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News from NED 
July 2010
Top Stories
  • Iran's Green Movement Honored with 2010 Democracy Award
  • NED Grantee Breaks Story on Burma's Nuclear Ambitions
  • NED Mourns the Loss of Grantees Floribert Chebeya Bahizire and Illko Kucheriv
  • Focus on Internet Freedom: 
      Democracy Story: Azeri blogger jailed for sense of humor 
      CIMA Event: Bloggers Behind Bars
      Access Controlled - The Shaping of Power, Rights and Rules in Cyberspace
Top Stories
 
2010 Democracy Award Honors Iran's Green Movement
A year after the disputed June 12 election in Iran which sparked the mass protests called the Green Movement, NED honored the Movement with its annual Democracy Award.  The June 10 Capitol Hill ceremony featured remarks by US Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), as well as Obama advisor Samantha Power, who brought a message from the President. The Award was accepted in absentia by  Iranian poet Simin Behbahani, who sent a special message to the gathering. Other highlights of the evening included a musical performance by Mohsen Namjoo, and a brief film by Iranian filmmaker Babak Payami, which was introduced and narrated by acclaimed author Azar Nafisi. 
 
NED also hosted a half-day conference titled, One Year Later: Prospects for a Democratic Transition in Iran, featuring major speeches by Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Ted Kaufman (D-DE)...read more>> 
 
Burma as Nuclear Power? In a new investigative documentary, long-time NED grantee Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) provides substantive evidence that Burma's ruling generals have started a program to build nuclear weapons.  
 
NED Mourns Deaths of Two Grantees: In June, Congolese human rights defender Floribert Chebeya Bahizire was murdered, while Ukrainian democracy activist Ilko Kucheriv passed away suddenly at the age of 55.
 
Focus on Internet Freedom 
NED News & Events 
 
Francis Fukuyama on China, India and the Future of Democracy: Fukuyama spoke on a panel on China, India and the Future of Democracy. The panel was followed by a tribute ceremony in which NED recognized the outstanding contribution made by Fukuyama during his time on the NED Board.
 
New Website for the World Movement for Democracy:  The new website features news and events, as well as highlights of the Sixth Assembly, which was held in Jakarta this year. The President of Indonesia, Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, gave the keynote address.   
 
New Congressional Advisory Committee for NED: NED established a new Congressional Advisory Committee consisting of leading members of the U.S. Congress from both parties who share a strong interest in assisting grassroots democrats abroad.
 
Religious Liberty and Its Role in Building Democracy: The Case of Ukraine: Watch this NED panel discuss the role religion has played in building democracy and strengthening civil society in Ukraine's turbulent political circumstances.
 
Challenge of Democratic Transition and Constitutional Design in Kyrgyzstan: NED's International Forum for Democratic Studies brought together a range of experts and practitioners on Kyrgyzstan and on comparative constitutional design to participate in a half-day workshop on the state of the democratic transition in Kyrgyzstan following recent events.
 
Reagan-Fascell Fellow Presentations: The Black Coat Revolution: How Pakistan's Lawyers Turned the Tide Against General Musharaf's Dictatorship and Brutal Censorship: Targeting Journalists in the North Caucasus are two topics addressed in presentations by NED's current group of Reagan-Fascell scholars. Each scholar makes a presentation. To learn more about the Reagan-Fascell Fellows program, click here.  
 
Know someone who should be a Reagan-Fascell scholar? The program will begin accepting applications for 2011-2012 starting August 1, 2010. Visit their application page to find out more.
 
 
 Recent Events at the Center for International Media Assistance 
 
Shifting Sands: the Impact of Satellite TV on Media in the Arab World: Most governments in the MENA region have managed to retain a tight grip on media, whether through the arbitrary application of restrictive and vague press laws or limits on media production. What are the positive effects of satellite television coverage on the media environment in the region?
 
Supporting Independent Media in Africa: Professional, nonpartisan news services are essential to improving health, education, environmental protection, and democratic governance in Africa. This event examined how African journalists are now organizing themselves to promote better legal, economic and professional environments for free media across the continent.
 
The Role of Media in Humanitarian Crises: Lessons Learned from the Earthquake in Haiti: As Haiti shifts from disaster to recovery, how can international agencies incorporate media development in plans for reconstruction?
 
 
Publications
 
Yanukovych's 100-Day Drift to Moscow: NED Vice-President Nadia Diuk teamed up with VOA journalist Myroslava Gongadze to write an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal Europe.
 
Report: "The Impact of Satellite TV on Media in the Arab World": The Center for International Media Assistance (CIMA) released a new report by Deborah Horan, a veteran journalist with extensive experience reporting from the Middle East.  
 
Subway Bombings Highlight Unrest in Russia's Troubled South: Miriam Lanskoy, NED's Senior Program Officer for Central Asia and the Caucasus, was interviewed on the PBS NewsHour about the Moscow suicide bombings and sources of unrest in the volatile Caucasus region.
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The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to the growth and strengthening of democratic institutions around the world. Each year, with funding from the US Congress, NED supports more than 1,000 projects of non-governmental groups abroad who are working for democratic goals in more than 90 countries. What's New at NED