22:50, 16 November 2011

World Bank lends 50 million US dollars to Azerbaijan to help IDPs

Azerbaijan and World Bank (WB) signed a loan agreement amounted to 50 million US dollars for the project to improve living conditions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the zone of the Karabakh conflict. The loan is given for 20 years with a five-year grace period.

Let us note that, according to the Azerbaijani State Committee on Refugees and IDPs, during the Karabakh conflict, more than 700,000 people were expelled from their native places. They have settled in 62 towns and districts of Azerbaijan.

According to a staff member of the WB representative office in Baku, On October 27 the Board of Directors of the World Bank approved a loan for this project. The total project cost amounts to 78.5 million dollars, 28.5 million of which will be allocated by the Government of Azerbaijan.

The aim of the project is to improve living conditions for IDPs and to provide them with economic self-reliance. The project will presumably provide 185,000 IDPs in Azerbaijan with better access to infrastructure, services, accommodation and opportunities to gain livelihood, the IA "Novosti-Azerbaijan" reports.