The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved $300,000 in technical assistance for a project to engage the private sector in providing social protection services in Central and West Asia, Report informs via the ADB.
The project implementation is planned until the end of 2026 and will cover nine countries in the region, including Azerbaijan.
The governments of participating countries will provide support in the form of personnel, office space, administrative services, and other non-monetary resources.
The region's social protection systems face a number of challenges, such as inefficient service delivery, limited coverage, weak targeting mechanisms, insufficient resources, and low administrative crisis preparedness. Vulnerable population groups - women, elderly people, youth, orphans, displaced persons, refugees, homeless people, and people with disabilities - experience difficulties in accessing these services. Furthermore, government institutions face resource shortages, outdated infrastructure, bureaucratic barriers, and lack of one-stop-shop mechanisms. The ADB project aims to address these issues through private sector experience and innovation, creating scalable, cost-effective, and gender-sensitive solutions, the bank's report states.
The project includes four main directions. The diagnostic study provides for assessment of the current state of social protection systems, identification of barriers, including gender-related ones, and identification of opportunities for private sector participation. The modernization strategy involves developing a plan to engage the private sector in improving social protection systems and services, including alignment of public and private sector objectives. The third direction includes preparing a list of pilot projects with private sector participation, including preliminary feasibility studies. Finally, a regional workshop will be held, thus creating a virtual platform for experience exchange and dissemination of results among countries in the region.
As ADB notes, the technical assistance will improve social protection systems, reduce gender inequality, increase service accessibility for vulnerable groups, and create sustainable mechanisms capable of effectively responding to future challenges. Special attention will be paid to implementing high technologies in social service management, using innovative financing mechanisms, and developing public-private partnership models.