The Role of Social Workers in Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Azerbaijan

Like many post-Soviet nations, Azerbaijan has invested economic and human capital in modernizing a social protection system inherited from the Soviet era, a system that will be key in the nation’s efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals. Social workers and other human-service professionals are on the front lines of those efforts, but the social work profession is relatively young there and the profession’s standing is evolving. What role might social workers play in Azerbaijan’s work to advance the United Nations’ global goals?

In this chapter, Aytakin Huseynli describes the social protection system in Azerbaijan and the evolving profession of social work there. She discusses the profession’s successes, identifies obstacles, and describes social workers’ contributions to meeting Goals 1, 5, 10, and 16.