Human Resources Development  Program (HRDP) manager, Azad Rahimov, has been paving the way for social change in Azerbaijan for the past twenty years through promoting entrepreneurship and commerce in Northwest Azerbaijan.  

Mr. Rahimov, as Azerbaijan’s first and only Master Trainer certified by the International Labor Organization, has promoted small businesses and entrepreneurship by teaching accounting, marketing and “Start Your Own Business” courses through Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise’s HRDP Training Center. To date, Azad Rahimov and his team of business skills trainers has helped to provide vocational training and access to credit to over one hundred and fifty people.  Many participants of HRDP’s vocational skills training sessions come from small, low-income areas of Azerbaijan. Mr. Rahimov paves the way for social change in several communities of Azerbaijan through providing education in financial literacy and business practices to some of Azerbaijan’s most vulnerable people. Women, internally displaced people and rural farmers often benefit from trainings provided by the HRDP Training Center making these groups less vulnerable to financial shock and inspiring commerce in their communities.