PART I

Programs conducted in 2002

In 2002 the Association conducted the following programs:

A. Belarus:

I. Support for the Independent Media

II. Training Trainers for Non-governmental Organisations

III. Development of Youth Organisations

B. Ukraine

      I. Support for the Independent Media

     II. Development of Non-governmental Organisations – Support for Youth Organisations

C.     Information projects

A. BELARUS

I. Support for the Independent Media

co-ordinator:      Joanna Kowalska (grant NED 2001-399.0)

                         Paweł Kazanecki (grant NED 2002-263.0)

sponsor:            The National Endowment for Democracy

grant amounts:   USD 98,500 and USD 50,000

grant periods:     1 October 2001 - 30 June 2002, 1 July 2002 - 31 January 2003

partners:            International Contact,

Foundation for the Development of the Regional Press (Minsk)  

The goals of this program were to broaden Belarusian society’s access to independent information, compete with the state monopoly on information and develop independent intellectual though. These goals were to be met through providing support for the development of the registered independent regional press in Belarus and independent journalism.

Within the framework of the program a grant competition was conducted for the local press in the first half of the year. The competition was announced for four categories of periodic publications in the regions: a) NGO bulletins (grants up to USD 500), b) non-registered local newspapers (up to USD 2 500), c) magazines (up to USD 4 000), d) registered local newspapers (up to USD 5 000).

A total of 22 grants were awarded with a total value of USD 40,100. Although the program primarily called for promoting the registration of regional newspapers, the majority of grants (twelve) were awarded to registered local newspapers. In working with non-registered newspapers we tried to promote the idea of their registration. Among the plans of the Association is to assist local publishers so that registered local newspapers are published across the entire territory of Belarus. It should be noted that the competition was conducted in an unfavourable atmosphere for the independent local press, the period following the election that was characterized by government repression against independent newspapers. In addition, the court was hearing the case of the journalists from the newspaper Pahonia, who were eventually sentenced to several months of isolation and forced labour. 

Eight grants were awarded to journals. In particular, we want to stress the support for pAartisan, a journal devoted to modern Belarusian art. Our grant covered the start-up costs for this journal and its promotion, both among readers and sponsors. The support provided to the other seven journals assisted in the development of intellectual life in Belarus.  

In conjunction with the grant competition, three seminars were organized for publishers of non-registered newspapers on the topic of journalistic tools in a local newspaper and how to layout a local newspaper. During these seminars we encouraged publishers to register their newspapers and sell them on the media market.  

Due to co-operation with the Executive Office of the Assembly of Democratic Non-governmental Organisations in Belarus, a list was prepared of office equipment confiscated by the authorities from non-governmental organisations during the election campaign in 2001. As a result of legal proceedings, some organisations managed to recover their equipment. Other organisations were able to acquire new equipment as a result of 12 grants we distributed for a total sum of USD 20,400. According to our information, these grants, along with the support of other sponsors, fully covered the material loses suffered by these social organisations. All of these grants were awarded at the beginning of the program in 2001, but a portion was not distributed until 2002.   

The project conducted in the second half of 2002 was directed exclusively to registered newspapers, which have greater possibilities in regard to distribution and the possibility of reaching a mass audience. This had a particular significance in the period prior to the local government elections in which these newspapers played an important role. As a result of a grant competition, we awarded five grants (from USD 2,500 to USD 4,000) to local newspapers. All of the newspapers that received support were in the initial stage of development and only then establishing their position on the local market. An important element of our work was co-operation and moral support for the staff of the de-legalized newspaper Pahonia. Supporting this newspaper had a symbolic significance as a sign of the struggle for freedom of speech in Belarus. In the second half of 2002, support was also provided to two newspapers in Minsk whose situation in this period was threatened. Both of these newspapers lacked support from major sponsors. A special grant was awarded to the Belarusian Information Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania, which is co-operating with the independent Belarusian press.

