Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan and the World Bank have signed a loan agreement on the "Employment Support Project", which provides for cooperation to boost the self-employment program in the country.

The preparation and signing of this socio-economic project is the result of the agreement reached between President Ilham Aliyev and World Bank Executive Director Kristalina Georgieva on 22 January 2019 during the Davos World Economic Forum on cooperation with the World Bank in expanding the self-employment program.

The project aims to expand the self-employment program based on best practices and creates small enterprises for those registered as unemployed, recipients of targeted state social assistance, women, youth and other vulnerable groups with World Bank funds.

The project is designed for 2020-2025, and is expected to involve 22,000 unemployed people.

The participants in the program will be given "Start and improve your business" later. Later, they will be provided with in-kind assets and will be able to start and own small businesses.

It is planned to attract 2,000 out of 22,000 people for training and provide them with assets during 2020.

Furthermore, small family farms for 12,000 people will be established in Azerbaijan in 2020 under the program of self-employment. It is expected to attract 5000 people to the program in each of the next 4 years of the project.

The project envisages the application of innovative solutions in the implementation of the self-employment program, training of the State Employment Service under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, and development of a strategy for transition from targeted social assistance to self-employment.

Additionally, strengthening of employment services and programs (including assessment of the labor market, development of a strategy for expanding and improving vocational training centers, informing job seekers, etc.), project management, monitoring and evaluation are also key components of the project.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz