KHACHMAZ – On April 21, residents of the Yerguj community of Khachmaz district gathered to celebrate the completion of a road rehabilitation project. They were joined by representatives of the local Executive Committee and municipality, officials from the Ministry of Economy, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project was implemented by the East-West Management Institute (EWMI) under the Socio-Economic Development Activity (SEDA) co-financed by the governments of the United States and Azerbaijan.

Yerguj is located 7 kilometers off the Guba-Khachmaz highway. The road, which connects the village with Guba-Khachmaz highway, was in disrepair for years. The poor road conditions caused major difficulties and delays for the transportation of agricultural goods and products, emergency response, and for daily activities of the residents. Community leaders came together and decided to fix this problem.

With support from the EWMI/SEDA project, the community worked with their local and regional governments to pave 400 meters of the village road with asphalt. The new road will improve the day-to-day living conditions for more than 2,600 people by making transportation by car safer, providing better access to the school and markets as well as reducing the transportation costs and travel time.

To date, EWMI/SEDA has provided more than $1.4 million in funding for 69 projects in 61 communities benefiting more than 94,000 people around Azerbaijan. EWMI/SEDA promotes fuller participation of citizens, civil society organizations and local and central government officials to advance socio-economic development. The project is funded by USAID and implemented with support from the Ministry of Economy and the Council for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations and with assistance from a local non-governmental organization, UMID.