Azerbaijan, Baku, May 18 /Trend, M.Aliyev/
Azerbaijan has made great efforts to ensure a worthy life for internally displaced persons (IDPs), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said at a meeting with Chairman of State Committee for Refugees and IDPs of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov.
"Over the past five years since my last visit to Azerbaijan, a lot of work have been done in the country to ensure housing, health, education of refugees and IDPs," said Guterres.
Guterres said one of the goals of his visit is to demonstrate the UN support to works done in Azerbaijan in this regard.
Hasanov said that many problems of refugees and IDPs have been resolved, a state program has been adopted over the past five years after Guterres's previous visit to Azerbaijan.
But at the same time, still there are about 400,000 IDPs who live in difficult conditions, Hasanov said.
"In the future, work will continue to improve their housing and social conditions," he said.
The High Commissioner said at the meeting that he will support the work carried out in Azerbaijan in this regard
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.