The broader context of our activity for the independent media should be mentioned. At the beginning of the year, president Lukashenko established a special media holding, which is tasked with taking over control and publishing all state-owned literary, historical and political journals. This radically changed the situation on the journal market. Such journals as Krynica, Nioman and Połymia, which until then had been leading journals in Belarus, became merely propaganda mouthpieces of the regime. The purpose of the holding is to broadcast the state ideology, which was announced in March 2003. Moreover, all “undesirable” people, including all of the editor-in-chiefs of these journals, were fired. We prepared a special report in order to present this situation in detail to other organisations working in Belarus. Despite the protests of artistic and creative communities in Belarus, the authorities did not change their conduct. Some of the former editor-in-chiefs of these journals decided to publish their own journals. In an effort to help alleviate the situation, we granted support to six of these journals. We extended assistance to Dziejasłou, which was established by some former staff members of the journal Połymia. We also supported particularly active independent historical journals, published in Grodno and Minsk, which have a special influence on both integrating the community of historians in Belarus and creating a modern, scientific Belarusian historiography, devoid of ideology. The total amount of the 14 awarded grants was USD 29,000.

A total of eight working visits were made to Belarus during the realization of the entire project.  

II.  Training trainers for Non-governmental Organisations

co-ordinator:      Łukasz Byrski

sponsor:            Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (grant no. 2000-43001)

grant amount:     USD 120,000

project duration:  1 June 2001 – 31 May 2003

partners:             Belarusian Association of Resource Centres (BARC),

                          Education for Democracy Foundation (Warsaw).  

The goal of the project is to establish a trainers’ group that could conduct training for local leaders of non-governmental organisations and teachers, and would become a part of the Belarusian Association of Resource Centres (BARC). Another goal of the project is transferring know how to the resource Centres in the following spheres:

·      The role of NGOs in a civil society;

·      Principles of how institutions of a democratic society operate, structures of democratic organisations;

·      Leadership skills (understanding group dynamics, leadership styles, sharing leadership);

·      Planning activity;

·      Conducting meetings (parliamentary procedure, leading a meeting, public speaking, conflict resolution);

·      Selecting members of an association, working with volunteers;

·      Negotiating skills (negotiating styles, stages of negotiation, and obligations of a negotiating team).

The project is also to mobilize the teacher’s community, through conducting cycles of training concerning active teaching methods, working with student governments as well as co-operation among parents, teachers and students within the context of the school being a natural Centre of social life for a significant portion of the community.

The creation of the trainers’ group was planned over a two-year period. One training cycle (basic and advanced training) as well as 17 practical seminars, in which 336 people participated, had been conducted by the end 2002.

III. Development of Youth Organisations

co-ordinator:      Paweł Kazanecki

sponsor:            Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (grant no. 2002-00781)

grant amount:     USD 100,000

project duration:  1 April 2002 – 31 March 2004

partners:             International Contact (Minsk, Belarus),

                         Lion Society (L’viv, Ukraine),

                         Association of Ukrainian Youth (Kiev, Ukraine)

The goal of the project is to build a social platform in the regions of Ukraine and Belarus as a base for democratic elements in society as well as civic transformations on the local level. This will occur through the development of youth organisations in the regions of these two countries. The project includes the following activities:

Ø      Support of youth organisation in both countries;

Ø      Organisation of co-operation between youth organisations on a regional and interregional basis;

Ø      Development of Ukrainian-Belarusian co-operation based primarily on organisations participating in the project.

The Ukrainian portion of the project is described in the present report concerning projects conducted in Ukraine. Activities conducted within the framework of the Belarusian portion of the project are described below.

