BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 17
Trend:
I believe that in the current environment, the protection of vulnerable segments of the population is quite crucial, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev at the meeting on the socio-economic results of the first quarter of 2020 through videoconference, Trend reports.
“For some time now, work has been going on in relation to informal employment. I am regularly updated about this. Last year, a positive picture was also observed in this direction, i.e. the number of employment agreements is increasing. I believe that the current period of the pandemic should serve as a lesson for those who are still working in the shade. I have repeatedly appealed to both entrepreneurs and employees: get out of the shadows and sign employment contracts. If there is no employment contract, then you will not be able to receive a pension and medical insurance. If you are unemployed and have not been registered, you will not be able to receive unemployment benefits. You noted that the number of labor contracts increased by tens of thousands in a short time. Therefore, I believe that in the current conditions we need to pay even more attention to this area. I believe that both through educational work and, of course, as a result of administrative measures, monitoring and institutional reforms we will be able to significantly narrow the scope of informal employment, and work in this direction should be continued. The signing of 70,000 labor contracts indicates that there are still many reserves, and the current difficult situation should, as they say, become a guide for those still in the shade today,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
As for paid public jobs, the head of state said “we planned to create 37,000 paid jobs at the beginning of the year.”
“As a result of the pandemic, their number has reached 50,000. But have another look, especially in the regions, if there is an additional need for this, then let us know, maybe we will allocate additional funds to provide people with work during this difficult period.I believe that the attraction of 12,000 people to the self-employment program is a very good result, especially if we consider that we started with about 3,000, 4,000, 5,000 people. But, as I said in the opening remarks and you also informed me about this, there are tens of thousands of requests. Of course, it is not easy to meet these needs because each issue is considered separately. Sometimes people can’t do this work, others receive resources but then sell them. Such facts are also there. There is international practice. I am told that the success rate of the self-employment program in the world is about 50 percent. As for Azerbaijan, it is higher,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state noted that citizens involved in this program should know that if they misuse the opportunities provided to them, they will lose them and such conditions will not be created for them for the second time.
“Therefore, I kindly ask people that if someone has received resources, they shouldn’t sell them, try to use them effectively, to create a sustainable and permanent source of income for themselves. Our main goal is for people to create independent sources of income for themselves and be able to support their families. Therefore, studying the capabilities of 12,000 people requires a lot of time, and here it is necessary to accurately weigh the criteria so that the principle of justice is fully ensured. I believe that in the current environment, the protection of vulnerable segments of the population, as you reported, is quite crucial. We must support them, help them. Today, all our people must demonstrate and are demonstrating these wonderful qualities that the Azerbaijani people have kept for centuries. As you noted, the business community is helping the poor with their initiatives, and I welcome this. This is a manifestation of the social responsibility of the business sector. Let everyone help the lonely, elderly, people from vulnerable segments of the population with what they can. Of course, the state has taken on this function, is doing and will continue to do that. However, the fact that business circles in these conditions have joined this work, that individual people help needy citizens on their own initiative makes me extremely happy. I want to express my gratitude to them,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state pointed out that local executive authorities must create the conditions for them to provide this assistance in a larger volume.
“As for students from vulnerable groups, as you noted, the state will provide tuition for 17,000 students. This is a great step, and there should be full control over this so that no-one is left outside this program. Benefits related to utility bills have been introduced. I believe that the full implementation of the social package related to the pandemic will provide serious assistance to citizens during the period of the quarantine and pandemic. At the same time, we should not forget the programs outlined at the beginning of the year. I already spoke about this in the opening remarks. The provision of martyr families with apartments – in this direction, we need to provide 1,500 apartments by the end of the year,” said President Ilham Aliyev.