Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation–Azerbaijan

Increasing revenues from oil and gas production during 2007 raised concerns in Azerbaijan about good governance and accountability. These issues, as well as concerns over Azerbaijan’s compliance with the European Neighbourhood Policy and the country’s pending membership in the Council of Europe, demanded active civil society involvement in policy debates and monitoring. The Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation–Azerbaijan played a significant role in helping to foster this engagement.

An evaluation undertaken by the Azerbaijan National Committee for European Integration, a group of 50 civil society leaders, highlighted a number of shortcomings in Azerbaijan’s implementation of the democracy and human rights agenda of the European Neighbourhood Policy Action Plan. The report was presented at an international conference organized by the European Commission in Brussels in September.

The OSI-initiated monitoring project of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline construction resulted in the establishment of the Civic Response Network, a group of experts that teamed up to expand monitoring for the people directly affected by extractive industries. Three pilot projects by the Civic Response Network succeeded in establishing monitoring posts in the Ganja, Hajigabul, and Salyan regions. In Salyan, the Salyan Oil consortium responded by starting to repair roads that had been damaged during the pipeline’s construction. Nongovernmental organizations in Azerbaijan and Georgia experienced in monitoring pipeline construction collaborated in organizing a conference in Baku, at which representatives from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, and Turkey shared monitoring methodology and approaches in partnerships with government and industry and defined their priorities for possible cooperation in capacity building and advocacy.

The foundation also launched a weekly public policy debate program in cooperation with ANS-TV; supported the Mental Health Institute’s signing of an agreement with the Ministry of Education for technical assistance in the deinstitutionalization of disabled persons; established a youth support center in central Baku; and organized a training workshop on health budget transparency for journalists and specialized local nongovernmental organizations.