for crafts for centuries. The Association established a mechanism of full remuneration of disabled artists by selling the products and results of their artistic work.

Contribute to the achievement of greater transparency and accountability and accountability in the cultural governance:
No
Monitor policy and programme implementation on measures to protect and promote diversity of cultural expression:
No
Build capacities in domains linked to the Convention and carrying out data collection:
Yes
Please explain how:

Numerous civil society organizations across the country have been taking actions to apply for grants and establish partnerships for building capacities in the fields directly related to contemporary cultural expressions, creative and cultural industries. One example below illustrates this trend. 

The Icherisheher Centre for Traditional Arts is a laboratory for young people to develop new approaches to fine arts and crafts while preserving passion for national and traditional sources of arts. It cooperates closely with English partners through the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts in London. The aim of the center is to teach arts through training delivered to artists and designers who want to get inspired from traditional arts to create new artistic forms, while maintaining the unity between ancient principles and contemporary criteria. After the establishment of the Centre in 2012, a call has been disseminated to young creators and artists to participate in the activities of the Centre. Two rounds of selection have been carried out and the most successful artists have been interviewed by the representatives of The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts and Administration of “Icherisheher” State Reserve. The 20 young craftsmen finally selected by the Centre received a chance to study further in such creativity areas as ceramics, textiles, jewelry design, and the decorative arts. For several years, the Centre trained several generations of artists within the framework of the partnership with the School of Traditional Arts. The graduates are expected to continue and pass these skills on both to wider community and to the next generation of artists. The Center will become a design house which produces work inspired by the rich cultural heritage of Azerbaijan.

Create innovative partnerships with the public and private sectors and with civil society of other regions of the worlds:
Yes
Please explain how:

Baku Business Factory (www.bbf.az). Established in 2015, it supports youth business initiatives, which also include business projects and start-ups in creativity. Young people can realize their ideas in various business fields by accessing an office, mentor's assistance and financial support as well as take part in professional trainings. to give an example, the start-up initiative by "BUTA Art & Sweets" positions itself as the first social business project in Azerbaijan, dedicated to homemade sweets and creative works, prepared by women with special needs. Main mission of this platform is to contribute to addressing the unemployment problem of women with special needs by giving them opportunities to have an income from each sales and feel themselves useful for the society.  Another initiative supported by BBF, Esmaye Handmade works specifically on crafts inspired very often by traditional culture. 

 

Azerbaijan Arts Council. Independent platform to promote artists mobility, created in Baku in 2006. Today there is an extensive network of Arts Councils united by the idea of art development and cooperation. The essence of the Arts Council work is to provide support foreign artists to exhibit or perform in collaboration with peer councils abroad, i.e. provide artists with accommodation, gallery to exhibit their works, PR and information support to their works. As a result of the work of the Council, Azerbaijani audience got acquainted with the works of Ukrainian artists, who in their turn created artworks based on their impressions from Azerbaijan. The Council also regularly sends Azerbaijani artists to Ukraine and other countries where artists benefit from support of local civil society partner. As a consequence of such inter-cultural exchange opportunities of artists to promote art of their countries abroad are expanded. The network of the Arts Councils now includes partner institutions in Baltic states – Latvia and Lithuania.

Achievements and Challenges
Describe main results achieved in implementing the Convention:

During the reporting period, Azerbaijan has mainstreamed the principles of the 2005 Convention in all its major legal and policy documents in the field of culture, promoted respect for the diversity of cultural expressions and raised awareness about its value at different levels, as well as fostered multiculturalism at international level to promote culture as one of enablers of sustainable development (see policy measures). 

The Convention motivated many stakeholders at the national level to invest in diversification of cultural offer and cultural industries. It resulted in greater engagement and visibility regarding specific areas, such as theatre, publishing, arts education, cinema and film making, as well as artistic design and fashion, with numerous actors, artists, civil society organizations and entrepreneurs involved. The international promotion of Azerbaijan cinema was included in relevant State programme and greater attention is now given to promote co-productions, notably with neighboring countries, with new generation of Azerbaijani film directors now well connected and recognized in international scene. In terms of artistic design and fashion, Azerbaijan has now the potential to become a platform for designers in the region with Azerbaijan Fashion Week becoming well-known and bringing together Azerbaijani and foreign designers, who showcase productions, bringing international public, business retailers and press. Policy discussions on the implementation of the 2005 Convention resulted in emergence of strong cultural organizations in terms of initiative-taking, management and communication, such as Azerbaijan’s National Art Museum and Carpet Museum. Baku Jazz Festival has become a hot spot for jazz for both professionals and audiences, connecting jazz with other art forms and attracting many foreigners. In terms of arts education, new actors evolved (such as "Icherisheher Centre for Traditional Arts") that are developing new approaches to fine arts and crafts while preserving passion for national and traditional sources of arts.

