Azerbaijan, WB discuss social protection issues

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

The World Bank (WB) has organized a virtual roundtable on “Social protection in time of crisis and recovery” with the participation of heads of social protection agencies from different countries, Azernews reports.

During the event, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Labour and Social Protection Minister Anar Karimov spoke about the large-scale measures implemented in Azerbaijan during the pandemic to support employment and social protection of the population.

He noted that these measures include work on job and wage protections, the creation of new publicly funded jobs, and the expansion of a self-employment program that supports vulnerable groups’ access to small businesses, as well as the implementation of lump sum payments, etc.

Moreover, the deputy minister mentioned those innovative and digital solutions are widely used, which increase the convenience of access to public social services and the accessibility of these services, as well as ensure transparency. In this regard, he added that new social service centers for vulnerable populations have been created.

Anar Karimov also noted that currently, Azerbaijan provides 11 social services electronically, adding that half of them are realized in a proactive manner.

Additionally, he spoke about the sustainable social protection system in Azerbaijan and its goals in this area.

Azerbaijan joined the WB in 1992. Since then, the bank has financed over 50 projects with total commitments of $4.4 billion. It started economic cooperation in Azerbaijan to help increase the country’s institutional capacity and build efficient oil reserves management. The WB has always supported the large-scale reforms carried out in Azerbaijan.