"Umid" Support to Social Development Public Union has started to implement the project titled "Support to local government and self-government bodies" in fulfilling the obligations specified in the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Promotion of Open Government 2020-2022 approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated February 27, 2020, No. 1859. The project is carried out under the Empowering Civil Society Organizations for Transparency (ECSOFT) program funded by USAID Azerbaijan Mission.

Within the scope of the project, the surveys were conducted in 12 communities of Guba, Khachmaz, Shabran and Gusar rayons to study the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Promotion of Open Government 2020-2022, covering 64 activities in 9 areas. 65 people (7 women, 58 men) including the heads (or members) of the Municipalities of the targeted communities, Territorial Representatives (or deputies) of the Head of the Executive Committee, coordinators (or members) of the Community Development Council, local NGO representatives and Entrepreneurs (farmers and small entrepreneurs) participated in the face-to-face and virtual meetings (via Zoom) and e-surveys (via Google Forms).

Pursuant to the results of the conducted surveys, only 23.1% of the members of the targeted communities are aware of the Promotion of Open Government Project and National Action Plan, while 76.9% are unaware or partially aware of it. This lack of community awareness can be explained by the fact that the adoption of the National Action Plan was in the time of a pandemic and the communities could not participate in traditional meetings and events. One positive thing in the response to this question is that the Territorial Representatives of the Executive Committees, municipalities and NGO representatives are knowledgeable of these programs. The information was mainly received from TV and the press as stated by them. Improving e-services is one of the key tools to ensure transparency and prevent corruption. It was found that 60% of the respondents to the surveys use e-services and are aware of them. Payment terminals have been installed in 4 of the 12 communities surveyed. Such devices are mainly located in the communities close to rayon centers. The awareness rate of the Open Government Portal is about 15.4%. Moreover, about 47.7% of the respondents said that they use the mobile interface of the websites of government bodies. 35.4% of the respondents said that they are partially aware of the Government and Civil Society Dialogue Platform on Open Government Promotion. 53% of the respondents said that they are aware of Community Councils and their activities, while 83.1% said they are familiar with the activities of the community-based organizations established by NGOs and other community organizations to implement the project. 71.9% of the respondents said that the reports were provided to voters by municipalities.

Following the analysis of the surveys, the actions below are recommended to be taken to achieve the targets of the National Action Plan:

• Carry out awareness-raising activities on the Promotion of Open Government project and National Action Plan with citizens, the representatives of local executive, self-government and private bodies; create and distribute various brochures and booklets;
• Make TV programs about the Promotion of Open Government project and National Action Plan;
• Disseminate informative videos on social networks about the Promotion of Open Government project and National Action Plan;
• Disseminate information on the government bond auction results  and the state budget on social networks and television;
• Carry out awareness-raising activities (trainings, round tables and meetings) on the use of e-government portal and e-services, anti-corruption and improving transparency;
• Provide accessibility of the reports (posting reports on social networks, etc.) about awareness-raising activities on ethical conduct by government bodies, common ethical violations, etc. to citizens;
• Carry out activities related to the legalization of criminally obtained funds or other property and the financing of terrorism; distribute booklets and brochures;
• Install electronic payment terminals in the targeted communities;
• Create local level "Government-Civil Society Dialogue Platform” on the Promotion of Open Government;
• Create social media pages (Facebook, tweeter, etc.) for Municipalities, introduce those pages to community members.