Questions/Answers

Prior to the establishment of the Agency for Sustainable and Operative Social Provision (hereinafter, DOST, Agency) under the Ministry of Labour and Social Provision of Population (hereinafter, MLSPP), the following issues in the delivery of public services were of serious concern: 1.the main methodological and procedural guidelines were based on outdated approaches, which resulted in constant and recurring problems in the process of providing social services. 2.old model caused long queues, waste of time, disregard for citizens' opinions and complaints, collection of required documents from several authorities, red tape, decentralized delivery of services. Accordingly, a vital need arose for restructuring and optimizing the processes of service provision, and the introduction of innovative solutions: unification of all social service provision processes, the introduction of “single-window” principles. All the above-mentioned led to the creation of DOST model, which differs from “single space” model of ASAN supplying all public services but social. Within three years DOST-model enabled the effective and rapid transition to the new management system. The use of advanced technologies and methodologies in the development of infrastructures for the provision of social services, a strategic approach to the formation of goals and objectives that meet the requirements of a rapidly changing environment, continuous human resource development, and a focus on institutional development were the main criteria for a successful transformation and the smooth transition to digital service provision. The Agency's governance strategy is targeted to boost the population's well-being, strengthen public attention to vulnerable population groups, implement innovative solutions, and maximize citizens' satisfaction with the quality of the service delivery. The Agency serves 2 million-plus people through 4 service centers in Baku and 1 in the Absheron administrative district and provides free 153 services in 10 directions for labor and social security.

Numerous state reforms aimed at improving the well-being of the population, technologies and innovative tools lead to foster inclusion and accessibility in all directions. For the first time, the “single-window” service provision approach in all labour and social security spheres with unified standards and rules was brought into country agenda. DOST became the only front office in country offering services in social sphere and preventing citizens from visits to “back offices”. All population categories get an easy access to a wide portfolio of social services through the "one-stop-shop" platform. This way, the accessibility and universality of services provision was guaranteed.

SDG5: Gender Equality: The Agency promotes and protects gender equality throughout all its operations and activities: services are provided to all users with the same quality and duration. The Agency implements various projects with focus on social protection and employment of women and promotes gender equality in its human resources policy. SDG10: Reduce inequality: The Agency provides universal services to everyone, regardless of gender, religion, race, nationality, language, age, social status and health condition. The Agency follows principles of universality, inclusivity and accessibility in its operation. SDG16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: By the establishment of Agency red tape cases were eliminated, equal access to social services was ensured and by employing of “single-window” model and integrating to the e-gov platform, solid institutional framework was established. Services are provided in the same way for all users. Anticorruption measures and administrative approach prevent discrimination and secure equality. SDG17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goals: To promote sustainable growth by ensuring the access to technologies and knowledge, as well as, to promote the rights of vulnerable groups, the Agency cooperates with local and international institutions such as ILO, UNFPA, UNDP, ISSA, ESN and lead Disability Monitoring Commission and Central Coordination Unit (CCU).

DOST Concept was initiated by The First Vice-President as a forefront of social reforms in 2018. Institutional and legislative framework of Agency was approved by the Presidential Decrees. Agency’s activities are strongly tied with the priorities of “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development”. Beside the adoption of “single-window” model by Service Centers, reliable M&E system, home-based-social services, mobile services, self-service, e-services were established, Call-Center-142 was modernized and standard approach to service provision was adopted through service passports and manuals. The administrative and financial burden of government was significantly decreased after the optimization of service delivery.

Through the innovations brought by the DOST, several shortfalls in governance were addressed. Red tape was eliminated, the risks of corruption and bribery were brought to zero, service delivery duration decreased from several months to an average of 8 minutes, accessibility of services and simultaneous application to more than one services became possible due to the “single-window” and “single front office” platform. Long queues, bureaucracy, limited access to social services, absence of quality assurance and compliance were obviated through the improving the management tools of Agency. Moreover, interinstitutional pilot model Central Coordination Unit (CCU) combines services from 20 executive authorities, such as Ministry of Health, MLSPP, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, State Insurance Commercial Company and State Agency for Compulsory Medical Insurance to provide comprehensive services to war veterans with disability and martyrs’ family members. To protect and promote the rights of people with disabilities (PWD) the Disability Monitoring Commission was established under the chairmanship of the Agency and different government agencies and NGOs were involved in its work.

