BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. More grant funding is needed to support social enterprises in Azerbaijan, Lana Lovasic, an international expert on social enterprise and social economy, told Trend.
“At this stage, social enterprises need more grant funding, both from the government, and the international organizations, especially not commercial capital. The next stage includes attracting private investors, telling them about the impact, so they can start putting more commercial capital, such as loans, equities and etc. There is a whole spectrum of social funding that is needed. Making sure the necessary support is provided at every spectrum is necessary,” she explained.
According to the expert, social enterprises can be created particularly in any economic sector.
“There is an element for the demand that has to happen for markets. But the whole point of the recommendations for social enterprises is the ability to create a supportive environment. The market determines what kind of social enterprises will emerge. For example, in Azerbaijan, those could be focused on women’s rights or green technology - those sectors are in fact in-demand here,” she said.
Lovasic noted huge prospects for social enterprise development in Azerbaijan.
“UNDP mobilized international experience and also used a kind of international network to provide examples of successful development of social enterprises, and then has helped facilitate this process of engagement and consultation in Azerbaijan to help find out, what the recommendations for policy should be. The UNDP has played the facilitation process here, making sure that the ecosystem is heard and the recommendations forwarded to the government are locally contextualized based on the real situation in Azerbaijan,” she said.
Meanwhile, the workshop and the presentation of policy recommendations for social enterprises in Azerbaijan were organized recently within the ‘Developing innovation-driven and sustainable civil society in Azerbaijan’ project, funded by the EU and implemented by UNDP.
The project aims to help increase CSOs capacities to engage in policy-making processes, foster local development, and promote social entrepreneurship and social innovation.
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