AMS Annual report 2010
1 Index
Preface by AMS director Arjen Berkvens 3
Abbreviations 4 Internal organisation 5 Introduction on AMS Strategy & Training Activities 6 AMS country & partner overview 2009: intentions & results 8
MATRAPPP projects Albania (2.1.1) 8 Armenia (2.1.2) 10 Azerbaijan (2.1.3) 12 Belarus (2.1.4) 14 Bosnia and Herzegovina (2.1.5) 16 Croatia (2.1.6) 19 Georgia (2.1.7) 21 Jordan (2.1.8) 23 Kosovo (2.1.9) 25 Macedonia (2.1.10) 26 Moldova (2.1.11) 29 Morocco (2.1.12) 35 Montenegro (2.1.13) 33 The Russian Federation (2.1.14) 37 Serbia (2.1.15) 39 Ukraine (2.1.16) 44
Other projects (not MATRA funded.) Regional Projects 46 News service & website 49
2 Preface
This annual report of 2010 is the final chapter in a three years programme with the support of the MATRA Political Parties Programme (MPPP) of The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs which started in 2008. The introduction of a three years cycle was the result of an evaluation carried out in 2007 of the MPPP programme. One of the conclusions was that programming for a longer period than one year would improve the quality of the work of the Dutch political foundations. After three years we can conclude that this was a wise decision, however, it remains very difficult to predict political developments and the future of political parties in general and in the regions we are active in, Eastern Europe, Western Balkans, Caucasus, Morocco and Jordan specifically. For foundations supporting their development, the increased volatility of political systems is something to deal with and to take into account while developing strategies for support. Changes in political systems are the order of the day in the EU and in the regions bordering. We have tried our best to develop smart and effective projects with our partners; political parties and their foundations.
We have witnessed in the last ten years a sharp decline of the traditional people’s parties which represent the three traditional ideologies (Social democracy, Liberalism, Conservatism/ Christian Democracy) in many western European countries. Although these ideologies are still leading, competition of Green, populist Left or Right, single issue parties, political movements, parties centred around a powerful leader or defending special (economic) interests, has increased. Actually this development was apparent in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Western Balkans and the Mediterranean area before the phenomenon hit the traditional Western ideologies. The fact that political landscapes change rapidly, poses a challenge for political foundations in The Netherlands and internationally. The AMS has always been very active in international cooperation and coordination initiatives. In 2010 the AMS director was the elected coordinator of the European Network of Political foundations (ENoP), and the AMS was still in charge of the secretariat of the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity. The former is a European network organisation supported by the European commission and established to represent the interests of political foundations (67 from 25 countries) in the EU. The latter is the almost 20 year’s old network of social democratic parties and foundations. For our checks and balances and information we depend on our international networks. In addition we have met frequently with our partner foundations in The Netherlands and we have cooperated with VVD International and Eduardo Frei Foundation in Armenia and Georgia, developing a very successful formula with our Political Academies.
The volatility of the political systems in our target countries makes it difficult to plan ahead, but looking at the past three years we can state that in the majority of the countries we work in, we have achieved our goals. Exceptions are Kosovo, where our partner lacked the capacity to carry out projects in a transparent way; Ukraine, where our partner collapsed in the aftermath of the Orange revolution; Russia, where democratic political parties are not allowed to participate in political live anymore. In Moldova we have seen the contrary happening. Our partner, the Democratic Party, plays a key-role in the new government and performed above our expectations. In all the other countries we fulfilled our expectations, although this does not mean that our partners were successful everywhere. Belarus for instance is still a dictatorship and our partners are still fighting for basic political rights. In the Western Balkans social democracy has consolidated and our partners are strong and well established, although the political situation in Bosnia & Herzegovina in general is still a major concern for the European Union. In the Caucasus political parties in general do not play an important role, although they are more important in Armenia than in Azerbaijan. The personality cults and clan affiliations are more dominant factors most of the times. In Jordan and Morocco the systems are rapidly changing. The dominant role of the Kings in both countries might be declining which opens a window of opportunities for political parties.
In three years’ time we have carried out over 150 single trainings. We have increased the capacity of individuals, political parties, political foundations and democratic movements. This would not have been possible without the help of our board, our Talents of the AMS Talent Project, our interns, our staff and the many volunteer trainers that carry out our work abroad. Last not but least we are indebted to the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and especially to Bert Meijerman who was in charge of the MATRA programme over the last few years. Our biggest gratitude however goes out to our partners in the countries that we have been active in. They were the ones doing the most important job and sometime putting their safety at risk while carrying out political activities which something we should never forget, especially in the year AMS celebrated 20 years of existence.
3
Abbreviations
AMS Alfred Mozer Stichting EC European Commission ENP European Neighborhood Policy EP European Parliament EU European Union FES Friedrich Ebert Stiftung ICTY International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia PES Party of European Socialists PCA Partnership and Cooperation Agreement NGO Non Governmental Organisations SI Socialist International SAA Stabilisation and Association Agreement SWOT Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
4 Internal organisation
The AMS staff Arjen Berkvens - director Kirsten Meijer - senior project manager/ EU Affairs officer Marina Ohanjanyan - project manager Danijel Tadi ć - project manager Marianna Tsirelson - information officer
Interns Jan Kees Oppelaar Inge Visscher Toon Bijnens
The AMS Board André Gerrits (chairman) Cor de Vos (secretary/treasurer) Marije Laffeber (PvdA international secretary) Lo Breemer (member) Willem Veenstra (member) Gerrit Valk (member) Liesbeth van de Grift (member) Piet Jonker (member) Olga de Haan (member) Joyce Hamilton (member) Zita Schellekens (member)
Finances In 2008 the first new three year cycle (see policy & workplan 2008 – 2010) started; 2008 – 2010. The AMS will receive a grant of €1.495.327,50 for this period (Decision of March 3 rd 2009 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.) We intended to spread this grant over the three years with an emphasis on the second year. In 2010 we have spend €448.157 MATRA funding on AMS projects. We received €44.200 from the PvdA and other sources.
Toegekende subsidies 2008 - 2010 1.495.327,50
Uitgaven volgens jaarrekening 2008 479.153 Uitgaven volgens jaarrekening 2009 568.028 2010 448.147 1.495.328
ontvangen voorschotten 1 299065,5 2 445000 3 452000 Totaal 1196065,5
Nog te ontvangen 299.262,00
The European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity In 2010 the AMS was also responsible for carrying out the tasks and activities of the European Forum. This meant that the AMS employees were partly engaged in working on European Forum projects. The responsibility for the policy of the European Forum lies with the Council, the board of the European Forum. The PvdA and the AMS are represented in this board. The year plan and the policy plan of the European Forum are available on the internet ( www.europeanforum.net .) The AMS received €222.255 to carry out the activities of the European Forum. With these finances salaries, small projects, mission costs and miscellaneous costs were covered.
5 AMS Strategy Motto: “Social democracy is weak where democracy is weak.” Primary aim: to strengthen democracy by supporting social democratic parties.
Strategy 1: to support social democratic parties (in government or opposition.) Strategy 2: to support democratic opposition blocks which include social democrats Strategy 3: to support political civil movements with the aim to establish democratic societies in which social democratic parties can be active.
Activities 1: training political parties, opposition blocks & civil movements, material support and topical seminars and conferences Activities 2: training of trainers to make relations sustainable Activities 3: bringing parties and civil movements together and encourage cooperation and setting a common goal.
