WB reports on Employment Support Project’s progress in Azerbaijan

Over the two years of the implementation of the Employment Support Project in Azerbaijan, 15% ($14.93 million) of a loan from the World Bank (WB) in the amount of $100 million has been disbursed, Report informs citing the WB report.

The project entered into force on August 17, 2020, and the first payment was made on October 7 of the same year.

“Overall, project implementation is on track and both implementation progress and progress towards achievement of Project Development Objective are satisfactory. Business trainings have started despite the challenging situation due to COVID-19. As agreed earlier with the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population the implementation of Component 1 has started in a phased manner in the selected 29 rayons. A combination of online and/or virtual modalities are being used to deliver the business training component of the Self Employment program (SEP) in compliance with the government COVID-19 containment restrictions. At the moment, 15 rayons have on-line (mainly Baku, Sumgait and Ganja) and 27 rayons have on-site trainings with some rayons offering both online and on-site trainings. 4,928 beneficiaries have completed the business training and 4,206 have defended their business plans (as of January 2022),” reads the report.

By the end of the project, until December 31, 2025, 52 rayons will be involved, and 27,000 people will be involved in business training.

As the end of 2021, the total number of jobseekers who are placed in jobs was 77,640; women – 20,659; youth – 20,363; IDP – 3,542.

Number of registered jobseekers for the end of 2021 was 342,271 (this figure includes the number of all unemployed people for the end of 2021). Employment rate among vulnerable groups: women – 6%; youth – 5,9%; IDP – 1%. The total number of registered unemployed grew with COVID. The numbers include those who were eligible for “temporary cash benefits” which are now being taken out of the registers.

The goal of the project is to expand the self-employment program based on best practices and create small businesses for internally displaced persons registered as unemployed, recipients of targeted state social assistance, women, youth and other vulnerable groups at the expense of the World Bank. According to the project covering 2020-2025, during this period 22,000 unemployed from these categories will be involved in the program.

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

This project has three components: Enhancing the scope and effectiveness of the Self-Employment Program (SEP) with a value of $95.5 million, Strengthening employment services and programs ($2 million) and Project management, monitoring, and evaluation ($2.5 million).