Azerbaijan Rapid Technical Assistance Facility

Azerbaijan Rapid Technical Assistance Facility (AZTAF) is a technical assistance program for the Republic of Azerbaijan financed by the European Union and implemented by the World Bank. The AZTAF program is aligned with Azerbaijan’s National Priorities and goals of Socio-economic development Strategy for 2022-2026.

The AZTAF program builds on the World Bank Group’s ongoing and long-standing engagements in Azerbaijan in areas, such as inclusive growth, public and corporate governance, green growth, human capital development and social inclusion and aims:

• to enhance energy efficiency-enabling environment
• to support establishment of a national framework for water security
• to develop high-speed digital connectivity
• to strength the corporate governance of SOEs
• to enhance the integrity and accountability of public administration
• to expand the innovation in the government’s rural and local economic development strategy and programs
• to address the gender-based occupational segregation in the labor market
• to build essential skills among women run small and micro entrepreneurs in rural areas
• to improve the disability assessment system in Azerbaijan.

AZTAF finances 9 technical assistance activities:

• Energy efficiency and climate
• Improving water security in Azerbaijan
• High-speed digital connectivity for inclusion and competitiveness
• SOE corporate governance and accountability reform
• Strengthening Azerbaijan’s public procurement systems
• Preparation of a “smart villages” program as an innovative approach to rural and local economic development
• Addressing gender-based occupational segregation for better governance and stronger economic development
• Supporting women with essential business skills
• Improving the disability assessment system in Azerbaijan.

Energy efficiency and climate

This component supports operationalizing an Energy Efficiency (EE) Fund, strengthening the EE policy enabling environment and identifying investment opportunities for EE interventions in public buildings, residential, commercial, and industrial buildings. In addition, Development of National Renovation Program for private and public buildings is being supported under this component helps the government to prepare a comprehensive set of actions to support renovation of private and public buildings to improve the energy performance.

Improving water security in Azerbaijan

This technical assistance supports the improvement of water security in Azerbaijan by generating priority knowledge products for application in the sector. This TA is organized around two overarching programs: Modernizing the water Sector Institutions, and Prioritization of Investments. The activities supported by these programs focus on the roles and responsibilities of the multiple water sector agencies, with a deeper dive into managing water resources, irrigation, and water supply and sanitation.

High-Speed Digital Connectivity for Inclusion and Competitiveness

The technical assistance’s goal is to develop the necessary enabling environment foundations to implement government’s vision for digital transformation as a driver of sustainable growth. It also helps to improve the necessary policy anchor to guide economy-wide digital transformation and establishing Azerbaijan as a digital connectivity and services hub through the preparation of recommendations for a time-bound digital transformation and data strategy.

SOE corporate governance and accountability reform

The TA supports the government’s SOE reform agenda through assessing the status of selected SOEs, including status of reform implementation, challenges, and priorities for the SOE sector. The technical assistance aims to enhance the government's capacity for SOE reporting, accountability, and communication, procurement function, enforcing unified governance standards, and better organization of financial relations with the state.

Strengthening Azerbaijan’s public Procurement systems

This technical assistance supports the government in enhancing the integrity and accountability of public administration. It helps to improve the transparency and value for money of public procurement through an evaluation of the strategic procurement system and e-government procurement (e-GP) readiness. The provision of technical assistance is expected to facilitate the government's efforts to optimize public expenditure.

Preparation of a “Smart Villages” Program as an innovative approach to rural and local economic development

This program supports a set of activities aimed at improving government’s capacity and readiness to design and implement a ‘smart villages program’ promoting the use of digital technology, infrastructure, equitable access, and knowledge to improve rural economic opportunities. The activities aim to contribute to fostering an entrepreneurial and innovation-based culture, reducing urban-rural disparities, and making communities more resilient. Through several analytical studies and capacity-building initiatives, the government has been assisted in creating focused interventions to improve well-being for rural communities across economic and social dimensions.

Addressing gender-based occupational segregation for better governance and stronger economic development

Activities under this component contributes to addressing gender-based occupational segregation in the labor market to implement the ongoing Labor Code reform that has lifted legal restrictions to women’s employment in the country. Encouraging females to enter a range of male-dominated fields of education and employment and working with selected SOEs to identify and address gender gaps in their respective workforce are the primary elements of the technical assistance activity

Supporting women with essential business skills

Specific activities include undertaking a needs assessment of women entrepreneurs for financial and non-financial services in rural communities across the country and developing and delivering a training program based on the needs assessment. It enables female-managed businesses to build essential skills in a wide range of areas, such as business planning and financial management. It aids them in expanding their businesses and links them to relevant financial service providers.

Improving the disability assessment system in Azerbaijan

The objective of the technical assistance is to support the government in improving their disability assessment system through following activities:

• a comprehensive assessment of the country's disability system, policies, and programs;
• building the government’s capacity to pilot a new method of assessment based on using a psychometric instrument and recommendations on improving disability assessment system;
• and capacity building for relevant government entities to pilot WHODAS - generic assessment instrument developed by WHO in order to provide a standardized tool for measuring functioning across cultures and for assessment purposes, both clinical and at the population level.

The AZTAF program was launched with a total budget of EUR 5.25 million, funded by the EU and implemented by the World Bank. This three-year program includes a series of programmatic and on-demand activities that are aligned with the four priority areas of the EU-Azerbaijan Partnership Priorities including:

• strengthening institutions and good governance
• enhancing economic development and market opportunities
• boosting connectivity, energy efficiency, environment, and climate action
• allowing for mobility and people-to-people contacts.

The program’s goal is to provide advisory and analytical support and capacity building to the Government of Azerbaijan in line with the Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities. This EU-World Bank Facility provides advisory support to the government focusing on enhancing social inclusion and connectivity, spurring economic reforms, strengthening public sector governance, and facilitating an effective post-COVID-19 recovery.