This is in short the way the AMS operates. The core business of the AMS is reflected in the activities that we have organised in 2009.
AMS Training activities The core business of the AMS is to conduct trainings on the request of our partners. After we have identified a partner (in general as the result of an assessment visit) and the partner decides to make use of the possibilities we have to offer; a fruitful relationship can develop. We offer training in the complete range of political skills: campaigning, leadership, party building, Lobbying, strategy, communication, coalition building, political branding, negotiations strategies etc. A training is often a mixture of the different modules the AMS has to offer. These modules are described in our Political skills manual: Becoming a better politician, which was published in 2009. All our trainings start with an introduction round, in which participants can present themselves in front of the group, which is also a first practice in speaking in public. The analysis of internal organisation strengths and weaknesses, followed by external opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) is the tool most of our trainers use to make the participants understand their own organisation and the societal context it exists in. Campaign trainings always contain the elements of: strategy (goal, strategy, means, message & target groups), organisation (planning, building a team) and media & communication (speech writing, speaking in public, press releases, press conferences, media relations and how to communicate the political message.) Leadership training concentrates on the role of political leaders in the context of the given country. In trainings on negotiations strategies, small chunks of theory are put into practice in workshops and a simulation game. The AMS also offers training for trainers. It is our way of making our work more sustainable. In several countries we have built a trainers base of local trainers that conduct the AMS trainings and work for their own parties without any external involvement.
6 Political context and effectiveness
The work of political foundations has been of crucial importance for our political friends abroad. By being active in 19 countries it is no surprise that we face different political situations in our work. Expanding our work to new countries with, such as Morocco and Jordan calls for deeper analyses of the context and the influence this has on the effectiveness of our projects. We have been and will continue investing in this by organising fact-finding missions and expert meetings, participating in international conferences, keeping close contact with people in the countries where we are active, and of course by following the news and publications on the respective countries.
The countries in which the AMS is deploying activities show different stages when it comes to development of the partner, the state of democracy, and the phase of integration into the European Union. These three factors do have impact on the effectiveness of our projects. Our work is the easiest and most effective in countries where our sister party has become a real political force, where democracy is more or less consolidated, and where EU-integration is reality or getting close to reality. However, at the same time our work is mostly appreciated by partners in countries with no prospect of EU-membership, and in countries in which democracy is still a far away dream and political activists run the risk of being prosecuted. It is also in these countries where our work can make the biggest difference for the people involved.
We face the constant struggle between the necessity for effectiveness and solidarity. This struggle and the outcome has direct consequences for the content of our projects, as can be read from our country- to-country overview.
International framework The Alfred Mozer Stichting develops its activities not alone. We closely cooperate in the framework of the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity; our network of social-democratic political parties and foundations interested in and working in our target region. The AMS remains responsible for operating the secretariat of the European Forum and organising its activities. This offers us a big advantage in our work. It gives us the possibility to broaden our field of activities by developing international conferences, organising study visits, doing research (country updates & Newsflash) and organising training for future leaders in the Western Balkans. These activities are financed by sister foundations and through contributions of member parties. They differ from the majority of AMS projects, which are much more on a bi-lateral basis.
The AMS is also member of the European Network of Social Democratic Foundations (ENSF) and the European Network of Political Foundations (ENOP.) The latter organisations (founded in 2006) are both network organisations with the aim of influencing EU-policy and interacting with EU institutions. We continue to play a central role in the international networking of our political family (Party of European Socialists and Socialist International.)
Scope It has always been an AMS goal to try to be active in all the countries we are allowed to work in, following the regulations of the MATRA programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The AMS is a demand driven organisation and this means that we are highly depended on the proposals we receive from social democratic parties, political foundations and groups. Looking at the history of the involvement of the AMS in Eastern Europe, we can safely state that we have always respected this approach. We will clarify the AMS policy in all the separate countries below.
7 Concluding report 2008-2010
Albania (2.1.1)
Project development in 2010 As we had already announced, no AMS activities took place this year. We did participate however in an activity by the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Ticket and hotel were supported by the MPPP with the amount of €495 (no budget was foreseen.)
Political context Year 2010 has been characterised by political instability, a non functioning parliament and street protest. The opposition Socialist Party of Albania (SP) refused to recognise the June 2009 parliamentary elections outcome, accusing the Democratic Party (DP) of Prime Minister Sali Berisha of election fraud. Consequently, Edi Rama (SP leader and mayor of Tirana) launched a boycott, street protests and hunger strikes to seek fair elections. Attempts by the EU to find a solution and to bring Albania back on the EU accession track were in vain. Moreover, tensions increased and political dead- lock further deepened after Albanian Deputy Prime Minister, minister of economy and leader of the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) resigned following the publication of a video allegedly showing him discussing corrupt deals. In December of 2010 visa liberalisation has been approved for Albanian citizens.
Project development 2008-2010 During this period AMS has successfully cooperated with Qemal Stafa Foundation (QSF), founded in 2007 and affiliated with the SP. In 2008 one seminar on campaigning was organised and an international conference on transparency and openness in society and the role of political parties. In this last mentioned event, besides AMS and QSF, Swedish Olof Palme International Institute was co- organiser as well. Due to the general elections it has been decided in consultation with QSF to have four seminars on election campaign in 2009, instead of two. As a consequence no seminars have been conducted in 2010. The only activity in Albania in 2010 was an expert meeting on political campaigning with political foundations and campaign experts from Western Balkan countries. AMS participated in this event which was organised by the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES). We are satisfied with the activities we organised and they were much appreciated by our partner. The political situation however has been extremely polarised, which resulted in street protests and a refusal of the Socialist Party to participate in the parliamentary debates. Albania is still on its way to EU membership, but in recent years no real progress was made.
Counterpart and motivation Socialist Party of Albania (SP) SP is the successor to the communist party, the Albanian Workers’ Party. The party changed its name to Socialist Party in June of 1991. Edi Rama, mayor of Tirana, is the current party leader. SPA is member of the SI. In 2006, the AMS participated in a fact-finding mission organised by the European Forum. It was concluded, among others, that European parties and foundations should do their utmost to support Edi Rama and his efforts to reform the party. This reform has been relatively successful: the party structures have been further strengthened and developed; more young people have entered the party structures. As a consequence more a young grass-roots movement has been create which sympathises with the party. Furthermore, SP has proved to have clean hands as party members have not been linked to any corruption scandals, unlike some other parties in Albania.
Qemal Stafa Foundation (QSF) The Qemal Stafa Foundation was founded in 2007 by the SP. The foundation aims to strengthen the administrative, organisational and political capacities of the party representatives on local and national level. It has indicated the need for support from the AMS and sister foundations in the EU. In recent years, the co-operation between AMS and QSF has been successfully intensified. QSF foundation seeks close cooperation with political foundations of sister parties in the region. Following the Croatian and Macedonian example, QSF has launched a Political Academy, which aims to intensively educate a selective group of party members.
8 Primary aim & strategy To strengthen the development of (social) democracy by supporting the Socialist Party of Albania (SP). To train and educate SP party members on social democracy and campaigning through the Qemal Stafa Foundation.
Activities
Campaign management and leadership expert meeting In cooperation with: Qemal Stafa Foundation and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Date and venue: 15 May, Tirana Target group: Political foundations and campaign experts in Western Balkans AMS participants: Danijel Tadic
Report The main aim of this meeting was to exchange experience on campaign management and leadership trainings in the Western Balkans between social democratic political foundations from the region. It proved useful to cross our thoughts and develop ideas on how to improve the cooperation and communication between social democratic political parties in the region when it comes to campaigning. Representatives from political foundations and campaign experts from, Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Slovenia participated in the meeting.
