IREX in the News

In a recent Youth Citizen Journalism Club article, Galina, a young woman from Kyrgyzstan, shared her thoughts about the Youth Theater for Peace camp she visited and the issues she saw in participant plays:

WASHINGTON, DC (September 13, 2005) As part of a broader trend by the Uzbek government to close down both international and local nongovernmental organizations, on September 12th the Civil Court of Tashkent ordered IREX to suspend activities in Uzbekistan for a period of six months. The six-hour court proceedings represented the culmination of a year of increasingly aggressive obstruction of IREX activities, including the denial of accreditation to several IREX employees.

With a little help, youth throughout Russia are becoming key players in community development. The US-Russia Volunteer Initiative (USRVI) has been instrumental in making this happen through its multifaceted approach  to exchange programming. USRVI, funded by the US Agency for International Development and administered by IREX, was not designed solely to target youth groups but they have organically become an integral part of the project.

IREX is working with journalists and editors in two Egyptian governorates to build their capacity to report on news at the local level. Many of these journalists have had little or no opportunity to build their professional skills, and their outlets operate very much in the shadow of the national media with few technical or financial resources. Few reporters have access to computers, and most newspapers are put together in Cairo and can be issued only monthly.

By Sarah Keith

The Ukraine Media Partnership Program (UMPP) recently completed its fifth year of developing long-term professional partnerships between US and Ukrainian media outlets. Since the program’s start in 2002, 16 partnerships have brought 79 Ukrainian media professionals to the US and 45 American professionals to Ukraine to exchange experiences and assist in the development of their partner media outlets.

By Eliza Hamner

For years teachers and parents of a kindergarten in Comrat, the capital of Moldova’s Gagauzian Autonomous Territory, have been searching for positive outlets to channel their students’ energy. Ana Panaitova, the kindergarten’s director, has led an effort that came with an ideal solution: a gymnasium. And an unused boiler room in the basement of the building provided the ideal venue.

The town of Peja, Kosovo has a number of “informal neighborhoods” – urban enclaves that have been left out of municipal planning processes and budgets.  The Zatra neighborhood was one such place until April 2007, when a local NGO, Eye of Vision (EoV), launched an urban planning process there.

Volunteers represent a tremendous resource for any nongovernmental organization, from local nonprofits to international bodies. An effectively managed volunteer program can transform an organization from a few dedicated individuals to a powerhouse with vast human resources.  With the goal of effectively harnessing the power of volunteers by strengthening the practices of volunteer management, IREX developed and piloted the Volunteer Management Training Course in three Russian regions in the fall of 2007.

With the relations between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians a key issue underlining international discussion on Kosovo’s future status, the Kosovo Media Assistance Program (KMAP) staged the second of its interethnic dialogues for media professionals. Conducted by Dr. Sheila Ramsey of KMAP sub-contractor EnCompass, the dialogues were meant to encourage Kosovar journalists of different ethnic backgrounds, mainly Albanian and Serbian, to talk about ways in which they can work together.