The World Bank (WB) has prepared a project on providing a grant in the amount of $2 million to Azerbaijan to support the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to the lands, liberated from Armenian occupation in 2020, AzVision.az reports, citing the Bank.

Since November 2021, the WB has been providing analytical and technical assistance to Azerbaijan through a State and Peacebuilding Fund-financed, Bank-executed grant called "Support for Peacebuilding and Recovery in Azerbaijan".

Analytical work on informing the State Committee for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, including the survey of IDPs, which focused on understanding the current means of livelihood, was carried out through the grant, as well as a lessons-learned paper on livelihood activities for IDPs was prepared.

"As of July 1, 2021, Azerbaijan is included in the WBG list of Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations (FCS), as a country affected by high-intensity international conflict. The 2020 World Bank Group Strategy on Fragility and Conflict highlights the importance of supporting FCS countries and the complex challenges they face with tailored approaches, policies and instruments. In the case of Azerbaijan, this includes tailored engagement in support of post-conflict recovery and reconstruction," the report said.

The WB noted that the Government of Azerbaijan has established a "First State Program on Great Return" and has already relocated 66 households to a newly-constructed "smart village" in the village of Aghali in the Zangilan district as of July 2022 with plans for resettling a total of 200 households in the village.

"However, it is clear that further movement of displaced people will take time for various reasons, including ongoing border clarifications and safety concerns due to the presence of land mines in the conflict-affected areas. As such, there is a need to address the needs of IDPs who remain poor and vulnerable due to their long-standing situation of displacement and who may not have an opportunity to return to their places of origin for some time," the WB added.

Meanwhile, in addition to the ongoing analytical work, support will be provided to the joint assessment of the reconstruction needs of Fizuli, Agdam and Jabrail, as well as timely advice to the Office of the Special Representative of the President of Azerbaijan in the liberated territories, of the Karabakh economic region, on issues including information systems of management, local self-government and development of the smart city.

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