The Azerbaijan State News Agency

SOCIETY

UNDP Resident Representative: The Government of Azerbaijan has made timely efforts to contain and address immediate challenges of the pandemic

Baku, June 19, AZERTAC 

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) makes its contribution to fight against coronavirus in Azerbaijan. In his online interview with AZERTAC, UNDP Resident Representative Alessandro Fracassetti highlighted measures in response to COVID-19 and other social projects implemented by the Organization in Azerbaijan. AZERTAC presents the interview:

-What is UNDP doing to support Azerbaijan in the fight against coronavirus? How do you assess the current measures taken to combat the pandemic in Azerbaijan?

-UNDP has been working closely with the government of Azerbaijan and the United Nations family to address the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We have continued operating at full capacity in teleworking modality throughout the pandemic and have rapidly repurposed our operations and projects to support national efforts to combat the virus and mitigate the impacts especially in the areas of healthcare, education and support for the most vulnerable in society.

The Government of Azerbaijan has made timely efforts to contain and address the immediate challenges of the pandemic and is spearheading an effective response by increasing social benefits for vulnerable groups.

We have also been working closely with the government to measure the impact of COVID-19 (on a number of key sectors) and to ensure that plans in response to the pandemic take into account the needs of the most vulnerable.

As an example, we are supporting our longstanding partner the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the labour and employment market.

At the same time, we have been providing assistance to the Ministry to ensure the successful implementation of the self-employment programme by moving all training to online platforms and enable up to 500 people with disabilities to start their own business and become financially independent.

This online platform will also provide opportunities for more than 12,000 people to be enrolled into a nationwide self-employment programme run by the Government of Azerbaijan since 2016.

-The United Nations, in cooperation with the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, is implementing various digital projects to take urgent and effective actions against COVID-19. Since the first day of the pandemic, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, UNDP and the SUP.VC Acceleration Center organised a Global Virtual Hackathon to bring together technological solutions to combat the pandemic. Are you satisfied with the results of this initiative?

-Yes. UNDP partnered with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies and the SUP.VC Accelerator to organize Azerbaijan’s first ever global virtual hackathon.

We invited developers, innovators, companies, NGOs and active community members across the world to offer tech ideas and solutions to help improve people’s lives during the pandemic.

We managed to bring together over 600 applicants from over 40 countries and it was amazing to see them working together as one for 48 hours, across multiple locations and time zones, developing ideas to help in the fight against COVID-19.

I was also particularly glad that one of the top three prizes was awarded to a team from Azerbaijan – for an idea to help support SMEs through a voucher scheme allowing people to buy goods and services in advance at a discount. I hope they will bring it to life soon.

This is a great recognition that Azerbaijan’s youth has much talent and creativity to offer.

Fighting COVID-19 requires and will require out-of-the box ideas and solutions, and I am glad that Azerbaijan was among the first countries in the region to harness the potential of digital solutions.

We are also supporting the Ministry in enhancing internet capacity and digital connectivity.

-As part of the support of the United Nations Development Programme to the government of Azerbaijan, and in cooperation with Ezgil Medical Technologies, a new mobile app has been launched to help medical personnel. Can you please tell us more about UNDP’s efforts to support e-healthcare in Azerbaijan?

-This new mobile app for medical professionals is one of a series of digital tools that we helped develop together with the Ministry of Health’s Public Health and Reforms Center.

Early on in the crisis, we both recognized the need to rapidly deploy innovative digital solutions to help healthcare professionals cope better with the pandemic.

Our primary focus has been on solutions aimed at immediately improving e-healthcare and electronic resources for medical professionals to advance knowledge in the field of epidemiology and public health.

For example, one of our first joint interventions was the development of a coronavirus self-checker bot to help inform people what to do if they have potential symptoms of COVID-19. The bot has helped the health authorities answer more queries online, freeing up resources to enable medical professionals to look after patients.

We are also planning to deploy an e-course platform and an app to support doctors and nurses with latest treatment protocols.

What’s important to emphasize here is that the technology acquired and the IT skills gained developing these digital solutions will be used for further expansion of e-healthcare in the country and serve as a blueprint for the future of public health.

At the same time, we also partnered with develop a bot to answer questions from the public about COVID-19, and gives prompt, reliable and official information 24 hours a day.

It can cover up to 1 million users at the same time and it is available to all Azerbaijani speaking citizens worldwide.

To date, the bot has had over 150,000 interactions and the most frequent questions are about statistics and number of cases.

The bot is a very good tool to fight misinformation, which threatens national pandemic responses worldwide and puts lives and livelihoods at risk.

These solutions are not only helping expand the digital capacity of Azerbaijan’s healthcare system in response to the ongoing pandemic but can be further scaled up to support and improve the system in the post COVID-19 era.

-You have also been focusing on environmental protection. What are some of the most recent initiatives that you have been working on?

-For over 20 years, UNDP has been working closely with the government and national partners, primarily the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources to adopt prudent climate change adaptation and mitigation policies, to promote energy efficiency, and prepare for extreme weather events that climate change brings.

