Baku31.05.23/Turan: In a recent announcement on May 26, the Agency for State Support of NGOs unveiled its list of grant projects for 2023. With 416 projects selected across seven different areas, this year's winners were eager to receive their share of the state budget, amounting to a substantial 3,253,500 manats.
However, just a day later, on May 27, tensions flared as over 10 leaders from various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) gathered for a midday rally in front of the Presidential Administration. Their protest centered around allegations of discrimination by the State Support Agency, which they claimed had either rejected their projects or allocated insufficient funds. Several protesters, drawing attention to their participation in a 138-day protest on the Shusha-Khankendi road from December 12, 2022, to April 28 of this year, criticized the Agency for neglecting this crucial detail.
Discussing this contentious issue, Bashir Suleymanli, the head of the Institute of Civil Rights, spoke out during an episode of the program "A Difficult Question."
Suleymanli emphasized that the primary role of NGOs is to exercise control over the state, including monitoring the expenditure of state budget funds, the implementation of laws, the activities of the government and parliament, and the education of citizens. Essentially, NGOs carry out tasks that the state cannot effectively fulfill. However, he lamented the lack of functional NGOs in Azerbaijan.
"Following the government's decision to exert control over the NGO sector, we witnessed a situation similar to what happened with the media or political parties," remarked the human rights activist.
He highlighted the authorities' failure to acknowledge the importance of independent structures.
"Independent NGOs engage in criticism, propose alternative programs, and gain the trust of society. Since all of this contradicted the philosophy of the current management system, there were discussions that foreign funding was inappropriate. Consequently, an internal financing institute was established, and the decision to finance NGOs domestically was made," explained Bashir Suleymanli.
According to him, this shift in funding sources led to the dependence of NGOs on the authorities, while also resulting in the persecution of NGOs receiving foreign funding.
"This effectively neutralized independent NGOs," concluded the human rights activist.
Difficult question
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