Working groups will define criteria for funding NGOs

Baku/07.05.21/Turan: The Supervisory Board of the Agency for State Support of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) made a number of decisions yesterday. In particular, it was decided to create five working groups:

- on the development of strategic goals and plans of the Agency;

- on the development of internal rules for the Agency's activities (including the exclusion of conflicts of interest):

- on the development of procedures for coordination and control over the implementation of projects financed by the Agency and their evaluation, the procedure for holding competitions for grants to NGOs, criteria for determining the amount of the grant;

- on the development of the logo (emblem) of the Agency:

- to assess the activities of NGOs and measure their public benefit.

A schedule of visiting days was also determined; the members of the Supervisory Board will hold them once a month.

The Agency was established in April this year based on the Council of State Support to NGOs under the President of Azerbaijan, created back in 2007. The fundamental difference between the new structures is not clear, especially since its head, Azay Guliyev, retained his post. Civil society representatives were skeptical about the renaming of this organization, which all these years served as a financial source for pro-government NGOs. –06D-