Challenges encountered or foreseen to implement the Convention :

Despite the measures undertaken, a number of challenges persist in the implementation of the 2005 Convention. There is a need to reinforce communication and marketing component of cultural and creative projects and raise general awareness regarding Azerbaijani young entrepreneurs and creators and their artistic products. Entrepreneurs invest a lot of effort into product development and more effort is needed to support them in reaching to wider audiences. More attention is needed to link business development and creativity, as the offer of creative hubs linking arts and creativity and business continues to be limited. 

More partnerships need to be created between tourism and creative industries to strengthen and diversity souvenir production, which becomes highly relevant with the yearly increase of tourist arrivals to the country. Crafts sector of Azerbaijani creative economy needs further support of all the involved stakeholders, especially the carpet industry which needs support in terms of quality education despite Carpet specific education at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Baku.

Another challenge in implementation of the Convention is the reach of relevant policies to the territories occupied by the Republic of Armenia – Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, despite the huge efforts undertaken by the Government and civil society organizations to involve refugee communities into creative and cultural industries, provide employment in arts, as well as encourage young people’s participation in formal and non-formal arts education.

Further efforts are also needed to translate current policy to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the economy and the references to cultural and creative industries in culture and tourism policy documents into a structured joint policy to develop an overall favorable multi-sector framework. A national framework to promote the creative economy development needs to be brought together and considered. Moreover, more actions are needed to articulate clearer roadmaps of implementation of policy instruments.

Solutions found or envisaged to overcome those challenges:

The Government has foreseen measures to take step by step specific actions to respond to the main challenges identified above thus ensuring more effective implementation of the provisions of the 2005 Convention, relevant national policies and development plans. These actions include taking stock of the evaluations and assessments done by a number of external partners, especially the UNESCO Culture for Development Indicators framework undertook by EU Culture and Creativity Programme as well as the recent report by EU on "Developing Cultural and Creative Industries". For reinforcing communication and marketing component of cultural and creative projects and products, steps will be taken to support skills of young entrepreneurs and artists, personalization of offering, web and social media skills, as well as to explore ways to provide simple frameworks for artists to reach out to various audiences. More focus will be put on developing business competencies of the artists, to offer them opportunity to apply business model to creative projects and activities thus enabling artists to sustain their living on their talent. 

The Government further plans to enhance its support to the creativity of artists-refugees and internally displaced people many of whom link their creative products (arts, painting, music etc.) with the territories and the cultural context they were forced to leave as a result of the Armenian occupation. Government support will further include enhancing opportunities in arts education for young artists from among refugees and displaced persons. 

In terms of developing an overall favorable multi-sector framework in the field of policies to promote innovation and entrepreneurship and mainstream culture and creative industries in culture and tourism policies, the Government foresees actions to improve reforms in education and training systems, undertaking a shift to a streamlined funding system, investments in promotion and internationalization, and further development of media. The multitude of policy areas involved will need to foresee an inter-

Steps planned for the next 4 years:

The actions to respond to the challenges identified during the implementation of the 2005 Convention in Azerbaijan, as outlined above, will be put into framework to be coordinated by the Ministry of Culture within the four year period. The first stage will include a number of inter-ministerial consultations with the involvement of the sectors concerned. This will be followed by the stage of desk studies, consultancies, awareness-raising training seminars on specific topics covering specificities of the identified challenges. Trainings will be made available to stakeholders and their representatives involved in different aspects of creativity and creative industries, such as communication, entrepreneurship, marketing and business development. Civil society organizations, such as Yarat!, Icherisheher Centre for Traditional Arts, Sabah, Azerbaijan arts council, producers, individual artists and many others will be actively involved in these actions. Finally, time will be set aside for monitoring and evaluation of the efficiency off these measures and actions. The Government will strengthen the dialogue between policy makers, civil society and other national and local agencies, thus ensuring that sustainable actions are implemented once the project is completed. The analysis of lessons learned from the project will serve to evaluate the results and foresee pertinent actions in the future. The results will be reported on during the next cycle report him of the country on the implementation of the 2005 Convention.