Conclusions and recommendations It has been concluded that social democratic political foundations and parties from the region should cooperate more closely and share and systemise their experience in political campaigning. In addition, the rather successful concept of ‘Political Academies’ in some countries should be implemented in other countries. In Albania, this program has been launched in November of 2010.
9 Armenia (2.1.2)
Project development in 2010 The foreseen activities were carried out as planned. We exceeded the budget with €2.687, due to higher costs than expected because it was the first time we worked with a new partner (Budget €16.080; expenditure €18.767.)
Political Context The political situation in Armenia seems to have been stabilized more or less in 2010, with the rift between the opposition and the governing parties still in place. The political arena seems to be divided into three parts: the three ruling coalition parties, the street opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) and the parliamentary opposition – the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and the Zharangutiun (Heritage) Party. There seems to be no communication between the governing parties and the HAK, while the parliamentary opposition parties are set in between, with their obvious participation in the state’s structures, while at the same time engaging in dialogue – or at least keeping communication channels – with the street opposition.
Project Development 2008-2010 The communication with possible partner Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) did not lead to a partnership in 2008, because of major political developments in Armenia. In early March massive opposition protests against the official results of the Presidential elections turned violent in clashes with the police, as a result of which 10 people died. The rest of the year was marked by this event, and the ARF – in the government at the time – could not be reached for comment. In 2009 however the contact resumed, and the party – by this point out of the governing coalition – was eager to cooperate. As a result they submitted a project proposal for 2010, and in that one pilot training was organised with the ARF. The party was also invited to participate in a mixed training, the Leadership Academy (see below). The evaluation based on the pilot training was that the ARF seems to have sound social outlooks and plans when it comes to internal politics and social policy in Armenia, but some nationalist tendencies are also very present in the party when it comes to relations with Turkey. The advice of the trainers (including one member of the AMS staff) was to keep cooperating for now, while keeping a very close eye on those tendencies, in case they escalate.
In 2009 we also extended our Leadership Academy project – a training organised together with the VVD and CDA with the participation of all major political forces – from Georgia to Armenia. The pilot session was held in 2009, and following its success the second edition of the Leadership Academy was held in Armenia in 2010. We are very satisfied with the fact that new networks between the competing parties were set up and that youth of opposition and governing parties were able to work together and reach some understanding. After a political crisis in 2008 the political situation has calmed down.
Counterpart and motivation In 2010 the AMS accepted a project proposal of the ARF and organised a pilot training with its youth organisation, the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF). The party is the oldest party in Armenia with a strong base in the Diaspora, having been established over a century ago. It has a history of repression during the Soviet Union, of participation in politics following in collapse, and of a ban during the 90s. In more recently history it was part of the ruling coalition, until it quit out of protest of the rapprochement process between Armenia and Turkey, lacking trust in the latter’s motives.
Primary aim & strategy To strengthen social democracy in Armenia by supporting one of the few openly socialist political parties. Continuation of the cooperation is subject to the results of the pilot training.
10 Activities
Campaign training ARF In cooperation with: Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Date and venue: 18-20 June, Tsakhkadzor Trainers: Kirsten Meijer and Lianne Raap Target group: Members of the youth wing of the ARF, the Armenian Youth Federation
Report The training was requested as a part of the AYF’s strategy to broaden its focus – which is currently with the recognition of the Armenian genocide – to entail social issues in the daily lives of Armenian citizens, like corruption, jobs, healthcare, education etc. The seminar went into all the phases of political campaigning with a special element of a workshop in which the participants were given the assignment to actually go out and campaign by interviewing ordinary people about their most urgent problems.
Conclusions and recommendations The AYF is a large and well-organised organisation with much support from the mother party. It is also the only leftist party in Armenia with any leverage and a stable electoral base. Despite the fact that it left the ruling coalition over disagreement over the relations with Turkey and not the violent dispersal of opposition protesters that resulted in 10 deaths – which took place around the same period – we recommend to continue cooperation for now. The AYF leadership clearly stated its interest in broadening the party’s base – in terms of manpower as well as subject areas – and demonstrated a though-out long-term plan of development of the organisation involving work with activating the youth in local politics, which is currently highly underdeveloped. The training was evaluated positively by the AYF, who have submitted a more extensive project proposal for 2011.
Leadership Academy 2010 In cooperation with: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Date and venue: 20-22 August, Tsakhkadzor Trainers: Berend Jan van den Boomen (AMS), Annet Doesburg (CDA) and Marco Diekstra (VVD) Target group: Members of the governing coalition (Republican Party, Country of Laws and Prosperous Armenia) and opposition (Heritage, ARF Dashnaktsutiun and Hntchakyan party, member of HAK)
Report Following the success of the pilot Leadership Academy in Armenia in 2009, we decided to continue the project in 2010. The format remained the same, with the training entailing the participation of young representatives of all significant political powers in the country (7 parties in total). In terms of content, the training went from the large and abstract (ideology) to the small and concrete (personal presentation) step by step, enveloping all important steps a political party undertakes. The atmosphere seemed more relaxed from the beginning, which perhaps has to do with the fact that the format was known from last year, even though the participants were different.
Conclusion and recommendations In all, the training went well, but as during the last such seminar, the polarisation became most apparent during the SWOT analysis part of the training, in which presenting one’s party’s strengths and weaknesses sometimes led to a lengthy and emotional debate amongst the participants. The training was evaluated very positively by the participants. They indicated that they learnt a lot from the other parties and that it had ensured more understanding of each other’s issues. The positive feedback and effect of the training – the fact that some participants were clearly mingling and establishing new contacts – give us plenty of reason to continue the project.
11 Azerbaijan (2.1.3)
Project development in 2010 The foreseen activities were carried out as planned. We exceeded the budget with €2.515. (Budget €29.928; expenditure €32.443.) This is within reasonable limits.
Political context Not much has changed in Azerbaijan in 2010. The country remains a strict dictatorship governed by the Aliyev clan, headed by President Ilham Aliyev. Opposition parties do not have the space to conduct activities or, in some cases, have headquarters, and any protest they do organize is violently disbanded. Any truly oppositional voices – whether they are journalists or just young bloggers – are silenced in jails. Although the subjects of the most famous such case – bloggers Hajizade and Emin Milli - were released, another journalist – Eynulla Fatulayev – remains in jail.
Project development 2008-2010 Throughout all three years we continued working with the Social Democratic Youth Organisation (SDYO). In 2008 the trainings they requested focused on improving the organisation of SDYO, with subjects like participation, leadership, forging coalitions and others. In 2009 the focus was switched to non-violent opposition in a dictatorship: different techniques, theory, experiences in other countries (Serbian OPOR, Ukrainian PORA, Georgian Khmara etc.). In 2010 this theme was continued with the addition of a new one: the use of new media means in political opposition: internet, blogging, social networks etc., and how to use them for political means.
Counterpart and motivation In 2010 the AMS continued its cooperation with the Social Democratic Youth Organisation (SDYO). The SDYO is an independent youth organisation, since it split in 2000 from the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan. Its strategy is aimed at strengthening and enlarging the organisation in order to become an influential political organisation. The trainings requested by SDYO were on the subject of opposition activity in a dictatorship. As our Dutch trainers do not have personal experience in this, we decided it would be more useful to invite experts from other countries in Eastern Europe, who do.
