Today, a Regional Conference on the “Sustainability of Community Projects” was held in Gabala. Plenary presentation of Mr. Kerim Kerimov, AzRIP’s engineer, on the topic of sustainability, as well as the group presentations of Tuntul community of Gabala rayon and Kerimli community of Oghuz rayon was accepted with a great interest.

Today, a Regional Capacity Building Conference for Karabakh zone was held Barda town. The conference was attended by the community leaders representing Barda, Aghdam, Aghjabedi and Beylagan rayons, representatives of Barda and Aghjabedi ExComs, as well as Mr.Daniel Owen, World Bank Task Manager for AzRIP-2, Ms.Gülbeniz Ganbarova, AzRİP-2 Deputy Director and Community Development Manager and the staff of the Karabakh Regional Operations Office.

Today, a Regional Capacity Building Conference was held in Ismayilli. Despite the snowy and frosty weather condition, 70 participants from Ismayilli, Aghsu and Gabala rayons enthusiastically took part in the conference sessions. “AzRIP is a project that has no analogue and competitor” – said Mr.Vahid Khalafli, representative of the Khalilli village of Aghsu rayon.

Tatarly community of Shemkir rayon was mobilized within the framework of AzRIP-2. With the total population of 3014 people, the Tatarly community is located at 45 kilometers distance from the rayon center. Local residents were gathered inside the Culture House in order to attend the PRA Workshop. Despite the cold weather condition, they came to the event with a great interest, saying that no community projects were implemented in their community so far and that AzRIP-2 is their only hope.

Bilaghan village is considered to be the part of Boyat administrative unit in Aghjabedi rayon. In 1917, the village was called “Bilegan” and in 1933 it was renamed to “Bilekhan”. According to local residents, the village was previously known as “Beylagan”, which means “plain, desert area”. Bilaghan is considered one of the ancient villages of Aghjabedi rayon. During the Participatory Rural Appraisal Workshop, community residenst said that the history of this village dates back to 14th Century and this fact was confirmed by the ancient findings in the territory of the village.

Garahasanli, the village with an ancient history, became one of the next communities that was mobilized through AzRIP-2 in Agstafa rayon. The history of first settlement in this village dates back to XIV Century. The name of the village is related to the person called “Gara Hasan”, the first resident of this village. With the total population of 1533 people, the Garahasanli village is located at 17 kilometers distance from the rayon center.

Irmashly community of Shemkir rayon was mobilized through the Second Azerbaijan Rural Investment Project. With the total population of 3247 people, the Irmashly community is located at 15 kilometers distance from the rayon center. The word “Irmaslı" has a Turkish origin and in translation it means “running water” or “lots of water springs”. The PRA Workshop was organized in the conference hall of the secondary school building.

The PRA workshop was organized in the courtyard of the Local Excom building in Aghpost community of Bilasuvar rayon. Despite the cold weather condition young mothers attended the workshop together with their small-age children. Along with the elders young people also took active part in the workshop. While exploring the history of the community it was revealed that Russian border troops were located in the territory of this village during the period of Tsarist Russia. The village was called “white post” (Aghpost) due to the fact that the building of the border troops was in white color.

Today, for the first time in North-West zone, a Participatory Rural Appraisal Workshop of a community cluster comprised of three communities, was held in Bolsulu community of Goranboy rayon. Mr.Elchin Ismayilov, first deputy of the Goranboy Rayon Executive Committee, spoke about the activities of Azerbaijan Rural Investment Project in Goranboy rayon and successful results of community projects.

First settlement is Sumayli community of Zakatala rayon dates back to XVIII Century. The village is located at the south of Zakatala rayon center. By ethnicity the village is comprised of Azerbaijanis, including tsakhur and avar minorities, who live toghether in a friendly atmosphere. The community is proud of well-known people (PhDs and candidates of science) who were born in Sumayli village. In addition there is one martyr of Karabakh war in the village. It was also revealed that 37 residents of this village were the participants of the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).