The project began in June 2002. Initial activity consisted in the first selection of participants. All national youth organisations not associated with the ideological structures of the state were informed about the project. Youth leaders from the regions, who were active during the 2001 election campaign or directly following it, were invited to participate. Individuals who acknowledged an interest to participate in the project were asked to describe their vision for the further development of youth organisations and the areas of their work in their regions. As a result, 28 people qualified to participate in the project. The first phase of the project involved conducting a series of seminars transferring know how in various fields of NGO activity as well as providing technical knowledge concerning the operation of non-governmental organisations. In October and November 2002, the first two seminars were held. Their topics covered such issues as: defining what social activity involves (definition of the third sector), building NGO coalitions and networks, defining the mission of an organisation, program activities and methods of work. These seminars showed the need to broaden the group of participants. Therefore, a subsequent selection of participants was planned for the beginning of 2003. Subsequent seminars have been held and the core portion of the project will be conducted in 2003.

B. UKRAINE

I. Support for the Independent Media

project:                Effective Management of Print Media

co-ordinator:   Anna Gryżewska

sponsor:         Poland-America-Ukraine Co-operation Initiative (PAUCI)

grant amount:  USD 13,815

project duration: 1 September 2001 – 31 July 2002

main grantee:     Polish-Ukrainian Journalist Club “Unbiased”.

The fundamental goal of the program was to raise the qualifications and professionalism of editors of social-political newspapers. The long-term goal is to assist editors of Ukrainian social-political newspapers to become financially independent. The purpose of the seminars organized within the framework of the program is to transfer the experiences of Polish newspapers in regard to advertising and promotion as well as acquaint the participants with topics important for effective newspaper management. The project is addressed to editors of local and national newspapers as well as working journalists engaged in newspaper advertising and promotion.

Two seminars were held for journalists and editors of the national press (10 people) and the regional press (16 people) as well as internships in Poland for three groups: 6 people from the national press, 10 people from the regional press and a mixed group of 7 people.

This was the first program for the press conducted in Ukraine by the Association and therefore it had a large significance for us. As a result of co-operation with the well-known journalists club “Unbiased,” we had an opportunity to become acquainted with the journalist community in Ukraine and the employees of the most important national and regional newspapers in the country. However, the most valuable for us is the fact that through this program we were able to learn the expectations and needs of Ukrainian journalists and newspaper editors. Conversations as well as the analysis of the questionnaires received from participants of the training and internships conducted during the project changed our perception of the press situation in Ukraine. In addition, due to the realization of this program we had an opportunity to tighten bonds with Polish local and national newspapers as well as journalists.

II. Development of Non-governmental Organisations (Support for Youth Organisations in 8 Northern Districts of Ukraine)

co-ordinator:         Anna Gryżewska, Paweł Kazanecki

sponsor:               National Endowment for Democracy (grant no. 2002-087.0)

grant amount:        USD 40,000

project duration:     1 February - 30 November 2002

partner:                 Lion Society (L’viv, Ukraine)

The activities conducted within the framework of this project are an integral part of the activities within the Development of Youth Organisations project, sponsored by the Mott Foundation. The goal of the project is the development of youth organisations in Ukraine and the mobilization of youth to become engaged in social activities. Within the framework of the project eight seminars were conducted on the topic of democratic leadership for selected leaders of youth organisations in eight districts of Ukraine: Sumy, Chernigov, Poltava, Cherkassy, Vinnitsa, Khmel’nitskiy, Tarnopol and Zhitomir. A total of 165 people participated in the seminars. Other than transferring skills necessary for managing a social organisation, talented leaders were selected who became participants in subsequent courses. A total of 98 people participated in four advanced seminars. Trainers from the Lion Society conducted all of these seminars. Among seminar participants we selected representatives from between two and four organisations from each district participating in previous seminars and proposed that we coordinate further activities within the framework of the project with local partners in their respective districts. Meetings with these selected groups were held on 27-28 November in Bruchovicze, during which coordinating teams were created in the districts. Each team was given the task of preparing a strategy for working in their district within the framework of our project. The prepared strategies, which were presented in February 2003, will be the basis of projects that are to be supported by the Association. Activities within the framework of this program will be continued until 2004.