Discussions will be continued between the Government and the EU in view of Azerbaijan’s membership of the Creative Europe Programme, which is expected to bring local artists to wider European cooperation and potentially gives access to new (co-)funding opportunities and enable to diversify partnerships or artists. Further efforts will be taken to reinforce external policy for creativity of Azerbaijani artists, thus promoting export of artistic products, attracting investments and opening up new markets for tourism.

Name of the designated official signing the report
Title:
Mr
Family Name:
Karimov
Nombre:
Anar
Position:
Ambassador, Permanent Delegate
Organization:
Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan to UNESCO
❭ CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES

Tax exemptions for a category of cultural workers in Azerbaijan

Context of the measure: 
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

The measure, introduced in 2001, aims to stimulate artistic production by exempting artists from income and property taxes. This resulted in number of intra-governmental consultations, with participation of the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Taxes, together with the Parlimanent of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

According to Tax Code, exemptions and privileges are defined for income tax of physical persons (article 102), profit tax of legal persons (article 106), property tax (article 199) and tax on land (article 207). Article 102.1.12 of the code  foresees that income of physical persons from craft production of copper, tin and pottery products, house appliances, gardening instruments, national music instruments, toys, souvenirs, house appliances made of reeds and cane, involved in embroidery and production of house appliances from wood shall not be subject to income tax. Similarly, Article 199.2. of the same code establishes that buildings of art workshops or parts of buildings where such workshops are located that belong to natural persons involved in entrepreneurial activity without establishing the legal entity on craft production of copper, tin and pottery products, house appliances, gardening instruments, national music instruments, toys, souvenirs, house appliances made of reeds and cane, involved in embroidery and production of house appliances from wood shall not be subject to property tax. 

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The current measures has already brought a number of positive results, which is testified by increase of artists making use of the tax exemptions between 2001 and 2017, as well as more interest from young artists to get involved in production and cultural industries. The measure enabled its main beneficiaries and creators to sustain their living through artistic production, which was particularly important for young creators, and created an enabling environment for diversification of creative products. 

It is also important to note that the demand for artistic products has increased in the meantime, with the greater development of incoming tourism in parallel, especailly since 2014 with more tourists coming from Arab countries, but also Asia and Europe. Combined with increased opportunities the crafts market started to offer locally, this measure proved to be crucial in satisfying the demand for cultural goods and services and resulted in income increase for local and national economy.

The local departments of Ministry of Taxes and Ministry of Culture have played huge role in the implementation of the measure by raising awareness of local artists and providing regular monitorying of its efficiency. The measure proved to be most efficient in the regions and cities with large concentration of craftsmen and artists falling under the beneficiary category of the measure, such as Baku, Ganja, Sheki, Lahij and Ismayilli.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Taxes
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

25 000 AZN, coming from the state budget. The measure did not involve huges costs, since the decisions was purely regulatory.

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
No
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
No
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES

State Program "The theatre of Azerbaijan in 2009-2019"

Context of the measure: 
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

This State Program outlines the development prospects of Azerbaijani theatre and theatre artists and aims to sustain and multiply the rich artistic creativity of Azerbaijani theatre artists, to encourage artistic exchanges and mobility of theatre artists nationally and internationally, as well as to ensure the effective use of information and financial resources, enrich theatres' artistic repertoire. More concretely the Program has the following objectives: 1) developing a new more comprehensive and results-based theatre policy and optimization of theater management process, undertaking a theatre reform; 2) development of theatre creativity in Azerbaijan by ensuring the preservation of universal and national cultural values ​​and promotion theatre-related creative exhanges; 3) supporting young artists in all the theatre genres and professions; 4) improvement of theatre training and professional development system of theatre artists, while conducting and promoting joint initiatives and projects in the field of theatre creativity with other countries; 5) renovation of the theatre premises, bringing them to contemporary standards and strengthening their facilities to support creativity of artists; 6) undertaking measures to improve substantially information and communication technologies in the field of theatre creativity; 7) promoting theatre culture locally, nationally and internationally.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

The measure has been making an attempt to provide a large approach to sustain and promote theatre creativity and widen the creative opportunities of the artists. It includes organization of publishing and advertising products, decor and costume-making, as well as the creation of a Theatre Training Centre, which is supposed to supplement university studies in the field of theatre creativity and wider the range of arts education possibilities in this field. The measure also allowed for creation of studios in State Russian Drama Theatre, State Puppet Theatre, Nakhchivan State Musical Drama Theatre, Ganja State Drama Theatre, Lankaran State Drama Theatre, as well as Sheki State Drama Theatre.

