Ülviyyə Qarayeva, Public Relations Manager at the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations, gave an interview.
The editorial office presents the interview:
- When will the results of the grant competitions announced by the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations for 2026 be announced?
- The names of the NGOs whose projects have won will be announced within the first quarter of 2026. The process of evaluating the submitted projects is currently underway. The technical selection stage will be fully completed in the coming days, and the projects will be evaluated by independent experts. After that, the results will be thoroughly analyzed, and the winners will be determined.
- How many projects have been submitted in total?
- In 2025, interest in the grant competitions announced by the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations surpassed the high indicators of recent years. In total, 981 NGOs that correctly completed the registration procedures in the Agency's electronic system were eligible to submit projects this year. This is the highest level of interest recorded to date. However, not all of these NGOs uploaded their projects to the system until the end. The number of submitted projects was 789.
- As the quantity of projects increases, does the quality also increase?
- After the new competition rules and the strengthening of professional approaches in September 2023, the quality of projects significantly improved, marking a turning point. The measurable results of the projects increased, and their systemic impact began to emerge. For two years, the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations has been organizing info sessions before each competition. Responsible officials from the Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Agency's leadership participate in these meetings, expectations from NGOs are explained, and questions are answered.
The project submission campaign lasts for 2 months. During this period, announcements are placed on all TV and radio channels, agencies, and newspapers across the country, ensuring that NGOs are informed about the competitions. This healthy environment was once a wish for the NGO sector; now, it is a reality. However, we must frankly state that in some cases, an adequate approach to such an attitude is not observed. Starting this year, the Agency has expanded the use of artificial intelligence technologies in project expertise. Some discovered facts have deeply disappointed us. For example, a project titled "Think Green, Be Active!" submitted by an NGO operating in the field of ecology is plagiarized from projects submitted by other 3 NGOs working in advertising, youth, and women's affairs. Or, some NGOs, whose names have been associated with the "fake order-medal trade" and whose activities are being investigated by law enforcement agencies, have also falsified their projects; the texts of the various projects they submitted are almost identical word-for-word. The project text titled "Integration of War Invalids into Society" appeared in 3 different NGOs.
The text of the project "Faces of Eternity" - Creation of Corners for National and Fatherland Heroes" is plagiarized from projects submitted by 4 NGOs. The same text for the project "Organization of the Visit of Martyr Families to Khankendi" was received from 9 different NGOs. Projects such as "Green Breath on the Banks of the Kura," "Media and Social Platforms in Protecting Family Values," "Support for the Legal Protection of Women in Regions," "Biodiversity of Lake Hajigabul," "We Protect Our Future: Awareness Against Harmful Habits," and "No to Domestic Violence!" also fall into this category. Alternatively, one of the military-oriented NGOs applied with a project proposal worth 49,650 manats. The text of this project, titled "The State is the Father, We are the Children," is almost identical to that of 8 different NGOs, with the same spelling errors in the same sentences.
In 2025, out of nearly 800 projects submitted under the competitions announced by the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations, approximately 200 were found to have full or partial plagiarism. Plagiarized projects submitted by NGOs attempting to deceive a state institution will not pass the technical selection. For ethical reasons, we are not publicizing the names of these NGOs, but each NGO that fails the technical selection will receive a relevant notification from the Agency via the electronic system. The era of plagiarized projects is over; the Agency will not allocate any funds to plagiarized projects. Warnings have been issued repeatedly during info sessions, and those who submit plagiarized projects now face the consequences of their actions.
- What other negative aspects does the analysis of projects reveal?
- As you know, the Agency is currently accepting final reports for projects implemented in 2025. Monitoring activities have revealed that the head of one youth organization is the accountant for 28 NGOs, the head of a health-focused organization is the accountant for 22 NGOs, that person's family member is the accountant for 16 NGOs, and two close relatives holding responsible positions in 2 different NGOs are jointly the accountants for 22 NGOs. All of this leads to the conclusion that there is a group that writes projects for NGOs and handles their accounting. Some NGO leaders are unaware of how projects are prepared and managed. We now have the full scope and list of these individuals. These aspects will definitely be taken into account when the results of the 2026 grant competitions are announced.
It is also worth mentioning that, especially around the announcement of grant competition results, some NGO representatives attempt to launch smear campaigns against the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations on social media. The discovered facts have revealed that participants in these slander and defamation campaigns are, to varying degrees, individuals who have submitted plagiarized or fake projects, or who offer "illegal services" to NGOs, or are associated with them. No slander or defamation campaign will influence the Agency's decisions in the future. Sometimes these individuals expose themselves by uploading documents and projects related to each other into the system.
During the investigations, projects prepared with the help of artificial intelligence tools were also encountered. We are not against utilizing the capabilities of artificial intelligence, but these tools must be used correctly and responsibly.
Furthermore, some projects contain sentences that have no relation to the topic and are solely intended to artificially increase the text volume. Instead of developing the idea and content of the project, some NGOs believe they will win by filling in the fields haphazardly. We call on NGO chairpersons to directly oversee the projects they submit, as they bear the primary responsibility for the project.
We sometimes encounter instances where different NGOs hold distinct events in the same location and with the same audience, which are then presented to the Agency as separate events on different dates. Starting in 2026, we will implement a "Face ID" system to verify event attendees. The images uploaded by NGOs to the system will be automatically analyzed by a facial recognition algorithm. The system will compare the images and check if they exist in the database to determine the degree of similarity. This system is currently in the testing phase, and we will also evaluate the old database using this method to determine the full scope of such NGOs. We are already collecting relevant facts.
- Can you provide us with those photos?
- No, we are trying to protect the reputation of NGOs. We believe that many problems can be fundamentally resolved through awareness-raising activities. The positive results of new approaches are evident over the past two years. Regarding competitions, we invite a number of NGO representatives who are trying to deceive the state institution to refrain from this crooked path, based on the principle that "it is better to return from half of the damage."
The main requirements for winning competitions are high project quality, public benefit, and the team's project management skills. The expertise processes are now continuing at full capacity. We will witness many successful NGO projects in 2026. Azerbaijani NGOs have now entered a phase of quality development.