East Central Europe/Eurasia Regional

American Center for International Labor Solidarity
$100,000
To support independent trade unions in Belarus and Moldova. ACILS will reach out to Belarusian independent trade unions through a three-day strategic planning workshop for 20 participants in Ukraine, hold 24 one-day organizing seminars, and support women trade unionists through 13 one-day women's networking seminars and a two-day women's networking conference. The Moldova program will include a similar strategic planning workshop in Ukraine and 24 one-day organizing seminars.

Baltic International Development Agency (BIDA)
$20,900*
To strengthen nongovernmental organizations in Kaliningrad region. BIDA, an independent organization based in Kaliningrad City, will continue providing technical assistance through its NGO Information and Consulting Center, which was established in 2002 with NED support, and organize 14 training workshops for a total of 160 NGO activists.

Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative Institute (CEELI Institute)
$50,000
To conduct a training program for human rights activists from the Ferghana Valley region of Central Asia. Thirty representatives from human rights organizations based along the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will attend a two-week advanced training course on practical advocacy skills and strategic human rights advocacy planning at the Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative's CEELI Institute in Prague.

East European Democratic Center (EEDC)
$65,000*
To support independent youth organizations in eight regions of central and eastern Ukraine. The Warsaw-based EEDC will organize ten training seminars, award three to six regional grants and about 15 small grants to youth NGOs, oversee a study visit and internship program in Poland, and convene a final conference.

East European Democratic Center (EEDC)
$61,548
To conduct the second phase of a multiyear program to foster the development of local independent newspapers in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. EEDC, an independent, nonpartisan NGO based in Warsaw, will conduct ten internships in Poland and two workshops in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to train up to 50 young Central Asian journalists in newspaper management and samizdat publishing skills.

Institute for Eastern Studies
$35,000
To organize a Europe-Central Asia Forum in Poland. The Institute, an independent, nonprofit organization, will bring 75 prodemocratic political, economic, and third sector leaders from Central Asia to meet with 75 of their European Union counterparts in Krynica. The three-day cross border event will include approximately 15 panels designed to examine and improve political, economic, and cultural relations and networks between the EU, Central Europe, and Central Asia.

Institute for Eastern Studies Foundation
$33,390*
To support participation of a delegation of Russian nongovernmental representatives in the 15th annual Krynica Economic Forum, a major congress of European politicians, economists, businesspersons, and NGO activists from more than two dozen countries which meets every September in southern Poland. The three-day event will include approximately 100 panels designed to examine and improve political, economic, social and cultural relations between the EU, Central Europe, and Russia.

Institute for Eastern Studies Foundation
$34,708*
To bring up to 30 Russian political, economic, cultural and third sector activists to Krynica, Poland for a three-day Forum on European Union-Russia relations. Russian activists will meet with EU counterparts in a series of about 15 panel discussions to debate current issues impacting the EU and Russia, including key democracy-related topics.

Institute of Public Affairs
$23,056*
To initiate a fellowship program for five young Russian think tank analysts. The Warsaw-based Institute will collaborate with the St. Petersburg Center for Humanities and Political Studies "Strategy" to conduct a three-day training course in St. Petersburg, organize a seven-day training and study visit to Warsaw, oversee the drafting of five policy documents on various reform issues, and broadly disseminate the completed reform projects.

Libertos Foundation
$28,595
To develop and strengthen a network of independent investigative journalists in Georgia by sharing with them the experience of their counterparts in the Polish media. Libertos will bring 14 Georgian journalists to Warsaw for training in the skills and ethics of investigative journalism through a series of lectures and meetings with Polish media experts and institutions.

Medium Orient Information Agency
$16,160
To carry out a series of public opinion polls in the troubled region of the North Caucasus. The Agency will conduct twelve surveys on key social, political, and economic issues; analyze the data; and disseminate the results on its Caucasus Times website and through other sources of information on the North Caucasus.

MEMO 98
$64,470*
To develop an indigenous media monitoring capacity in Russia. MEMO 98, an independent, nonpartisan NGO based in Slovakia, will conduct a week-long needs assessment mission to Russia, organize a one-week media monitoring training program for ten Russian activists in Ukraine, and conduct a four-month media monitoring exercise in Russia with the cooperation of leading media NGOs, the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations (Russia) and Equal Access (Ukraine).

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$255,445
To continue conducting joint training programs for political activists in the Eurasia region. NDI will work with Warsaw-based European Institute for Democracy to bring 40 activists from throughout Eurasia to Warsaw for training on strengthening party structures, building coalitions, maintaining support, and conducting grassroots campaigns in hostile political environments.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs
$100,000
To bring representatives of political parties, election monitoring groups and youth groups from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Belarus together with their counterparts from other Eurasian countries. NDI will develop a structured two- to three-day program based upon the background of participants and the political situation in their countries. Meetings will involve in-depth analysis of the political lessons learned in the presenting countries and rigorous discussion of their possible applicability to participants' home countries.

Obcianske Oko (Civic Eye)
$29,580
To support the activities of a network of election-monitoring NGOs in Europe and Eurasia. While serving as the network's secretariat, Civic Eye will hold an annual conference, provide training and coordination for members, and publish a promotion leaflet for the network.

People in Need Foundation (PINF)
$69,109
To assist democratic activists in Belarus and Moldova. The Foundation will organize cross border visits to bring 22 democratic politicians, local government officials, and activists from Belarus and Moldova to Prague for training. The Foundation will organize visits for four senior Czech civic leaders to these countries to meet with democratic forces, disseminate news about these countries among Czech decision-makers, and inform civil society in these countries about Central European affairs.

Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity Foundation
$57,000*
To conduct a desktop publishing training and equipment support program for representatives of pro-democracy NGOs and independent newspapers in Central Asia. The Foundation will train at least 20 activists and equip at least 11 organizations from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

Polish-Czech-Slovak Solidarity Foundation
$42,185
To continue a cross border media training program for independent journalists and editors in Eurasia. The Foundation will invite 25 media practitioners from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Azerbaijan to Poland for two-week media-related internships. Journalists and editors will train at selected newspapers, publishing houses, radio and television stations, receiving practical training in accordance with their specialties and the work they are currently performing.

Pontis Foundation Institute for Public Affairs (IVO)
$57,437
To strengthen the voter education and mobilization campaign prior to the summer 2006 presidential elections in Belarus. Pontis and IVO, two independent, nonpartisan NGOs based in Slovakia, will assist an informal coalition of Belarusian NGOs to analyze public opinion polls, craft an effective get-out-the-vote campaign, train six Belarusian think tank and NGO activists in public opinion research and GOTV techniques, and produce six analytical country reports.

Prague Society for International Cooperation
$11,630*
To bring three Russian think tank analysts to the Czech Republic to attend a two-day debate on the EU's relationship with its Eastern neighbors and participate in a five-day study visit to think tanks and NGOs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Transitions Online (TOL)
$52,400*
To promote independent journalism in Russia and foster independent Internet sources of information. TOL, a news magazine based in Prague, will bring 12 Russian journalists to Prague for three-week training internships on how to organize and operate an online news service. TOL will also launch a pilot distance-learning program to train journalism students and early career journalists.

Zagranica (Abroad) Group
$25,495
To strengthen and expand cross border democracy-building organizations and initiatives conducted from Poland to the East. The Zagranica Group, a Warsaw-based coalition of NGOs working across borders, will organize training workshops to increase the capacity of Polish groups working abroad, initiate a long-term cross border program between the Polish and Ukrainian third sectors, and conduct an information campaign to promote the idea and practice of crossborder work. * Indicates Department of State Funding Beyond NED's Annual Appropriation