The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) is a winner of the 2007 UN Public Service Award in the category of "Improving transpency, accountability and responsiveness in the Public Service".

The United Nations Public Service Awards is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service. Established in 2003 it rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide. The UN General Assembly, in its Resolution dated March 7, 2003 designated 23 June as Public Service Day.

The State Oil Fund is a first governmental agency that is awarded the UN Public Service Award among the governmental institutions of the Eastern Europe and CIS countries.

Established in accordance with the oil strategy of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, the State Oil Fund has played a significant role for provision of transparency in management of oil revenues during 7 years of its activity. The Fund's way towards this prestigious award started with statement of Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan about joining the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Today Azerbaijan is a leading country in EITI implementation and recognized as a first country implementing the Initiative worldwide. As a result of its all-round actvity SOFAZ joined a competition with governmental agencies of most of the world countries and won the UN Public Service Award for EITI.

The supporting documents, including reference letters from prominent figures of the world - leaders of the super powers, top level representatives of the international organizations submitted by SOFAZ were considered during the assessment process.

The State Oil Fund is a winner of the competition involving almost all countries of the world. The award is a prove to the State Oil Fund's transparency and recognition of this fact in international level.

Guido Bertucci, Director of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs has sent a letter to SOFAZ. The letter reads out: "I am pleased to congratulate your organization on winning the 2007 United Nations Public service Award in the category of "Improving transparency, accountability and responsiveness in the Public Service" for "Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative". Your outstanding achievement has demonstrated excellence in serving the public interest and I am sure it has made a significant contribution to the improvement of public administration in your country. It should be an inspiration and encouramement for others working for the public service."

As the UN Public Service Award becomes more prestigious every year, almost all countries of the world has joined the comptetition for 2007 award. The winners from Europe, Northern America and the Pacific, Latin America, Africa, Asia and Western Asia will be awarded in three categories: improving transparency, accountability, and responsiveness in the Public Service, improving the delivery of services and fostering participation in policy-making decisions through innovative mechanisms (e. g. utilizing ICT, participatory budgeting, participatory/ social auditing and monitoring, and others). The governmental entities from 14 countries of the world - Azerbaijan, Austira, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Singapore, India, Kenya, Morocco, Republic of Korea, United Arab Amirates, Lebanon, Chile, South Africa - are the 2007 award winners.

The Awards Ceremony for the 2007 United Nations Public Service Awards will be celebrated at the United Nations Office in Vienna, Austria, during the 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government which will be held from 26 to 29 June 2007. The UN Secretary General is expected to present UN Awards Trophy to the winners personally. 12 heads of state are to attend the ceremony.