What works in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has implemented several notable digital-government and social-welfare innovations: ASAN Xidmet's one-stop-shop network operates roughly 20–27 centres bundling dozens of services and won 1st place in the 2015 UN Public Service Awards, while the State Social Protection Fund's AI-driven system expanded proactive benefit assignment from 7% to 72% of cases between 2020–2023, serving over 600,000 people and distributing USD 4.2 billion with 98% citizen satisfaction. However, evidence on gender-based violence support is more limited: the 860 helpline logged over 1,100 calls by mid-2024, though this remains modest relative to estimates that one in three women experience partner violence and the country has only two shelters nationwide. These practices show strengths in service digitisation and welfare automation, but uneven progress in addressing gender-based violence.