This week UNDP Resident Representative Alessandro Fracassetti had a series of visits to Ganja, Barda and Tartar. The aim of the visit was to meet with government partners, donors, and beneficiaries and to discuss the results of the ongoing projects in regions.

As part of the visit, he met with the Deputy Resident Director of the State Agency for Vocational Education Jeyhun Karamov and Director of the Ganja State Vocational Education Centre on Industry and Technologies Shahin Maharramov. Together they visited two workshops of the Ganja VE Centre and discussed the ongoing activities, as well as the previous vocational education project and the results achieved. With the support of UNDP, 6 new curricula, 27 training modules, and 10 courses on various specialties have been developed and the infrastructure has been upgraded. In total, about 500 teachers and students benefited from the previous project in modernisation of vocational education. With the new “VET for the Future: Development of VET Providers’ Excellence in Azerbaijan” project — funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP in partnership with the State Agency on Vocational Education, over 3,000 students of VET centres across the country will directly benefit from the modernisation of their institutions.

Later the Resident Representative together with USAID Mission Director in Azerbaijan Jaidev Singh and his delegation, visited the PROGRO Center located in Ganja Technological University. They met with young participants of PROGRO training sessions and awarded them the certificates of accomplishment. “Professional Growth and Innovations Platform – PROGRO” was established in 2019 as part of the “Promoting Innovation and Employment in Azerbaijan” Project funded by USAID and implemented by UNDP and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population. To date, the project has provided training on career planning, professional skills and entrepreneurial thinking to 408 young people from Ganja, Zagatala, Masalli and Sumgayit. During COVID-19, more than 1,000 young people benefited from long-term and short-term professional development training.

Mr. Fracassetti also met with the Head of Barda Executive Committee Vidadi Isayev. He was joined by Sadagat Gahramanova, Deputy Chairperson of the State Committee for Family, Women, and Children Affairs. They discussed the future project on women empowerment to kick off this year in Barda.

UNDP Resident Representative and Deputy Chairperson also visited Tartar where they met with the Head of Tartar Executive Committee Mustagim Mammadov. They discussed the fruitful cooperation within the ‘Early Recovery and Community Resilience for the Most Vulnerable in the Fuzuli-Horadiz, Aghjabadi and Tartar regions of Azerbaijan’ project co-funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and implemented in partnership with the State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs. The project focuses on supporting local development through a series of measures, including enterprise development, vocational training, green jobs and quick impact projects designed to help rehabilitate key local infrastructure based on community priorities.

The regional visit concluded in Tartar Community Resource Hub, with the awarding ceremony of the young executive committee representatives who successfully completed the project’s training series.

Media contact:

For media inquiries, please contact Dilara Umudova, Communications Officer for UNDP in Azerbaijan at dilara.umudova@undp.org and Leyla Gurbanova, Communications and Visibility Specialist for UNDP in Azerbaijan at leyla.gurbanova@undp.org.

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.

Learn more at undp.org or follow at @UNDP.