On 1 December 2009, IOM started implementing the ‘Institutional Capacity Building to Assist Victims of Trafficking’ Project in Azerbaijan with the financial support of the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The 13-month project is implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Azerbaijan as well as other governmental and non-governmental organizations.

The project aims to ensure:
- the availability of effective and sustainable rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of trafficking through capacity building; and
- improve the deliverability and increase overall efficiency of services.

While this project builds on realized and ongoing IOM counter-trafficking projects in the country; it is the first of its kind for Azerbaijan as it exclusively focuses on strengthening rehabilitation and social reintegration measures with targeted interventions at the policy, institutional and individual levels.
All project activities have been streamlined in close consultation with relevant governmental and non-governmental institutions that are continuously assisting the victims of trafficking in the country.
The successful implementation of the project will result in enhanced and sustainable capacity in the Centre for Assistance to Victims of Trafficking of the Ministry of Labour, the key agency in the area of designing and implementing rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for victims of trafficking in Azerbaijan. Implementation of the project will, additionally, establish a Social Reintegration Centre in a city other than Baku. The primary function of such a centre will be to provide continued assistance to victims of trafficking in a safe and comfortable environment. The Centre will be easily accessible for victims of trafficking who seek immediate emergency protection from neighbouring urban and rural areas within a radius of 150km.