The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population held a board meeting dedicated to the results of the work done in the fields of labor, employment, and social protection during the first half of this year and the tasks ahead.

The Chairman of the Board, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Anar Aliyev emphasized that as a result of the special care of President Ilham Aliyev for the social sphere, significant successes have been achieved in strengthening the social protection system in recent years, and these advances have been continued in the current year.

The Minister noted that further increases in pensions have been made since the beginning of 2026, and in the first half of 2026, 3 billion 916 million manats were allocated to pension payments, which is 368 million manats more than in the corresponding period of last year. It was noted that in total, 2.2 million people were paid pensions, benefits, and stipends, as well as targeted social assistance, and there was an increase in the funds paid for each type of social security.

It was noted that proactive services provided through electronic systems have been continued and further expanded. As one of the important achievements of this year, the State Social Protection Fund under the Ministry was awarded the UN Public Service Award for its proactive and transparent, accessible, fair and inclusive services.

By the Decree of the Head of State dated March 19, 2026, a new important reform stage was entered, aimed at a more advanced and effective organization of the management of the health insurance system. The State Health Insurance and Expertise Agency under the Ministry was established based on the merger of the State Agency for Compulsory Health Insurance and the State Medical-Social Expertise and Rehabilitation Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population.

Currently, work is underway to fully digitize services for compulsory health insurance. The main priorities are to ensure the transparency and efficiency of referrals for compulsory health insurance services, and to improve the quality of providing the population with medical services.

The work to ensure employment for residents resettled in the liberated territories - their native lands - continued and expanded this year. The number of residents provided with employment has exceeded 11.1 thousand. More than 900 residents have been involved in the self-employment program. The main goal is to expand employment programs in the mentioned areas, and joint work is being carried out in this area in close cooperation with employers. In the first half of the year, further steps were taken to expand the network of DOST centers. In January of this year, DOST branches were put into operation in Tartar, in June in Neftchala, and preparatory work is underway to open new DOST centers and branches.

The meeting discussed the work done in the fields of activity of the Ministry, as well as the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in the first half of the year, the tasks ahead, and approved 86 newly developed and 52 updated professional and qualification standards.