“6,000 manats seemed like an insult to me.” NGO chairs dissatisfied with grants
Grant scandal in Karabakh
JAMnews presents an article by Radio Liberty about the dissatisfaction of NGO leaders who participated in the 138-day protest in Karabakh with the “unfairness” in the distribution of grants from the state budget.
“They promised a project for 15,000 manats [about $8,800], but they did not allocate it. Six thousand manats [about $3,500] were allocated for a documentary film about the Shusha martyr,” Tahira Mammadova, told Radio Liberty. Mammadova is the head of a public organization who became famous at environmental protests on the Lachin road for her natural fur coat and for accidentally strangling a pigeon.
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Grants from the state budget
On May 26, the Agency for State Support for NGOs published a list of selected grant projects for 2023. The agency chose the winners — 416 projects in seven areas. As part of this grant competition, 3 million 253 thousand 500 manats [about $1.914 million] were allocated from the state budget.
The funds allocated from the budget for grant projects do not end there. As part of the grant competition dedicated to the “Year of Heydar Aliyev”, 135,000 manats [about $79,400] will be allocated from the budget. This year Azerbaijan marks the 100th anniversary of former President Heydar Aliyev.
Protest against the amount of allocated funds
As soon as the results were announced, the dissatisfaction of the heads of NGOs immediately began. At noon, May 27, more than 10 leaders of public organizations held a protest in front of the presidential administration building. They complained that the Agency for State Support to NGOs discriminates against them — it either did not accept their projects or allocated fewer funds. Some of the protesters accused the Agency of not taking into account the fact that they took part in the 138-day protest on the Lachin road from December 12, 2022 to April 28 this year.
Those who carried out this protest mainly put forward environmental demands. Although Armenia stated that because of this protest the Armenians in Karabakh were under blockade, official Baku stated that the road was open for humanitarian purposes.
“7,000 is not enough even for a taxi…”
Rada Abbas, head of the Social Assistance to Women Veterans of War NGO, who went to the protest in front of the presidential administration building, expressed her dissatisfaction with the words: “How long will I save on my child and pay for the office out of my own pocket?”.
“We counted every penny and submitted a project for 15,000 manats [about $8,800]. What is such a valuable project that you put forward as the Agency for State Support of Non-Governmental Organizations that now you do not like our projects? They give NGOs 7,000 manats [about $4,100] for their activities for a whole year and demand high-quality work. They themselves know that it is impossible to do a good job with this money. I am working on solving the problems of war veterans, I go to different places, these seven thousand will not even be enough for me to get a taxi.”
This NGO, registered in 2014, has received 26,000 manats [about $15,300] from the state for its projects since its inception. All funds were allocated for the shooting of films.
“Discrimination”
“We came here in protest against the fact that the Agency’s leadership distributes funds through grant competitions among their friends and acquaintances, and these funds are not their father’s money,” says Matanat Askerkyzy, chairman of the Support for Soldiers’ Families public association.
She also noted that they are not satisfied with the allocation of eight thousand manats [about $4,700] for competitive projects related to the announcement of Shushi as the “cultural capital of the Turkic world.” Last year, this public organization was allocated 9,500 manats [about $5,700].
“We are still with our president. We were the first to go to Shusha. For weeks they stood face to face with Russians and Armenians. We are told: “Aren’t you ashamed to mention that you participated in the actions in Shusha?” Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? I am not saying that they should give me 10-20 thousand for participating in the actions. But I think that people who always stand up for their state should be evaluated,” she said.
Project dedicated to Heydar Aliyev failed
The public association “Azerbaijani-Iraqi Cultural Relations” under the chairmanship of Tahira Mammadova was established in 2007 with the aim of representing Azerbaijan and Iraq to each other in the political, social and cultural spheres. The organization reports that in recent years it has been engaged in informing about the Karabakh conflict.
Mammadova four times, including this year, received financial assistance from the state for patriotic projects.
“My project to publish a book called “Heydar Aliyev and the Eastern World” dedicated to his 100th birthday, which I wanted to present in Iraq, was not accepted,” she says.
“My second project was a film project about the Shushi martyrs, which was launched last year. I have already shot documentaries about three of them with state funds, one of the films won first place, I was not even thanked.
Six thousand manats [about $3,500] were allocated for the project of the fourth film. These six thousand manats were an insult to me. I was promised a project worth 15,000 manats [about $8,800], and I even planned to expand it, make a documentary, print a book, do a promotion abroad. It’s a shame that they don’t support those who work,” Mammadova says.
What does the agency say?
Gunel Safarova, a member of the Supervisory Board of the State NGO Support Agency, told abzas.org that the quality standards of the projects were low, while noting that she was sympathetic to the dissatisfaction:
“We have training for this, but the quality was still very low. Looking at the way projects are written and whether they meet the program as key indicators, very few projects would make it through. Donor organizations announce a competition. At these competitions, no one promises anyone like, “you will definitely win.” I understand the discontent, but protests, especially in this form, are wrong. Because we have a clear legal procedure. We have been approached by dissatisfied NGOs, and we consider their complaints.”
Safarova added that the protest in Shusha was voluntary and could not affect the grant competition.
“20-30 thousand manats can be allocated only to one NGO”
Economist Farid Abbasov speaks of the need for a serious reform of evaluation mechanisms and believes that for quality work, the amount should be higher:
“But how important are those projects for which the state allocates money? According to the results of the last competition, most of the winning projects are similar to each other. For example, 20 or 30 thousand manats [about $12,000-18,000] could be allocated for a film about Shusha by just one NGO, and as a result a film of normal quality would be made. To allocate small sums for similar works, which will not lead to the real implementation of these works, is the result of misuse of the state budget. A needs assessment mechanism should be established in Azerbaijan, and based on this, it should be determined how much money should be allocated to a project in a particular area.”
Critics say that some GONGOs (non-governmental organizations controlled by the government), in addition to individual grants, also receive regular government funding and promote the interests of the authorities. Meanwhile, several years ago foreign donors provided financial assistance to public associations without making them dependent. Since 2013 foreign donors have started to leave the country due to the difficult situation.
In general, although the amounts of grants provided by the State NGO Support Agency are open to the public, it is not known how much money is allocated to the agency from the budget.
According to official information, about 4,000 non-governmental organizations are registered in Azerbaijan.
