Report on monitoring of the implementation of the “National Action Plan for Promotion of Open Government for the years 2012-2015” was presented
On November 22, 2013, the Economic Research Center (ERC) has released a final report on the monitoring of implementation of the National Action Plan for Promotion of Open Government for the years 2012-2015 (hereafter NAP). The report was prepared under Transparency Azerbaijan’s “Azerbaijan Partnership for Transparency” project. Representatives of the Commission on Combating Corruption of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the State Agency for Public Services and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and other relevant government agencies, Milli Majlis, members of the Azerbaijan Partnership for Transparency Platform, representatives of local and international NGOs, international organizations, diplomatic missions in Azerbaijan and the media attended the presentation of the report.
The participants of the presentation noted that by joining the Open Government Partnership, the Government of Azerbaijan aims to enhance its performance in terms of promoting open government and increasing transparency, and hopes to contribute to international initiatives and exchange of experience in this area. It was also emphasized that the goals of the first annual assessment report on the implementation of the NAP are to evaluate the level of the government’s implementation of its obligations under the NAP, to identify main challenges to the realization of these obligations, and to prepare recommendations for the next implementation period.
Gubad Ibadoglu, an expert of the Economic Research Center, who presented the monitoring results, reported that the NAP is comprised of 9 general thematic obligations, and 45 main activities as well as supplementary ones. In 2013, 15 of these activities have already been carried out, and 5 others are expected to be completed during 2013. Of 45 projected tasks, 15 are planned to be done during the period of 1 year, and 13 will be carried through during 2 years. Eleven of the NAP related activities will be implemented continuously. In discussing the results of the monitoring, Mr. Ibadoglu remarked that it is difficult to implement the obligations under the NAP. He stressed that despite certain achievements in several areas, the obligations pertaining to the citizens’ engagement in the decision-making process and in particular, “the broadening of public participation in the activities of public institutions” has been implemented weakly. To date, the best results have been achieved in the implementation of obligations concerning the NAP’s components of “Central Legislative Electronic Database” and “Increasing transparency in mining industry”.
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The presentation is organized within the framework of the “Azerbaijan Partnership for Transparency” (APT) Project with financial support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).