Primary aim & strategy To strengthen democracy by supporting the Social Democratic Youth Organisation of Azerbaijan (SDYO). To train members of the SDYO.
12 Activities
Training on non-violent opposition in a dictatorship Date and venue: 20-23 May, Location: Baku Trainers: Sinisa Sikman and Sandra Kacavendic (CANVAS) Target group: Members of SDYO
Report As we had invoked CANVAS trainer Sinisa Sikman for a previous training, he and his colleague Sandra Kacavendic built on their previous training experience with SDYO, and focused the training on participants from the regions of Azerbaijan. They shared the experience of other opposition organisations that were successful in non-violent opposition in a dictatorship (OTPOR) by way of workshops, films and discussions. They went into subjects like the strategy of non-violent conflict; movement management, branding and others.
Conclusions and recommendations The trainers were happy with the group overall. It consisted of young people who were disciplined and motivated to even go on after the end of the training when given the option to watch a move on the subject as an extra-curricular activity. The trainers were convinced that if SDYO continues recruiting new members and planning activities and developing their base in trainings, it will have effects on the society. We suggest continuing the cooperation.
New Media Training Date and venue: 25-28 November Location: Baku Trainers: Juras Pozela and Evaldas Utyra (Lithuania) Target group: Members of SDYO
Report The SDYO requested training on the use of new media in political activity, as, considering the strict control over the media in Azerbaijan, the internet with its blogs and social networks presents a useful tool for organizations like the SDYO. The trainers were chosen because of their background in journalism and professional knowledge of the use of the internet as a media outlet. Throughout the training they discussed subjects like political communication in general; different forms of computer- mediated communication, online social networks, blogging, etc. The participants were requested to actually make a blog by the end of the training to practice all the knowledge they received. Many of them were very enthusiastic about the results and wanted to keep them running.
Conclusions and recommendations The training was received very well by the participants. The trainers as well as the participants were furthermore convinced that in the political reality of Azerbaijan the ability to work with electronic online means of information distribution is crucial for any opposition political movement, especially one targeting the youth. The organization plans to continue in this direction and has expressed a wish for more of such trainings. We agree with the need of it.
13 Belarus (2.1.4)
Project development in 2010 The foreseen activities were carried out as planned, except for one seminar which should have been carried out by Dutch trainers. Due to the tense political situation we were advised not to send trainers. Due to this reason we under spend on the budget with €7.471 (Budget €54.240; expenditure €46.769.) However, 6 extra local trainings were carried out within the budget and still we under spend.
Political context The main political event in Belarus in 2010 was undoubtedly the Presidential election on December 19 th . The year was marked by political campaigning and crackdown on them. On the night of the elections a massive crowd gathered on the central square in Minsk to demand President Lukashenko to step down. However, they were met with Special Forces, violently dispersed – with various opposition leaders being and Presidential candidates severely beaten. As a result five of the seven major opposition leaders were arrested and remained incarcerated for a week of so. The remaining two were subjected to house arrest. Following the events the EU and others condemned the severe cracking down on the opposition and the put sanctions in place in 2011 for Lukashenko and other senior members of his government ranging from asset freezes to travel sanctions. Many people who had been present at the demonstrations were later called for interviews by the KGB. The situation seemed to stabilise a couple of months later, but the prospects for Belarusian democracy are not promising.
Project development 2008-2010 In 2008 the AMS activities in Belarus were geared towards creating a pool of local trainers. Considering the difficult political situation in the country, it is better not to draw too much attention of the authorities to such political activities by sending foreign (Dutch) trainers, or by taking the entire group of participants over the border to Ukraine. To this extent we organised a training for trainers for our partner, the Belarusian Women’s League (BWL). After this, the BWL started organising and conducting series of training themselves all through 2009 and 2010, with only 2 trainings out of 10-12 conducted by Dutch AMS trainers. Towards the end of 2010 we had to postpone one such training to 2011 considering the precarious political situation in the country and the occupation with the elections. Following the elections we were forced to cut communication with our partner for some time out of safety consideration – some of their employees were being questions by the KGB and e-mails and telephone were being monitored. We were able to reinstate communication following a confirmation from the partner that things were normalising only towards mid-February.
Counterpart and motivation The AMS is supporting a variety of opposition parties and groups on the local and regional level. The coordinator in Belarus is the NGO the Belarusian Women’s League (BWL), which organises all trainings and ensures participation from various opposition parties and organisations. The AMS works with the Belarusian Women’s League (BWL) via the Office for Democratic Belarus, situated in Brussels, through whom the communication goes during precarious times. The BWL was established in April 1998 and has as its main goal “humanisation and democratisation of the society, strengthening the nation's self-realisation through education and mobilisation of socially active women”. The League is part of an extensive network of democratic activists. The League has proved to be a very trustful and effective partner. It has received several Trainings for Trainers, and is now able to conduct the vast majority of trainings with its own local trainers.
Primary aim and strategy Strengthening democracy by supporting the broad democratic opposition.
Activities
Training for the Belarusian opposition Date and venue: 12-13 March, Minsk Trainer: Jacques Monasch Target group: Activists of a wide range of opposition parties
14 Report The training was one of the two trainings in Belarus conducted by Dutch AMS trainers, and had as its subject campaigning. Because of the illness of the co-trainer the AMS could only send one trainer. The training included the standard campaigning training subjects: SWOT analysis, central message, communication, and personal presentation. It was aimed at people planning to be candidates in the local elections in April, but they will also be able to use the skills they acquire in the Presidential election campaign for the elections planned in the end of 2010.
Conclusion and recommendations We were again able to organise a training in Belarus itself, which is a positive sign. However, what will happen after the planned elections remains to be seen. The participants were very eager and motivated to learn, and the fact that the local organisation has enough trainers trained by the AMS means that they will be able to continue this education, which they were very positive about.
N.B.: We were unable to organise the second training by AMS trainers – initially planned for late 2010 – this year, and are forced to postpone it till 2011. The reason for this is the precarious political situation in Belarus towards the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011: employees of our partner organisation were questioned by the KGB following the December elections and could not communicate with us as their phones and e-mails were being monitored.
Trainings by local trainers The trainings listed below all took place with the same idea in mind: to target different cities in Belarus, so as to cover a large territory and a large amount of participants from different parts of the country. The participants were all from democratic opposition political parties of different ideological backgrounds and organisations, as well as independent NGOs. The overall subject of the trainings was how to campaign and conduct other political activities in a setting that does not allow for any oppositional activity, especially with regard to the local elections in April and Presidential elections in December 2010.
The main subjects of the trainings included standard campaigning topics like SWOT analysis, central message and communication, but also how to avoid conflicts, door-to-door campaigning in gathering signatures for candidates.
Sixteen trainings were conducted in different regions of Belarus by local trainers, with four trainings in the Minsk region. The reason for the relatively higher amount of trainings in the Minsk region is the significantly higher density of population compared to the (more peripheral) regions and a higher degree of political activity, as politics is highly centralised in Belarus.
Below is the list of all trainings that were conducted by local trainers - previously trained by the AMS - with their training locations and dates.
