The Open Government Partnership (OGP) initiative and national plans are an important aspect of the state-CSO cooperation in Azerbaijan, as a necessary condition for favourable CSO environment. In addition, the national plans provide different measures which are also closely affecting the environment in which civil society functions.
According to a new monitoring report on the implementation of the OGP National Action Plan (NAP) in Azerbaijan, while on average the implementation of activities is on track, in some areas it needs to move faster, particularly in the field of access to information and transparency of public services.
Some of the key findings and recommendations:
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The government has shown improvement in financial transparency. For example, the Ministry of Finance disclosed relevant information on its website (details on expenditures from the state budget and information on foreign debt). However, the measures envisaged in the NAP to ensure the participation of civil society in discussions of the draft state budget have not been implemented.
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Government agencies, the Open Government Platform, and other CSOs prepared proposals to simplify, digitalize, and improve the state registration of CSOs, including branches or representative offices of foreign CSOs, and to facilitate the access of CSOs to foreign grants. The government has discussed these issues with civil society, but there were no major developments in 2021.
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The Ministry of Justice has digitalized its services to CSOs, including updating registry information, applying for grant agreements and receiving notifications.
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The government developed legislative amendments to expand access to information and improve existing legislation and practices in this area. In this regard, government agencies discussed amendments and additions to the legislation, and proposals were submitted to the government in 2021. However, the work on the proposals remains in progress.
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The Anti-Corruption Commission, which oversees the implementation of the NAP, needs to accelerate the implementation of the priority areas identified by civil society and the OGP Platform, and strengthen the control over decision-making. These priority areas include access to information and strengthening accountability, creating a favorable environment for civil society, and creating a corruption risk assessment system. Public participation in these issues should also be further expanded. In many cases, public participation is not provided by government agencies in the process of drafting and adopting normative acts and draft regulations on issues of public interest. Although the legislation of Azerbaijan provides a wide range of opportunities to ensure participation in the process of drafting regulations and normative legal acts, they are not implemented in practice.
The monitoring report also noted the following improvements, aimed to ensure better access of citizens to public services, promote digitalization and improve citizen participation in decision making:
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establishment of a single hotline for appeals to the Ombudsman;
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measures related to the risk assessment of the system for combating money laundering and terrorist financing;
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electronic notarial services and electronic execution of court decisions;
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increased transparency, accountability, and customer satisfaction in utilities;
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launch of the “Smart Village” project (intends to create attractive living conditions in the rural areas with access to all state services);
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introduction of the "ASAN appeal" system (digital platform for citizens to appeal to state bodies) in local executive authorities; and
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expanding public participation and accelerating the process of establishing Public Councils under the central and local executive authorities.