C. INFORMATION PROJECTS  

Project:             Internet Information Campaign (IIC)  

Since the Association was established, we have known that providing reliable information as well as distributing information concerning conducted programs is indispensable in our work. Due to the international (global) range as well as relatively low cost, we decided to provide information over the Internet (IIC). The initial project was developed by Marta Pejda in co-operation with Jarosław Iwaniuk at the end of 2001.

The entire IIC project is composed of three independent (but closely interrelated) parts, and is conducted through two websites: www.go2east.ngo.pl and the homepage of the Association. The Association’s homepage – a modern and professional showcase of our work – will contain a basic description of activities together with details of all programs conducted by the Association, including those that have been concluded. In accordance with the general practice of non-governmental organisations, annual reports as well as program texts and detailed reports concerning the implementation of individual projects will also be available on the site. In the initial phase of the project, information will be available in three languages: Polish, Russian and English. Later, as possibilities permit, information in Belarusian and Ukrainian will also be available. A Belarusian information service, targeted specifically for Belarusians, will be a permanent, separate part of the Association’s homepage. The majority of the information will comprise extracts from the Polish press, but will also contain essays, commentaries, reports, etc., concerning social transformation issues, building a civil society, supporting non-governmental initiatives, strengthening democratic processes and promoting independent forms of co-operation among the third sector, media and society itself. Materials will be in the Belarusian language. The third part of the activities connected with the project is the www.go2east.ngo.pl website, a part of the www.ngo.pl portal, launched by the informal “Zagranica” Working Group, of which the Association is a member. In January 2002, a small group was selected, including the Association, to edit the portal from among “Zagranica” members. During several preliminary meetings the editors established the rules for dividing the materials into sections concerning individual countries. The Association was selected to edit the Belarusian section. Moreover, we proposed a general structure, according to which the material of individual sections of the portal will be compiled. The www.go2east.ngo.pl portal is a joint project of Polish non-governmental organisations working abroad (mainly in the East). This portal is an Internet-based tool containing several thematic databases, archive, links as well as other text and photographic materials, including maps, connected with the activities of Polish NGOs and their contacts in the East.

Financing was sought in 2002 for launching the initial phase of IIC. The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Embassy of Canada have graciously awarded grants for the realization of this project. The grant funds will be available in 2003.

Project:             Publication “Belarus – III Sector. People – Culture - Language”  

The publication, edited by Marta Pejda and containing texts of Belarusian authors, is the continuation of the special issue of the IDEE Foundation Newsletter published in 1998. “Belarus: III Sector” serves the role of a guidebook about independent life in Belarus and contains topics covering such issues as national minorities, the religious structure of the country, culture, the organisation of cultural life, education and others. We were primarily interested in showing the changes occurring in Belarus under the governments of president Lukashenko – such as the purely formal legislative, heraldic, social, psychological and political changes. Texts devoted to the 2001 presidential election comprise an important part of the publication. The publication comprises articles written by more than one dozen Belarusian authors, mainly representatives of the young and middle generations, as well as a CD-ROM with an interactive database of Belarusian non-governmental organisations prepared by the Belarusian Association of Resource Centres (BARC). The CD also contains the first edition of the book “Belarus – The Third Sector,” and the electronic version of the current edition.

As previously, two separate language versions were prepared, Polish and English. We received funds within the framework of the RITA Program for completing the work connected with the database for the CD-ROM as well as for covering printing costs. Printing costs were also financed in part by the National Endowment for Democracy.

The publication will be distributed jointly with the Education for Democracy Foundation.  

Project:             Library and Archive

The library of the Association contains a collection of Belarusian books in the field of the humanities as well as a collection of the independent Belarus press, comprising more than 300 bulletin titles and 30 official newspaper titles. The library is very popular among both students and doctoral candidates from Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław universities. The archive primarily contains materials concerning the activities and situations of non-governmental organisations in Belarus. The resource has a practical significance in seeking partners for Polish organisations. The absence of an access system significantly hinders using these materials. Work began in 2002 on cataloguing the archived materials. This work will continue in 2003.

