During the reporting period, the consolidation of authoritarian rule in Azerbaijan continued. Snap parliamentary elections in February 2020 did not meet international standards for free and fair competition. However, some notorious high-ranking state officials were fired, and corrupt local level administrators detained on corruption charges. These developments, in addition to the appointment of some young professionals to ministerial posts, raised hopes for a possible opening of the country to real reforms and changes.

DanielHayward
Daniel Hayward (UK) worked around Europe for 15 years as a dancer, choreographer and dance writer. Following retraining in sustainable development, he now works as an international development researcher, focused on land relations, agricultural value chains, gender, and migration. As well as working for Land Portal, Daniel is the project coordinator of the Mekong Land Research Forum at Chiang Mai University, and consultant for a variety of local and international NGOs and research institutes.