ACTIVITIES IN THE FIELD CAUCASUS
Empowering the fight for human rights The First EC-ODIHR Joint Programme for Conflict Prevention and Human Rights Capacity Building in the Caucasus has spawned several important programmes in Azerbaijan.
Alexander Nitzsche/OSCE
HUMAN RIGHTS
Within this framework, the Office has been engaged in: • a series of human rights monitoring training activities for NGOs • reform of the prison system of Azerbaijan, including a workshop on international standards of prisoner treatment, for officials from the government and human rights NGOs, as well as staff and inmates of a Baku women’s prison. Oil and gas are the main exports of Azerbaijan.
Supporting the Azerbaijani human rights watchdog The Office has closely followed the establishment of an Ombudsman Institution. It organized a support conference on the prospects for this institution in Azerbaijan for OSCE institutions and external partners.
Economic and Environmental Dimension Activities Important steps in water protection The OSCE’s Co-ordinator of Economic and Environmental Activities, the Office and the government took part in the third preparatory seminar on Co-operation for the Sustainable Use and the Protection of the Quality of Water. As a concrete follow-up measure, the threeyear South Caucasus River Monitoring project has begun. Standardized water quality and quantity measurements will be assessed independently in each of the three South Caucasus countries. It will fund state-ofthe-art hydrology equipment and also provide training and salaries for local scientists. The initiative, which is sponsored by the OSCE and the NATO Science for Peace Project, is considered to be an important first step for assessing water quality in the Kura and Araks river basins and will form the basis for future water purification programmes.
Targeting economic development Two key developments within the reporting period, which the Office is using as a starting-point for future activities in the economic field, are: • a presidential decree: Removing Impediments to the Development of Entrepreneurial Activity in September. • the adoption of a state programme on poverty reduction and economic growth for 2003-2005, which was presented at a national conference in October. In co-operation with relevant state bodies and in co-ordination with other international actors, the Office has started designing projects to provide appropriate assistance in reaching these targets.
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