In terms of mobility of artists in the field of theatre education, the measure foresees concluding partnership agreements and contracts with education institutions abroad to support exchange and internships opportunities in the field of theatre. With this particular measure, the state wishes to enlarge possible employment opportunities for theatre artists and develop diverse learning experiences for young artists. 

The measure has also been strong in reinforcing the visibility of theatre creativity among the general public in Azerbaijan by multiplying and supporting the creation of visiblity and awareness raising products, as well as digital platforms for knowledge and creativity exchange. In the field of puppet theatre creativity, it also foresees holding regularly a Puppet Theatre Week with the participation of UNIMA (International Puppet Theaters Association).

Finally, the measure included taking necessary steps to carry out repair and restoration works in Baku, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and other regions, as well as in the premises of state theatres operating in the areas of refugee and displaced persons (as a result of occupation by Armenia of the Nagorno Karabakh Region and 7 adjacent regions). 

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The expected results of the measure are following: 1) national theater art preserved, developed and enhanced. 2) enabling environment for artistic performances created;
3) normative-legal bases in the field of theater creativity improved; 4) the material-technical base of theater institutions strengthened; 5) conditions created for the theater network to meet the modern requirements and meet the theater needs of local communities; 6) more young, talented and professional artists involved in the theater creativity; 7) interregional, international and international cultural relations in the field of theater stregthened; 8) opportunities to represent and promote Azerbaijan's theater creativity worldwide created.

 

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture and Tourism
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

The measures envisaged by the State Program are funded from the state budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan, including funds provided for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the state budget, as well as other sources in conformity with the legisilation of the country.

g. Name of NGOs and/or private companies engaged in the implementation of the measure, if any: 
Name: 
Union of Theatre Artists of Azerbaijan
Type of Entity: 
NGO
h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
Yes
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES

Adoption of the Law on Culture in 2012

Context of the measure: 
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

Adopted and signed by the President in Azerbaijan in 2012, this law replaced the old “Law on culture” of 1998. The Law on culture has been a result of large-scale consultation process undertaken by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan from January 2010 to September 2012, which involved consultation meetings with government stakeholders, Members of the Milli Mejlis Parliament and especially the Culture Committee, as well as non-governmental organizations, individual creators, universities, experts, researchers and academics. The law has made an ambitious attempt to address the whole diversity of issues related to protection, promotion and safeguarding culture and heritage in the whole diversity of issues that need to be considered at larger policy level in Azerbaijan. The Law made it clear that the national cultural policy is based on the principles of equal opportunities to create and use cultural values and to preserve the heritage (both tangible and intangible) in Azerbaijan. This cultural policy aims to give the right to every person to create, use and disseminate cultural values, irrespective of her or his social and material status, nationality, race, religion and gender. The Law aimed to guarantee freedom of intellectual and creative expression and to provide a legal basis for the development of national culture as a constituent part of world culture. The law also put an ambitious objective to create enabling environment to support development of cultural industries through investments in these area. This means that the government aims to explore opportunities to reduce barriers to investments in creative industries, such as architecture, arts, crafts, design, fashion, film making, music, performing arts and publishing, as well as to use any opportunity to attract internal and external investments in the development of these areas. The Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Culture Committee of the Parliament undertake regular monitoring of the implementation of the Law.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
institutional
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

The Law defines culture as a set of features that determine the material, moral, intellectual and emotional specificities of society or social groups, embrace people’s way of life, criteria of their cohabitation, as well as the system of moral values, including literature and art.

Compared to the previous law, the new law included 26 new concepts that were put forward into line with the requirements and principles of international conventions, including the 2005 Convention. The law focuses especially on ‘creative persons’ and outlines the ways of state support to them. Creative persons, who have special services in the development, promotion and promotion of culture are awarded with honorary titles, scholarships and prizes by the relevant executive authority. The relevant executive authorities are supposed to keep databases of biography, professional and creative activities of cultural workers, creative persons and creative groups, who are involved in the development of culture.

