Foreign

Home page

Foreign

USAID spent over 300 mln. dollars for projects carried out in Azerbaijan in the past 20 years

22 June 2012 07:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Victoria Dementieva â€“ APA. Since 1993 USAID has spent over 300 mln. dollars to benefit the Azerbaijani people. Last year USAID realized a number of projects with a total budget of over 26 mln. dollars, USAID/Azerbaijan Mission Director Michael Greene said.

He said that in the early years, USAID focused mostly on IDP programs, but as the government of Azerbaijan became more capable of dealing with that major problem, they transitioned out of IDP support to other spheres.

â€œUSAID consults closely with the government of Azerbaijan. And in that process we determine which programs can have the most impact in the country. In Azerbaijan we work mostly in 3 spheres: democracy, economic growth and health reformâ€, Greene said.

â€œThe creation of this office as an independent USAID mission has allowed better understanding about the needs in Azerbaijan and designing our programs more effectively. We continue our work in these spheres. And a possible future sphere which we have discussed with the ministry of energy is in the energy sphere, alternative energy programsâ€, Greene said. He added that the first goal of USAIDâ€™s economic programs is to support the government plans for diversification of the economy in non-oil sectors, and â€œwe work mostly in the agricultural sector as the most promising sector for diversificationâ€. The second goal is to work on improving laws and regulations in order to bring them up to international standards. â€œImprovements in the legal framework will allow Azerbaijan to join international organizations, such as WTO, which hopefully the country will join in the near future. We work with farmers and agriculture businesses to improve their ability to produce products that can compete on international markets. We also have two new loan-guarantee programs in local commercial banks to expand the agricultural sectorâ€™s access to credits.â€

The USAID/Azerbaijan Mission Director also spoke about the work done in the health sector. â€œIn the health sector we focus more on improving the skills and abilities of health professionals, to improve infant and maternal health and to reduce tuberculosis in this country. Health is an area that the government of Azerbaijan has begun to invest more heavily in and has indicated to us that our assistance is not required in the sector any more. So we wonâ€™t be doing health programs after 2013.â€

Michael Greene said USAID was also realizing programs in democracy and governance, and the goal of these programs is to increase the participation of individuals and civil society organizations in Azerbaijan democratic development. â€œWe work with local civil society organizations and NGO-s to help them in areas such as promotion of womenâ€™s rights, fighting corruption, and increasing access to justice for Azerbaijani citizens. We also work in new media. We used to work more in traditional media â€“ radio and television and 2 years ago we have transitioned to work more in new internet-based media.â€

â€œThis year we are working with the Ministry of Communications of Azerbaijan in supporting its e-governance strategy to increase access to online government services. That raises efficiency and reduces the opportunities for corruption. We will be opening 30 new internet kiosks in post-offices countrywide mostly in rural areas which will provide access to those e-government systems. With the same model we set up internet hotspots for 4-5 universities to provide wider internet access for students. With support from BP and AmCham USAID will also launch a new program to support internships for university studentsâ€

Speaking about the ongoing program for womenâ€™s active participation in the countryâ€™s public and political life, Greene said: â€œUnder the Womenâ€™s participation program several NGO coalitions have been established that will organize training for women to develop their leadership capabilities, and carry out public awareness campaigns about important womenâ€™s issues, as well as discrimination against women.â€

Commenting on USAID grants allocated for the occupied Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, Michael Greene said: â€œThis program money is appropriated by the U.S. Congress to help the people in those regions. It does not mean that the U.S. government recognizes the government of Nagorno-Karabakh. These are humanitarian programs to help the people. Over the last few years I think about 2 mln dollars were spent there each year, focusing mainly on water projects, health and de-mining. It is administrated from our USAID office in Armenia simply for practical reasons, we canâ€™t access and manage the programs there from this side.â€

Michael Greene said that wherever USAID operates it has the same standards to ensure financial accountability, and they can be sure that the money is spent in the proper way.