US embassy cable - 05BRATISLAVA670

UNCLAS  BRATISLAVA 000670 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
USAID FOR PPC/SPP GHARRIES 
BUDAPEST FOR USAID/NOWICKI AND KUTOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, PREL, EAID, LO 
SUBJECT: OVERSEAS ACTIVITIES OF SLOVAK NGOS 
 
1.  Slovak NGOs continue to proudly participate in overseas 
activities fostering democratization.  With support from 
Slovakaid (the branch of the MFA responsible for foreign 
aid) Slovak NGOs note that their own post-communism 
transition experience gives them a "comparative advantage" 
when it comes to civil society and development work.  In 
2005, Slovak Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is 
anticipated to top SKK 160 million (USD 5.1 million). 
 
2.  After the successful Slovak elections in 1989, Slovak 
NGOs were active in Serbia and Croatia.  The NGO community 
received funding primarily through the Democracy Commission 
Small Grants Program (including Pontis Foundation, 
Obcianske Oko, MEMO 98), and money was also provided by 
IRI, NDI and the German Marshall Fund of the US. 
 
3.  Currently, several Slovak NGOs are involved in projects 
overseas, with some receive funding from the GOS 
(Slovakaid), while others receive US or other foreign 
assistance from their NGO umbrella organization.  According 
to our records, a total of USD 310,057 in small grants from 
the Embassy  went to Pontis, Integra, People in Peril, 
Civic Eye, Memo 98, and NOS (the precursor to Pontis) in 
1999.  Below is a list of some of the Slovak NGOs active 
abroad: 
 
- With funding from Slovakaid, Slovak NGOs Obcianske Oko, 
Memo 98, and Pontis Foundation participate in civil 
society, media, and political development programs 
primarily in Belarus, the Ukraine, and the Balkans. 
 
- Obcianske Oko sent 85 election observers to the first and 
second rounds of the Ukrainian Presidential election in 
2004; it sent 38 to the repeated second round. 
 
- Pontis Foundation and People in Peril have been working 
in Cuba to promote democracy and free speech.  (The Slovak 
government and individual politicians have supported Cuban 
dissidents.) 
 
- People in Peril also operates a project in Afghanistan on 
women and education. 
 
- Integra, an NGO specializing in small and medium 
enterprise development, is now using resources developed 
through USAID funding and small grants from the embassy in 
anti-corruption projects in Romania, Bulgaria, and Kenya. 
It would like to expand to Sudan. 
 
- With U.S. funding, Pontis and IVO have been training 
Iraqis in Slovakia (most recently a group of 16 Iraqi 
police officers), through subgrants from IRI. 
 
- Partners for Democratic Change in Slovakia (PDCS) 
provides its expertise with conflict resolution and civil 
society in a wide range of countries, from the Balkans to 
Central and Southeast Asia.  Later this year, PDCS will be 
sending trainers to Yemen. 
 
- The German Marshall Fund was also active in Ukraine. 
Former Slovak Foreign Minister Pavol Demes, the Fund's 
Director for Central and Eastern Europe, was hailed as a 
"Champion of Freedom" by President Bush during his February 
2005 visit to Bratislava. 
 
- ABA-CEELI (Iraq) organized training in Slovakia for Iraqi 
judges, in cooperation with the MOJ, Slovak parliament, and 
other Slovak NGOs. 
 
4.  In addition, the GOS has published the following 2005 
Overseas Development Assistance budget (Note: SKK 31.3 
equals USD 1): 
 
- Projects and activities for priority countries*: SKK 88.6 
million (approx. USD 2.8 million) 
 
- Development Education projects:** SKK 2 million (approx. 
USD 64,000) 
 
- Official Assistance projects for Ukraine and Belarus: SKK 
10 million (approx. USD 320,000) 
 
- Micro-grants administered through diplomatic missions:*** 
SKK 2 million (approx. USD 64,000) 
 
- Projects and activities for Serbia and Montenegro: SKK 58 
million (approx. USD 1.85 million) 
 
*Afghanistan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, 
Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Sudan, 
Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Cambodia 
 
** These projects are mostly short-term and implemented in 
Slovakia 
 
*** Kiev and Sarajevo 
 
5.  Other GOS ministries participating in Overseas 
Development Assistance include: 
 
- Ministry of the Interior: SKK 4.5 million (approx. USD 
144,000) for immediate humanitarian assistance. 
 
- Ministry of Environment: SKK 4.1 million (approx. USD 
130,000), for contributions and fees to international 
organizations, UNEP Environmental Fund, Trust Fund at the 
UNEP for the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete 
the ozone layer, UN FCCC Framework Convention on Climate 
Change, CITES Convention on International Trade of 
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. 
 
- Ministry of Agriculture: SKK 1.45 million (approx. USD 
46,000), for an annual one-time contribution to the Food 
Research Institute for a FAO project on data of food 
composition in Central and Eastern Europe  CEECFOODs. 
 
- Ministry of Education: SKK 47.6 million (approx. USD 1.52 
million), for a study of foreign students from developing 
countries in the Slovak Republic.  Scholarships are granted 
as a priority to students from countries selected as 
territorial priorities of Slovak ODA. 
 
VALLEE 
 
 
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