The Azerbaijani-American Youth Social Association (AAYSA) is a non-profit organisation that supports youth integration with European and American organisations. The development of intercultural integration and dialogue, promoting diversity and inclusion in youth work, represents the main mission of AAYSA.
AAYSA was founded by a group of youth from Azerbaijan and the US in 2001 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
”AAYSA’s mission is to implement reconciliation and peace-building initiatives on an international level, raise awareness of human rights, democracy-building, and free media, inspire youth volunteer aspirations, and help young people embrace new technologies through social media,” says Vugar Ahmadov, the founder and elected Chairman of AAYSA, in an interview with Orange Magazine.
According to Ahmadov, AAYSA is one of the first organisations in Azerbaijan to have built successful joint projects with the Erasmus+ Programme and to have sparked interest among local youth in these projects.
In addition, AAYSA works with people with disabilities to provide them access to education opportunities and educational services. Moreover, AAYSA supports refugee and IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) youth in their community-building initiatives and employment opportunities.
What are the most recent activities of AAYSA?
AAYSA recently completed the project “Youth Participation in Peace-Building Initiatives,” which was supported by the European Youth Foundation. The project aimed to support youth in the peace-building process.
“We brought together young people who were affected by the conflict and war in our region. We focus more on IDP youth who are returning to their homelands after 30 years. We plan to organise seminars for these young people to support their employment opportunities and social businesses because these territories are being reconstructed, and it is very important for them to adapt to the new environment,” Ahmadov tells Orange Magazine.
Additionally, AAYSA works with rural youth communities who do not have access to social media or other communication technologies. AAYSA helps them become active on social media and traditional media. With this support, young people create their own content for video and print platforms – e.g., vox pops – and publish it on social media.
What are the big challenges for AAYSA?
”I think today the main challenge is the lack of funding for our projects and finding donors, as well as improving the skills and capacity of the staff, which we need to work on regularly,” Ahmadov says.
AAYSA has several priorities to focus on over the next five years. One of them is to enhance international youth cooperation and implement projects in partnership with the Erasmus+ Programme and its US partners. That’s why, in 2023, AAYSA became an Observer Member Organisation of the European Youth Press. Improving democracy, free media, youth roles in politics, tackling climate change, and building community resilience remain key target topics for AAYSA.
