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Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association talks supporting women's entrepreneurship

Business Materials 1 June 2020 16:43 (UTC +04:00)
Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association talks supporting women's entrepreneurship

BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 1

By Fidan Babayeva – Trend:

The project titled “Economic support for women affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan” will help more than 25 women from rural communities, including those with disabilities, to improve their knowledge of protecting the business as well as their business skills and access to financial resources during the pandemic, Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association (AMFA) Jala Hajiyeva, told Trend.

"On May 19, 2020, the AMFA started implementing a larger-scale program to promote the active and effective participation of civil society organizations in the development and implementation of the national agenda to achieve gender-friendly sustainable development goals, as well as strengthen gender equality and the empowerment of women, which is in line with the five sustainable development goals of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), co-financed by UNDP and the EU," Hajiyeva noted.

Women participating in the project will be provided with initial funding in the amount of $525 for starting a business in Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, she emphasized.

Hajiyeva noted that the main goal of the project is to minimize the economic damage from the global crisis in the post-pandemic period, to support women in generating income and preparing for the new economic phase.

“Within the framework of the Agenda for Sustainable Development of Azerbaijan till 2030, this project will contribute to the realization of the following global goals: the universal eradication of poverty in all its forms and hunger, ensuring food security and improving nutrition and promoting sustainable agriculture, ensuring a healthy lifestyle and promoting well-being for all at all ages, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, promoting comprehensive and sustainable economic growth, full employment,” she emphasized.

Microfinancing was introduced in Azerbaijan in the mid-1990s to meet the economic needs of up to 1 million internally displaced persons (IDP) and refugees, as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In 1996, the International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) began offering microfinancing services to low-income locals and war-affected people to create income and employment opportunities.

The INGO began to meet informally to exchange business experience and remove restrictions on the provision of loans with interest rates. In December 2001, members of INGOs decided to consummate the group as an association, which will serve as the focal point for microfinance in Azerbaijan.

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