ILO to support Azerbaijan in decent work program

/By Azernews/

By Amina Nazarli

The International Labour Organization (ILO) will provide the necessary support to Azerbaijan in the preparation of the Decent Work Programme 2016-2020.

Chief specialist of the ILO Employment Olga Kulayeva told Trend that the organization is ready to continue provision of advice to Azerbaijan, including in the framework of creating decent work program for 2016-2020.

“The main priorities of the program will be discussed on June 20. And only after that we will be able to say what specific support to provide," she said.

Kulayeva added that at the time while creating the state employment strategy, for instance, they conducted a special training course for 80 people.

Although training courses are held usually in the ILO Training Centre in Turin, the organization made an exception for Azerbaijan. The consultation was attended by many representatives of various ministries, academics, and so on. "We listened to all sides and have prepared a special document, which was sent to the government, and then formed the basis of the strategy,” she said.

The ILO has cooperated with Azerbaijan within the framework of the first program of decent work.

“The first program of decent work was completed in 2009. We had prepared a second program, but for some reasons, that was not dependent from any of the parties, it has not been signed. Nevertheless, we continued to develop cooperation in all areas,” Kulayeva emphasized.

“Tomorrow [June 21] we plan to discuss with the labour and social protection minister the influence of economic growth on employment as well as what model of economic growth leads to an increase in the level of employment. "We carried out this study for the first time and exclusively for Azerbaijan,” she noted.

Kulayeva also said that the ILO, together with the State Employment Service, prepared a package of active policies for young people.

“We all know that this group is experiencing more difficulty in entering the labor market than others. At the same time we divided youth into cohort, and not only groups by age being 15-19, 19-24, 25-29, considering different characteristics ranging from the area of residence and level of education.

For each cohort, we proposed this or that measure of active policy. Azerbaijan has chosen for piloting two measures - subsidy program, which provides subsidies for employers to hire young people without experience, and a program to promote entrepreneurship in the countryside. Both of these programs piloted with the support of the ILO, and we will continue to support them,” the chief specialist emphasized.

Earlier Labor and Social Protection of Population Minister Salim Muslumov said that Azerbaijan is the leader among the CIS countries in solving the problems of youth employment, adding that measures to promote youth employment in Azerbaijan are highly appreciated by the international community.

He stressed that the number of people attracted to professional training courses by employment agencies and receiving additional education increased 2.5 times over the past 10 years.

Azerbaijan is the only CIS country, which entered the Top-10 countries for solving problems of youth employment, drawn up by the ILO. The country ranked the first in the contest for the best practical approach in the sphere of youth employment in the CIS, and was awarded a special ILO diploma.

The ILO conducted a lot of work in the country in the framework of the 'Cooperation in the sphere of youth employment in the CIS project, including such pilot projects as 'Support for young people with higher education in search of the first job' and the 'Program on employment subsidization".