Agency ensures gender equality in service delivery in equal manner. By 2021, 600000+ services were provided to female 48,56% and 51,44% to male among various age groups. However, 58,3% are women among the most applied age-group 60+. Agency implements several initiatives emphasizing gender equality: - Women’s rights promoting organizations are presented in commission on Disability Monitoring under the DOST Chairmanship; - 66% of women obtained financial support for further career development within “Inclusive Art School” established in partnership with UNDP Azerbaijan; - Agency’s female-male balance is 45%-55%. Women representation on the managerial positions is 10 out of total 21 staff.

The main target groups are retirees, people in-needs, low-income families, war veterans, families of martyrs, PWD, unemployed, children deprived of parental care, family members of prisoners, victims of domestic violence and human trafficking. After initiating the operations of Agency, and according to the Charter of the Agency 153 services gradually converted to electronic mode and 61 of them became available in proactive mode which improved their accessibility. As a result of transferring to a new service model, public social services are delivered to main target groups in a modern, flexible and transparent manner through the “single-window”.

In July 2018 PIU with three sub-groups was established and DOST Concept Paper was prepared. From July to November study of the international experience covering 14 countries in the relevant filed was conducted. Moreover, all social services were categorized under 10 directions and mode of work was determined. As institutional body DOST Agency was established in August 2018 and legislative frameworks were approved in December of the same year. In parallel, in September 2018, Central Information System (CIS) was created and information systems of DOST Agency were integrated into the e-Gov platform, e-social and CIS. Agency officially started its operation with the opening of Baku DOST Center No.1 and administrative building in May 2019. Exemplary Charter of Service Centers was approved. Baku DOST Center No.2 was put into service in December 2019 and the first audit was held. “Strategic Plan of DOST Agency 2021-2022” was approved in January 2020. Baku DOST Center No.3 started its operation in May 2020 and the second Audit was conducted in December. In March 2021, the Baku DOST Center No.4 was established and the first “Inclusive Art School” (IAS) in Azerbaijan was created jointly with UNDP. To ensure sustainability of project, DOST provides information and organizational support with premises, mobilized volunteers to support PWD, incur expenses on cleaning, maintenance, electricity, security, internet. In June 2021, CCU was established to provide 26 social services to war veterans and martyrs’ families. In July 2021 opening of the Absheron DOST Center was held. “Inclusive Center for Development and Creativity” was created within the DOST structure in October 2021. The main purpose of the Center is to help identify and develop the creative potential talents and other skills of PWD, including war veterans, members of martyrs' families, as well as, socially vulnerable groups to push their employment.

Paper-based, unsystematic service provision without standards was overcome with the developed and applied standard operations procedures (service passports, manuals), full digitalization of paper-based documents, and transferring services provision to “single-window” model. To eliminate the lack of ICT literacy, DOST volunteers guide visitors on e-services and, elderly people are being accompanied throughout service provision, as well as, being provided with home-based e-trainings. With digital, proactive, mobile and home-based-social services, the limited access of services to vulnerable groups was obviated. The creation of unified multifunctional platform (CIS) with 17 sub-systems, assist to solve issues with dispersed dataflow within various Ministerial software solutions.

For the first time, social services were provided through “single-window” model based on unification of back and front-offices, as a result, waiting and service durations decreased to 3.08 and 8.30 minutes respectively. Unified approach to service provision was adopted through regulations, e-passports and manuals. Call-Center-142 was re-structured and call-waiting and service durations decreased 25.5 and 7.0 minutes to 2.36 and 4.04 minutes respectively. Ministerial structures in cooperation with DOST level up ITC systems through intensive digitalization reforms and improving of sub-systems. E-social web-application as a sub-module of e-gov portal granted access to citizens even from personal accounts and mobile applications.

In development of DOST Concept, experiences of Chile, Canada, Brazil, Uruguay, China, India, Pakistan, France, Australia, Cambodia, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Norway, Denmark and Rwanda were studied in detail. Experience of Chile's-IPS and Chile-Atiende, Norway-NAV labour and welfare administration centers, Service-Canada and Australia's Department for Social Services was taken as a basis. Experience of Israel, Ukraine and Russia in the organization of home-social services, Mongolian experience in the organization of mobile services has been taken into consideration. International experience in various areas of M&E, such as the “Lawton and Brody Scale”, the “Barthel Index”, the “NPS” and the “CSAT” were used.

CIS automates the creation, collection, processing, storage, and retrieval of information on labour, employment, social protection, social security, and other MLSPP’s services. The technological capability of CIS ensures the smooth operation of "single-window" model. CIS consist of 17 subsystems covering all areas of the social sphere and e-social portal introduces the provision of digital services for citizens. So far, 22 social services have been integrated into the e-government platform.

