Peace Corps Volunteers Permitted in Azerbaijan
Peace Corps Volunteers Permitted in Azerbaijan
On October 9th, Vilayat Guliev, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Rino ?arnis, U.S. Ambassador, signed an agreement allowing the US-based Peace Cor?s to function in Azerbaijan.
11/10/2003 03:31
Baku Today
The Peace Corps will send 30 volunteers to Baku by late September. It will be the first group of volunteers to be sent to Azerbaijan in order to teach English in the secondary schools. They'll also help with train teachers in methodology. By late this year, u? to 100 volunteers will be working in Azerbaijan.
Steven Zodrov, Peace Cor?s Director on Programs and Training in Azerbaijan, said that the volunteers are selected in the USA according to needed specialties. They receive scholarship money for rent, daily needs, and food. The volunteers will live in the regions, including with some host families. They will learn the Azerbaijani language and culture for 11 weeks and will then spend 2 years working.
The Peace Corps is a US-based, non-political agency that consists of American volunteers. They provide social, economic, and public assistance to foreign countries. John Kennedy, a previous U.S. President, set u? the agency and approximately 160,000 Americans have worked as volunteers in 77 countries worldwide. Of the CIS countries, the Peace Corps is in Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Moldova, and Ukraine. Although Azerbaijan had requested assistance, the Peace Corps denied the requests until the U.S. Congress repealed amendment 907 - "Su??ort to Freedom" act.
Information for this report provided by Trend.
