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Moscow Coordinating Office Lisa Krift Save the Children Federation 13/2 Ordzhonikidze Street, 15th floor Moscow 117071 Russian Federation Tel. 958-5130

Save the Children Federation 54 Wilton Rd. Westport, CT 06880 Nora Bazzy NIS&E Program Operations Director (203) 221-4010 Shannon Moncrief Russia Desk Officer (203) 221-3702

In September 1994, Save the Children Federation (SC) of Westport, CT, was awarded a 3-year grant from USAID to manage and coordinate a Russian Civic Initiatives for Democratic and Economic Reform Program. The purpose of the Civic Initiatives Program is to help create a vibrant and diverse community of NGOs in Russia, in so much as

a functioning and effective NGO sector can play a critical role in providing social services, supporting and encouraging private businesses and a new market economy, providing a structured vehicle for public participation, and providing the civic fora for a democratic society.

The deadline for receipt of Linkage Grant proposals is noon EST, May 15, 1995. Later in the year, SCF will announce a solicitation for Health Grants and in 1996 it will initiate a program of Institutional Support Grants, to be awarded directly to Russian NGOs.

Materials distributed by SC indicate that achievements of the Civic Initiatives Program will be evaluated in five areas:

1. Helping to reduce public sector constraints on NGOs in Russia;

2. Improving the professional standards that govern the leadership and administration of Russian NGOs;

3. Improving NGO fundraising capabilities, both through grants and contract services;

4. Improving the understanding of NGOs and their functions; on the part of both the Russian public and government;

5. Strengthening the general capacities of NGOs to provide social services, advocate on behalf of various causes or concerns, etc.

1. Center for Democracy (Washington, DC) will develop programs that encourage the development of a better legislative and regulatory environment for NGOs, both at the federation and regional levels.

2. Counterpart Foundation (Washington, DC) will offer training programs directly to Russian NGOs and also work to enhance indigenous NGO training capacities. It will also operate a clearinghouse of information about Russian NGOs and seek to catalyze creative partnerships between and among US-based and Russian NGOs.

3. Education Development Center (Newton, MA) will work with Russian NGOs to help them correct some of the unfavorable perceptions of NGOs in Russia and to market themselves more effectively. EDC'�s focus will be on NGOs in five sectors: education, health, public advocacy, social services, and civic/trade/ professional organizations.

4. The final member of the SC Consortium, the Institute for Policy Studies at Johns Hopkins University, will run a train-the-trainers project and do research and evaluation for the program.

There are also two regional components of the SC Civic Initiatives Program:

• The Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs (Washington, DC) is responsible for the Black Sea region, with a center in Krasnodar and satellites in Stavropol and Rostov. Its goal is to bring 150 NGOs to self-sustaining status by the end of the project, but it will focus its assistance primarily on 25 strategic ones.

• The Fund for Democracy and Development (Washington, DC) is responsible for the regional program in Siberia, with a center in Novosibirsk. It anticipates that its work will eventually reach 200 NGOs in that region.

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The URL for this page is: http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~ccsi/csew/95-02/savech.htm
Last updated: March 28 1996

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