The Open Society Institute - Assistance Foundation (OSI-AF) Azerbaijan is a non-governmental, non-profit organization established in 1996 to develop and promote an open society in Azerbaijan.
The concept of open society is based on the recognition that people act on imperfect knowledge and nobody is in possession of the ultimate truth. The open society implies a society based on the rule of law, democratic government, active civil society, protection of minority rights and market economy.
OSI-AF activities in Azerbaijan are mainly financed by Mr. George Soros, known entrepreneur and philantropist.
For the period of its activity in Azerbaijan OSI has spent about 15 million US dollars. The number of grants and budget allocated against them since 1997 are summarized in the table below:
1997 - 114 grants - $187.169
1998 - 382 grants - $871.025
1999 - 559 grants - $1.036.451
2000 - 569 grants - $1.400.656
2001 - 394 grants - $1.678.107
OSI-AF proceeds with its efforts to provide free access to information, increase the role of the youth through education, and develop the civil society.
To develop knowledge and promote use of Internet in Azerbaijan, the Foundation implements a range of long-term projects in Baku and other districts of Azerbaijan, which include provisions of free public access to Internet, web-resources development training and support to libraries.
The scope of OSI-AF activities covers almost the whole area of Azerbaijan. Education Information Centers operate in Ganja, Mingachevir and Lenkaran with such a center due in Nakhichevan.
A range of programs is dedicated to education. Step-by-step and Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking (RWCT) programs are being implemented in pre-school, primary and secondary education levels. The most extended Step-by-Step project initiated in 1998 and implemented in 35 high schools and 52 kindergartens of Baku, district centers and villages. Other programs include Debates, history textbook development, curriculum reform, and teacher training. Thus, Debates is successfully implemented in Ganja, Lenkaran, Mingachevir, Sheki, Sumgayit, Shemakha, Gakh, Astara and Khanlar.
Civil Society development is the third main program area for OSI-Azerbaijan. From 1999 it focuses on the legal education, access to justice, and legal information.
The Foundation's objective is to support the variety of NGO activities. To achieve this, the Foundation develops and implements a range of public health, law, mass media, women, culture and arts programs.
To follow the transparency practice, OSI issues regular public reports and provides the below table:
TOTAL EXPENDITURES FOR PROGRAMS 2001 (USD)
| PROGRAMS | ALLOCATED AMOUNT (USD) |
 |
| Educational Programs | 790,791 |
| English Programs | 105,346 |
| Youth Programs | 165,668 |
| East-to-East Programs | 97,379 |
| Information on Scientific Expeditions Funding | 18,572 |
| Information Programs | 514,087 |
| Public Health Programs | 209,674 |
| Economic reorganization Programs | 29,990 |
| Arts and Culture Programs | 172,971 |
| Mass-media Programs | 127,142 |
| Local government Programs | 14,487 |
| Legal Programs | 188,356 |
| Justice for all Programs | 3,712 |
| Women Programs | 165,493 |
| Civil Society Programs | 57,633 |
|
| TOTAL | 2,661,301 |
In order to provide more detailed information of its activities OSI AF intends to hold a press conference in July of this year.
