MINELREL-L Archive (08042000-13:00:09-12094)

NATMINET: minority related news from Romania


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Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 13:00:08 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: NATMINET: minority related news from Romania


From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Maria Kovacs <[email protected]>

NATMINET: minority related news from Romania


New Charter of the UBB Cluj, Romania
July 14th, 2000

According to Serban Agachi, Chancellor of the Babes-Bolyai University
(UBB) of Cluj, Romania, sources close to the OSCE High Commissioner
for Minorities declared that Max Van Der Stoel responded positively to
the new Charter of the UBB. Agachi stated that the recommendations of
the OSCE High Commissioner were included in the Charter and that the
entire procedure of adoption was correct. Agachi added that max Van
Der Stoel suggested that an international reunion be organized in Cluj
in the fall of 2000 to present the stipulations in the Charter and the
experience of the University as regards the issue of multiculturalism.
Serban Agachi also declared that UBB intends to start a multicultural
publication and radio station.

The new UBB Charter, which supersedes the one issued in 1995,
stipulates enhanced competence for the faculties, colleges and
departments as regards the accumulation and use of financial
resources. The document includes the major points of the 1999
Declaration of Bologna regarding the establishment of a European
university space.


Competition for Advocacy Campaign Projects

The Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center launches a call for
projects within the INTERETHNIC RELATIONS ADVOCACY CAMPAIGN.

The objectives of the program:
- financial support for projects that aim at contributing to the
improvement of the interethnic climate, to the promotion of dialogue
between majority and minority groups through the presentation of the
national minorities' specific situation and the popularization of the
rights these communities have, in order to overcome communication
barriers and differences in perception among different population
segments.

The program addresses to
- non-governmental organizations, firms specializing in communication
and image-building, mass-media groups, local and central public
institutions, organizations of lawyers and specialists in minority
rights, interested higher education institutions. 

The projects must approach at least one of the following topics:
- Ethnocultural diversity in Romania: source of creativity or source
of conflict?
- Familiarization of the general public with the situation and the
specific problems that the national minorities are confronted with:
How does it feel to belong to a minority in a public space dominated
by a majority culture?
- Information campaigns regarding the situation and the specific
problems of the Roma;
- Advocacy of the concept of minority rights; popularization of the
international legal instruments in the field that Romania adopted.
- Enhanced impact on and improvement of the minority support
mechanisms of the state institutions (Department for the Protection of
National Minorities, Minority Council), with emphasis on the issues
concerning the representation of minority organizations.
- Popularization of solutions and best practices.

The projects will be selected based on the following criteria:
- clarity and feasibility of set objectives and goals;
- impact, creativity and originality of approach;
- the capacity to demolish prejudices and stereotypes held against
ethnic minorities;
- the improvement of the interethnic climate and the advocacy of
cooperation and interethnic dialogue;
- the possibility to concretely assess the outcome.

The total amount of money allocated for financing the projects is
$36,500.

Applications must be submitted in two copies in accordance with the
instructions in the application form. Incomplete applications will not
be taken into account. Deadline for applications: September 20th,
2000.


The Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center launches a call for the
COMPETITION FOR INTERETHNIC PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS.

The program addresses to non-governmental organizations, public
institutions or local informal groups that are interested in
partnerships and common activities of different ethnic majority and
minority communities from Romania.

The program offers financial support for building partnerships, common
projects of the interested organizations that aim at:
- encouraging cooperation and collaboration among different ethnic
communities in Romania;
- community development within ethnically mixed communities.

The projects will be selected based on the following criteria:
- at least one of the partners must be a legal person;
- the partner organizations must have some experience in local
community activities;
- the organizations must engage representatives of the respective
ethnic groups in their current activity;
- original approach of the collaboration;
- the way the common project contributes to the promotion of trust and
cooperation among ethnic groups in their vicinity or more distant
ones;
- the capacity for future development of the project;
- the possibility to concretely assess the outcome.

The application for the grant must contain:
- completed application form;
- C.V. of the project managers of the partner organizations;
- description of the partner organizations participating in the
project;
- copies of the statute or legal decisions to prove the setting-up of
the participating non-governmental organizations;
- partnership protocol signed by the participating organizations.

The total sum for financing the projects is $90,000. Applications must
be submitted in two copies as specified in the application form.
Incomplete applications will not be taken into account. Deadline for
application: September 28th, 2000.

For further information and application form, visit the CRDE website
at http://www.erdc.ro or e-mail to [email protected] or contact the
head office of the Ethnocultural Diversity Resource Center at 21,
Tebei, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, phone: 064-420490, fax: 064-420470
(except during August) from Monday to Thursday, between 2 p.m. - 5
p.m.


The EU offers 460,000 Euro in non-reimbursable funds to help
strengthen democracy in Romania

On July 28, the European Commission launched in Romania the programme
called European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, the
objectives of which are to support the process of democratization, the
development of the civil society and the protection of human rights.

The programme aims at offering support for the non-governmental
non-profit Romanian organizations that can contribute to the promotion
of a pluralist democratic society.

The domains that the programme intends to support are: 
- fighting discrimination (including against ethnic minorities and
other races)
- children's and youth rights
- civic education
- conflict-resolution - consumers' rights
- monitoring of the election process
- promotion of human rights (including legal reform)
- information centres (including legal counselling)
- local administration (including citizens' participation in local
democracy)
- the media (including freedom of the press and training for
journalists)
- training and development of NGOs
- parliamentary practice and organization
- reform of the penal system (including convicts' rights)
- development of professional associations
- freedom of religion
- refugees' and emigrants' rights
- promotion of law enforcement and of respect for the constitutional
state
- measures of security (including civil control of the police and of
the army)
- reform and development of trade unions
- women's rights (including equality between the sexes)

For further information, contact the Foundation for the Development of
the Civil Society (FDSC), at 01/3100177, fax: 01/3100180, e-mail:
[email protected] 
or visit the website of the European Commission Delegation
(www.infoeuropa.ro).


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NATMINET is a Romanian listserve which deals with minority rights in
Romania, the Romanian Diaspora in the neighboring countries,
nationalism in general, multi- and intercultural education. It
includes call for papers, conference announcements, grant
opportunities and job vacancies in the fields mentioned.

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