At the National Museum of History of Azerbaijan, an award ceremony was held on February 13, organized by For Azerbaijan Charity Organization to announce the results of the Grant Competition.
Welcoming the guests, the organization’s Program Director, Elnur Kalantarov, thanked the participants on behalf of the For Azerbaijan team.
Emil Hasanov, Head of For Azerbaijan’s Baku Office, provided an overview of the organization’s activities and projects implemented so far. A short film highlighting the main milestones of the organization’s three-year journey was screened for the participants.
Movlan Pashayev, one of the founders of For Azerbaijan and a member of its Advisory Council, briefed the guests on the purpose of the grant competition, noting that 83 projects had been submitted. The projects covered 30 cities and districts, including three economic zones, within the capital and beyond. These included 24 projects in Employment/Business/Career development, 16 in psychosocial support for families of martyrs and war veterans, and 21 in education, particularly focused on girls’ education. Additionally, 22 proposals were recorded in areas like healthcare accessibility, work with people with disabilities, film and book production, addiction recovery, youth engagement, and tourism development.
Pashayev mentioned that an independent “Evaluation Committee” was established by the organization to select the winning project. The committee reviewed the projects based on eight criteria: “completeness of documents,” “experience of the organization,” “future orientation,” “implementation and sustainability,” “budget justification,” “risks,” “beneficiaries,” and “partners.”
In conclusion, Pashayev announced the committee’s decision, which included Dr. Fariz Huseynov, Professor of Finance at North Dakota State University; Heydar Abdullayev, Principal Member of Technical Staff at Oracle; and Tural Badirkhanli, CEO of Solidshape. The winning project was declared to be “Girls for Artificial Intelligence: Programs and Training Opportunities for Future Innovators” by GenderHub Public Union.
The project will last for eight months, with a total budget of 26,000 AZN, covering Baku, Ganja, Lankaran, and Agstafa, from June to November.
The project aims to instill the basics of offering education pathways and innovative projects in technical fields, such as programming and engineering, to girls aged 14-18, in collaboration with experts and organizations across various sectors. It will include training, mentorship programs, and competitions for organizing innovative projects.
Next, Rufat Abbasov, a member of the organization’s Advisory Council, delivered a speech. He noted that the educational and awareness component of the “Let Girls Study” project by the Var Yox Art and Culture Platform was also highly rated by the Evaluation Committee. As a result, a special contract worth 5,000 AZN will be signed for producing and broadcasting social video clips about girls’ education.
The winners of the competition expressed gratitude to For Azerbaijan and emphasized the importance of the planned activities and expected outcomes.
At the end of the event, members of For Azerbaijan answered questions from the guests. The award ceremony concluded with musical performances by children.
