Even before the launch of the massive Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline in 2005, the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation–Azerbaijan has been at the forefront of efforts to advocate for the people directly affected by Azerbaijan’s extractive industries. Its work has resulted in concrete results, such as persuading an oil consortium to repair roads damaged during the pipeline’s construction.
The foundation’s communication projects work to increase access to information, enhance media coverage of social issues, defend journalists’ rights, and initiate dialogue among the government, civil society groups, and international organizations. The foundation’s education programs focus on education reform, teacher training, debate, history textbook development, curriculum reform, Internet training, and increased public access to information technology.
To bolster political participation, the foundation promotes free and fair elections in Azerbaijan—a country whose most recent elections have represented progress, but still fall short of international standards for fairness and competition. The foundation also works to advance prison reform and harm reduction programs.