Location Date Ratomka (Minsk region) 08-10.01.10 Novopolotsk 19.01.10 Grantsevichi 24.02.10 Mosty 21.03.10 Pinsk 11.04.10 Vyazinka (Minsk region) 23-25.04.10 Kobrin 09.05.10 Mogilev 07.06.10 Gomel 10.07.10 Grodno 08.08.10 Rechitsa 05.09.10 Zarechany (Minsk region) 26-27.09.10 Pinsk 08.10.10 Volozhyn (Minsk region) 20-21.11.10 Brest 27.11.10 Krichev 05.12.10
15 Bosnia & Herzegovina (2.1.5)
Project development in 2010 Two seminars were carried out with SDP. The SNSD seminar was cancelled for political reasons. Instead we organised an assessment visit to Banja Luka and we supported an international conference in Sarajevo. Our budget was €25.312 and our expenditure €25.488.
Political context Year 2010 was an important election year in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Despite the worsening socio-economic situation (unemployment rate above 40%), nationalist and ethnic issues, as usually, played an important role in the October 2010 elections campaign as well. In the BiH Federation the Social Democratic Party (SDP) of Zlatko Lagumdzija came in first, securing 24% of the votes. In Republika Srpska (RS) the party of RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), became again the biggest party with 43% of the votes. However, unlike previously the party did not secure a majority in the RS parliament. On the state level — BiH House of Representatives with 42 seats —SDP and SNSD secured 8 seats, Bosniak Party of Democratic Action (SDA) 7 seats, Union for a Better Future of BiH (SBBBiH), of media mogul Radoncic, and Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) 4 seats, Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) 3 seats, Croatian Coalition (HDZ 1990 – HSP Croatian Party of Rights) and Party for BiH (SBiH) both 2. SBiH was the biggest loser of the elections and its leader Haris Silajdzic was not re-elected as one of the three members of the rotating presidency. Bakir Izetbegovic (SDA) got 34.87 % and is Bosniaks member, Zeljko Komsic (SDP) 60.61%, is the Croat and Nebojsa Radmanovic (SNSD) 48.92% the Serb member of the Presidency. After the October election the political parties did not succeed in forming a coalition on the state and entity level by the end of the year. It is to be awaited how the BiH government will look like and if it will be able to make the required reforms in order to set concrete steps on the road to EU membership. In their statements all parties have expressed their commitment to this road.
Project development 2008-2010 During this period AMS successfully and constructively cooperated with the Independent Youth Association (NAM), related to the Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP), and SDP itself. Through NAM we organised a seminar on EU integrations in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, in the run up to the elections, AMS and NAM organised two campaign seminars for SDP youth members. The cooperation with Nenad Bastinac Foundation (FNB), education centre of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), was very successful in 2008 and 2009. In 2008 AMS supported campaign training for the local elections organised by FNB and our Slovenian partner, Kalander Foundation. In 2009 AMS, FNB and Kalander Foundation organised a seminar for local councillors. However, this successful cooperation was put on hold in 2010 as the leader of SNSD Milorad Dodik increasingly used his nationalistic rhetoric and openly threatened with succession of Republika Srpska. In 2009 AMS participated in a fact-finding mission in Republika Srpska and a conference on the political situation in BiH and EU integration in Sarajevo, both organised by the European Forum. Finally, in 2010 AMS participated in a fringe meeting in Sarajevo organised by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and the European Forum. This seminar took place in the framework of the PES Balkan conference and discussed the EU enlargement state of play.
Counterpart and motivation Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP BiH) The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP BiH) strongly advocates introduction of European standards and European integration of BiH. SDP’s pro-European standpoint, social policies and a clear massage, resulted in a big win in the October 2010 general elections. AMS has supported SDP in the past. In 2007, the cooperation became more concrete as we developed a project with NAM. After a successful conclusion of the project, the local partner indicated the need for further cooperation in the areas of European integration and the strengthening of the youth organization and volunteer network in the light of the 2010 general elections. SDP was founded in 1909 by the BiH Trade Union and left wing intellectuals. The party changed names several times and was a part of the Communist and Socialist party of BiH and Yugoslavia. SDP is full member of SI, associate member to the PES and is considered the only multi-ethnic party of relevance in BiH.
Independent Youth Association (NAM) NAM has been founded in 2000 by the Youth Forum of SDP BiH. Its objectives are promotion of civil society where the youth gets more influence, promotion of general human rights and freedoms, and
16 addressing different problems in society such as human trafficking and education reform. The projects initiated by NAM are often developed in cooperation with different non-governmental institutions in the country. In close cooperation with AMS, NAM has developed training seminars for, mainly, youth members of SDP.
Primary aim and strategy To strengthen (social) democratic development in the country by supporting the Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH) and its Youth Forum. To improve skills and knowledge of young party members on campaigning and EU integration.
Activities
Fringe meeting: “EU enlargement state of play” Location: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Date: 30 March 2010 Partners: Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) Target Group: Social Democratic parties from South East Europe and the EU, political foundations and external experts from the academic and civil society AMS participants: André Gerrits, Jan Kees Oppelaar and Danijel Tadi ć
Report Despite many challenges countries in the Western Balkans are facing on their road towards EU membership — enlargement fatigue, internal political struggles, economic crisis and unwillingness and lack of incentives among the local political elites in some countries to speed up the EU integration process — it is clear that the countries from the region will individually join the EU when they are ready. Some countries are processing well, while others like BiH, Kosovo and Albania face great challenges. On the road towards EU membership it is important to set clear and achievable goals, such as visa liberalisation, and to inform the citizens in the EU and the Western Balkans about the importance of enlargement in terms of peace, stability, solidarity and economy. As argued by one of the speakers the costs of non-enlargement are potentially much higher for both the region and the EU. Progressive forces in the EU should keep EU enlargement high on the political agenda, whilst these forces in the region should transform and be a reliable partner for the EU. This seminar took place in the framework of the PES Balkan Conference. The organisers, European Forum and FEPS were pleased to welcome very interesting high level politicians from the region and the EU. In addition, academics provided an interesting perspective into the EU enlargement process. The meeting proved to be a very interesting introduction to the PES Balkan Conference which started immediately after the meeting.
Campaign and volunteer management In cooperation with: Independent Youth Association (NAM) Date and venue: 7-9 May, Zenica Trainers: Tijmen Roosenboom and Zita Schellekens Target group: Youth of the Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH) Report Upon request by NAM, AMS organised a seminar on campaigning and volunteer management. The participants (23 in total) were young members of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), coming from different parts of the country. The aim of the seminar was to develop a youth volunteer network (mostly based on Youth Forum of SDP BiH), which will be able to actively and fully participate in electoral process 2010 and support the party and candidates for election on different levels of authorities. The program included lectures and workshops on campaign strategy, central message, volunteer management, communicating the message and social media. The interactive way of conducting a training and the additional workshop were very much appreciated by the participants.
17 Conclusions and recommendations During evaluation the participants said they were very satisfied with the programme of the training and the trainers. They had learned new things and made new friends from other parts of the country. They enjoyed the workshops, and would have liked to practice even more. During the workshops, feedback rounds and discussion all participated well. The trainers suggested that the next seminar should focus solely on volunteer management and event management. In this a module on social media can be integrated, but the focus should be more on practically helping the Youth of SDP to recruit and activate volunteers. It is important to continue to support SDP as the only multi-ethnic party that matters in BiH political landscape. As the party is well structured we should always evaluate critically what the best way is to support the party.
