News and Events

A group of journalists in Khabarovskiy and Primorskiy Krays decided to establish a public interests club after participating in an advocacy workshop organized by the "Our Rights" project.  That workshop, which was held June 27-28, brought together over 100 representatives of regional and local government, mass media and business to discuss quality housing, participation in local self-government, the environment, and the economy.

On April 14-16, more than 20 representatives from NGOs in the Russian Far East (RFE) attended a training seminar in Vladivostok on "Mobilization of Resources for NGOs." The Russian trainers taught participants fundraising techniques and discussed various opportunities for obtaining financing, including charity events, corporate partnerships, municipal tenders, and allocations from regional and federal budgets. Each NGO representative developed an action plan for raising funds to develop youth services in the Khabarovsk and Primorye regions.  

Management Systems International (MSI) conducted two USAID-funded trainings on public outreach and advocacy in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok that focused on raising civic awareness and mobilizing citizen participation in advocacy activities. Organized as part of MSI's "Our Rights" project, the trainings were led by Svetlana Rubashkina, an expert for the Russian Public Chamber and the founder of a respected center for the development of socio-cultural projects in Krasnodar.

On May 30-31, over 120 representatives from government, media, and citizen groups took part in a USAID-funded conference on government-NGO partnerships as a key condition for rural development.  The conference highlighted the successes, best practices and partnerships developed under the Municipal Community Alliances Program (MuCAP) in Khabarovskiy and Primorskiy Krays.  Approximately 200 MuCAP projects have been implemented over the past three years, resulting in the creation of 133 new jobs and 15 new NGOs.  In the past six months, more than 15% of citizens in focus villages have been involved in local self-governance processes.

On May 27-29, over 60 municipal experts from the western United States and the Russian Far East gathered in Khabarovsk Kray to share experiences and best practices developed under the USAID-funded U.S.-Russia Far East Municipal Partnership Program. The municipal experts spoke positively about the professional connections and exchange of experiences that the program has fostered between local government officials in the U.S. and Russia. Organized by the Foundation for Russian American Economic Cooperation, the conference took place on a boat that travelled along the Amur River and made stops at indigenous communities that have been supported by USAID projects.