We are supporting the Government of Azerbaijan in ensuring the protection of this country’s valuable biodiversity and demonstrating the benefits of investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

We are supporting Azerbaijan in its actions to tackle Climate Change. We welcome the recent

re-establishment of the State Commission on Climate Change under the Deputy Prime Minister and are ready to support the government’s efforts in enhancing its CO2 emissions monitoring system.

UNDP has also been working with smallholder farmers. Implemented together with the Ministry of Agriculture, we have an ongoing project on agro-biodiversity that teaches farmers about sustainable agriculture. And we partner with the Genetic Resources Institute of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences to revive and preserve a range of native species of wheat, vegetables and crops.

Azerbaijan has made some important steps in recent years to protect its environment. But there’s a need for support from all citizens to continue building a sustainable legacy for future generations.

This is why we recently launched two interesting initiatives. We joined forces with the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the EU to launch Ozun Yarat to encourage more people in Azerbaijan to ‘upcycle’ products they would normally throw away. Upcycling is increasingly popular throughout the world and we hope that the Ozun Yarat platform will help to boost this trend in Azerbaijan, inspiring a flood of innovative solutions for making the best use of old products and household waste.

We also just launched Azerbaijan’s first water-themed hackathon calling on all citizens to come up with tech solutions to water challenges and help raise awareness of the vital importance of water.

The need to protect the environment lies at the heart of all decision-making – including personal decisions. By changing our behaviour – and our consumption habits above all – we can all be healthier, safer and more prosperous.

-Worldwide, women and youth have been affected the most by the pandemic. How is UNDP helping to ensure support to the most vulnerable communities in Azerbaijan?

-We partnered with the nine Women Resource Centers that we helped establish country wide together with the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs to help organise professional online psychotherapy sessions for women in rural areas. This initiative addresses an urgent need for support at a time when women are at a significantly higher risk of domestic violence due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the effects of social isolation and economic stress.

Also, women from some of the remotest parts of the country have regularly been participating in our online business development trainings over recent months, including courses covering the basis of finance, marketing and sales. Successful candidates have already received all the necessary equipment to start their own businesses.

In the area of education, UNDP helped introduce e-education for people with disabilities, students and farmers, with courses available through TV broadcasts, the Internet and WhatsApp.

For example, in the area of vocational education, together with the European Union and State Agency for Vocational Education we helped to produce a series of TV and online classes to help ensure that VET students don’t miss out on their lessons during COVID-19.

We home-delivered art materials to all students enrolled in our inclusive traditional arts programme to make sure that they continue to create and make progress from home, while also interacting with their teachers and friends online.

And we introduced e-trainings for farmers on best ways to plant and fertilize crops, and provided them with protective equipment to ensure they stay safe in times of COVID-19.

UNDP remains committed to continue helping the people of Azerbaijan throughout this pandemic and beyond. We are stronger together and we must leave no one behind.

Share news on social media

Follow us on social network

Transit officials approve New York City traffic congestion fee

Azerbaijani weightlifters to fight for glory at 2024 IWF World Cup

Taha Ayhan: We want to share the story of the liberation of Shusha with the whole world

Hirshhorn at 50: ‘Revolutions’ offers an artistic journey through time, Arts innovations

Attacks in NYC transit jump a massive 50% as subway murders surge: stats

Protocol signed to implement Shusha OIC Youth Capital-2024 program

Pope appears in better health, praises Israeli and Arab fathers who both lost daughters in conflict

Latvian foreign minister resigns amid private flights controversy

Azerbaijan's Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population meets with UNDP Resident Representative

Rediscovered Raphael masterpiece to be exhibited in French Basilica

Draft law on Corsica`s autonomy adopted. MP Josepha Giacometti Piredda protests describing it as “shackles”

China’s CATL to cut its EV battery costs by up to 50% this year, heralding a price war

UN chief applauds Türkiye's Global Zero Waste Initiative, calls for end to waste cycle

Azerbaijani ambassador meets with representatives of Egyptian media outlets

Türkiye ‘neutralizes’ 38 PKK/YPG terrorists over past week

Azerbaijani boxers claim 2 golds at Great Silk Way international tournament

Azerbaijani female boxers claim nine medals at Great Silk Way International Tournament-2024

From Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa

With 783 million people going hungry, a fifth of all food goes to waste, UN says

Trump leads Biden by 5 points in new national poll

Chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee meets with Egyptian ambassador

Georgian Gov’t approves 2024-2025 climate change action plan

Guivami Rahimli: “…Azerbaijan’s aim is to transform the role of energy in international relations from fueling disagreements to oiling cooperation…”

Azerbaijani Ombudsperson meets with residents of Armenian origin in Khankendi

Seoul bus drivers go on general strike

Azerbaijan to pin hopes on seven female gymnasts at 35th Rhythmic Gymnastics International Grand Prix in France

