WB ready to continue support education in Azerbaijan
By Nigar Orujova
World Bank is ready to continue supporting the development of education in Azerbaijan, the bank's Baku Office said on November 8.
"We are in constant contact with the Education Ministry. A few ideas for future cooperation are now being discussed, and created during an established dialogue," the office said.
The dialogue includes regular visits by the World Bank representatives to Azerbaijan.
"Taking into account the recently adopted Strategy for the Development of Education in Azerbaijan, there is good reason to believe that our cooperation in this area will continue to improve," the bank said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev approved the "National Strategy of Education Development in Azerbaijan" in October. It contains a number of reforms, including the expansion of the use of modern technology, changes in teaching programs, and transition to the 12 year education system.
The World Bank is currently financing three educational projects in Azerbaijan. The first $5 million loan was made by the bank in 1999. The second project aimed at improving education quality cost over $20 million in 2003. The costs of the third 2008 project have reached $45 million.
The World Bank is also discussing the issues of reforming and improving higher education system in the country.
Earlier, the bank announced plans to allocate about $30-40 million to this project. However, the bank has postponed the implementation of the new project until Azerbaijan prepares a national strategy for the development of education.
The bank also expressed satisfaction at the implementation of the second project on developing rural investments in Azerbaijan.
"The project is far from complete, but it is being implemented on schedule," the office said.
The bank said that the issue of allocating additional financing to the project is also being discussed.
"The World Bank hasn't received an official request from the country's government on this issue yet," the office said.
The second project "Azerbaijan Rural Investment" (AzRIP-2) was put into force at the end of 2012.
This project is based on the results of the first project, which has helped to increase revenues of 600,000 farmers, improve irrigation services for 700,000 people, and provide quality drinking water to 150 villagers.
The project will cover five main areas: plains of Shirvan, Mugan-Salyan, Nakhchivan, and the northern and north-western areas of Azerbaijan.
The Baku office also said that the World Bank representatives
got to see the implementation process of the Integrated Solid Waste
Management Project in Azerbaijan.
"The WB's review mission was in Baku from November 3 to November 8,
and studied the course of the work within the project. Such
missions are regular practice," the office said.
The mission's visit was related to the allocation of additional
financing to the project.
In June 2013, the WB's Board of Directors approved the allocation
of an additional $47.1 million to this project.
According to the bank estimates, some 1.8 million tons of municipal solid waste is generated in Greater Baku per year. The Bank's experts believe this figure will double in the next 20 years through the demographic growth and increasing incomes of the population.
The project was approved by the Board of Directors in June 2008, and its implementation began in 2009. The total cost of the project was $41.5 million, some $29.5 million of which fell to the WB loan and the remaining part was funded by Azerbaijan's government.
The investment portfolio of the World Bank in Azerbaijan consists of 17 projects. The World Bank has financed as many as 54 projects worth of over $3 billion since the country joined the bank.