Azerbaijan: New Government Programme Will Create More and Better Jobs.

The National Employment Strategy was officially approved in 2005, while in May 2007 the H.E. President Ilham Aliyev approved the State Programme for the implementation of the National Employment Strategy.

Speaking of the economic successes of the country, Minister Alakbarov referred to H.E. President Ilham Aliyev's announcement that Azerbaijan had 572,000 jobs in the last four years of which 405,000 jobs were permanent. According to the Minister, this demonstrates the commitment of the Government to increasing employment. He also stressed that creating jobs, especially in the non-oil sector, was the key to reducing poverty and improving living standards of the population.

As Azerbaijan has one of the fastest growing populations in the CIS, the challenge will be to make sure that the number of new jobs increase even faster than is currently the case to keep up with the increasing number of young people looking for work. Mr.Vahab Mamedov, National Coordinator of UNDP's joint project with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population, made a presentation on the employment situation and the main elements of the State Programme. He stressed the decrease in the official rate of unemployment from 10.7% in 2003 to 6.8 % as of February 2007. According to him, land reforms implemented in the country contributed to the growth of employment in the agriculture.

Speaking of the State Programme, Mr. Mamedov noted that the State Programme recognises that it is the role of the private sector not the public sector to create jobs. Meanwhile the Government will help create the conditions for job creation by the private sector. Other major elements of the Strategy are supporting education and training; promoting labour rights, decent work and social protection for the unemployed, and strengthening labour market monitoring.

The conference participants commended the State Programme and noted that for the implementation to be successful it is important to secure concrete budget allocations for concrete activities, ensure that the jobs created are long-term ones and that there is good coordination within the Government and with the trade unions and employer organisations.

Source: www.un-az.org