What's Being Done On...

Cross-Border Assistance

The April/May 2002 theme is Cross-Border Assistance: Helping Democrats in Closed Societies and Countries in Transition. The dynamic interaction among NGOs from different countries is an important means of promoting democracy, disseminating information, defending human rights, broadening understanding of democratic values, and building civic society and democratic institutions.

At the World Movement's Second Assembly in November 2000, The Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe (IDEE) organized a workshop on "Cross-Border Democracy Assistance: What Is the Role of New Democracies and NGOs in Their Regions?." The workshop emphasized that democracy is a universal value crossing borders and regions, and the report from the workshop provides a number of examples of cross-border assistance, cooperation, and activity. The report includes the participants' recommendations.

In addition, Human Rights in China organized a workshop on "What Can be Done to Assist Democrats in Closed Societies?." The workshop resulted in practical recommendations on effective strategies to assist democrats in closed societies, such as China, Cuba, and North Korea.

We encourage you to review the workshop reports and send us any information on work your organization may be doing that is related to the recommendations listed. Please send the information via email to world@ned.org or by fax to +1-202-293-0755.

Over a dozen organizations that conduct cross-border democracy assistance and that help democrats in closed societies are highlighted in this issue. These are intended to be illustrative examples to encourage democrats to consider developing similar projects. Some of the best examples of cross-border activities have emerged from transitional experiences in Central and Eastern Europe, as reflected in the information here.

If you wish to provide information about cross-border work that your organization may have conducted, or is conducting, please write to: world@ned.org.