Under its Article 9, the law for the first time introduced the term “freedom of creativity”, which reconfirms that any person has the right to engage in any creative activity on the basis of professional and amateur creativity in accordance with his / her interests and abilities. The results of creativity of individuals are protected by the laws of the country on copyright and related rights. Creative individuals have the right to sell, present and transfer to the foreign countries the results of their creativity.

The Law under its Article 14 emphasizes that the state guarantees the right of use of cultural institutions and cultural resources in Azerbaijan. It therefore is entitled to undertake investment projects to support development of cultural industries and create enabling environment for such investments.

The law also reflected the issues of state monitoring in the field of culture, material and social security of creative individuals.

The text of the law is available in Azerbaijani using the following link: https://www.president.az/articles/7392

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The law provided a multi-dimensional and encompassing policy framework for the field of culture with the focus on heritage (tangible and intangible), artistic expressions, as well as cultural industries. It determined the whole variety of roles that were attributed to different actors involved in the field of culture, such as government agencies and primarily the Ministry of Culture on one side, and creative individuals, private companies, entrepreneurs, investors and non-governmental organizations on the other. The most important expected results of the Law were improving legislative basis for the field of culture, ensuring efficient management in the field of culture, creating favourable environment for development of culture in all its spheres, strengthening conditions for developing partnerships, as well as enhancing legal protection of intellectual property rights of creators.  

Since the adoption of the law, a numerous consultations have been provided by the Government in the capital city Baku and different regions of the country, such as in Siyazan, Ujar, Khizi, and Samukh regions in 2014. These consultations enabled to ensure better understanding of the provisions of the law by various stakeholders, but also allowed for development of new partnerships and networking at local level. In 2015, a working group was sent to Dashkesen, Gadabay and Goranboy regions to conduct further trainings on the implementation of the Law by regional departments of culture and tourism. Regular meetings are undertaken by the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan and the Culture Committee of the Parliament for monitoring of the implementation of the Law.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

145 000 USD per year

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
Yes
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES

Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Context of the measure: 
CULTURAL POLICIES AND MEASURES
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

Adopted by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 14 February 2014, the “Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan” has been developed to streamline with European cultural policy principles and aims to ensure the development of Azerbaijani culture, enhancement of cultural policies, strengthening its resilience against internal and external threats, ensuring the successful integration into the world culture, protection of human and civil rights and freedoms in the field of culture.

The Culture Concept attempts to develop the mechanisms of guaranteeing development of all aspects of culture, including cultural policies, such as governance, legal, financial, information, human resources, material and technical infrastructure and international cooperation, high level of cultural awareness and reform of cultural heritage management mechanisms. The main policy objectives comprise the adjustment of culture policy mechanisms to actual requirements and reality of this area: 1) protection of cultural heritage, 2) support and development of creative activity with the focus on the integrity of the people, 3) promotion of identity and diversity, and participation in cultural life. Cultural policy objectives of the Concept are implemented using the following mechanisms: 1) development of legal guarantees, 2) implementation of modern methods in culture and arts administration, 3) diversification of financing sources, 4) enhancement of information provision, 5) human resources development, 6) modernization of the material and technical bases, and 6) development of international cooperation.

The Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan thus aimed to propose a new functional management model for the field of culture. The Concept created a road map and an administrative reform plan, which later shaped and continues to shape the enabling environment for its implementation.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
institutional
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

The Culture Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan made an attempt to present a holistic and encompassing approach to culture and cultural policies, based on current priorities and past experiences in implementing culture, heritage and creativity-related policies. It formulated a number of key cultural policy principles in Azerbaijan, such as equality, democracy, humanism, integration, balance, quality, efficiency, as well as talent factor.

It dedicates a whole chapter (4) to the so-called “Development of the professional art”, which includes the development of professional theatre art, music art, as well as fine and decorative-applied arts.

Chapter 5 presents the vision of the development of cultural industries. It states that cultural industries, as an area of ​​activity that allows for production and realization of cultural products and services, is one of the key fields of cultural policies in Azerbaijan. One of the aims of cultural policies is to ensure the balance between culture industries and market of cultural products and services. The Chapter therefore states that the development of future oriented cultural industries, such areas as cinematography and publishing, drawing and based on historical traditions, is and will continue to be one of the promising directions of the state cultural policy.

