Azerbaijan joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in 2011 to build more responsive, accountable and transparent governance. However, systematic restrictions of civic space led to OGP permanently rescinding the country's membership in the community.
In 2016 OGP’s Steering Committee designated Azerbaijan as an inactive member due to civil society crackdown and legislative restrictions in the CSO environment ongoing since 2014.
In 2017, the Criteria and Standards Subcommittee of OGP issued recommendations to the government of Azerbaijan to address the operating environment for the civil society. These included recommendations for simplifying the CSO registration process and the regulations to access funds. Unfortunately, the government made no substantial improvements in this regard. Operational conditions for CSOs in the country have not improved over the years, as depicted in consecutive CSO Meter reports and their recommendations.
Furthermore, Azerbaijan did not show any substantial signs of willingness to implement its own 2020–2022 National Action Plan, which also stipulated simplification of CSO registration and access to funding procedures in the legislation together with other measures.
As a result, on August 17, 2023, OGP's Steering Committee unanimously agreed to permanently suspend and rescind Azerbaijan’s OGP membership.
Azerbaijan's permanent suspension from OGP is a concerning development for CSOs as well as government-CSO partnership in the country, as it indicates the government's unwillingness to cooperate with civil society and involve them in the decision-making processes. As a consequence of this suspension, Azerbaijani CSOs may be out of reach of international initiatives and be constrained by a severely restrictive environment created by the government, which fails to meet international standards and commitments.