PART II

Organisational changes in the Association

The internal audit conducted in 2002 showed that the Association’s bookkeeping is conducted properly, in accordance with mandatory regulations. Both taxes and insurance as well as all other outside liabilities, including grants with sponsors, are settled in a timely fashion, in accordance with contracts and Polish law. Simultaneously, the audit revealed a number of irregularities in regard to the financial management of the Association. Primarily, it showed a lack of discipline with respect to expenditures, which translated into a negative financial result. Moreover, the auditor indicated that the Association’s procedures for cooperating with program co-ordinators are faulty.

Two meetings of the General Meeting of the Association, the highest governing body of the Association, were held in 2002. During these meetings, it was decided to:

·      change the composition of the executive board – as a result of Alaksandar Shalayka submitting his resignation, Mariusz Maszkiewicz was appointed member of the executive board;

·      change the composition of the board of audits - Agnieszka Komorowska and Piotr Kosiewski were appointed to replace Radosław Sikora and Jarosław Iwaniuk;

·      accept nine new members of the Association;

·      formally establish, as an organisational entity, the Office of the Association, together with an administrative director;

·      accept the Plan of Activity for 2003-2005 proposed by the executive board, as the basis for establishing the strategy for the further development of the Association.  

It was agreed that, in its further work, the Association should expand the composition of the executive board and the board of auditors as well as broaden the membership base of the Association.

The current organisational structure of the Association is presented below:

The composition of the governing bodies of the Association on 31 December 2002 is presented below:

Executive Board:

Paweł Kazanecki - President

Małgorzata Naimska - Secretary

Mariusz Maszkiewicz - Treasurer

Board of Auditors:

Agnieszka Komorowska - Chairman

Bogumiła Berdychowska

Piotr Kosiewski

During the course of the year, two partners resigned from the Association and at the end of the year the executive board decided not to renew the contract with one of the project co-ordinators. In December 2002, two full-time employees and three partners worked for the Association. In addition, the Association began to work with volunteers.

PART III

Plan of Activity in 2003 - 2005

The following goals were defined in the Association’s Plan of Activity, prepared in 2002:  

1.      Furthering the development of democracy in Eastern Europe and other post-soviet countries;

2.      Supporting pro-democratic movements and communities in the region;

3.      Strengthening civil society through creating and supporting social institutions, communities and initiatives;

4.      Strengthening freedom of speech in the region;

5.      Supporting national and cultural consciousness in post-soviet countries;

6.      Promoting tolerance and opposing xenophobia;

7.      Promoting Poland in the region;

8.      Strengthening Polish-East relations  

The deep conviction that the basis of democracy is an active society, comprising aware and well-informed citizens, enjoying freedom of choice is a principle of all projects of the Association. Social ties between individuals must be active ties. A person cannot be a citizen without having a clear awareness of his cultural and national identity. Therefore, freedom of choice and democracy disappear together with the disappearance of social ties and the awareness of civic identity – of being a part of the community. Building a civil society in those countries where we work can only occur in co-operation with leaders of democratic elements of society. Therefore, we believe supporting these elements of society is the most important issue in our work.  

In the plan adopted by the General Meeting of the Association, the fields of activity were broadened to include all major areas of the former Soviet Union. The more important areas of activity on which the Association will focus beginning in 2003 are:

·      Ukraine - since 2001 the Association has worked to make Ukraine an area of equally intense activity as in the case of Belarus. In 2003, Ukraine will be the largest field of activity due to the limiting of activities in Belarus. It will also be a strategic field of activities in the course of the next several years;

·      Belarus – is the traditional area of the Association’s activity, which determines our position among Polish NGOs engaged in cross border programs. Therefore, it should remain our core program for some time. However, the financial value of this program will be cut dramatically in subsequent years.

