“The impact of Azerbaijani funds as a donor to the International Development Association (IDA) is very important to some of the poorest countries around the world,” the World Bank’s Country Manager for Azerbaijan Sarah Michael told Report.
According to her, IDA is always important for the poorest countries: “But this year with COVID it has been a crucial lifeline to many of the poorest countries around the world. As part of that last replenishment, there were a few key priorities that came up, or that were sort of areas of focus for what we call IDA 19. So I can mention a couple of them. One of them was fragility and conflict, which Azerbaijan unfortunately also experienced last year. So there is a special focus in those new IDA 19 funds on countries experiencing conflict from countries like Syria, Yemen. One of the other areas of focus was jobs, helping to find ways to create jobs, particularly, for young people. Ensuring equal opportunities for women was also a priority under IDA 19. So one of the areas of focus of IDA 19 is healthcare around the world. I hope the citizens of Azerbaijan are proud to be donors to IDA because I hope it is a source of pride.”
Azerbaijan has been in cooperation with the World Bank since 1992. The Bank has allocated about $4 billion for Azerbaijan on more than 50 projects.