EASST Partner in Azerbaijan: HAYAT NGO  

HAYAT International Humanitarian NGO was established in 1993 and officially registered by the Ministry of Justice (Azerbaijan) in 1994. HAYAT’s original focus was to respond to the influx of the thousands of refugees and IDPs resulting from the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The NGO has accumulated vast experience in community development, mobilization and public awareness campaigns, leading large scale projects in cooperation with international organizations such as UNHCR, Save the Children, the World Food Program, International Organization for Migration, Mercy Corps International and others.

As EASST’s partner, HAYAT’s main aim is to significantly reduce unnecessary traffic fatalities and non-fatal injuries in Azerbaijan by raising public awareness in the importance of using seat belts. HAYAT is working to achieve this by undertaking grass root activities, awareness campaigns and educational workshops to promote the use of the lifesaving seat belt. HAYAT has undertaken to create a national road safety council and is already attracting other NGOs and experts on road safety to participate. This will enable a direct dialogue and discussions with key stakeholders and decision makers - a key step in order to initiate and implement the road safety project successfully.

Currently, HAYAT is running a national seat belt campaign to raise awareness of the importance of seat belt usage, currently at a low level in Azerbaijan. Their recent research into seat belt usage can be viewed here. Assisting HAYAT in their campaigning efforts is Eurovision champion Nigar Jamal (Nikki) who represents EASST as a Celebrity Ambassador. On 23rd April 2012, Nikki launched HAYAT and EASST’s seat belt campaign in Baku (link), receiving a great deal of media attention. At the event, Nikki released a clip of her new music video ‘Can’t Let You Go’. The 2011 Eurovision champion’s new song and video, with a powerful road safety message, will be released in May 2012 as part of the seat belt campaign.

Official website: www.roadsafety.az/

Key Achievements:

Launch of new video featuring Elsad Xose and Elli promoting seat belt use (2010)
Engagement of Nigar Jamal as Celebrity Ambassador (2011)
Launch of new road safety website: http://www.roadsafety.az/ (2012)
Launch of seat belt campaign and seat belt slide (2012) Read more: EASST News and YouTube