The first two fields of activity will be the priority areas of our organisation.

Moreover, we intend to begin working in Russia and Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan), as well as develop activities in the following fields:

·        Poland-East Home

·        Information Program: website concerning Belarus

·        Participation in the creation of a Polish NGO community in cross border co-operation

·        Creation of an international group around Belarus  

The idea of a Poland-East Home is particularly important for our future activity. Developing this idea has a key and strategic significance for the Association. This project will make the basis for long-term programs for the East possible and will also allow a system of scholarships to be developed for people from eastern countries. Moreover, our hopes are connected with this project for obtaining stability and financial independence in the long-term.

PART IV

FINANCIAL INFORMATION  

In connection with the partial suspension of activity, the Association noted a significant decline of financial turnover in 2002. Income and costs were more than two times smaller than the previous year, which was reflected, among others, in the amount of income obtained from bank deposits.

The net financial result for 2002 is negative. However, due to the activities undertaken in the second half of the year, and in particular observing discipline with respect to expenditures, the deficit was reduced to the minimum possible and basically limited to interest costs on loans extended in previous years as well as costs of amortisation.

Moreover, payments were made on the deficit from the previous year (payment from the reimbursement of travel costs to Washington and Stockholm in 2001), which reduced the negative 2001 financial result to PLN 82,453.

The general financial situation of the Association is illustrated in the data below. The annual financial statements contain detailed information.

Sources of income  

In 2002, the Association noted a total income of almost PLN 905,000 (approximately USD 226,000), of which PLN 899,000 account for income for the realization of programs (grants and subsidies of sponsors), 0.2% accounts for income from bank interest and 0.01% accounts for membership dues.

The Association’s largest donor remains the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the grants of which account for almost 60% of total annual income. The 3% share of OSI Paris in 2002 income is the remainder of a granted awarded in 2001. The grant of the Dutch Press Now Foundation is a transfer grant awarded to the Regional Press Association (Brest, Belarus). Sources of income by sponsors in 2002 are presented in the chart below.

Costs

Association costs in 2002 totalled somewhat more than PLN 934,000 PLN (approximately USD 233,500), of which costs of statutory activity amounted to more than PLN 920,500. The share of individual programs in financing costs borne by the Association is shown in the chart below.

Activity connected with the distribution of grants (competitions) as well as wages and salaries were the main categories of costs borne within the framework of conducting projects. Details are presented in the chart below.

Commentary to the financial result  

            899,411.85 PLN            - statutory income

            920,509.81 PLN            - statutory costs

           – 21,097.96 PLN            - surplus of costs over income (loss on statutory activity)

          +   5,494.82 PLN            - financial income (deposits + positive exchange differences)

           – 13,586.57 PLN            - financial costs (interest on PAF-PIO loan)

          +          5.11 PLN            - extraordinary profit

=          – 29,184.60 PLN          - 2002 financial result

The surplus of costs over income is due to (in simple terms): the amount of depreciation of fixed assets as well as banking commissions (PLN 3,836.02), personnel costs (PLN 1,800) and VAT costs within the framework of conducting the PAUCI 0133-043 project (PLN 1,767.36). The costs of repaying a loan also had an influence on the amount of the negative financial result in 2002. However, unfavourable negative exchange differences were avoided – positive differences were noted.

In 2003 – maintaining current financial management standards – it will be possible to gradually reduce the deficit from previous years. When the budget is no longer encumbered with loan interest and positive change differences continue to be noted, it will be possible to obtain a positive year-end financial result, which can be partially used to cover losses (deficit) for 2001-2002.

Warsaw, May 2003

Prepared by:

M. Dębkowska, P. Kazanecki

  In co-operation with:

Ł. Byrski, A. Gryżewska, M. Pejda, A. Wróbel