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COUNCIL MEETINGS Coalition EITI (November 18, 2005)
Participants:
Agenda
Information about the sitting and decisions made there During the discussions of the agenda, Gulaliyev proposed taking off the agenda the discussion of the coalition’s draft action program and substantiated this with the fact that the coalition’s action strategy was not ready yet. Bagirov said it was a good idea to prepare the action program in line with the strategy. He said there were three main reasons for including this issue in the agenda: 1) The project on the preparation of the coalition’s action program prepared by the donors and submitted to donors was not accepted for financing; 2) At their meetings with representatives of donor organizations, they asked the coalition to present a comprehensive project that will cover its activities for 1-1.5 years; 3) The grant project meant to cover the coalition’s administrative expenses expires in December and if this financing for any project does not continue, the coalition will at least have to leave its office. Ibadoglu proposed adding a provision on the preparation of a strategy to the draft action program put up for debate. The agenda was adopted taking account of this proposal. 1st issue: Bagirov briefed the participants on the coalition’s draft action program for 2006 and noted that in the program the coalition’s future activities are divided into two parts a) In line with the EITI philosophy and b) activities going beyond the framework of this philosophy. Ibadoglu proposed 1) removing the second part from the draft; 2) adding directions of cooperation with foreign oil companies and the government. M. Gahramanli: Taking into account that the coalition was also meant to oversee the spending of oil profits, the directions of group b should be kept in the project. F. Aliyev: Since environmental and safety work entails expenses, Point B should be kept in the draft in some way. Rahmanov: It is necessary not to remove provisions from the draft, but to add new directions to it. Bagirov: At present, a consortium of donors is being set up on the EITI and a special fund is being founded in order to finance other spheres of activity related to the EITI. Our goal in preparing this project is also to make use of these possibilities. Gulaliyev: Point B can be merged with Point A. All work planned can be divided into four main directions - research, education, monitoring and public support (advocacy). The aforesaid points of the draft belong only to the first and second directions, and it is necessary to add points covering work related to the third and fourth directions. Also, it is necessary to prepare a small project for three or four months covering the coalition’s administrative expenses. The action program should be prepared by a special working group by collecting proposals from the members of the coalition. F. Asadov: It would be better to present a longer-term project not for 3-4 months, but for a 1-1.5 years that would cover all the other important activities which were mentioned or could be mentioned here. If we take into account the provisions mentioned in this draft program, we will be able to see that this project might last for several years. Y. Huseynov: If the action program is presented in this form, i.e. in a single and long-term form, it would be more correct and donors would have accepted it. The main reason why several previous projects were not accepted is that they had been presented in the form of separate projects. We cannot commit ourselves to financing a three or four-month project. G. Ibadoglu: The action program should be adopted at a general meeting. For this reason, there is no need to hurry now. Let us conduct our discussions, involve other members of the coalition in these discussions through the Internet and submit a finished document to the general meeting. A. Mehdiyev: We should first of all determine what we want to achieve as a coalition and what our goals are. The action program should be based on this and an appraisal should be carried out at the end. F. Asadov: Within the framework of this action program, it is possible to prepare two or three projects that could be financed by individual donors in line with the strategies of various donors. The program itself should be a comprehensive document that envisages long-term activities which reflect the positions and goals to which the whole civil society aspires. The provisions of this document can go beyond the framework of the EITI, while the Open Society Institute could provide urgent assistance to this document in order to support the civil society and help it take leading positions. To this end, it is necessary to show specific actions, for example, the conduct of some conferences, round table discussions, course, etc. At the same time, the donor should know what these measures will result in. Moreover, we should clarify the term “transparency” for ourselves. First, this term appeared as an international initiative that envisaged the transparency of oil profits. Our coalition was set up and took an active part in the implementation of our initiative. However, we see that the civil society does not want to restrict itself only to profits. At the same time, there is also a third issue which is important, but little attention is paid to it. This is the price of oil profits. While calculating our profits, we should also be able to calculate our losses. The last two issues are not included in the EITI philosophy. However, as the Open Society Institute, we can support projects related to these issues. We do not depend on the EITI. If the civil society wants to look into these issues, carry out monitoring and gain public support, we can support them. G. Afandiyev: I support Ibadoglu’s position on this issue. The coalition should first of all prepare and implement at least a short-term strategy in the sphere that is regarded as a priority and in its activities related to the EITI, because the coalition has a lot of work to do in this direction. The strategy should provide for the implementation of various projects. It is necessary to make sure that other members of the coalition also participate in these projects in line with their activities. After that, it is possible to prepare a long-term strategy and include in it issues that go beyond the strategy of the EITI philosophy. S. Rahmanov: The strategic plan that will be prepared should consist of several stages. The first stage should include the most pressing issues, including the administrative expenses of the coalition’s office, the preparation of a major strategic plan, etc. A number of issues can be implemented in the second stage and others in the third stage. It is also necessary to take into account that the general meeting will elect a new council and if we include in our program the issues that they will have to implement, this would not be right. G. Afandiyev: The list of this work should also include provisions on increasing the knowledge and skills of the coalition’s members. BP has also said that it can finance such issues. F. Asadov: Several integrative programs can be presented within the framework of the major program. I suggest preparing a project that would consist of two main components. A project within the framework of one component that ensures the coalition’s activity within the existing EITI, the study of world experience in the EITI and the second component could be education, improvement of the coalition’s knowledge and skills, public discussions, the discussion of the results of the existing work, publications, etc. If this project is prepared and developed, it might lead to the creation of a new project in five or six months’ time. We can look at this project and discuss it. A. Mehdiyev: A project indicating the general goals of the coalition for 2006 should be prepared and appeals should soon be filed with donors in order to carry out these goals and finance the work of the coalition. After that, a more detailed document stemming from the goals noted in that project is prepared and it notes, prepares and implements specific projects for 2006. O. Gulaliyev: The coalition should conduct internal discussions to determine the directions of the coalition’s activities for 2006, the working group to be set up in the council should collect proposals and prepare an action plan for 2006 taking account of those proposals. N. Agayev: As a member of the coalition, I request that the Council submit a strategy to the general meeting. Z. Ismayil: If donors do not finance the preparation of the strategic plan, we should set up our own group to prepare it and prepare it within a certain period of time. S. Bagirov: We will meet up again at 1600 on 23 November in connection with this project, which we are discussing, and continue our discussions. If Zohrab bey’s proposal is accepted, any member of the coalition can ask to participate in the preparation of the strategic plan within that working group. (The proposal was accepted.) Decision: The discussions on the draft action program of the coalition for 2006 will continue at 1600 on 23 November. Second issue: Decision: The next general meeting of the coalition will be held on 16 December. The draft agenda of the general meeting shall be discussed at the next sitting of the Council. Proposals related to the agenda shall be submitted to the coordinator. Third issue: O. Gulaliyev: Eight articles were submitted to the competition. Seven of them have been published in the papers. One of the articles has not been published in any newspaper. The competition envisages an award of 300 dollars for the first place, 200 dollars for the second place and 100 dollars for the third place. I suggest that the money award be divided among published articles as this will help us to involve more journalists in such competitions in the future. A. Mehdiyev: If the competition has been announced and conducted, its conditions cannot be changed after it ends. The competition should be completed and its results announced. Decision: To complete the competition without changing the conditions, to announce the results and present the winners with aforesaid awards. To publish the results in the press. Current issues: - A Mehdiyev: A number of companies are not replying to queries. Decision: To appeal by fax to the companies that have not replied to queries. The coalition’s coordinator should phone the companies and find out why they have not replied. I.Ahmadov: Courses should be conducted for NGOs at the third stage of our project. There are three proposals in this connection: 1) Not only the members of the coalition, but also other NGOs can take part in the course; 2) Since the course will be attended not by 45, but only by 20 organizations, it is necessary to conduct one course attended by 20 people instead of three courses attended by 15 people; 3) The subjects of the courses are related to oil contracts. Since it is a very difficult subject and there are few NGOs that are interested in it, it is necessary to change the subject of the courses and conduct them on ecology and human rights problems. Decision: 1) NGOs that are not members of the coalition can take part in the training; 2) Two courses should be conducted: first for NGOs that are members of the coalition on the subject of oil contracts and second for NGOs that are not members of the coalition on the EITI.
Last correction date of the file: 24/7/2008 - 14:56:28
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