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Programme co-ordinating international activities for Belarus
(since 2000)

From the beginning of its activity our Association has tried to interest Polish Non-Governmental Organisations in Belarus, and invite other Polish organisations to join in our activities. Participation in meetings with donor organisations working in and on behalf of Belarus made us aware of the need to improve the system of exchanging information and co-ordinating activities among local organisations. This was most evident during the 2001 elections when donor organisations were involved in the NGO campaign with the aim of informing about the experience of other countries (Slovakia, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine). Owing to lack of co-ordination the project failed and a lot of valuable resources were wasted. Another reason we felt it was worth carrying out the programme has to do with the numerous contacts our Association has managed to establish throughout its existence, and our familiarity with most cross-border programmes concerning Belarus: we believe these are valuable resources which should be put to use.

The long-term objectives of the programme are: to stop the social isolation of Belarus, to involve organisations from neighbouring countries in cross-border co-operation, to promote good-neighbourly contacts between these countries and Belarus, and to support joint projects.

In 2001, our Association co-ordinated the co-operation between the NOS Foundation (Slovakia) GONG (Croatia) the Otpor movement (Serbia) and several organisations from Ukraine and Azerbaijan. In January 2001, we organised a visit to Belarus by representatives of these organisations with the financial support of the OSI.

In the same year we also decided to support Lithuanian and Ukrainian NGO’s active in Belarus. In April 2001, representatives from two Lithuanian organisations (The Association of Human Rights and The Baltic – American Co-operation Fund) participated in a meeting of Pluralism Centres and a Round Table on the situation in Belarus, both held in Warsaw. The next step was a fact-finding visit for Lithuanian organisations which led to the development of local co-operation programmes between NGO’s from Vilnius and Belarusian regions neighbouring on Lithuania, carried out with financial support from the Baltic – American Co-operation Fund. In 2001, we also supported some local projects involving co-operation between Belarusian and Lithuanian youth organisations from adjoining border regions (Zhytomyr – Baranovichi, Molodechno – Ternopil).

An information campaign is underway to promote co-operation with Belarusian organisations.

In 2002, we published Belarus – the Third Sector. People – Culture – Language, a follow-up to the special edition of the IDEE Foundation Newsletter on Belarus – Third Sector (1998). The content of the new edition is not limited to NGO-related matters; it is a comprehensive guide to independent society in Belarus covering national and religious minorities, culture and education, organisation of cultural life, etc. The book contains a CD-ROM with an interactive data-base about Belarusian NGO’s prepared by the Belarusian Association of Resource Centres (BARC). The guide is available in Polish and English. Our information activities will be continued on our web-site (for more information, see INFORMATION - CULTURAL PROGRAMMES).

In February 2002, we organised the first meeting for NGO’s from countries neighbouring on Belarus which conduct joint projects with Belarusian partners. Representatives of 60 donor organisations and NGO’s interested in cross-border co-operation with Belarus participated. Further meetings are planned.

Our main partners were: the Pontis Foundation (formerly NOS) from Bratislava, the People in Need Foundation (Prague), Tovarystvo Leva (Lvov), Fond Vidrodzennya (Kiev), Fond Zashchity Prav Cheloveka (Moscow), The Centre of Journalism in Extreme Situations (Moscow), the Baltic – American Co-operation Found, the Association of the Human Rights and Foundation for Local Development (Kaunas). In Poland we co-operated with the Education for Democracy Foundation and the Stefan Batory Foundation. Information programmes in Belarus are carried out in co-operation with the Belarusian Association of Resource Centres (BARC) and the Belarusian Assembly of NGO’s.

We were able to contribute our knowledge of practically all cross-border co-operation programmes applied to Belarus. This allows us to find synergies between various organisations and projects, and co-ordinate common activities. Our long-term experience of working in Belarus helps us serve as a source of information.

Obstacles to our efforts include: the political situation in Belarus, the difficult conditions in which NGO’s operate, a lack of interest in co-operation on the part of neighbouring countries especially Ukraine. Future co-operation with Belarusian partners will additionally be made more difficult by the introduction of a visa regime.

This program does not have funds of its own. In 2001, the project was financed by our sponsors: the Open Society Institute (Paris) and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. In 2003, our program is part of a project financed by the NED. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation supports Polish-Belarusian-Ukrainian co-operation.

The programme co-ordinators are Paweł Kazanecki (eedc@eedc.org.pl) and Joanna Rohozińska (jrohozinska@eedc.org.pl)

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