The Concept is implemented through state programs on cultural activities, which are presented for the endorsement by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The implementation of the Concept implies the involvement of local authorities, cultural institutions and civil society organizations in this process along with the activities of state bodies in this area, as well as foreign and local investors. The Concept is implemented through state budget allocations, as well as via alternative financing mechanisms. The Concept is coordinated by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The full text of the Culture Concept is available in Azerbaijani at the following address: http://www.e-qanun.az/framework/27056

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The Culture Concept was conceived to establish a wide and encompassing cultural policy framework, through which all the legal, institutional and financial efforts in the field of culture could be further channeled at local and national levels. Since its adoption in 2014, the Concept resulted in greater awareness of different stakeholders working in the field of culture of the integrity and multidimensional nature of culture, creativity and cultural industries, as well as enabled to bring the provisions of the 2005 Convention to the context of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It further put upfront the particular attention of the Government to a number of areas of cultural industries where further support was needed to enable their contribution to creative economy, such as film making and distribution as well as publishing.

It also reiterated again the difficulties the culture sector in Azerbaijan has been facing in the context of the occupation by Armenia of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan, as a result of which creators, artists, cultural workers and communities still do not have access to cultural institutions, including 927 libraries, 807 cultural palaces, club and culture houses, 85 music and painting schools, 22 museums and museums’ branch offices, 4 art galleries, 13 monuments of international significance, 242 monuments of national significance, as well as 434 historical and cultural monuments of local significance. A large number of artists coming from refugee communities who had to leave their homes because of the Armenian occupation now continue to associate and reflect in their creative works their homeland. The Culture Concept in that sense provided political recognition of the specific needs of the artists and creators coming from among refugees, while ensuring policy priority to this specific group of creators.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture and Tourism
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

36 000 USD per year

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
Yes
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
Yes
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL COOPERATION

Establishment of Cultural Centres of Azerbaijan abroad

Context of the measure: 
INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL COOPERATION
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

The Cultural Centres of Azerbaijan have been legally established in 2010 by the relevant decrees of the President and following months of joint work between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The overall objective of such centres is to support bilateral and multilateral foreign cultural policy of Azerbaijan, as well as to promote the culture and language of Azerbaijan in hosting countries and create the atmosphere of mutual understanding and cooperation among the peoples of Azerbaijan and the hosting states. Such centres have been created so far within the embassies of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Paris (France) and Vienna (Austria).

The specific objectives of the Azerbaijani Cultural Centres are the following: 1) to raise awareness of the general public of the hosting state about the internal and external policy, culture, history, social, economic development, scientific and technical and tourism potential of the Republic of Azerbaijan; 2) to provide access to books, newspapers, magazines and multimedia, as well as cultural, scientific and technical documents of Azerbaijan to the general public of the hosting country; 3) to initiative and reinforce teaching and promotion of the Azerbaijani language in the hosting state; 4) to participate in establishing and maintaining contacts with the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan studying in the hosting state, as well as with students and graduates of the hosting state studying in the Republic of Azerbaijan; and finally 5) to establish relationships with the Azerbaijanis living in the hosting state and strengthen, within the limits of its authority, the development of bilateral cooperation.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
International
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
legislative
regulatory
financial
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

The centres perform the following functions within their competencies: 1) holding conferences, colloquiums, meetings, performances, concerts, presentations, exhibitions and other events on domestic and foreign policy, culture, history, social, economic development, scientific and technical and tourism potential of Azerbaijan; 2) promoting the establishment and development of relations and co-operation between Azerbaijan and the institutions of the hosting state working in the field of culture and tourism, science, education, as well as non-governmental organizations (public associations and foundations); 3) participation in the development and implementation of cooperation programs in the field of culture, science, education, tourism, information and  communication; 4) carrying out exchange of information and promotional materials in the fields of culture, science, education and tourism; 5) organizing presentation and promotion of films and audiovisual documents; 6) creating conditions for establishment of clubs and associations of citizens of Azerbaijan studying in the hosting state, as well as clubs and associations of students and graduates of the hosting state studying in Azerbaijan; 7) creating conditions for teaching of the Azerbaijani language at higher educational institutions of the hosting state, as well as in the Cultural Centres themselves; and 8) promoting the establishment and development of friendly and fraternal relations between the cities and regions of Azerbaijan and the hosting country.

