A/HRC/43/44/Add.1 vulnerability remain high, in particular, in rural and remote areas, among non-oil sector workers, low-level civil servants and professionals working in the public sector, such as teachers and doctors. Despite recent increases in the minimum wage and in pensions, lower-middle-income Azerbaijanis are struggling to maintain their livelihoods in the face of high food prices and to prioritize between education, housing and health expenditures. 15. Although considerably reduced by new institutional reforms and government policies as well as a tax reform, corruption remains a problem and an impediment to the country’s development. Azerbaijan ranked 152 out of 180 countries in the Transparency International corruption perceptions index for 2018. 16. Azerbaijan suffers from political and social problems arising from the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent regions of Azerbaijan and hostile relations with its neighbour Armenia. The conflict has had a significant impact on the people who suffered from the war, had to leave their homes and lost relatives, properties and access to land and livelihoods. Although the Government is helping approximately 1 million internally displaced persons, providing a series of social protection measures, such as housing, jobs, education and pensions, this status creates a significant burden on the economy and continuous stress on society. III. Legal and policy framework A. At the international level 1. Legal framework 17. As a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights since 1992, Azerbaijan has a duty to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food. It has also made a commitment to undertaking the appropriate steps, with due consideration given to its available resources, to ensure the realization of the right to an adequate standard of living, including access to adequate food, as set out in articles 2 (1) and 11 of the Covenant. 18. Azerbaijan is also party to a number of other human rights treaties that are relevant for the realization of the right to adequate food, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 19. It is very important that Azerbaijan is party to these treaties, as the right to food is indivisibly related to other rights, including the rights to health, social protection, housing, water and sanitation, work, education and a healthy environment, as well as women’s rights and the rights to freedom of expression and to peaceful assembly based on the principle of non-discrimination. 2. International engagement 20. The Special Rapporteur is encouraged to see that the Sustainable Development Goals are a priority for the Government. Azerbaijan endorsed and actively participated in the development of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and presented two voluntary national reviews in 2017 and 2019.11 In that context, the country has committed to reducing economic dependency on oil and gas production, thus promoting diversification of the economy predominantly focused on agriculture. 21. The Special Rapporteur is also encouraged by the fact that Azerbaijan extended a standing invitation to all thematic special procedures in 2013. Since then, five Special Rapporteurs have visited the country. The Special Rapporteur hopes that in the future Azerbaijan will continue to have a constructive relationship with the special procedures of the Human Rights Council. 11 Available from https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/memberstates/azerbaijan. 5