Project Updates

News From Our Sister Organization, IREX Europe

A message of peace and stability comes at a time when Somaliland receives little assistance from the international community and suffers from extremely limited resources and capacity. Travel within the region is still difficult and at times risky. It is in this context that IREX Europe has helped Somaliland’s Kow Media theatre troupe travel to 23 villages and towns and conduct 23 shows.

When Moldovan diplomat and Muskie fellow Radu Cucos first accessed the internet as a teenager, he wasn’t thinking about technology as a tool for increasing government transparency.  “I wanted to get more information about sports,” says Cucos, “I was very much involved in sports at that time.”  Over time, Cucos’ initial curiosity in the Internet as a form of entertainment developed into a professional interest in communications technology a

On Saturday, September 25, libraries in Bihor County coordinated a volunteer effort of more than 150 people to take part in “Let’s Do it Romania,” a community cleanup effort. As part of “Let’s Do It Romania,” the volunteers – local students, library users, and librarians in seven communities – filled and removed more than 200 bags of garbage in the county. 

On September 27-28, 2010 IREX and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) hosted a conference entitled Emerging Technologies/Emerging Democracies that brought together government, media, and civil society to discuss the issues of technology, media, advocacy, and governance in Iraq.

There is a famous saying that we are continually faced by great opportunities brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems. This was the situation Ukrainian librarians faced when, at the height of the economic crisis, they were asked to secure government funds for ongoing internet connections and to prepare a safe and secure environment for computers to be eligible to participate in the Bibliomist program.

Ukrainian libraries are increasingly using the internet to offer a wider range of services to users. These services include free public access to the internet, but also go a step farther to provide targeted assistance to meet some of their communities’ most pressing needs. 

Labor Migration Resources

A group of 85 talented and motivated young leaders from across the North Caucasus gathered at a mountainous retreat in the Elbrus region of Kabardino-Balkaria for a ten-day Youth Leadership Camp.

In February 2010, more than 140 young sportsmen from 16 communities on both sides of the Nistru River gathered in Grigoriopol in the Transnistria region of Moldova for a wrestling championship that allowed them to test their strength while emphasizing the importance of sports and healthy living. 

The last days of August were bustling for teachers and parents in the Slobozia district of Moldova's Transnistria region as they anticipated the start of the new school year. Nine communities in the district have implemented school improvement projects and five were recognized by the Department of Education commission because their schools were among the best prepared for the new school year in Transnistria – Pervomaisk, Glinoe, Ternovca, Frunze and Ciobruciu.

Global UGRAD in Pakistan fellow Sikandar at Tennessee Technological University (TTU), has been elected to the student government, as a representative from the College of Agriculture and Human Ecology. Upon his election, Sikandar was introduced to the senate and had the opportunity to speak about himself and about Pakistan.