BAKU - Ms. Margot Ellis, Acting Assistant Administrator for United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, arrived in Azerbaijan on May 16 for a four-day visit.

She met with Mr. Khalaf Khalafov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Azay Guliyev, Chairman of the Council for State Support to NGOs, and other government representatives, to discuss bilateral cooperation in development between the United States and Azerbaijan.

Ms. Ellis also met with international organizations and institutions represented in Azerbaijan, including European Union, the United Nations, Council of Europe, World Bank, and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to learn firsthand about the foreign assistance provided in Azerbaijan. Ms. Ellis also met with representatives of civil society organizations.

”USAID’s goal is to have a strong, positive relationship with Azerbaijan and to assist Azerbaijanis who want their country to become a stable, prosperous, and democratic country,” Ms. Ellis said during her visit.

On Friday, May 19, Ms. Ellis will travel to Goranboy, Shamkir and Samukh to meet with community members and beneficiaries of the projects supported by USAID and the Government of Azerbaijan. She will also visit Ganja to meet with local women in order to discuss women’s empowerment in the rural areas of Azerbaijan.

Margot Ellis has more than 25 years of experience in international development and humanitarian response. She joined the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia in August 2016 as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator. Ms. Ellis previously served as Acting Assistant Administrator for the USAID Asia Bureau from 2008-2010 and as Mission Director in Uganda for three years. Ms. Ellis held leadership positions for six years in USAID’s Mission to the West Bank and Gaza from 1999 to 2005. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business with an MBA in Finance and from Cornell University with an undergraduate degree in Economics.