PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Rovshan Bagirov (99412) 986933, 412722

Read the agreement

BAKU, April 22, 2004. OSI-AF and BP are pleased to announce that they have signed an agreement under which OSI will co-ordinate monitoring of the BTC pipeline construction by NGOs in Azerbaijan.

Under the agreement, which lasts until construction of the pipeline is complete, OSI-AF will act as facilitator between the participating NGOs, and as the principal liaison point between the NGOs and BP.

Over the coming weeks OSI-AF will work with the NGOs on themes, timescale and processes for their monitoring activities. The NGOs taking part in the monitoring will receive information about the pipeline project and about BTC health, safety, environmental and social standards. External experts will provide them with training in monitoring and evaluation techniques and report writing.

OSI-AF will contribute financially to the NGO monitoring activities, while BP will pay for the training costs.

The monitoring process is aiming to increase public awareness about BTC project development, about challenges and concerns raised during construction period and also serve for the establishment of healthy cooperation between all stakeholders to develop a good practice of civic involvement.

Read the agreement

Open Society Institute - Assistance Foundation (OSI-AF)/ Azerbaijan is a branch of the Open Soicety Foundation Network established by famous investor and philanthropist George Soros in over 50 countries. The main goal of OSI-AF is to foster transition of closed society to more open one . Since its establishment in the country in 1996, the Foundation has encouraged the development of the third sector by awarding grants and also through operational activity to support civic initiatives in education reforms, communication technologies, human rights and rule of law, mass media, public health, gender equality and arts and culture. Responding to new challenges of the country development, OSI-AF has recently concentrated on increasing civil society involvement in democratization process, good governance and transparency of national resources.