In November 2008 ECNL published a brochure in Azerbaijani on "Citizen Participation in Legislative Processes". The brochure was originally prepared and published in Croatian under the auspices the Government of Croatia Office for Collaboration with CSOs with the financial support provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This material was translated into Azerbaijani with the financial assistance of the European Union under the project “Strengthening the Legal Framework for Citizen Action through Freedom of Association,” implemented by the ECNL.
The brochure seeks to provide general information on the topic to key stakeholders (government officials, policy makers, CSOs, and academics) involved in shaping and implementation of instruments governing citizen participation. It does not provide a detailed account of frameworks and practices in various countries, but rather outlines major features and challenges.
The brochure was published on the eve of the Conference titled "Citizen Participation in Public Policies: Why Does It Matter?" The Conference took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, on November 24, 2008. Copies of the brochure were distributed among the Conference participants and will also be shared with local stakeholders, such as CSOs, local authorities, governmental offices and donor organizations.
The main objective of this conference was to attract public attention to the issues of participation and importance of including citizens and CSOs into decision-making processes, sharing international best practices for citizen participation and identifying country-specific effective mechanisms for participation. Issues of public participation on local and national level were discussed in depth during the Conference with participation of local and international experts.
ECNL's Senior Legal Advisor made a presentation on benefits of citizen participation in policy-making, some effective mechanisms that ensure participation in Central and Eastern Europe and also lessons learnt during applying these mechanisms.
ECNL's work in Azerbaijan is supported under the project “Strengthening the Legal Framewok for Citizen Action”, financed by the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR).