The Parliamentary Program in Azerbaijan will assist the Parliament of Azerbaijan—Milli Mejlis (MM)—to improve its government oversight and representation functions, with an emphasis on internal institutional reform and training of new constituency-based staff.

Azerbaijan faces serious challenges to its democratic development. Democratic institutions are new and evolving from a historical legacy of highly centralized authority, and Azerbaijan ranks near the bottom of several international measures of corruption. A strengthened parliament is critical to maintaining a healthy system of checks and balances and, thus, supporting successful social and economic development. It must first, however, solidify its own sense of identify, with clearly understood roles and responsibilities, professional services, and a vastly stronger relationship between the Deputies and the constituents they should serve.

DAI’s approach to the Parliamentary Program in Azerbaijan will be to establish new norms of behavior to improve institutional professionalism and responsiveness to citizens. We will use European Union standards and legislative compliance mechanisms as we design and implement capacity-building activities.

The initial work will focus primarily on providing assistance on internal parliamentary functions and procedures. This requirement will be accomplished by:

Reviewing internal processes, including human resources and research functions;

Providing training for members of parliament and parliamentary staff;

Assisting in the establishment of constituency offices;

Helping establish transparency mechanisms in the legislature; and

Enhancing the capacity of the Parliament to effectively address civil society concerns.


Parliamentary Program in Azerbaijan Recent Activities
USAID Initiates First Workshop for Azerbaijan’s Parliamentary Aides