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Slides for Presentation on PRSP and MDG Process in

AzerbaijanMDG Workshop, Moscow,

4-6 November 2002

By Shahin M. PanahovBy Shahin M. Panahov

(UNDP, Baku)(UNDP, Baku)

Azerbaijan

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1. Title: PRSP and MDG Process in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

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2. Poverty in Azerbaijan- Soviet period: Azerbaijan was one of the poorest republics of the USSR,

Rating 10th place among 15 republics;Azerbaijan

- 1996: Poverty level was 61% (World Bank assessment)

- 2001: 49% of population below absolute poverty line approximately 25.8 USD percapita/month 17% of population lives in extreme poverty approximately 15.5 USD percapita/month(State Statistics Committee, Household Budget Survey, 2001)

Reasons: Collaps of economic infrastructure, Conflict over Nagorno- Karabakh, 1mln Refugees/IDPs

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3. History of PRSP process

IMF/WB initiated the PRSP in 1999

as a prerequisite for further lending

Azerbaijan

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4. Government ownershipPresidential Decree on establishment of State

Poverty Commission led by Prime Minister and instruction to develop a State Programme on Poverty Reduction and Economic Development(March 2001)

Azerbaijan

As a follow upPRSP Secretariat and 15 Working Groups were established to formulate PRSP

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5. PRSP Partnership / Stakeholders

Donors: IMF, WB, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, ADB some intern NGOs (eg OXFAM)Azerbaijan

Government of Azerbaijan

CBOs/NGOs: National NGO Forum. International and Local NGOs, Youth Organizations.

(Mr. Ilkin Garayev can develop this item later)

Private sector: BP

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6. UNDP partnership with World Bank 6. UNDP partnership with World Bank

Has played key role in successful Has played key role in successful preparation of PRSPpreparation of PRSP

Azerbaijan

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7. Preparation Process of PRSP

-round table discussions

-surveys

- 5 regional missions within Azerbaijan

-Working Groups meetings

- national two day PRSP conference, July 2002

Azerbaijan

- media campaign

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8. UNDP Role in PRSP preparation and implementation

Facilitation of PRSP process providing policy advice, building Government capacity and

ensuring public participation

Azerbaijan

New RR paid much attention to PRSP

UNDP supports the Government with project

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UNDP role is well received by donors and Government of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

To establish Poverty Monitoring Unit within Ministry of Economic Development

PRSP related upstream project proposals were developed by UNDP programme staff in most urgent area of poverty: employment creation in the non-oil sector

UNDP Azerbaijan has been selected for evaluation of UNDP role in PRSP implementation . Presently Evaluation of UNDP role in PRSP is being conducted in Azerbaijan.

8 (cont.)

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9. UNICEF Role(Dr. Nazim Agazade)

Facilitation of PRSP process in the social sector (Health, Education, Child Protection, CRC, Young People’s Health and Development): establishment of Working Groups,

Azerbaijan

National Conference on PRSP with participation of Government, UN, NGOs, professional organization, community representatives organized jointly by the Government and UNICEF

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10. Key documents Produced

- Sector Policy Notes (SPN) on different strategic areas of development of the country, 2001

Azerbaijan

- Interim PRSP, June 5, 2001

- Final PRSP or currently SPPRED (State Program on Poverty Reduction and Economic Development in Azerbaijan), October 2002

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11. Key PRSP Guiding principles1. To ensure that the PRSP is the result of a participatory process

Azerbaijan 2. The need to prioritise and bear in mind hard budget constraints3. To define policy actions which can be implemented and monitored.

4. To ensure environmentally-sustainable economic growth 5.To respect the rights of men and women to participate fully and equally in society; 6. To solve the problems faced by the IDP and refugee population.

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MDGs have also been considered in the development of PRSP’s objectives.

Azerbaijan

The government has also attempted to ensure that the policy measures outlined in the PRSP are compatible with the on-going programmes and agreements with international organizations.

11 (cont.)

