Reverse Linkage

91 DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION countries’ development agencies. The director of AIDA, Ashraf Shikhaliyev, and IsDB president, Bandar Hajjar, also signed the Protocol of Intention concerning SSC and Reverse Linkage. The document sets out the intention of exchang- ing knowledge and expertise as well as the organization of training and workshops to develop cooperation between the parties in various areas. One of the leading areas in which Azerbaijan has succeeded significantly is the provision of public services through its ASAN service centres. Organized under the initiative of Azerbaijan’s president, H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, as a part of the public administration reforms, the ASAN service centre model is one of the domestic transforma- tion success stories that has come to represent the “brand” of Azerbaijan and is shared internationally. The country promotes the principles of efficiency, transparency, acces- sibility and citizen convenience in the provision of public services, based on innovation and modernisation, through the ASAN service centres. By winning the 2015 United Nations Public Service Award, ASAN has been recognised for its advanced mechanisms and best practice in public service delivery, and there is increased interest by develop- ing countries to learn and apply ASAN’s experience. AIDA is contributing to the promotion of this experience with its capacities, diplomacy and partnerships network. Thus, Azerbaijan’s development assistance and humani- tarian aid policy is focused on the SSC framework, through which AIDA’s cooperation with IsDB in implementing the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness campaign contin- ues to reveal other prospects for this strategic partnership. AIDA’s motto – Improving the World Together – includes the value of its collaboration with IsDB. In addition to its cooperation in healthcare, mainly through the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness campaign, and e-governance in the sharing of the ASAN Service experience, there are other domains to which Azerbaijan assists in capacity development such as education, science, information and communication technologies and others. Azerbaijan stands ready to expand its institutions’ coop- eration with developing countries and improve the outlook exponentially. AIDA would serve as the leading force of this honourable mission. ASAN Service Centre putting a smile on the faces of citizens Building of the National Eye Centre named after the academician Zarifa Aliyeva Image: ASAN Image: ASAN