A new government initiative alleges that its goal is to bolster the NGO sector, but experts are concerned it may threaten organizations’ independence. The careful analysis of the issue is reflected in the article, written by journalists Shahin Abbasov and Marianna Gurtovnik on www.day.az website. (31-AUG-07)
Written by journalists Shahin Abbasov and Marianna Gurtovnik on www.day.az website; placed on the website and illustrated by Shahla Ismailova /HRH Baku
The stated goal of the decree Aliev signed on 28 July is to strengthen relations between the government and civic organizations by offering state funding for NGO projects and “engaging NGOs in addressing the problems of statehood and society,” according to the web-based news outlet. 
A recent decree issued by President Ilham Aliev (right) has many people in Azerbaijan questioning whether the government is interested in securing healthy relationships with NGOs – or if it just wants to rein in the country’s civic organizations in order to keep a tight fist around the work the groups are able to do.
Aliev has given his aides the task of designing a new government agency charged with organizing and overseeing Azeri NGOs’ interactions with the government. The proposal, which is expected to be ready near the end of September, is also expected to suggest setting up a special state-sponsored fund that will provide for the development, financing, implementation, and evaluation of NGO projects that the government determines to be of national significance.
Experts and NGO leaders in Azerbaijan are divided in their assessment of the initiative. Some people, including Azay Guliev, chair of the National NGO Forum, have voiced full support for the program. The presidential decree will serve as a “major impetus” for the development of civil society institutions, said Guliev, whose organization is a coalition of NGOs that many critics label as pro-government. Guliev added that the Forum, which was founded in 1999, has been advocating the development of a national NGO concept for several years.
But other leaders have been harshly critical and view the decree as an opportunity for the government to ensure that NGOs focus on activities beneficial to Aliev’s political goals.
“The government puts pressure on certain donor organizations demanding that they do not finance NGOs whose activities, in their view, are directed against the government,” said Shahin Hajiyev, executive director of Najaf Najafov Fund, an NGO that monitors the quality and objectivity of Azerbaijan’s print and broadcast media.
Hajiyev said the government previously has “tightened fiscal controls over NGO activities.” In 2003, Azeri authorities revised grant legislation to rescind tax breaks for NGOs, which depend on grants as their main funding sources.
“Clearly, this concept will tie another noose around NGOs,” Hajiyev said of the new decree. “Besides, there is no doubt that the government’s aid within the framework of this concept will only be provided to pro-governmental NGOs.”
Rocky Relations
For critics of the decree, the idea of a state-operated NGO agency and fund is only an extenuation of the current government’s attempts to quell NGO activities with which it does not agree.
Ilgar Mammadov, director of the Political Studies Program in Baku, said he doubts the initiative will “improve the status-quo.” According to the decree, there are about 1,200 registered national NGOs in Azerbaijan. The majority of them focus on economic development, human rights advocacy, and the health and well-being of youth. Their primary funding currently includes grants provided by Western governments, multilateral donor institutions such as the United Nations and European Union, and foreign charitable funds. The decree does not affect international NGOs with branches in the country.
Under the auspices of the new agency and fund, NGOs would receive sponsorship and direction from the government.
Mammadov said the new decree reflects “Soviet-style hypocrisy on the part of the authorities” when it comes to their interactions with NGOS. This attitude, Mammadov added, is nothing new.
In past years, for instance, state-controlled media alleged that leaders of high-profile NGOs funded by foreign donors were guilty of high treason. Two prominent human rights advocates, Eldar Zeynalov of the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan and Leyla Yunus of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, were accused in 2003 of siding with Armenians after they visited Armenian-held Nagorno-Karabakh to discuss various issues with their Armenian counterparts.
Zeynalov (right) and Yunus said the media campaign against them was instigated by officials in the government and carried out with the support of state-controlled NGOs. Mammadov said “the risk of [such things happening] has increased over the past years.”
Alesker Mammadli, a lawyer and a member of Azerbaijan’s Bar Association, pointed to the “non-transparent and deliberately drawn out” process of NGO registration in Azerbaijan as another example of the government’s attempt to discourage or stifle organizations’ work. Mammadli said the most common complaints from both national and international NGOs trying to become registered with the government revolve around the legislation on non-governmental organizations adopted in 2000.
The law prescribes that after up to a 40-day review of an organization’s registration application and another several weeks allotted to clarify various details the Justice Ministry may still decide to turn down an application. Mammadli believes officials routinely and arbitrarily have rejected registration applications of opposition-minded NGOs.
“In a democratic society, NGOs serve as the watchdogs of the government, and the government accepts them in that role,” Mammadli said. “In Azerbaijan, on the other hand, independent NGOs are viewed as the enemies of the ruling regime.”
Fixing the system
Mammadli expressed hope that the new decree may signal a thaw in bureaucrats’ guarded treatment of NGOs, but his optimism is limited at best. He said the initiative fails to propose solutions to several pervasive problems NGOs face, including the inefficient and subjective registration process.
Mammadli would like to see approval-based registration replaced by a system in which NGOs simply notify the government of their existence. If the government refuses to switch to a notification process, Mammadli said it should at least organize the registration review panel – currently made up exclusively of government officials – to include independent experts.
He also believes NGOs should be allowed to help the government more extensively address its own corruption, including rigged elections and other human rights abuses. But like many experts, Mammadli doubts the new initiative will improve NGOs’ roles in these arenas.
Yet other experts speak favorably of the decree and the possibilities it offers. Aware of the initiative’s potential pitfalls, these NGO leaders say if it is implemented correctly, it could improve the state of affairs for countless organizations.
“This idea has been long coming,” said Osman Gunduz, President of the Baku-based NGO Multimedia Center, which focuses on information technology development. “The most important question today is about the by-laws of the state agency [that is to be created], and who is going to preside over it. The state agency should support and facilitate the work of NGOs, not control it or impose any restrictions on it.”
Past patterns, however, indicate that control and restrictions may be the final outcomes of the decree. Saida Gojamanly (right), director of the Baku-based Bureau of Human Rights Protection, said while she welcomes the decree in theory, a similar initiative in 1998 by the late President Heidar Aliev failed according to many NGOs’ standards, which does not bode well for future of the new program.
Knowing the decree’s ultimate effect depends on its still undetermined logistics, Azerbaijan’s NGO sector is awaiting the government’s final proposal for a new agency and funding source with bated breath. Organizations’ leaders are curious if history will repeat itself, or if instead the government will take a more balanced approach to its dealings with NGOs.
“The idea that, from now on, the government will finance ‘the third sector’ is a positive one. We at Internews hope to become a part of these government programs, too,” said Ilham Safarov, director of Internews Azerbaijan, which implements capacity-building programs for local media. “However, no specific implementation mechanisms have been outlined so far, and it is unclear how transparent such mechanisms will be: will a public council be established, or will all decision-making be left to the bureaucrats?”
