Media Center

News Release

Email this   printer friendly format

ADB Projects will Help Poor Mothers and Displaced Persons in Azerbaijan

MANILA, PHILIPPINES (12 March 2002) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Azerbaijan with grants for two projects to help the poor directly. One will improve nutrition, especially for pregnant women, to reverse an alarming increase in retarded children in the region. The other is to help internally displaced persons (IDPs) integrate into the social mainstream in Mingechevir. The grants will be from ADB's Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), financed by the Government of Japan.

A signing ceremony was held in Baku today between ADB and Azerbaijan to mark the latter's joining an ADB regional project to improve nutrition for poor mothers and children. ADB is adding US$850,000 to the original grant of US$6 million to cover Azerbaijan's participation. The agreement was signed by Mr. Ali Insanov, Minister of Health, for the Government of Azerbaijan and Mr. Geert van der Linden, Director General, East and Central Asia Department, for the ADB.

The project promotes the fortification of salt with iodine and flour with an iron-based premix. Iodine and iron are micronutrients essential for the normal development of the body and brain. Azerbaijan's health services have deteriorated sharply since independence a decade ago and seven out of 13 districts, or almost 50 percent of the population, are severely iodine deficient.

The second grant of US$2.5 million will support a pilot project to integrate IDPs into the local population, using community-based approaches. The proportion of people living in poverty in Azerbaijan rose to 62 percent during the last decade, with poverty reaching particularly high levels among IDPs. The IDPs are vulnerable as many come from rural areas with few of the skills needed for urban living.

The grant will assist about 20,000 IDPs, enabling some of those living in schools and other public facilities to move into their own living quarters. Schools vacated by the IDPs will be refurbished to make them suitable for learning. A revolving fund will be established and managed by nongovernmental organizations for home improvements and enterprise development activities. "Most IDPs are living in public buildings like schools, kindergartens, and dormitories, where conditions fall far below the average living standards of other residents of Mingechevir," says Mr. van der Linden.

The JFPR, which was set up with an initial contribution of 10 billion yen (about $90 million) in 2000 and an additional commitment of 7.9 billion yen (about $65 million) in 2001 from Japan, finances ADB projects directly targeting poor people and prioritizing innovative approaches.

Contacts