FM Alert, Vol III, No. 23
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Date: Sat, 12 Jun 1999 18:29:08 +0300 (EET DST)
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Subject: FM Alert, Vol III, No. 23
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Paulette Layton <[email protected]>
FM Alert, Vol III, No. 23
FM Alert, Vol III, No. 23
June 11, 1999
DOZENS OF NGO LEADERS EXPECTED TO ATTEND GENEVA CISCONF MEETING
Up 100 representatives of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
in CIS states are expected to attend a meeting June 22-23 in Geneva
that will discuss new strategies for third-sector participation in the
follow up to the 1996 CIS Conference on migration-related issues.
Dozens of representatives of international NGOs and humanitarian
organizations will also attend the meeting. The NGO gathering will
immediately precede the meeting of the Steering Group of the CIS
Conference, which will take place June 24-25, also in Geneva. Over 190
NGOs are accredited to the CIS Conference. The United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees, which is hosting the meeting, will be
providing financial support for about 50 local NGO leaders, including
representatives from each of the CIS Conferences Working Groups. The
Forced Migration Projects is the lead agency for the Working Group on
NGO Legislation, which strives to ease registration and taxation
procedures, thereby facilitating NGO development. The June 22-23
meeting will offer an opportunity for key discussions on strategy.
With the CIS Conference mandate set to expire in 2000, NGOs will
likely have increased responsibilities for project implementation. A
new association of migration-related NGOs in the CIS aims to foster
rapid capacity building. "Our forthcoming report, Eurasia's
Dispossessed: NGOs and Human Security, on the CIS conference and the
work of NGOs in the former Soviet Union, which we will release on June
24, points to the importance of fortifying local NGO capacities in the
region. This is likely to be a recurring theme at the Geneva meeting,"
said Arthur C. Helton, Director of the Forced Migration Projects.
(For background information see FM Alerts of February 12, 1999 and of
June 12, 1998).
UNHCR CIS APPEAL SUFFERS
After a positive initial response, donor interest in the 1999 United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees funding appeal for CIS
activities has lagged. Officials at the agency's Geneva headquarters
suggested that the drop-off in interest was linked to the
international community's preoccupation with the Kosovo conflict. In
recent years, some donor governments have reduced support for refugees
and displaced persons in the former Soviet Union. The Kosovo conflict,
and the growing international recognition that substantial resources
will be required for the renegade province's reconstruction, could
mean even fewer resources will be available for follow-up activities
to the 1996 CIS Conference on migration-related issues. So far, the
appeal has attracted $8.95 million in contributions in 1999. UNHCR's
1999 funding appeal seeks almost $16.3 million for general programs
and $40 million for special programs for CIS Conference-related
activities. Meanwhile, an International Organization for Migration
appeal for 1999 programs in the region seeks some $9.8 million. "I am
afraid that a less obvious casualty of the Kosovo conflict will be
sustained donor support for activities to follow-up the CIS migration
conference. The diminishing prospects for support clearly places a
premium on targeted strategies and NGO activities," said Arthur C.
Helton, Director of the Forced Migration Projects.
(For additional information see FM Alert of February 12, 1999 and of
June 12, 1998).
NGO FUND HELPS THIRD SECTOR IN TAJIKISTAN
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) NGO Fund
has sponsored a variety of capacity building efforts for third sector
organizations in Tajikistan, but only a tiny fraction of available
funds have been used for direct grants to groups in the Central Asian
nation. In its most recent funding appeal for follow up to the CIS
Conference on migration-related issues, UNHCR said a goal for NGO
activity in Tajikistan would be to help establish community-based
organizations. "Small grants will be provided to these organizations,"
the UNHCR appeal went on. A UNHCR official in Tajikistan, speaking to
a Forced Migration Projects consultant, did not provide details of
small-scale grant-making activity. Money used to directly support
local NGOs in the form of grants did not come from the NGO Fund. NGO
Fund resources, however, were spent on a variety of projects,
implemented by the Counterpart Consortium, including training seminars
on project conceptualization and management, advocacy and women's
issues. The NGO Fund also backed the establishment of a resource
center in the city of Kurgan-Tyube in southern Tajikistan. According
to the UNHCR funding appeal, "the NGO Fund was established in 1997 to
provide financial support to local NGOs and to promote the exchange of
information and transfer of skills among international and local
NGOs."
For more information contact:
The Forced Migration Projects
400 West 59th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10019
tel: (212)548-0655
fax: (212) 548-4676
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.soros.org/migrate.html
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