Azerbaijan, Baku, 18 September / Trend / Poverty has predominantly social character in most countries, but in Azerbaijan it was referred to socio-economic category long ago. Therefore, arrangements intended to eliminate poverty to provide macroeconomic stability are a right step.
Under the order of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev dated 15 September, the State Program on Poverty Reduction and Stable Development for 2008-2015 was approved. The Program envisages nine strategic goals on economic development, improvement of social state, development of the regions so as to reduce poverty and to provide stable economic development.
Poverty elimination cannot be achieved only through improvement of people's incomes. This measure is only a temporary social manoeuvre intended not to solve but to smooth the acuteness of social problems and inequality. Poverty must be connected with family and its members, village and city, education and culture, gender, health, medical service, human capital, demographic indices, efficient management, infrastructural development.
Most success on can be achieved in a country in which economic growth and trade expansion coincide with persistent efforts to develop the human capital and to create healthy investment climate, especially for domestic entrepreneurs, which entails new jobs, rise in incomes and improvement of social stability. History showed that domestic entrepreneurs are the main investors in their country, the future of their and next generations.
Implementation of the State Program on Poverty Reduction and Stable Development for 2003-2005 reduced poverty in the country from 46.7% in 2002 to 29.3% in 2005 and 15.8% in 2007.
Statistics of poverty reduction in Azerbaijan again proves the deep understanding of the problem by program developers. The key goal is to achieve stable, reliable economic growth in the country and to eliminate poverty on this basis. At the same time, economic growth without adequate education and health care in the country cannot guarantee rapid poverty reduction, for very frequently the profits provided by growth slowly achieve the poor people.
The political goal of the country's government is to eliminate the poverty notion in Azerbaijan between 2010 and 2015.
Ellada Khankishiyeva, Director of the Trend analytic centre.