Current and recent PASOS projects
Linking change-makers in the Middle East and North Africa with democratic reformers of post-communist (Central and Eastern) Europe
Lead partner: PASOS Secretariat, Czech Republic
PASOS partners: Centre for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), Macedonia; Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP), Serbia
Other partner: NAZRA for Feminist Studies, Egypt
The objectives of the project are to strengthen the capacity of Egyptian policy centres to influence the democratic transition process and to promote cooperation and exchange experiences between Egyptian and Central and Eastern European (CEE) policy centres with relevant transition expertise. The project will run in the period July 2011 to May 2012, and the first phase will address women’s rights in Egypt. The project is made possible with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Updates:
PASOS seminar in Cairo marks first foray into Egypt
Opening the Doors of Policy-Making in the South Caucasus and Central Asia
“Opening the Doors of Policy-Making in the South Caucasus and Central Asia” seeks to empower civil society organizations and to enhance public participation in public policy development. It aims to strengthen CSOs, foster regional networking, and promote sustained dialogue with policymakers. The project draws on PASOS’ experience of training think-tank personnel in transitional countries. The initiative is supported by a grant from the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF).
Updates:
PASOS opens call for Skills Development Fellowships
A full schedule of events connected to the project can be viewed here.
Ilko Kucheriv Democracy Partnership Programme
PASOS is partner
ing with network members the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (DIF) and the Institute of Public Affairs (ISP) to offer the fellowship program, that seeks to assist the advancement of democratic practices in transitional democracies. The program was made possible with the financial support of the National Endowment for Democracy.
Fellows will work with the hosting institute for a six-month period or project co-operation and mentoring, and spend up to five weeks in the office of the hosting think-tank. Fellowships will also provide one-on-one, hands-on training with the host institute’s expert as mentor. The goal is to provide a mentoring opportunity for an in-depth, on-site, and interactive experience in democratic transformation and protection of human rights.
Updates:
Ilko Kucheriv Democracy Partnership Programme announces fellows
Standards-setting in ethical governance and policy work of think-tanks
This project’s objective is to produce professional quality benchmarks, and the ground rules for a set of guidelines, to govern policy work, so that a common set of standards applies to policy centres from different countries, in particular when working on joint projects. This will strengthen the credibility of policy institutes and enhance the quality of their policy work by increasing co-operation between policy centres and the trust of other stakeholders in their products.
Two publications setting out respectively ethical principles governing think-tank work, and principles and standards in policy work, “Thinking Ethically” and “How to win respect and influence policymakers,” were released at the annual PASOS members assembly in Warsaw November 26. The project is supported by the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) of Open Society Foundations.
Download: Thinking Ethically
Download: How to win respect and influence policymakers
Transparency in Lobbying
Lead partner: PASOS Secretariat, Czech Republic, Centre for Public Policy PROVIDUS, Latvia
PASOS partners: EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic, Institute for Public Policy (IPP), Romania, European Institute, Bulgaria, International Centre for Political Studies (ICPS), Ukraine
Project partner providing peer reviewing: Center for Political Studies at the Central European University (CPS-CEU), Hungary
This project, managed by the PASOS Secretariat with the funding support of LGI, is comprised of a multi-country comparative study of legislation regulating lobbying in several countries, with the aim to provide efficient tools for making professional lobbying transparent. The project will explore the possibility of a model legislative framework for lobbying, including private sector lobbying and NGO/advocacy groups’ lobbying in the public interest, with a view to standardising regulations in line with the best legislative practice applied or under development. The country research focuses on Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Ukraine.
The project included a PASOS policy seminar held at the U.S. Embassy’s American Center in Prague 14 October, 2011, that featured a lively panel discussion on ethics, legislative strategy, and how lobbying regulations should impact NGOs, including think tanks.
Supporting documents:
Regulation of Lobbying in the Czech Republic: History, Debate and Perspective
EUROPEUM, Prague, PASOS project Transparency in Lobbying September 2011: Answers to Questionnaires
Transparency in Lobbying in Bulgaria
Transparency in Lobbying: Report on Ukraine
Transparency in Lobbying in Romania
Transparency in Lobbying: Comparative Review of Existing and Emerging Regulatory Regimes
Paving the Road towards Visa-free Travel between the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU
“Paving the Road towards Visa-free Travel between the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU” is a program of PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society) and the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) of the Open Society Foundations. A “No Visa” network of websites that includes country-specific versions of the site in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, was launched in 2011.
The goal of the project is to create a tipping-point for the achievement of visa-free relations between the Eastern Partnership countries and EU member-states, and in the process to upgrade the legal and policy processes in the EaP countries and promote closer integration and people-to-people exchange and contacts between the Eastern Partnership countries and EU member-states.
The No Visa websites offer extensive background information about these project goals, news and developments relating to visa-liberalization in the Eastern Partnership (EaP), and downloads of publications and other research documents. Other site resources include a calendar of events, updates from the EaP Civil Society Forum, a hyperlinked list of other NGOs that support visa liberalization, and a glossary of visa-related terms.
