Human Rights and the Market Economy – Nurida Babasheva

During the formation of a new economic system the center of interest inevitably rotates around of the issue of its socio-economic goals and the situation of population. While transiting to the society oriented market economy, the main burden of the social protection is incumbent upon government, however, at the some time the role of the market mechanism in the implementation of such a policy is increased. To implement social protection the government has to set the main social guaranties, mechanisms of their implementation and the functions of providing social support in accordance with the law. It is important to note that social protection being an essential part of the social policy, yet does not conclude the content of the social policy. Many countries pursue a goal to construct the economy system oriented to people and stimulating personal development, implementation innovative potential and system, in which estrangement of an individual from the labour and the products, the means of production, society and culture, is overcome, which set the aim of harmonizing the interests of one person and the society as a whole. The economy system of such type is called the social oriented economy.
The basic indications of the social oriented economy are the economy’s steady growth and the stability of the population standard of life together with the increase of prosperity and environmental peace.
The growth of the social unsteadiness in the transition period has a number of manifestations among which the following may be emphasized:
Firstly, the sharp differentiation of income among the population that has led to the polarization of the richest and the poorest parts of the population. Thus, for example, the statistics show that the minimum income Azerbaijani population makes up 2.8% and the maximum income is 1.4%.
Secondly, the systematic failure to pay salaries, allowances, pensions systematic to the population has turned into the one of the most steady signs of destabilization of the economy in transition.
Thirdly, the peculiarity of the social situation in Azerbaijan is the enlargement of the scales of the explicit and hidden unemployment which ensues lowering of the labor and professionally-qualifyed potential of the country.
A tendency of depopulation has arisen in Azerbaijan, which is the response of the population to the previous problems. For five years (1997-2000) popuation increase was reduced by 2.9 thousands people. The baby boost drop is conditioned by the natural demographic factors and hard social and economic situation of population (child birth refusal, especially in the second and subsequent births). The main cases of death are the worsening of health, growth of illnesses, alcoholism, accidents, poisonings, murders, suicides. So depopulation is ridden by sharp worsening of the social problems in the society and it testifies to the argument that the social situation is truly disastrous.
The present situation demonstrates that Azerbaijan is not growing, but on the contrary, is wasting very fast that human potential, which country had accumulated in the result of the relatively effective system of education, public health, culture.
Today Azerbaijan has task of forming long-term strategies and programs of social actions allowing implement complete, consistent and effective social policy.
Realization of short-term aims is bound up with necessary of decision or at least weakening of the sharpest social problems, otherwise increase of antagonisms will make impossible the continuing of economic reforms.
Along with above listed arrangements Azerbaijan needs to use experience of developed countries to reform social protection. Examples of arrangements using in developed countries are following:
– increase share of security in provision of pensions;
– increase size of seniority for payment of minimal pension in sphere of provision of pensions
– increase size of fees to the State Fund of the Social Protection of population of the entrepreneurs and wage laborers
– rise of minimal level o salaries and minimal pension.