NGO Coalitions Announce Plans to Engage Citizens and Government
Six coalitions of NGOs and businesses announced plans to engage citizens and government through campaigns to improve socioeconomic conditions in Azerbaijan at a May 7 Public Dialogue and Advocacy Conference organized by USAID’s Civil Society Project. The Project is implemented by Counterpart International.
The US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse and representatives from the President’s Office made opening remarks emphasizing the importance of this new approach to engage citizens in Azerbaijan. The Ambassador noted that dialogue between people and their government lies at the heart of every democracy. “A democratic government must listen to its citizens, but citizens must also communicate with their government: This two-way dialogue is fundamental.”
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| The US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Anne Derse makes a congratulatory
speech at the conference |
Ambassador Derse applauded the municipality of Piral in Gusar region, northern Azerbaijan, where public hearings on the municipal budget were held for the first time, opening up the process of municipal decision-making and building trust between citizens and government. This effort to build transparency has led to significant increase in Piral’s tax revenues.
At the conference, participants learned about the coalitions’ efforts to make improvements in traffic safety, uniting the society through historical preservation, public access to information at Government websites, and understanding of the rights of disabled women. The collations are building on public dialogue involving 250 representatives of Azerbaijan’s civil society organizations, businesses, municipalities, local executive authorities, and the national government. These representatives, from across Azerbaijan, recently met for the purpose of building consensus on priority development issues and initiatives that can best be resolved by citizens constructively engaging with government.
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