Counterpart Consortium

Academica Petrova Str. Bldg #26
744006 Ashgabat
Tel/Fax: 35-71-20; 35-71-25; 35-70-05
E-mail: hotline@cpart.sibnet.tm, hotline@cpart.sibnet.tm
Web: www.cango.net.kg
Contact: Roselie Vasquez, Country Director; Pavel Kharitonov, Data Base and Technology Manager

Counterpart Consortium's (CC's) Central Asian NGO Support Initiative is funded by USAID and began in 1995. The Turkmenistan country office was established in late 1997.

CC's first effort to identify the needs of the NGO community in Turkmenistan resulted in a jointly-funded conference co-sponsored by the UNDP in December 1997. This conference, NGOs in Turkmenistan, Who We Are and Where We Are Going, provided a forum "for those NGOs we were aware of to meet each other, discuss common issues and inform the international community of their needs and strategies for future development." At a later time, CC intends to hold a follow-up conference which will bring NGOs and government leaders together in dialogue.

Counterpart's training program came on-line in Turkmenistan in March 1998 with the launch of their first training module "NGO and Community". Their strategy for the first half of the year was to launch "two training modules, carry out 'training of trainer' workshops to solidify a diverse and qualified pool of trainers, and to establish a database of relevant information related to NGOs we are working with."

Between February and August of 1998 15 training sessions had been carried out in Turkmenistan. As a result, 198 "certificates of aptitude" had been awarded to 109 individuals from 67 NGOs. Twelve of these NGO representatives were from outside of Ashgabad.

In addition to training, CC's Central Asian Regional program also includes a grant program for NGOs. These include three types of grant categories: 1. Support Grants; 2. Partnership Grants; and 3. Corporate Challenge Grants. Eight grants had been approved as of August 1998 in Turkmenistan in the areas of civic education, ecology, women's psychological support, English language training, disabled, agriculture, etc. These grants totaled US$49,881.

For more information, see the profile for Counterpart under Almaty, Kazakstan.

Last updated:    November 1998

For further information on the emerging third sector in Central Asia see Civil Society in Central Asia (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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