Azerbaijan has a lot going for it, and against it. The small nation nestled between Russia and Iran and bordering Georgia is growing wealthy from oil and gas production, yet many of its 8.2 million citizens continue to suffer from basic problems, including poor roads, inadequate water and electricity services, unemployment, and endemic poverty.

Government leaders in Azerbaijan are being trained to address these problems through improved outreach and support to their constituencies. The Parliamentary Program in Azerbaijan (PPA) is working with difference-makers not only in the capital of Baku, but at the grassroots level in previously neglected small towns throughout the country.

DAI's Chief of Party Petro Morgos discussed the program's achievements last week during a presentation at DAI headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, and made similar presentations at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which is funding PPA.

The two-year project, which began in April 2007, recently recognized 105 Member of Parliament Assistants (MPAs) and legislative staff who for the past year have trained to deliver better services and constituency support in Azerbaijan, which has a legacy of centralized authority. Thirty of the MPAs and staff received certificates personally on Nov. 26 in Baku from Madeline Marchessoult, Chief of Staff for USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore.

In his presentations, Morgos noted that the political environment in Azerbaijan is complex because of competing interests in the capital, not all of which bode well for positive development in Azerbaijan's outlying regions. Those factors, he said, make PPA's progress at the grassroots level all the more necessary.

"We have made fundamental headway that we believe is the seed for the beginning of effective democracy," Morgos said, "and that is working with the MPAs."

The training, Morgos explained, includes lessons on how to set up local parliamentary offices, establish communication with citizens and media, and address constituents' concerns. The assistants-who unlike the Members of Parliament are required to live and work in their home districts-are becoming the ombudsmen between their citizenries and the parliamentarians in Baku, as well as links to local nongovernmental organizations, executive authorities, and municipalities.

After initial skepticism, Morgos said, leaders in the Azerbaijan parliament (the Milli Mejlis) have warmed to the "bottom-up" style of training as they see their subordinates learning useful technical skills.

"Now they are embracing it," Morgos said of the Azerbaijani leadership. "And I can tell you, [the MPAs] are really committed to their constituencies. They are solving a tremendous number of problems on the ground, and they have influence and are able to call the right people."

PPA has also led Azerbaijani leaders on two study tours to the United States and one to Poland, established a parliamentary research institute that supports evidence-based policy making, developed a legislative database for greater public transparency, and supported parliamentary media relations and public outreach strategy, among other accomplishments.

In the end, Morgos said the training will ultimately benefit not only those who receive it but the people they serve. "There's going to be a switch," Morgos predicted, "in how the constituents see their parliament -- a switch from disengagement to one of representation and trust."

For more on PPA's activities, click here.