Campaign and volunteer management In cooperation with: Independent Youth Association (NAM) Date and venue: 27-29 August, Zenica Trainers: Kirsten Meijer and Peter Scheffer Target group: Youth of the Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH) Report Just as the first one, this training focused on campaign and volunteer management. The participants (25 in total) were young members of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), coming from different parts of the country. The aim of the seminar was to develop a youth volunteer network (mostly based on Youth Forum of SDP BiH), which will be able to actively and fully participate in electoral process 2010 and support the party and candidates for election on different levels of authorities. The program included lectures and workshops on campaign strategy, central message, volunteer management, communicating the message and social media. As a consequence of the evaluation during the first seminar, more emphasise was put on volunteer management and creating of campaign events. The interactive way of conducting a training and the additional workshop were very much appreciated by the participants
Conclusions and recommendations During evaluation the participants, trainers and organisers agreed that the training was a great success. Besides the perfect organisation and training facilities, the participants were all constantly focused and enthusiastic. Furthermore, the theory was consciously and effectively put into practice during the workshops. The regional differences were positively apparent and led to constructive dialogue between the participants. SDP is very well prepared for the upcoming general election on 3 October. The organisation is strong and has a good chance of winning on different levels of representation. It will be a challenge though to maintain this active group of members in the different regions and to maintain some form of permanent campaign.
18 Croatia (2.1.6)
Project development in 2010 As planned we supported the political academy of SDP. Our budget was €11.848 and our expenditure €13.356. We exceeded the budget with €1508 which we think is within reasonable limits.
Political context The current conservative government, headed by Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), has proven to be unable to tackle the consequences of the global financial and economic crisis. Furthermore, government representatives ― among them former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader ― have been involved in corruption scandals. In January 2010 SDP candidate Ivo Josipovi ć was inaugurated as president of Croatia, after defeating independent candidate and Zagreb mayor Milan Bandic in the second round of the presidential elections. Josipovic election has positively influenced regional cooperation and dialogue between former Yugoslav countries. Especially the relations with Serbia have improved, as Josipovic and Serbia’s President Tadic seem to get along very well, showing strong willingness to tackle all open issues. General elections in Croatia are planned in November of 2011. The strong support for Josipovic indicates the increase in the support for the social democrats, which seem to be favourite in securing election victory. Concerning Croatia’s EU integration positive developments took place. Croatia has made serious efforts in fighting corruption and closing negotiations chapters (29 out of 35 chapters are closed). It is expected that the country will join the EU in 2012.
Project development 2008-2010 During this period AMS has very successfully cooperated with Novo Drustvo (New Society), educational and research centre of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia. In 2008 Novo Drustvo, with AMS support, has organised three seminars in the framework of the annual Political Academy. One on education, one on the new labour code and one on the role of media. In 2009 AMS supported two experts meetings for SDP members, namely “towards a social democratic model - economic crisis: causes, consequences and solutions” and one seminar with the topic “financing education”. In 2010 AMS supported four Political Academy seminars discussing the following topics: political ideology, social policy, political economy and actors and processes in politics.
Counterpart and motivation Social Democratic Party (SDP) & Novo Drustvo In Croatia the Social Democratic Party (SDP) is the sister party of the AMS. In October 2005, SDP started its project “Political Academy Novo Drustvo”. Cooperation with Novo Drustvo started in 2006 as support from AMS was requested to participate as co-organiser of Political Academy, envisaged to have numerous sessions in 2006 and 2007. The program is rather educational, which means that it aims to educate the participant how to orient themselves in the society. A more specific aim is to debate on concrete social democratic policies. These debates made up 1/3 third of the program and often important policymakers from Croatia and abroad participate in the debate. Political Academy brings together SDP members – the experienced politicians and the younger ones – as well as NGO activists interested in social democracy. The seminars in 2010 were concluded very successfully. Therefore, AMS has decided to meet the demand of the SDP and to continue our support to this project. After the Croatian example, political academies have been set up in Macedonia and Albania. Furthermore, this project has influenced the rebuilding of the identity of SDP Croatia, formed a link between SDP and the academic community and opened the channels of exchange with social democrats in the region and the EU.
19 Activities
Political academy seminars Date and venue: 10-12 September, Rabac; 24-26 September, Supetar; 8-10 October, Zadar; 22-24 October, Tucepi Target group: SDP members, civil society organisations Trainers: Local trainers and lecturers
Report The fifth generation of the Political Academy gathered 37 participants from all over Croatia, both SDP members as well as young experts, scholars and civil society representatives interested in the development of social democracy. The first seminar introduced basic concepts of political ideologies. The aim of this module is to provide the participants with the basic information on various ideological concepts and to provoke a debate whether our societies are post-ideological ones. The second seminar was on social policy. After a historical overview of the main concepts of social policy in Europe, redistributive effects of social transfers were discussed and the current challenges with regard to this subject were discussed. The third seminar discussed political economy. This module was introduced as many political actors do not have relevant background on basic economic concepts. In addition, during this seminar light was shed on the global economic developments. Finally, the forth seminar actors and processes in politics were discussed. This module offers a systematic overview of the political systems in Croatia and other countries in Europe.
Conclusions and recommendations The participants of the annual Political Academy seminars expressed their satisfaction with the 2010 curriculum. All topics were very interesting and there was time to discuss them in depth. Due to the selection procedures (all participants have to write a motivation letter and a short essay on a specific topic) the level of the participants is very high which makes it possible to have concrete interactive seminars. In 2010 program two new modules were successfully introduced: a workshop on political ideas and programmes “from political ideas to public policies” and a module on “European and transition social democracy in a search renewing”. Novo Drustvo succeeds in improving the curriculum every year. In addition in 2011, a few places in the Academy will be reserved participants from other countries.
20 Georgia (2.1.7)
Project development in 2010 We carried out our plans without changes. Our budget was €27.928 and our expenditure €28.302.
Political context The past year has been relatively quiet in Georgian politics. The only event worth mentioning was the local elections in several constituencies, with the most important one – the capital Tbilisi. One of the major opposition leaders, Irakli Alasania, ran in those elections but came in second to the candidate of the ruling party. Other than that the year has been marked with a continuing rift between the opposition and the authorities, who are still not communicating. The situation escalated when some opposition leaders had meetings with high-profile Russian officials in Moscow, after which they were labelled as traitors by the Georgian authorities.
Project development 2008-2010 In Georgia we initially partnered with the Georgian Labour Party in 2008. Although we had worked with them for approximately two years at that point, due to insufficient organising capacity on the part of the Labour Party, we decided to end our cooperation with them. In 2009 we continued instead with the then new Movement for Solidarity, a social democratic NGO looking to possibly become a political party in the future, but wishing to start from the bottom up by first creating a grass-roots base. As that cooperation went very well and proved successful, with the MfS growing and attracting more young members, we decided to continue with them in 2010 as well. In 2010 they started supporting a political party – the Our Georgia-Free Democrats party of Irakli Alasania. That cooperation has grown very close, and the MfS invited many members of the party to the AMS trainings. The subjects of the trainings vary from campaigning, negotiation – considering the cooperation between the NGO and the party but also the cooperation taking place among some of the moderate opposition parties, including OG-FD – and ideology, as socialism and social democracy still suffer from a bad legacy in Georgia, being – unjustifiably – connected to the old Soviet communism.