According to the established guidelines the centres have the rights to initiative and develop cultural cooperation, through: 1) establishing and maintaining relations with the official or non-formal cultural and tourist organizations of the hosting state and media; 2) establishing and collaborating with the cultural centers of the third countries; 3) holding conferences, colloquiums, meetings, performances, concerts, presentations, exhibitions on Azerbaijan's culture, history, social, economic development, scientific and technical and tourism potential.

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
Yes
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

Though the implementation of the measure is unbalanced due different contexts of functioning of cultural centres, it has already proved to be a valuable source of promoting the knowledge about culture and creativity of Azerbaijan. If the number of tourism arrivals from the countries hosting the cultural centres tripled since 2010 and totaled 27500 arrivals from France, Uzbekistan and Austria in 2016.

The measure is further expected to continue developing the implementation of cooperation programs in the field of culture, science, education, tourism, information and communication, as well as carry out exchange of information and promotional materials in these fields. The Cultural centres now host and lead language courses offering Azerbaijani language teaching to local audience, both diaspora and foreigners.

Apart from the results achieved so far, the Cultural centres are expected to further contribute to exchanges among Azerbaijani and host countries’ artists, policy-makers and cultural workers that can potentially enhance and reinforce intercultural links, investments in field of culture, further boost tourism and promote respect for cultural diversity.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

350 000 USD per year

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
No
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No

 
❭ YOUTH

State Program on development of children's music, art and painting schools in the Republic of Azerbaijan 2014-2018

Context of the measure: 
YOUTH
b. Objetivos clave de la medida: 

The State Program aims to take stock of the past developments in the field of arts educations in Azerbaijan and implement measures, activities and actions that would aim to fulfil the specific current needs of music, art and painting schools in the country by building capacities and enhancing schools infrastructure to support young talents and develop opportunities of interested young people to engage in creativity.

c. What is: 
c.1. the scope of the measure: 
National
c.2. the nature of the measure: 
regulatory
financial
c.3. Característica principal de la medida: 

Being institutionally framed under the Ministry of Culture, the public children's music, art and painting schools in Azerbaijan operate with 5-7 years system. At present, 237 children's music, arts and painting schools function in the country. Of these institutions, 70 are located in rural areas. Currently, more than 80,000 students attend these educational institutions and over 16,000 music, arts and painting teachers are engaged in their education.

At the same time, taking into account the growing demand of young people willing to engage into creativity in recent years, several children's music schools with great pedagogical experience and relevant facilities and technical base have been transformed into eleven-year education institutions. Nowadays, 16 music and art schools (15 schools in Baku, 1 school in Mingachevir) operate based on 11-year education system.

The State Program is composed of a number of components, which include improvement of material-technical basis for the functioning of the children's schools, renovation of schools premises and buildings, identification and fulfillment of pedagogical needs of the schools, in terms of adequate availability of teachers and teaching materials, including specific equipment, such as musical instruments and relevant equipment and facilities.

d. Does it specifically target individuals and/or social groups as defined in Article 7 of the Convention?: 
No
e. What are the results expected through the implementation of the measure?: 

The Program has already proved its efficiency. In 2015-2017, during the implementation of the Program, more young people studying in the schools under this Program have managed to take first places in various national and international competitions and festivals. Artistic products from Azerbaijan created by young artists have become an integral part of arts world. Children’s schools are now well equipped to boosts children's interest in music, art, painting and support their talent. As results of Program, several schools have been completely renovated, including eleven children's music school No. 26 named after M.Magomayev. A new building was constructed for the Children's Music School No. 9 named after Garyagdioglu and the schools is now completely operational. At present, major repairs and reconstruction works are being carried out in some children's music and art schools, construction of new school buildings is underway.  The musical schools have received more than 60 musical instruments. Every new academic year the schools are provided with musical instruments, solid equipment, books, song books, as well as other types of equipment. A monitoring activity has been foreseen at the end of the program to analyze its efficiency in terms achieved results in 2019.

f.1 Name of agency responsible for the implementation of the measure: 
Ministry of Culture
f.2. Recursos financieros asignados para implementar la medida: 

75 500 USD

g. Name of NGOs and/or private companies engaged in the implementation of the measure, if any: 
Type of Involvement: 

75 500 USD

h. Was this measure introduced or revised in order to: 
h.1. Implement the provisions of the Convention?: 
Yes
h.2. Support/nurture policy discussion inspired by the Convention?: 
Yes
h.3. Other reasons unrelated to the Convention?: 
No
i. Has the implementation of the measure been evaluated?: 
No