Strengthening A network of think-tanks independent working to policy centres ensure that the lessons of in Central and transition are understood, Eastern Europe shared, and and Central Asia applied www.pasos.org Contents PASOS leads the way in 2011 by Chair Agnieszka Łada 2 PASOS by the numbers: A reflection on the value of membership by Executive Director Jeff Lovitt 3 The Ilko Kucheriv Democracy Fellowship Programme 4 Opening the Doors of Policy-Making in the South Caucasus and Central Asia 5 Democracy, Partnership, Enlargement – Challenges for Europe, Challenges for the Polish EU Presidency 7 Paving the Road towards Visa-Free Travel between the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU 8 The year in review: A selection of other projects, activities and events from 2011 9 When think-tanks make a difference ... 11 Cross-border policy initiatives 14 A preview of members‘ joint initiatives in 2012 19 Financial Report 23 Advisory Council 30 Board of Directors 31 Secretariat 33 PASOS Members 56 independent think-tanks and associate members spanning 28 countries 35 PASOS Annual Report 2011 Editor: Alfredo Azula, Jeff Lovitt Design and layout: Alena Burianová, Jeff Lovitt, Alfredo Azula Photographs: Alfredo Azula, Petr Pajas, Jeff Lovitt Printed in Prague, Czech Republic, October 2012 © 2012 PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society) Sdružení pro podporu otevřené společnosti - PASOS ISBN 978-80-905105-7-9 Address: Email: [email protected] Těšnov 3 Web: www.pasos.org 110 00 Praha 1 Czech Republic www.novisa.eu Tel/fax: +420 2223 13644 www.youtube.com/PASOStube PASOS Annual Report 2011 PASOS leads the way in 2011 The year 2011 proved to be an exceptionally active year for PASOS. Six policy centres joined the network last year, bringing the membership total to 56 by mid-2012. A review of the association’s activities in 2011 shows that PASOS remains firmly committed to the mission of helping its members sharpen their ability to shape and influence policymakers across the region. PASOS published two guidebooks for think-tanks, one a code of good governance, and one outlining a set of principles for ensuring quality control in research. A training conference in Brussels on “Understanding and Influencing EU Policymaking” introduced participants to the process of engaging decision- makers in the European Union’s halls of power. In Istanbul, a conference on think-tank fundamentals and best practices was held as part of the association’s largest project to date, “Opening the Doors of Policy-Making in the South Caucasus and Central Asia”. Two other major PASOS-led projects moved forward in 2011. As part of “Paving the Road towards Visa-free Travel between the Eastern Partnership countries and the EU”, a “No Visa” network of websites was launched. Meanwhile, the Ilko Kucheriv Democracy Fellowship Programme was launched in memory of the Ukrainian democracy activist and founder of Democratic Initiatives Foundation, a PASOS member in Kyiv, who sadly passed away in 2010. With plans to continue the programme for at least two years, the project will serve as a fitting legacy for a man whose tireless efforts for democracy and open government embodied the mission of PASOS. In 2011, PASOS established itself as the leading NGO network in the Eastern Partnership countries, both through high-profile projects on visa liberalisation and on the prospects for Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreements between the Partner countries and the EU, and through PASOS’s leadership role within the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. Several PASOS members’ representatives were elected to the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum in 2011. In January 2012, PASOS Executive Director Jeff Lovitt was elected co-Chair of the Forum. This high-profile Steering Committee regularly meets with important EU policymakers, including the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. PASOS has been the principal actor in shaping the strategy of the Forum, including successful lobbying that contributed to the newly created neighbourhood civil society facility, and successful pressure for civil society to have a seat at the intergovernmental platform meetings. ”Democracy, Partnership, Enlargement – Challenges for Europe, Challenges for the Polish EU Presidency”, an international policymakers’ conference held in Warsaw on 25 November 2011, brought together Polish government officials during the Polish EU Council Presidency, and leading policy analysts from the PASOS region. There were also speakers from the Middle East, illustrating how the Arab Spring has provided PASOS members with a unique opportunity to draw on their transition experiences to assist the new world emerging on Europe’s southern bounds. Earlier in the year, PASOS organised its first ever event in an Arabic country. The conference was just one event that was part of an ambitious PASOS project to create connections between reformers from the post-communist world with like-minded civil society actors in the Middle East and North Africa. Agnieszka Łada, Chair PASOS promotes and protects open society values, including democracy, the rule of law, good governance, respect for and protection of human rights, and economic and social development, by supporting civil society organisations that individually and jointly foster public participation in public policy issues at the European 2 Union level, in other European structures, and in the wider neighbourhood of Europe and Central Asia. PASOS Annual Report 2011 PASOS by the numbers: A reflection on the value of membership Since its founding in 2004, PASOS has more than doubled in the number of members, and the level of joint activities among PASOS members provides deepening testament to the close-knit network that has emerged. During the past two years, 51 representatives of 21 PASOS members participated in dedicated PASOS training events - even before the inclusion of training events and seminars at the annual PASOS Assemblies, where all members have participated. In the same period, 26 members participated in PASOS-led projects, ranging from co-authoring or peer-reviewing a policy brief to carrying out county research or even leading the research methodology or training others on advocacy techniques. No fewer than 22 PASOS members engaged in more than 65 joint projects. In some cases, a PASOS member has been engaged in four or five such projects with other PASOS members - projects not directly involving the PASOS Secretariat, but conceived through contacts developed at PASOS meetings, and often directly at those meetings. These projects are promoted by PASOS, on the PASOS website and other internet channels, in newsletters, and, of course, the Annual Reports. These numbers reflect the value brought to the members through being part of the PASOS network, and the fact that the members actively engage and co-operate with each other throughout the year. While the numbers cited are quite revealing, they serve another purpose. They provide the association with a constantly renewing baseline from which to find new ways to help our members become the best they can be at what they do. Drawing on the needs and aspirations of PASOS members, as captured in a fresh survey conducted in June 2012, PASOS will deepen its focus on supporting the institutional development of its members. Our focus will be to encourage more innovation and raise standards in policy work and communications strategies, organise regional projects and accompanying networking and capacity-building activities and events, continue with recent efforts in reaching out beyond the PASOS region to bring the members into contact with the work of independent think-tanks working on other transition contexts, and to build on previous efforts to strengthen understanding and influencing of EU policymaking. One of the most dynamic and exciting initiatives in the works will bring PASOS training and capacity-building activities under the framework of a dedicated PASOS training programme that will specifically target the needs and aspirations of PASOS members, and work to raise standards of policy work throughout the network. I am also looking forward to PASOS and its members developing, as an integrated part of their management practices, high standards in policy research, including research methods, peer review, publishing, communications and advocacy. The members will be engaged and encouraged to adopt the PASOS Seal of Excellence in policy research standards alongside a new standard of professionalism in think-tank management, underpinned by good governance, transparency and accountability, and high ethical standards. The future brings many challenges and opportunities to think-tanks working for democracy and open government. PASOS will be there to encourage, support, equip, and connect its members as they face these challenges and seize these opportunities. 3 Jeff Lovitt, Executive Director 3 PASOS Annual Report 2011 The Ilko Kucheriv Democracy Fellowship Programme In 2011, PASOS partnered with network members the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation (IKDIF) and the Institute of Public Affairs to offer a new fellowship programme to assist the advancement of democratic practices in transitional democracies. The Ilko Kucheriv Democracy Fellowship Programme targets professionals at independent democracy and human rights advocacy NGOs and think-tanks from the CIS region, with a particular focus in Ukraine, Ilko Kucheriv’s own homeland. The programme was made possible