On the agenda of the meeting was discussed the work done by the Fund for Support to Azerbaijani Diaspora in January-July 2020, financial assistance provided in connection with the pandemic, and new project applications received in the electronic system of the Fund.

General information was provided on projects implemented in January-July 2020 to strengthen diaspora activities of Azerbaijanis living abroad and to improve the organization of diaspora organizations. In this connection, mention was made of the project «Meeting of the Youth of the Azerbaijani Diaspora» held in Vienna on 1-2 February 2020 with the aim of uniting the youth of the world Azerbaijanis around a common platform, in particular to ensure centralized activities of the diaspora in Europe, to further strengthen the ties of youth with the Motherland. The project, in which 55 young people from the diaspora from China to the United States took part, held various discussions on «National Identity and Diaspora Politics», «Entrepreneurship and Innovation» and «Cooperation and Education».

In connection with the announcement of a quarantine regime in connection with the global COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Azerbaijan, since March 24, 2020 the Foundation operates on online platforms. In response to the coronavirus epidemic, the Foundation for the Support of the Azerbaijani Diaspora has implemented a number of projects to help Azerbaijanis living abroad to organize their leisure activities effectively and to improve the mood of our compatriots living abroad. It was noted that a series of concert programmes had been organized in that direction with the participation of Azerbaijani artists living abroad. Azerbaijani musicians living in Austria, Turkey, USA, Canada, France, the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of the Netherlands performed a live concert called «We are strong together».

On April 16-25, 2020 the project «Virtual Intellectual Game» was realized. The project helped to raise the intellectual level of Azerbaijanis living abroad, stimulate intellectual development, and strengthen the network of our compatriots living in different parts of the world, competing as a team. Fourteen teams from twelve countries, including Russia, Austria, Lithuania, Turkey, Canada, Spain, Jordan, France, Hungary, South Korea, Poland and Italy, participated in the contest, which was held on the Foundation’s Facebook account.

On the occasion of the 102nd anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan on May 28, 2020, a video was prepared in honour of founders, public and political figures and prominent intellectuals living in exile Mahammad Amin Rasulzade, Alimardan bey Topchubashov, Ahmet bey Ağaoğlu, Jehun Hajibeyli, Mustafa bey Vakilov, Khosrov bey Sultanov and Süreyya Ağaoğlu, and were broadcast on the Foundation’s social networks on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for seven days.

It was noted that in order to reduce the negative impact of the deep crisis and the difficulties caused by the new type of coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, on our compatriots, the Fund provided financial assistance to a total of 146 people.

At the last meeting of the Supervisory Board on 2 March 2020, the projects for which a decision on the allocation of financial assistance was taken were again discussed. Projects that had been put on hold because of the pandemic had been revised and some modifications had been made.

Another theme of the meeting was the project applications submitted by diaspora organizations and individuals to the Fund’s electronic system for the second quarter of 2020. On the basis of the project summaries, discussions on the issues mentioned in the budget document and the conclusions, the Supervisory Board decided to provide financial support for 4 projects implemented by diaspora organizations and 5 projects implemented by individuals.