Baku:President Ilham Aliyev has issued a new decree amending the rules for adopting children deprived of parental care, impacting both domestic and international adoptions.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population announced that the decree aims to accelerate the adoption process, reducing the time children spend in institutional care and facilitating quicker integration into family environments.

The decree modifies the meeting requirements for prospective adoptive parents and children. Previously, meetings were set for at least 40 hours per month over two months. Now, this has been reduced to at least 20 hours over one month. For children under three, the meeting period can be further reduced to six hours over ten days, contingent on a social worker's report.

Additionally, the decree changes the observation requirements by social workers. For children under three, social workers must observe the entire meeting period, while for those over three, the observation period is set at a minimum of ten hours.