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US Embassy issues statement regarding $2.4m USAID grant for media development in Azerbaijan

16 July 2014 15:29 (UTC +04:00)

The embassy told APA that this statement is intended to clarify some recent misreporting and misunderstanding in the media regarding the grant program announced by USAID.

“There were no irregularities with the proposal application process, or the collection of proposals. All standard, world-wide procedures were followed and the process was fully fair and transparent. At this date the proposals are under review and no organization has been selected.

The Azerbaijan Media Support Activity was publically announced on May 21, 2014. Following standard procedure the grant was announced on both www.grants.gov website and on the USAID Azerbaijan Facebook page. On June 10 the program was also announced on the USAID Azerbaijan website.

The period for accepting proposals was open from May 21 until July 7, 2014”, the statement says.

According to media reports, USAID announced a grant program worth $2.4 million for the development of independent media in Azerbaijan but the deadline for program was short – from June 30 to July 7, and transparency was not ensured in public coverage of the program.