OVERSEAS ACTIVITIES OF SLOVAK NGOS

UNCLAS BRATISLAVA 000670

SIPDIS


USAID FOR PPC/SPP GHARRIES
BUDAPEST FOR USAID/NOWICKI AND KUTOR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL EAID LO
SUBJECT: OVERSEAS ACTIVITIES OF SLOVAK NGOS


1. Slovak NGOs continue to proudly participate in overseas
activities fostering democratization. With support from
Slovakaid (the branch of the MFA responsible for foreign
aid) Slovak NGOs note that their own post-communism
transition experience gives them a "comparative advantage"
when it comes to civil society and development work. In
2005, Slovak Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is
anticipated to top SKK 160 million (USD 5.1 million).


2. After the successful Slovak elections in 1989, Slovak
NGOs were active in Serbia and Croatia. The NGO community
received funding primarily through the Democracy Commission
Small Grants Program (including Pontis Foundation,
Obcianske Oko, MEMO 98),and money was also provided by
IRI, NDI and the German Marshall Fund of the US.


3. Currently, several Slovak NGOs are involved in projects
overseas, with some receive funding from the GOS
(Slovakaid),while others receive US or other foreign
assistance from their NGO umbrella organization. According
to our records, a total of USD 310,057 in small grants from
the Embassy went to Pontis, Integra, People in Peril,
Civic Eye, Memo 98, and NOS (the precursor to Pontis) in

1999. Below is a list of some of the Slovak NGOs active
abroad:

- With funding from Slovakaid, Slovak NGOs Obcianske Oko,
Memo 98, and Pontis Foundation participate in civil
society, media, and political development programs
primarily in Belarus, the Ukraine, and the Balkans.

- Obcianske Oko sent 85 election observers to the first and
second rounds of the Ukrainian Presidential election in
2004; it sent 38 to the repeated second round.

- Pontis Foundation and People in Peril have been working
in Cuba to promote democracy and free speech. (The Slovak
government and individual politicians have supported Cuban
dissidents.)

- People in Peril also operates a project in Afghanistan on
women and education.

- Integra, an NGO specializing in small and medium
enterprise development, is now using resources developed
through USAID funding and small grants from the embassy in
anti-corruption projects in Romania, Bulgaria, and Kenya.
It would like to expand to Sudan.

- With U.S. funding, Pontis and IVO have been training
Iraqis in Slovakia (most recently a group of 16 Iraqi
police officers),through subgrants from IRI.

- Partners for Democratic Change in Slovakia (PDCS)
provides its expertise with conflict resolution and civil
society in a wide range of countries, from the Balkans to
Central and Southeast Asia. Later this year, PDCS will be
sending trainers to Yemen.

- The German Marshall Fund was also active in Ukraine.
Former Slovak Foreign Minister Pavol Demes, the Fund's
Director for Central and Eastern Europe, was hailed as a
"Champion of Freedom" by President Bush during his February
2005 visit to Bratislava.

- ABA-CEELI (Iraq) organized training in Slovakia for Iraqi
judges, in cooperation with the MOJ, Slovak parliament, and
other Slovak NGOs.


4. In addition, the GOS has published the following 2005
Overseas Development Assistance budget (Note: SKK 31.3
equals USD 1):

- Projects and activities for priority countries*: SKK 88.6
million (approx. USD 2.8 million)

- Development Education projects:** SKK 2 million (approx.
USD 64,000)

- Official Assistance projects for Ukraine and Belarus: SKK
10 million (approx. USD 320,000)

- Micro-grants administered through diplomatic missions:***
SKK 2 million (approx. USD 64,000)

- Projects and activities for Serbia and Montenegro: SKK 58
million (approx. USD 1.85 million)

*Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan,
Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Sudan,
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Cambodia

** These projects are mostly short-term and implemented in
Slovakia

*** Kiev and Sarajevo


5. Other GOS ministries participating in Overseas
Development Assistance include:

- Ministry of the Interior: SKK 4.5 million (approx. USD
144,000) for immediate humanitarian assistance.

- Ministry of Environment: SKK 4.1 million (approx. USD
130,000),for contributions and fees to international
organizations, UNEP Environmental Fund, Trust Fund at the
UNEP for the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete
the ozone layer, UN FCCC Framework Convention on Climate
Change, CITES Convention on International Trade of
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

- Ministry of Agriculture: SKK 1.45 million (approx. USD
46,000),for an annual one-time contribution to the Food
Research Institute for a FAO project on data of food
composition in Central and Eastern Europe CEECFOODs.

- Ministry of Education: SKK 47.6 million (approx. USD 1.52
million),for a study of foreign students from developing
countries in the Slovak Republic. Scholarships are granted
as a priority to students from countries selected as
territorial priorities of Slovak ODA.

VALLEE


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