COUNTERPART Consortium

Kazakstan: Leonard Klein, Regional Director Vinogradov Ul. 49/22 Almaty, Kazakstan Tel. 73272-631-840 Fax 73272-638-268 E-mail [email protected] Kyrgyzstan: Pushkin Ul. 78 Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan Jay Cooper, Counterpart Director Tel. 73312-221-591 Fax 73312-226-866 E-mail: [email protected] Thomas Carmody, Citizens Network Director Tel/Fax: 73312-221-591 E-mail: [email protected] Erkinbek Kasybekov, Country Director 107 Kievskaya Str., 5th floor, Bishkek, 720000, Kyrgyz Republic Phone: 996 (312) 61-02-61, 61-01-35, 22-38-13, 61-00-22 Fax: 996 (312) 61-00-21 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.cango.net.kg

Uzbekistan: 42 Druzhba Narodov Street Tel: [998](712) 76-29-66, 76-66-91, 78-14-50 Fax: [998](712)76-66-91 Contact: Mr. Blair Sheridan, Country Director E-mail: [email protected] Other Counterpart Consortium NGOs: Aid to Artisans (same address, tel and fax as above) Beth Gottschling, Country Director, direct phone [998](712)76-42-04 Counterpart Humanitarian Assistance Program, Tel [998](71)120-72-27 ICNL, Richard Remias, Regional Director, tel [998](71)105-13-90 LEAD, Timothy Tobey, Project Director, [998](71)152-69-26 Tajikistan: Renny Smith, Country Representative 18 Rudaki Dushanbe, Tajikistan Tel. 3772-215-857 E-mail: [email protected]

Supported by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Counterpart Consortium's Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Support Initiative for Central Asia fosters the creation of democratic and sustainable indigenous NGOs able to express citizens' interests, provide services to vulnerable groups in the population, and work in sectors critical to the economic, political and social development of the region.

PROGRAM

The Counterpart Consortium in Central Asia is active in many programs:

• training indigenous NGOs on critical topics in non-profit management, with a focus on effectiveness and sustainability;
• promoting and facilitating information exchange and partnerships among local NGOs and with international organizations;
• offering a number of different small grant programs to qualified Central Asian NGOs, which consist of the following elements:
  • Seed Grants: providing Central Asian NGOs who meet eligibility criteria with grants of up to $15,000 per NGO, to finance membership development, essential furnishings and supplies; specialized advisory services, modest communications, limited management support and project implementation;
  • Partnership Grants: providing up to $25,000 to Central Asian partners for the purpose of strengthening their ability to serve their members and beneficiaries in a sustainable way;
  • Corporate Challenge Grants: providing an incentive for corporate support of the NGO sector to match USAID funding of local NGO projects on a 50-50 basis up to a maximum of $10,000 per project.

HIGHLIGHTS

In only three years of activity Counterpart has aided Central Asian NGOs in a variety of ways:

• Trained more than 800 NGOs from the five Central Asian Republics on NGO management and project design uisng a cadre of twelve local in-house and thirteen NGO trainers.
• maintained a region-wide database on local NGOs facilitating linkages and partnerships among themselves and with counterparts in Europe, the NIS and the USA.
• 177 Seed, Challenge, and Partnership Grants have been awarded, totaling over $1,000,000. The Challenge Grant program has generated some $150,000 in corporate contributions to NGOs. Chevron is one of the U.S. corporations operating in Central Asia which is participating along with local corporations in this program. Chevron has already contributed to the strengthening of five Central Asian NGOs on a matching basis with Counterpart. The first Challenge Grant of $10,000 was awarded to the Special Olympics team of Kazakstan, enabling 48 athletes and 16 support staff to participate in the World Special Olympics held in Connecticut in July 1995.
• Together with the American Legal Consortium, Counterpart co-sponsored a regional conference on "NGOs and the Law in Central Asia." This historic conference brought together representatives of NGOs and governments from all five countries of Central Asia for the first time to discuss sensitive topics related to the legal environment for NGOs.
• CNFA has facilitated partnerships between the Oregon Farm Bureau and the Private Farmers Association (PFA) of Osh, Kyrgyzstan; the Indiana Farm Bureau and the PFA of Taldy-korgan, Kazakstan; and the Kentucky Farm Bureau with the PFA of Fergana, Uzbekistan. These are the first steps in the development of a network of farmers' associations serving and advocating on behalf of the rural population.
• Aid to Artisans has stimulated interest in a variety of Central Asian crafts at the New York Gift Show. Its product development and marketing efforts in Central Asia are revitalizing traditional crafts while stimulating the creation of associations of artisans. ATA fairs and exhibits have generated over $60,000 in sales for Central Asian artisans.
• Goodwill/Tashkent was established and regi-stered as a local NGO. Its partner, Goodwill Industries of Indiana, has donated 66,000 lbs. of clothing for local sale to support job training and placement for people with disabilities. Similar partnerships are planned for Almaty, Kazakstan and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
• Two specialists from the SATR Disabled Children's Center in Almaty (a Counterpart grantee) met with a range of public and private agencies in Pennsylvania involved in early intervention programs. According to Suzanne Shaw of the Pennsylvania Department of Education, "They were afforded extraordinary access to the workings of state level administration and saw first hand how to avoid mistakes when setting up a new system." SATR is now implementing diagnosis and treatment programs applying the U.S. methodologies and aggressively working to promote disability rights.

More Information is also available from COUNTERPART's US Headquarters.

U.S. HEADQUARTERS
Arlene Lear, Director, Central Asia Division
COUNTERPART International, Inc.
910 17th Street, N.W. Suite 328
Washington, DC 20006
Tel. 202/296.9676
Fax 202/296.9679
E-mail: [email protected]

Last updated:    March 1999

A print version of much of the information contained in this Central Asian Third Sector Organizations section can be found in Civil Society in Central Asia (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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