According to the number of covered population and size of area, DOST service points have been categorized as “DOST Service Center” and “DOST Service Branch”. Implementation of the initiative started with the Baku DOST Center No.1(2019) covering Yasamal, Sabail,Qaradagh administrative districts of Baku, and was expanded to 4 more centers covering additional 12 administrative districts of Baku and Absheron peninsula with average daily capacity of 400 persons/center. Expansion of DOST Service centers was realised as below: 4 Baku DOST centers covering Khazar, Pirallahi districts(2019), Nizami, Sabunchu, Surakhani districts(2020), Binagadi, Narimanov and Absheron districts(2021). Citizens may apply for DOST services via Call-Center-142, e-portal, address their requests and questions regardless of location. From October 2021, citizens living in any region of the country, regardless of place of residence, may apply for 153 social services by approaching any of DOST Service Centers. DOST will expand its Service Centers in the country aiming to establish 17 Centers+55 branches by 2025. The establishment of DOST Agency has drawn widespread national and international interest and DOST has conducted more than 100 meetings to share its experiences with representatives of local and foreign institutions, including ministries and other state agencies from Bulgaria, Russia, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Agency Charter and Guidelines, as well as applied standards, human and volunteer resources management standards, standard operation procedures, e-sources, service passports, manuals, e-services, integrated ICT systems, Call-Center-142, home-based and other mobile services assure future ease for smooth transferability of the DOST concept. In the nearest future, new operational points are planned to start operating in different locations of the country. In 2022, 9 regional branches (Aghjabadi, Aghdam, Beylagan, Imishli, Neftchala, Saatli, Shabran, Shirvan and Siyazan) and 10 regional centers (Baku Dost Center No.5, Sumqayit, Barda, Quba, Sabirabad, Sheki, Ganja, Masalli, Ujar, Shamakhi) will be launched by the end of 2023, as well as, 18 branches in 2024 and 15 branches in 2025. Additional program on shifting of provision social services to DOST from other sub-state agencies is also planned in the framework of “17 centers+55 branches” transformation project. At later stages, those transitions, and restructure will open additional perspective for total digitalization of social services provided to citizens and in its turn will create productive and effective environment for social service provision in the manner of Universality, Transparency, Equality and Accountability. Moreover,DOST considers awareness of the population, citizens-oriented services and preparedness to emergencies as indispensable factors to transfer initiative.

Human. Professional staff, quality recruitment, training algorithms organized and mobilized as specific resources. Overall staff equals to 612 employees, including 12 PWD. Financial. DOST Agency was established as a public legal entity financed from the state budget. This status allows the Agency to receive funding from other sources such as within joint projects (UN, EU), donations from private companies and other organizations. Volunteers. 42000 volunteers’ applications; 1300 trained volunteers attracting on a rotation basis help manage the citizens’ flow, especially the elderlies and PWDs. IT resources. IT systems, e-government, e-social portal, CIS and other information subsystems integrated into other data-sources.

According to “DOST Concept 2020-2025” and its budget forecasting, creation and commissioning of new paid services and reduction of human resources and infrastructure costs by providing most of the services remotely in perspective strengthen the financial sustainability of the Agency. Institutional framework, service passports and manuals, access to CIS and e-social portal and integration to e-government system are considered as institutional sustainability factors. By 2025, all responsibilities on provision of social services will be gradually transferred to DOST.

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DOST considers M&E as an effective quality management tool and applies it regularly. Implementation of “Strategic Plan of DOST Agency 2021-2022” is evaluated once/quarter using “DOST M&E Guidelines”. DOST management systems were subject to ISO evaluation by “Bureau-de-Qualite”LLC, preparation is completed, certification by “Lloyd's Register” is requested for December 2021. ASAN-Index was done by the ASAN experts. Financial audit is completed by “UHY-Audit”LLC and MOORE Azerbaijan(2019-2020). Citizen Satisfaction Index (CSAT) is calculating by the relevant department using Permanent Analysis of Citizen Survey. From the beginning of the 2021, DOST services are subject to the DOST-Index evaluation designed on EFQM model.