Counterpart and motivation Our cooperation with the Movement for Solidarity (MfS) has been fruitful. The movement has been building a base for itself across the country by involving more and more people and organising public discussions on topical problems in Georgia that were largely forgotten in the power struggle between the opposition and President Saakashvili’s government. The MfS participated in the local elections by supporting one of the most promising opposition politicians, Irakli Alasania. MfS is still planning to become a full-grown political party, but is choosing to do that at a more suitable time, while, for now supporting a candidate that seems to be the most reasonable and prone to dialogue on issues important to Georgia’s democratisation.
Primary aim & strategy To strengthen democracy by supporting the Movement for Solidarity. To train members of the Movement for Solidarity.
Activities
Training for Movement for Solidarity Date and venue: 26-28 February Location: Bazaleti-Lake Trainers: Guus Staats and Bas Batelaan Target group: Members of MsF and Our Georgia-Free Democrats (of Irakli Alasania)
Report The training was planned in preparations for the local elections of Tbilisi mayor, in which Movement for Solidarity would support the leader of Our Georgia-Free Democrats, Irakli Alasania. The training was a classic AMS campaign training, including subjects like SWOT analysis, central message, communicating the message etc. As a bonus, a guest speaker was also invited: head of the Tbilisi office of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) Louis Navarro, who had previously been the campaign manager of – currently – Vice-President of the US Joe Biden. Mr Navarro also gave the opportunity to debate Georgian politics with him, as he has been stationed in Georgia for a sufficient amount of time
21 to be able to discuss it.
Conclusions and recommendations The trainers were very satisfied with the seminar, and believe the participants took away a lot of new information and skills. The participants also evaluated it as very positive and were very active and eager throughout it.
Training on ideology: what is social democracy? Date and venue: 29-31 October Location: Bazaleti lake Trainers: Danijel Tadic and Thijs Reuten Target group: Members of MfS and Our Georgia-Free Democrats
Report The training included the subject of ideology, and how it relates to more day-to-day politics and policy- making. The trainers discussed the three mainstream ideologies – social democracy, liberalism, conservatism – and held a series of workshops with the participants designed to make them work from those ideologies on specific subjects like healthcare, education and social policy. The participants very much enjoyed working with this and discussing the differences between the different ideologies. The training also included negotiation skills and communication skills.
Conclusions and recommendations The training went well, and the trainers considered the participants very intelligent and active throughout the training. They very much appreciated the workshops and the overall interactive nature of the training, which allowed them to actively participate in discussions with the trainers. Overall we suggest continuing working with the Movement for Solidarity, as it has proven a highly professional organisation with a view on Georgia’s future development.
Leadership academy Date: 27-29 August, Location: Bakuriani Trainers: Martijn Beckers (AMS), Frank Pynenburg (EFS) and Jeroen de Veth (VVD) Target Group: Members of different governmental and oppositional parties
Report The training followed the format of previous Leadership Academies, in going from the large and abstract (ideologies) to the small and concrete (personal presentation skills) by way of party programme, central message, communication etc. The group was again a very mixed one, representing different governmental and opposition parties and an NGO.
Conclusions and recommendations The trainers judged the participation and the quality of the assignments delivered as very high. The participants were able to leave their political differences behind and work together effectively. As always, having the example of three trainers from very different political parties succeed in working together despite differences of opinion also helped.
22 Jordan (2.1.8)
Project development in 2010 We carried out our plans without changes. Our budget was €19.080 and our expenditure €19.681.
Political context The democratisation process in Jordan has been difficult. There are two problems in Jordanian politics. Political parties have only been allowed by law since 1992, so there is no political party tradition. This may also be the origin of the fact that political discussions are not very common among ordinary people, and do not happen very often. The popularity of the monarchy should also not be underestimated, which contributes to the weak political culture. In addition, electoral behaviour is still mostly driven by tribal loyalty, which means most citizens vote for people of their own tribe. There is also a lack of active women and young people in politics.
Project development 2008-2010 In Jordan throughout the three years we worked with the political NGO, the Jordanian Commission for Democratic Culture (JCDC). In 2008 the projects requested were focused on improving JCDC’s members’ organization and communication skills in order to strengthen the JCDC. One of the biggest problems of political participation in Jordan is the lack of women and young people in politics. In 2009 the JCDC requested trainings to this extend, and we conducted one training geared towards activating women, and another in activating young people. Following the success of those trainings, we conducted another training on activating the youth – students of major Jordanian universities who would be running election campaigns for student councils.
Counterpart and motivation In 2010 the AMS continued working with the Jordanian Commission for Democratic Culture (JCDC) which is allied to the Jordanian Democratic Party of the Left (JDPL). The NGO currently mainly occupies itself with the question of activating the youth in politics, which is quite a troubling issue in Jordanian politics and democratisation process. After a successful campaign training in 2007 they requested more training sessions for the youth and women in the party. In 2010 they again wanted to focus on elections to Student Councils in major universities, as that is where the young are still politically active, and it may help to also activate them in national or local politics.
Primary aim & strategy To support democracy by supporting the Jordanian Democratic Party of the Left (JDPL). To train young people through the Jordanian Commission for Democratic Culture (JCDC).
Activities
Training for students Date and venue: 18-20 February Location: Amman Trainers: Berend Jan van den Boomen and Anne Graumans Target group: Candidates for student councils and members of their campaign teams
Report The training was basic campaign training for students who were planning to run for election in their Universities’ student councils, and members of their campaign teams. There were 7 candidates, of whom one woman, who was the first woman to run for student council in her department. In terms of content the training went through all the stages of a political campaign – SWOT analysis, central message, campaign material, campaign organization, and personal presentation and media relations.
Conclusion and recommendations The trainers experienced the training as very valuable. The atmosphere was good, all students worked easily in groups, were active and had a positive attitude towards learning theory and practising skills. The group was eager to find out more about the political and democratic system elsewhere (in the Netherlands). The gender balance in the group was good, both in active participation as in presenting the results of the workshops. They spoke freely about their problems and the issues that live among university students, the division of the Jordanian society in rival clans or tribes and the consequences of that for their university council elections. The organizers and the students expressed the hope that
23 future trainings could be organized, which we would suggest as well. However, that future depends on the AMS’ ability to fundraise, as the MATRA program will not be supporting its activities in Jordan and Morocco anymore.
24 Kosovo (2.1.9)
Project development in 2010 No activities in 2010. We did put €3.696 in the budget for an assessment visit, but we did not use this.
Political context In December of 2010 snap parliamentary elections were held which were won by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. The elections were a consequence of the dissolution of the parliament by the acting President Jakup Krasniqi, after a majority of deputies in the Kosovo Assembly voted in favour of a no-confidence motion against the government, including members of the biggest governing party, PDK. At the same time a report by Dick Marty, rapporteur of the Human Rights Committee of the Council of Europe (CoE), was released in which allegations were made that abductions, disappearances, executions, organ trafficking and other serious crimes were coordinated by leading members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) including Prime Minister Thaci. These allegations will be further investigated and the international community has strongly emphasised the importance of a ‘clean’ government in Kosovo. The Kosovo society is still divided and a multi-ethnic Kosovo is a dream far away. Albanians and Serbians are living separately, and the Serbians living in the northern part of Kosovo have developed parallel institutions. Meanwhile 75 out of 192 UN member states have recognised Kosovo as an independent state. In 2011 Pristina and Belgrade will hold direct talks with EU mediation.
