Under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan, which has ascended to the peak of Victory, fully ensured its territorial integrity and sovereignty, and entered a period of dynamic progress, is also a state that has achieved significant social advancements. The First Vice-President, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, through her resolute and multifaceted activities based on the mission of loyal service to the Motherland and the people, has made significant contributions to the comprehensive development of our country, as well as to the constant strengthening of the social protection system and to ensuring that vulnerable groups of the population are surrounded with attention and care.

Alongside the fields of science and education, culture, healthcare and sports, and the preservation and promotion of our national and cultural values, ensuring sustainable social development always occupies a special place in her activities. Her projects and initiatives, which embody humanism, justice, nobility, and kindness, play a vital role in this area.

At the initiative of the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, the DOST Concept, successfully implemented in recent years, has enabled 161 social services to be delivered through a “single window” mechanism, on a modern, flexible, transparent, and citizen-oriented basis. Since May 2019, seven DOST Centers, a “Smart DOST” service point in Aghali village of Zangilan, and a branch of the Karabakh Regional DOST Center in Shusha have been established, and work is currently underway to expand the DOST infrastructure to other regions. Already 3.8 million citizens have benefited from DOST services, with a citizen satisfaction rate of 98.6 percent.

Recognized as a new brand of our country, the DOST model has, over the past period, received more than 60 international awards, including over 10 “Best Practice for Europe” awards, been acknowledged by the UN with the status of “Innovative Public Service Solutions,” and was assessed in the EU Business Environment Report as one of Azerbaijan’s three most advanced reforms.

Providing attention and care to vulnerable groups is one of the main directions of the activities of the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva. The DOST Inclusive Development and Creativity Center, established on her initiative and inaugurated in October 2021, plays an important role in developing the creative potential of persons with disabilities, members of families of martyrs, children deprived of parental care, and other vulnerable groups, and in their overall integration into society. This Center, the first and largest inclusive creativity and development space in the South Caucasus, along with its branches in Ismayilli and Barda, has provided services to 770 beneficiaries over the past period.

At the same time, at the initiative of the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, significant work has been carried out in recent years to provide housing for graduates of state child institutions. As one of the important socially significant projects of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, three multi-apartment residential buildings were constructed in Absheron and allocated for the use of these graduates. In these buildings, functioning as a “Graduates’ Home” under the Social Services Agency of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of Population, 365 graduates have been provided with housing. As a continuation of this noble initiative, hundreds of other graduates of state child institutions have also been provided with apartments in newly constructed residential complexes.

Providing consistent support for the rehabilitation of our servicemen wounded in battles for the defense of the territorial integrity of our country also holds a special place in the activities of the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva. Within a short period, servicemen wounded in the April 2016 battles were supplied, under a project of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, with high-tech prostheses produced by globally renowned companies in Germany, Iceland, and the United Kingdom. Following our glorious Victory in the Patriotic War, and as part of the large-scale social support package for families of martyrs and war participants implemented by order of the Head of State, 494 servicemen have been provided with 612 high-tech prostheses during the post-war period.

At the same time, through the initiative and support of the First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva, the establishment of the Child Rehabilitation Center in Baku, regional information centers for persons with limited physical abilities in Nakhchivan, Ganja, and Yevlakh, as well as the creation of modern, exemplary living and rehabilitation conditions in social service institutions for children with disabilities have been ensured.

Furthermore, residents of social service institutions, including the elderly, have always been surrounded by her attention and care. The Heydar Aliyev Foundation frequently organizes noble events in these institutions. During the pandemic period, the Foundation carried out consistent support measures to protect residents of social service institutions, including the elderly, from COVID-19 infection. The Foundation’s “Regional Development” Public Union also provided important support to the expansion of the self-employment programme through the “Social Gardens” project, under which hundreds of low-income families were assisted in establishing intensive orchards, vegetable, and horticultural farms.

All these activities demonstrate that ensuring social development occupies an important place in the work of the First Vice-President, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva, and reflect her high attention and care for the continuous support, rehabilitation, and integration into society of vulnerable groups of the population.