Western Azerbaijan Community issues statement

Practical classes held with Military Institute’s cadets

Telescope shares clear image of Sagittarius A* black hole in Milky Way Galaxy

Artificial intelligence laboratory launched at Baku Higher Oil School for first time among higher education institutions in Azerbaijan

Election results confirm Bassirou Diomaye Faye's victory in Senegal's presidential race

Azerbaijani oil price declines in global markets

Oil prices surge in global markets

Moscow checks, discusses with Baku alleged arms deliveries to Kiev — MFA

Russian diplomat accuses France of intelligence operations in Caucasus

Childbirths in S. Korea hit another low in January

Azerbaijani delegation of Chamber of Accounts visits US

China opens WTO dispute against US subsidies to protect its EV industry

Aykhan Hajizade: We strongly condemn anti-Azerbaijani allegations in report prepared by group led by Rasmussen

Indonesia's Marapi volcano erupts

Türkiye says it will always ‘stand shoulder to shoulder’ with Pakistan in fight against terrorism

Obama, fearing Biden loss to Trump, is on the phone to strategize

Georgian PM, Parliament Speaker nominate national football team for Medal of Honour

Türkiye to host 2027 European Games

Passenger traffic at Baku Airport increased by more than 30% during the holidays

Number of those injured in Moscow attack rises to 360

35 more families relocated to Fuzuli city get house keys VIDEO

Controversial Titanic floating door prop sells for $718,750

Humans pass more viruses to other animals than we catch from them

On World Theatre Day, ICESCO calls for greater integration of “father of all arts” into school curricula

Black Carbon: Not just pollutant, but also driver of global warming

From Daniel Noboa Azín, Constitutional President of the Republic of Ecuador

Two Azerbaijani boxers qualify for final of Great Silk Way International Tournament-2024

1 in 3 migrant deaths occur en route to escape conflict: UN migration agency

ICESCO obtains Observer status in Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network

China sends multirole satellite into orbit VIDEO

® Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Ivanic elected Honorary Member of the Editorial Board of the My Azerbaijan International Magazine

Japan aims to launch next-generation passenger aircraft by around 2035

Global oil prices drop

Austria stun Türkiye 6-1 in international friendly

Six workers presumed dead after crippled cargo ship knocks down Baltimore bridge

Azerbaijani oil price drops on world markets

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry: Statements by EU and US clearly have a one-sided and biased character VIDEO

2 UK ministers resign, forcing Sunak into Cabinet reshuffle

Poland, Ukraine bag EURO 2024 tickets

Azerbaijan relocates 35 more families to Fuzuli city VIDEO

Speaker of Azerbaijan's Parliament meets with ICESCO Director General

Attack on Turkish nationals in Belgium demonstrates PKK terror threat to Western Europe: Türkiye

Moldovan delegation addresses appeal to PACE regarding Azerbaijan

AI plays key role in protecting Australia's giant kelp forests

ANAMA: 462.1 hectares of territory cleared of mines and UXOs over past week

Moscow court arrests eighth suspect in Crocus City Hall terrorist attack case

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry: Another stronghold of Armenians found in Karabakh region

Global Times newspaper hails Azerbaijan-China relations as "Gold standard friendship"

Over 1.6M competitors applied to technology contests at Türkiye's TEKNOFEST

Western Azerbaijan Community strongly condemns Tovio Klaar's anti-Azerbaijani stance and approach violating media freedom

Boeing CEO to step down in management shake-up as manufacturing issues plague storied plane maker

Geneva hosts 3rd Conference of Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network

To His Excellency Mr. Mohammed Shahabuddin, President of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Death toll in Moscow terror attack rises to 139: Russia

Azerbaijan draw 1-1 with Bulgaria in FIFA Series 2024

Turkish foreign minister, NATO chief discuss forthcoming meeting, regional developments

Speaker of Azerbaijan’s Parliament meets with Serbian counterpart

Azerbaijani female gymnast qualifies for Paris 2024 Olympics

EU investigates Apple, Meta and Google owner Alphabet under new tech law

Azerbaijan to face Bulgaria in FIFA Series 2024

State Security Service conducts an operation: a person planning acts of terror arrested in Azerbaijan

Ecuador's youngest mayor found shot to death alongside staffer

® Former President of Croatia Ivo Josipoviс holds meeting with staff of My Azerbaijan International Magazine

Azerbaijani aerobic gymnasts win silver medal at Cantanhede tournament

Azerbaijani shooters secure gold medal at international tournament in Germany

Speaker of Milli Majlis addresses 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

Release of the Press Service of the President

Earthquake of magnitude 6.7 strikes Papua New Guinea, GFZ says

King of Sweden honours ABBA members with Order of Vasa for outstanding achievements in music

Switched at birth at a Manitoba hospital over 60 years ago, 2 men seek answers, compensation from province

5 dead in chemical factory fire in western India

Azerbaijani shooter gains second gold medal at international tournament in Germany

Speaker of Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova chairs Asian Parliamentary Assembly Co-ordinating Meeting

Argentine President: I will continue to spare no effort to strengthen our bilateral cooperation and economic relations in areas of mutual interest