Tarana Salifova, Deputy Executive Director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication (CAERC), participated in a roundtable discussion titled “Building a Regional Employment Ecosystem: Mechanisms for Joint Action with Employers” in the city of Khankendi.

The roundtable discussed efforts to ensure sustainable settlement and decent living conditions for the population in the Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur economic regions, integrate residents returning to the liberated territories into the labor market, create new jobs, and expand cooperation with employers. Presentations were delivered on the measures implemented and results achieved within the framework of the First State Program on the Great Return. Participants also exchanged views on existing opportunities and priorities for increasing employment in the regions.

In her speech, Tarana Salifova highlighted the findings of analyses conducted as part of the monitoring and evaluation of the First State Program on the Great Return and the Action Plan on Increasing Employment in the Liberated Territories. She noted that ensuring employment in the liberated territories is not limited to creating new jobs. It also requires aligning the skills and qualifications of residents who have been resettled or are planned to be resettled with the requirements of the labor market in the liberated territories, more actively engaging employers in the process, and organizing employment services in a flexible manner.

Tarana Salifova also emphasized the importance of sharing information on the professional and qualification skills of residents whose return is planned or has already been ensured more efficiently and systematically among relevant institutions. She noted that linking this information with the current and future needs of the labor market could enable more targeted planning of employment measures and more effective use of human capital.

Alongside representatives of CAERC, the event was attended by representatives of the Special Representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the city of Khankendi and the Aghdara and Khojaly districts, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population, the Ministry of Economy, the State Committee for Refugee and IDP Affairs, and other relevant institutions, as well as employers.