Our Mission

Civil Society International (CSI) publishes information and uses the Internet to strengthen citizen organizations working to expand civil rights, democratic institutions, social services, and economic reform.

Programs and Projects. We created this Web site to document the thousands of independent projects in the new states of Eurasia building pluralistic, law-governed societies. Many of the pages on our site describe creative international partnerships with local initiatives and organizations. If your project is not on our site, please email us your information and we will post it.

CivilSoc, our Listserv. Our daily electronic bulletin, or listserv, is named CivilSoc and reaches more than 2,100 subscribers. Messages are short and cover a range of subjects: upcoming events or conferences, job opportunities and internships, new organizations or projects, as well as occasional queries for all list members. Joining is easy, and free--see the instructions on how to join. For examples of typical CivilSoc postings, take a look at the CivilSoc Archives.

Support CSI. Civil Society International is an independent, private, nonprofit agency, created to provide the information and educational services you see here. Visit the CSI Pledge Page and commit to making a tax-deductible donation in support of our continued activity. It depends on your financial support. 

Questions from Russian NGOs

Submitted by the International Center Russia

1.  Our Center helps and coordinates work of non-government organizations in Arkhangelsk Oblast. Could you please send us information about similar centers in the States? We want to learn about their work and, if possible, to establish some sort of cooperation.
-- Tatyana Puzanova, Manager of the Center for the Support of Arkhangelsk NGOs

2.  I extremely need your help. Please, send me copies of the Congress decisions on the issue of the determination of chemical weapons in Russia, especially in Maradycovo arsenal of the Kirov Oblast. Our government is going to do outrageous things here and says that it does it according to the agreement with Americans and some decisions of the Congress. It sounds weird and suspicious, but that is what they say. However, I was not able to get those documents in Russia.) The project, at least in its current form, is extremely dangerous and we are fighting against it. It would be good to know exactly what those Russian-American agreements were about. Please help, you will do a good thing and help lots of people.
-- Nikolay Kraev 

3.  I am working on a website for Russian human and civil rights movement and search for means to develop it. Could you please send me contacts of the American organizations that could provide consultant and/or financial help?
--Alexander Alexandrov, www.memorial.ru

4.  We are the Krasnoyarsk division of the International Socio-Environmental Union. There are more than 19 NGOs and 300 members in the division. Our mission is to unite environmental groups in the region to protect environment and living creatures.  Our main problem is the lack of financial resources. We also need consultant and informational support for our newspaper, Environment of the Krasnodar Region, and a web-site, webcenter.ru/~seuzubov. We are very grateful to you for you valuable information and would like to ask you if you could also send us information about similar organizations in the United States as well as addresses of the international organizations that provide financial support for projects like ours.

For more questions, information on the International Center Russia, and information on how to respond, click here

New and Interesting

The Map of Press Freedom in the World:  This site, sponsored by Reporters sans frontières (RSF), offers valuable information in French, English, and Spanish on the state of press freedom throughout the world.  
Choose your region of interest and discover the most update information on the topic. Posted May 31, 2001.

Torture Prevention Database launched by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture. The database includes all reports of the CPT, all public statements made by the CPT, and the "substantive" sections of the CPT's Annual General Reports. Posted May 23, 2001.

Civic Culture and Social Networks in Post-Communist Societies Workshop. The symposium introduces a panel of leading Finnish, Russian and Estonian specialists on civil society and civic culture, voluntary association and social networks, nationality and traditions of citizenship in post- communist societies of the European North. September 20-23, 2001 at the University of Joensuu, Finland. Registration Deadline: August 24, 2001. Posted May 22, 2001.

Reebok Human Rights Award Program seeks nominations of young human rights activists. The award, provides recipients with a $50,000 grant from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation for the human rights organization of their choice.  Nominations are due by June 15, 2001. Recipients will be selected by December 1, 2000 and the awards will be presented on February 7, 2002. Posted May 22, 2001.

The Chief Information Computing Centre (GIVC) of The Russian Ministry of Culture is looking for sponsorship to develop a Russian cultural information network, 'CultureNet'. Posted May 22, 2001.

Georgian NGOs in collaboration with the University of Kentucky School of Public Health call for international collaboration in blood banking reform and community health outreach programs in the Caucasus. Posted May 8, 2001.

Hospital Abkhazeti requests assistance in obtaining new or used equipment and medical supplies.  The hospital does not receive government support and provides philanthropic care for refugees throughout the Caucasus. Posted May 8, 2001.

MacArthur Foundation Research and Writing Grants for individuals and organizations in the N.I.S. Application deadline: June 15, 2001. English and Russian applications are available. Posted May 2, 2001.

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