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December 2006

US Embassy Political Officer Rebecca
Nasulnd converses with RLIC users
online.

US Embassy Political Officer Shares US Perspective on Civil Liberties in Online Discussion

On December 30th Rebecca Naslund, a political officer at the US Embassy to Azerbaijan, made direct contact with RLIC users throughout Azerbaijan by participating in an online forum on the topic of civil liberties. Participants included municipal government officials, local NGO representatives, and other RLIC visitors from all program regions.

During the discussion, Naslund answered a variety of questions ranging from democracy building and human rights to US and Azerbaijani civil and legal frameworks for civic involvement in the political process. Naslund provided important insights to users on the development and significance of civil liberties and civil obligations. “For real democratic development, it is absolutely essential that rights and responsibilities balance each other,” she told discussion participants. “While the government has the responsibility to protect civil rights, people are also obligated to contribute to the common good – for example, by being informed about public policies and voting in elections…Simply having the right to do something means little when the population does not exercise this right.”

Democracy Learning Director Mirali
Husseynov discusses fiscal transparency
with RLIC users nationwide.

Local Democracy NGO Uses RLIC to Network on Issues of Budget Transparency

On December 15th, 2006, 25 employees and residents of RLIC communities met virtually from RLIC centers to discuss the transparency of local budgets in an online forum moderated by Democracy Learning Director Mirali Husseynov. Democracy Learning is a local NGO established by IFES that is dedicated to promoting democracy building and local governance development in Azerbaijan.

In 2006 the Azerbaijani Parliament adopted a decision urging each municipality to begin publicizing their budgets. Since government budgets have rarely been public information in the past, Democracy Learning turned to RLIC to organize an online forum that would bring light to the process and give those most affected the chance to exchange views. Participants discussed many issues and demonstrated interest in the creation of municipal budgets, sources of self-financing for municipalities, and citizens’ participation in the establishment and strengthening of municipal institutions.

“It was a great idea to organize an online forum for the members of municipalities,” Husseynov stated after the forum. “It gives us an opportunity to contact the regions that we are not working in.”

Citizens Lean about Bird Flu through RLIC Seminar and Online Event

On December 26th, 2006, Gobustan doctors and health specialists informed local and distant RLIC users about the critical issue of Bird Flu through a seminar and subsequent online discussion. The joint events were attended by members of the local community, library employees, and participants of the RLIC Tech Age Girls project. In order to share the event with a larger population, RLIC organized an online discussion following the seminar, enabling seminar organizers to answer questions about the Bird Flu from other regions.

During the online seminar the specialists learned that most people knew very little about Bird Flu and how to fight it. The participants of the seminar and the online forum learned how to identify the disease and how to react if the disease appeared in their communities.

“It was interesting that RLIC conducted this online forum and we were given the opportunity to hear questions and concerns from other regions,” remarked one of the specialists.  “Now I see that there is a lack of knowledge about Bird Flu in the regions, especially in smaller districts. This type of online discussion can be one of the easiest and cheapest ways to provide useful information.”   

 RLIC Helps Local Students Achieve Academic Success

Umid Ceferlie uses the Mingechevir
RLICS's resources to research
Solidarity Day.

Young RLIC visitors have been making use of center resources to access difficult-to-find information central to their studies. Many students come to the centers after school in order to research curricular topics and locate resources their schools lack. Highlights from December include:

On December 20th, Mingechevir internally displaced person (IDP) Umid Ceferli used the local RLIC to collect information about the national holiday “Solidarity Day." With limited information about the holiday available at his school, Ceferli turned to the only freely accessible source of Internet in Mingechevir. With the assistance of the RLIC site monitor, Ceferli was able to gather the necessary information to finish his project. Ceferli’s family fled to Mingechevir with his family from Shusha during the Nagarno-Karabagh conflit between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Ceferli currently attends a school in Mingechevir set-up for Internally Displaced People. 

University student Ahmadaga
Darbandov researches a paper on a
notable Azeri historian at the Salyan
RLIC.

 

Ahmadaga Darbandov, a second year student at the Department of History of the Azerbaijan University, used the Salyan RLIC in order to do research for a term paper on Abbasgulu agha Bakikhanov, an Azerbaijani historian. The site monitor helped Darbandov make the best use of search engines in finding the information he required and submitting his paper on time. Darbandov commented after finishing that “I used the RLIC computer to type the paper since I do not have computer at home. My supervisor liked the course paper very much and graded it with A, for which I am grateful to RLIC.”

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