CLDP, in partnership with the Commission on Combating Corruption of the Republic of Azerbaijan, held an initial two-day workshop in Baku, Azerbaijan on Developing and Implementing Open Government Policies in Azerbaijan. Participants of the workshop included approximately 25 government officials, including representatives from the Commission on Combating Corruption, the Anti-Corruption Directorate of the Prosecutor General, the International Relations Office of the Prosecutor General, the ASAN Service, and Parliamentary staff.

The workshop featured presentations and detailed examples from US practice as presented by two advisors from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of the General Counsel. CLDP worked closely with the Commission to identifying the specific topics and areas of open governance deemed most essential and of interest to the Government of Azerbaijan. The program focused on an introduction to the foundations of a good-governance system, providing an overview of the U.S. system and its separate elements such as an integrity system, a system for transparency, and a merit-based hiring system. The program also examined the development of whistleblower programs and obligations under the Open Government Partnership and the United Nations Convention against Corruption. The workshop additionally addressed e-services in the context of transparency, discussing how e-services may reduce corruption in competitive government processes such as procurement. The program closed with a comparative analysis of the international experience with a focus on asset disclosure systems, looking at the fundamentals of establishing a financial disclosure system. The goal of this program was to provide comprehensive knowledge to both the Government of Azerbaijan and members of civil society on the development and implementation of effective open government policies.