The US Embassy in Baku is accepting applications for projects to expand and strengthen ties between the United States and Azerbaijan through cultural and exchange programs that highlight shared values and promote bilateral cooperation.
The American side included the following in the list of priority areas for the work of future contractors: regional cooperation in the South Caucasus, economic cooperation, green energy, the rule of law, gender equality and respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, the development of “media literacy”, the fight against “disinformation”.
Recipients of funding can conduct their activities, including within the framework of exchange programs, master classes, exhibitions.
The budget that the State Department is ready to allocate for the implementation of this initiative should not exceed $55,000. The size of one grant may vary from $10,000 to $25,000.
Nikita Danyuk, Deputy Director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts, member of the Russian Civic Chamber, commenting on the new American initiative in a conversation with RT, recalled that
For many years, the United States has been trying to create a pool of activists in the CIS, including in Azerbaijan, with the help of such grant work, who could promote the narratives created in Washington.
“The fact that the State Department is doing this is, of course, advancing the foreign policy of Washington.
Here it is also important to take into account that Azerbaijan is part of the important Transcaucasian region, take into account the situation with Nagorno-Karabakh, the difficult situation with Armenia and Turkey.
Naturally, the United States is trying to make Azerbaijan one of the conductors of American influence,” the expert added.
In the summer of 2022, it became known that the United States was ready to allocate $585,000 for a training program for 60 students and graduates of educational institutions under the age of 24 from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Appropriate training was planned to be carried out in areas involving, among other things, “development of leadership qualities”.