- “DOST M&E. Requirements”(2021): Compliance with KPIs and time requirements is evaluating in “%”; - The certification process is underway towards 4 ISO standards: Quality Management System ISO: 9001, Anti-Corruption Management System ISO: 37001, Social Responsibility Management System ISO: 26000, Customer Complaint Management System ISO: 10002; - “ASAN Service Index”: 7 parameters, 25 criteria, 143 sub-criteria; - Financial Audit: compliance with international financial reporting standards; - “Q-Net” and Monitoring Surveys: 9 KPIs, “Traffic lights” model via “Q-Scale”; - DOST Index: KPIs, scores by “Traffic-light” model: comparative and coherent assessment of centers and back offices in 4 directions: Citizen Satisfaction, Functional, Administrative and Technical;

1. DOST M&E (2021): 40 activities accomplished by 100%, 23 by 79%, 28 by 49%, 1 is not started (0%). 2. Financial audit: “The consolidated financial statements accurately and fairly reflect the financial position of the Group as of 31 December 2020 and the financial results and cash flows for the year ended on that date in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)”. 3. ASAN evaluation: “DOST Agency recognized as one of the most reliable public organization and ranked in the 5th position among 28 state bodies”. 4. CSI: “Citizen satisfaction level increased from 82.3% to 98,1%. 5. ISO: current state has been evaluated by independent consultants and 39 standard operations procedures has been developed to obtain 4 ISO certificates by end of 2021; Evaluation was done for certification, procedures in all areas of the Agency's activities are evaluated and harmonized in accordance with standards’ requirements. 6. Preliminary assessment of ISSA Recognition Program Guideline has been completed; existing documents, procedures have been identified. The first version of Workbook on the Service Quality Guideline was drafted. 7. “Traffic lights” model: Internal evaluation of 3 DOST centers handled in 3rd quarter, 2021 showed high efficiency results (“green” score, over 850 points).

As a leading structure in the social sphere reforms in Azerbaijan aiming to re-organize all services through innovative approach, DOST Agency established comprehensive coordination with MLSPP’s sub-structures for the provision of specific social services. Operating with the State Social Protection Fund, State Employment Agency, State Medical Social Expertise and Rehabilitation Agency, State Labour Inspection Service and Social Services Agency, DOST delivers services on pensions, social benefits, social services, social insurance, targeted state social assistance, employment, labour and others. In parallel with intraministerial relations, DOST builds effective external relations to secure multi-institutional services provisions. To this end, CCU was established to provide 26 services from more than 20 governmental organizations and public agencies to war veterans and martyrs’ families through the “single-window” desks in DOST centers. According to “The Rules of state monitoring in the field of the rights of PWD” (2020), Agency as a chairman of the multisector “Commission on the implementation of state monitoring in the field of the rights of PWD” conducts State monitoring in this field and reports to the Cabinet of Ministers.

The first “Inclusive Art School” in Azerbaijan was established in partnership with UNDP Azerbaijan in the premises of Baku DOST Center No.4. The Inclusive Art School is one of the components of “The Addressing rights and well-being of women with disabilities and veterans of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict” project. DOST intends to join “Gender-sensitive analysis questionnaire” by UNDP Azerbaijan in December 2021. 8,622 beneficiaries were reached via trainings, business support, awareness raising, online sessions. 142 women with disabilities and war veterans started their own businesses. DOST Agency collaborates with UNFPA within the project “Building society for all ages: promoting wellbeing of the elderly persons in Azerbaijan through active ageing”. As a result, more than 19 000 audience covered with video tutorials, webinars by 46 elder persons, 1050 persons were provided with ICT literacy trainings. From 2021 Agency is active Board member of European Social Network. DOST is the chairman of the multisector “Commission on the implementation of state monitoring in the field of the rights of PWD” reporting to the Cabinet of Ministries. DOST CCU operates with 20+ governmental agencies and leading specialized NGOs to provide services to war veterans and martyrs’ families through the “single-window” desk.

With three-year experience DOST Agency has learned below listed lessons: - Awareness of the population on existing services and the acquisition of self-service skills is important for the effective implementation of social services; - Services should be citizen-oriented and service processes must be continuously improved in accordance with end users’ needs; - The strategy and work plan must be manageable and transformable in case of emergencies; - Lack of coordination and well-defined procedures can disrupt the best plans and intentions; - Flexibility, transparency and accountability measures must be secured; Agency continuously improves services to increase citizens’ satisfaction level through following actions: - Processes optimization and increase of flexibility; - Further automatization and digitalization of processes; - Crisis Management as part of updated strategy of DOST; - Quality assurance, analysis and research to strengthen M&E; - Quantitative increase of the proactive services; - Improvement of self-service points; - Improvement of monitoring mechanism in the field of provision of the rights of PWD; - Fostering the accessibility of services via “Virtual DOST” platform; - Artificial Intelligence integration in Call-Center-142; - Single access to social and health services through the single database; - Introduction of unmanned DOST-SMART-Application model through the “Self-Service-Boxes”.