Azerbaijan, Baku, April 15 / Trend T.Hajiyev /
Baku opened a forum on the fight against corruption with the joint organization of the Corruption Combat Commission under the General Prosecutor's Office and NGOs' Information and Cooperation Network
Azerbaijan announced a competition among the NGOs to support their initiatives to combat corruption, Azerbaijani Presidential State NGO Support Fund head Azay Guliyev said at the event.
NGOs can submit their projects from April 15 to May 6, Guliyev said.
He said the competition's total fund is 50,000 manat. The contest will be held in five areas.
2011 entered in the Azerbaijani history as the year of the fight against corruption, Director General of the Public Television Ismayil Omarov said.
"The Azerbaijani citizens and society support the fight against corruption in the name of the state. Citizens want this process not to have the character of a campaign. The media, particularly e-media, should support this process," Omarov said.
Addressing the meeting, NGOs' representatives made a number of proposals to improve the fight against corruption.
Labor Rights Protection League Chairman Sahib Mammadov said an analysis of anti-corruption laws and regulations should be carried out and NGOs should be involved in this. He proposed to apply a "single window" principle and improve the operation of the state bodies' 'hotlines' to combat red tape in the state agencies.
Mammadov said problems exist in the sphere of the prompt consideration of complaints received by the hotlines.
"The problem is that appeals received by the hotlines are not treated promptly due to the increase in their number. Given this, a further work should be carried out on improving this area and the number of employees should be increased," Mammadov said.
President of Azerbaijan Foundation for Business Development and Entrepreneurship Sabit Bagirov offered to increase wages at least twice in coming days. The judicial system has serious shortcomings, he said, adding that there should be changes in this area.
"The cases of self-will are recorded in the courts, as if judges are unaware of the ongoing process. I think it's time to create a jury courts, as the use of such a system would help to solve problems in this sphere," Bagirov said.
NGOs suggested holding of the open trials over officials accused of corruption crimes. It will show a negative public attitude towards corruption.
The event was attended by representatives of the government, NGOs, international organizations and the media.