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12. Key aims of Poverty Reduction Strategy Poverty Reduction Strategy based on six key strategic aims:

(i) the facilitation of an enabling environment for growth of income-generating opportunities;

(i i) maintenance of macroeconomic stability;

(i i i) improvement in the quality of, and equity in access to, basic health and education services;

(iv) improvement of infrastructure (including roads, delivery of utility services, communications, irrigation);

(v) reform of the existing system of social protection to give more effective protection to the vulnerable; and

(vi) improvement of the living conditions and opportunities of the refugees and IDP population.

Azerbaijan

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13. Launch of PRSP- Azerbaijan is the second country in CIS where PRSP is launched (after Kirgizstan) and third country in RBEC National Conference launching the PRSP took place, (Baku, Gulustan Palace, 25 October, 2002

Azerbaijan

- List of participants included President of Azerbaijan and other top level management of the country, donor community(bilateral and multilateral), NGO/CBOs, Private sector(BP,etc)- UNDP RR (was first non-government speaker) and DRR made interesting presentations at the event

- UNDP folder with PRSP related project proposals developed by UNDP programme staff were delivered to participants/donors

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14. Web resources on PRSP in the Republic of Azerbaijan (2003-2005)

UNDP web-site:

www.un-az.org/undp

Ministry of Economic Development web-site:

www.economy.gov.az/prsp

Azerbaijan

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-Started in July 2002 after message from director of RBEC on MDGs

- UNCT discussed the UN MDG Strategy and agreed that UNDP will facilitate/coordinate MDG process in Azerbaijan

- UNCT focal point (Dr.Nazim Agazade) and UNDP focal point (Shahin M. Panahov) selected

Azerbaijan

15. MDG process in Azerbaijan

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- UN CT Technical Working group is in the process of preparation

- PRSP Government focal point appointed as MDG focal point(Mr.Mehman Abasov-Chief of PRSP Secretariat)

- Work Plan and Strategy for implementation of MDGs and preparation of MDG Report is in the process of formulation

Azerbaijan

15 (cont.)

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16. Financial resources for attaining PRSP/MDGs

- Oil Fund(more than $600mln)

-multibillion investment is expected in 2002- 2005 for PRSP implementation

-annual increase of GDP ~ 9-10% during recent years, but mainly in oil sector

Azerbaijan

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17. PRSP vs. MDGs

Our Government perception is that there is no contradiction and

PRSP is a strategic tool to attain MDGs

Azerbaijan

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18. Problems with PRSP/MDG implementation

- how to improve statistics and data collection methodology?

- how to measure progress?

- how to link financial resources with MDGs?

Azerbaijan

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19. Questions

- Big difference between timeframe of PRSP

(2002-2005) and MDG (2000-2015).

What happens after 2005?

- How to operationalise MDGs?

- How to organise Country analysis on strategy and financing for achieving the MDGs

(similar to Global Millenium Project lead by Professor Jeffery Sachs )?

Azerbaijan

- Which indicators to be selected/reported on?

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20. Suggestions- Preparation of Regional(ie RBEC, transition for transition countries) MDG reports along with Global and Country Reports

- "MDGs Process in RBEC Countries" Table enhanced and available on-line for updating (eg RBM/SRF)

- MDG web-sites in local languages

Azerbaijan

- MDG recognition should be mandatory for Project Document formulation and evaluation of on-going projects- Results Based Management(RBM) tools (Strategic Results Framework -SRF, Results Oriented Annual Report-ROAR, Management Results Framework-MRF should be updated in regard with MDGs

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- Training/Learning materials on MDGs need to be available for national counterparts in local languages

-Regular Training courses on MDGs should be organised for UNDP staff

-Tool kits on MDGs prepared for RBEC region(in English&Russian, then translated into national languages)

- RCA format should incorporate MDG related activities/performance assessment

Azerbaijan

20 (cont.)

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21. MDG Table for Azerbaijan (current situation/baseline data-

attached)

According to PRSP/MDG Government focal point there is no doubt on

attainment of first goal: Halve the proportion of people living below the

national poverty line by 2015

Azerbaijan