As a result of reintegration measures, 873 children have been returned to their families from social service institutions
A strong and healthy family institution, the protection of women’s rights and their active participation in public life, as well as ensuring that children grow up in a safe and healthy environment are key conditions for sustainable and inclusive development.
This was stated by Minister of Labour and Social Protection of the Population Anar Aliyev at an event on the topic “Sustainable Development: Family, Women and Child Policy.” He noted that under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, five social reform packages covering 4 million people have been implemented since 2018. These reforms have aimed to strengthen the social protection of low-income families, women, and children.
Speaking about the social protection of children deprived of parental care, Anar Aliyev said that 1,250 children live under permanent state care in social service institutions under the Ministry, where they are provided with residential and semi-residential social, medical-social, socio-cultural, and socio-pedagogical services.
The minister noted that, on the instruction of First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, significant reforms have been implemented in the areas of adoption, foster care, and the reintegration of children into families. Since 2019, when the implementation and regulation of adoption policy was assigned to the Ministry, 865 children have been adopted. Since 2022, the foster care model has been successfully implemented in the country as an important component of family and child policy, and during this period 78 children (34 boys and 44 girls) have been placed in foster families. Foster families receive a monthly allowance of 650 manats and an annual allowance of 800 manats.
Anar Aliyev also stated that one of the key mechanisms aimed at returning children separated from their families for various reasons is reintegration. Since 2020, as a result of these measures, 873 children have been returned to their families from social service institutions.
He further noted that recent legislative changes have removed certain restrictions for women in the labour market. In addition, women’s participation in active employment programmes has been increasing year by year. Of the 113,000 people involved in the self-employment programme over the past period, 31% (around 35,000 people) were women. Since 2018, more than 59,000 people have been involved in vocational training programmes, of whom 61% (around 36,000) were women.
