Helping Azerbaijan to Collect and Assess Data for Development

What's the situation ?

Life in Azerbaijan has altered considerably since 1990. The size of the population, where people live, how they earn a living and their financial stability have all been affected by the sweeping social and economic changes which followed independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The disruption of ties with the former Soviet Union and communist central planning resulted in economic decline and institutional instability in Azerbaijan. The situation was exacerbated by the Nogorno-Karabakh conflict and by the displacement of 800,000 people. Currently, internally displaced persons account for 10 per cent of the country's total population.

Although per capita GDP has poverty increased in Azerbaijan, it is estimated that half of the population lives in poverty, and an additional 17 per cent in extreme poverty.
Because many young people are migrating to look for work and fertility rates have declined, the population of Azerbaijan is ageing

The Government of Azerbaijan understands the importance of data in planning policies and programmes for national development and has already taken steps to improve the coverage and quality of data.

But more help is needed, particularly to improve the resources and staff capability at the organizations which are involved in collecting and analyzing data about population and development and concerning reproductive health.

For example, a number of independent surveys on reproductive health in Azerbaijan differ considerably from official statistics. Although the Azerbaijan's 2003 State Programme of Poverty Reduction and Economic Development (SPPRED) included some useful preliminary analysis, its findings are not divided by sex. Additional sex-disaggregated data needs to be collected and analyzed to use as a baseline and to monitor progress

In the current economic circumstances, the Government needs support from its development partners to strengthen national capability so as to be able to handle all aspects of collecting, processing, analyzing and disseminating data.

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