Project development 2008-2010 During this period AMS has cooperated with PDK and Reformist Party of Kosovo (ORA). ORA was a small progressive party which joined the liberal Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) in 2010. In 2008 AMS organised two campaign seminars for the PDK youth members. In 2009 one seminar on campaigning for PDK youth members was organised and, in the run up to the local elections, one campaign seminar for ORA, supported by the National Democratic Institute (NDI). In 2010 AMS has, unfortunately, not conducted any activities in Kosovo in absence of a reliable partner. Finally, in November of 2008 AMS has participated in a international conference on the political situation in Kosovo and EU integration in Pristina, organised by the European Forum.
Counterpart and motivation The PDK was formed by prominent members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), among them the current Prime Minister, Hashim Taci and the current secretary general – former spokesperson of KLA – Jakup Krasniqi. In the past the party has expressed its willingness to adopt a social democratic ideology and to become SI member. However, the party has still not developed its ideological backbone. Moreover, some critics argue that PDK is a very pragmatic party with neo-liberal economic policies. The cooperation between the AMS and the PDK was initiated in 2006 and has evolved successfully in the beginning. Annually, we have been conducting campaigning seminars for PDK members and breaking ice seminars with Albanian and Serbian political parties. In 2010, the AMS planned to organise one seminar on campaigning for young PDK members and representatives of local branches. However, we have encountered several problems with the financial transparency (already in 2009) during the course of this project. We finally decided not to continue with the same contact person at the Party. AMS is looking for opportunities for future co-operation with the PDK throughout other party representatives responsible for international co-operation.
Primary aim & strategy To strengthen the development of (social) democracy by strengthening the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). To train young PDK party members on campaigning.
Activities No activities have been conducted in Kosovo in 2010.
25 Macedonia (2.1.10)
Project development in 2010 Instead of supporting two activities, we supported three. The Political Academy in cooperation with two international partners. Our budget was €23.696 and our expenditure €24.467.
Political context Year 2010 in Macedonia has been one of standstill in the European integration process, increased ethnic tensions and the further political dead lock, characterised by harsh accusations and absence of dialogue between the main political blocks. No concrete steps were made to solve the long-standing name dispute with Greece, which is blocking Macedonia’s EU accession process. The ruling conservative VMRO DPMNE of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski is using the name dispute as a tool to play the nationalist card and increase the support for his party. The plans and construction of many monuments, statutes and religious objects which emphasise Macedonian history and identity are seen as a provocation by Greece. The biggest opposition party, Social Democratic Union for Macedonia (SDSM), has organised many mass protests calling for early elections. Tensions increased in December as police raided the headquarters of the private A1 TV station in Skopje, known for its pro- opposition view points. Thereafter, the account of the televisions was blocked. Free and independent media, reform in public administration and judiciary, fight against corruption, women’s rights and inter- ethnic relations are difficult challenges the country is facing.
Project development 2008-2010 During this period AMS very successfully cooperated with the Progress Institute for Social Democracy and the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM). In 2008 AMS and Progress Institute organised a seminar for 80 members of the youth organisation of SDSM. The aim of the seminar was to strengthen the leadership skills of young party members. In addition, AMS was requested to contribute to the annual Political Academy seminars by sending trainers to conduct several modules. In 2009 two seminars on campaigning were organised for young SDSM members, winter school and summer school for over 130 participants in total. Again, in 2009, AMS contributed to the Political Academy seminars. In 2010 AMS organised a Training of Trainers (ToT) seminar for SDSM members. In total 16 future trainers were trained. Furthermore, Summer School on campaigning was organised for 100 SDSM youth members and, just as during 2008/2009, AMS send a trainer to conduct a module at the Political Academy. Finally, in 2009 AMS participated in an international conference “effects of the financial crisis on Western Balkans and social democratic answers, organised by the European Forum, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Progress Institute.
Counterpart and motivation
Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) The social democratic SDSM was formed as a successor to the League of Communists in Macedonia soon after independence in 1991. From September 1992 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2006 SDSM was the largest party in the Macedonian parliament and the main party in the government, and has shown a moderate and reconciliatory attitude towards ethnic minorities in Macedonia. Since 2006 the party has been in opposition. The SDSM and its newly established institute, the Progress Institute, have expressed their wish to continue the good cooperation with AMS in the coming years. The party aims to improve knowledge of party members on party organisation, capacity building and political campaigning and believes that the AMS has at its disposal the expertise to offer this specific support. In 2009 SDSM has elected a new leader, former Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski. The party is reforming its party structures and, with its expertise, AMS can contribute to that. In 2010 it proved to be not easy for SDSM to position itself in the increasingly nationalistic and fragmented political environment in Macedonia. SDSM is a full member of the Socialist International and a PES associate member.
The Progress Institute for Social Democracy In 2007 the SDSM founded the Progress Institute. Over the past three years the cooperation between AMS and the Progress Institute has been excellent. The institute has been established as a think-tank that will help the party to develop policy papers but also to conduct research and organise training activities for party members. The institute has indicated its wish to intensify cooperation with sister parties and foundations in the region and the EU and the need for expertise in the field of
26 campaigning, organisation building and communication. AMS will continue its close cooperation with Progress Institute.
Primary aim & strategy To strengthen the development of (social) democracy by supporting the Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM). To train the SDSM party officials and (young) members, through the Progress Institute.
Activities
Training of Trainers (ToT) In cooperation with: Progress Institute for Social Democracy Date and venue: 23-25 April, Mavrovo Trainers: Wim Klein and Ivo van Duijneveldt Target group: Future trainers of SDSM
Report Alfred Mozer Stichting (AMS) organised a Training for Trainers seminar (ToT) in cooperation with the Progress Institute for Social Democracy, research and education centre of SDSM. The seminar took place in the small town of Mavrovo, close to the Albanian border. The 16 participants were gender balanced and between 25 and 35 years old. Furthermore, they possessed on average much knowledge of the subject matter, campaign training. Thanks to this, AMS trainers could focus fully on the core theme of the training, namely the trainer skills. During the workshops, most participants proved to be able to act as a trainer and to apply the AMS working method.
Conclusions and recommendations The interaction between the trainers and the group was excellent, with a lot of room for discussion, experience sharing, questions and answers. During the evaluation, the participants expressed their satisfaction with the content and quality of the training. Many of them stressed especially how much they liked the interactive approach, with much time devoted to the participants playing an active role. Future trainers of SDSM were all very interested and highly committed, both during the lectures on theory as well as during the workshops. AMS should continue to support SDSM through the Progress Institute and closely cooperate in developing and improving future programmes.
Summer School: How to approach and attract young voters In cooperation with: Progress Institute for Social Democracy Date and venue: 16-18 July, Ohrid Trainers: Geke van Velzen, Zita Schellekens, Hayte de Jong and Guus Staats Target group: SDSM Youth
Report AMS organised the annual Summer School for SDSM Youth in cooperation with the Progress Institute for Social Democracy, research and education centre of SDSM. The seminar took place in Ohrid, a small town at the Ohrid lake. More than one hundred participants were gender balanced and between 18 and 25 years old. The main aim of this event was to strengthen the youth organisation of the party and to develop strategies in order to approach and attract more young voters and youth organisation members. One of the main challenges for SDSM is that during the last presidential and local elections the conservatives overtook many young votes from SDSM and especially attracted the youngest first- time voters. The program included lectures and workshops on campaign strategy, central message, communicating the message, social media and creating an election event.
Conclusions and recommendations The participants were satisfied with the offered program and the interactive working method. However, due to the large number of participants and shared responsibilities over the execution of the programme it was sometimes difficult for AMS trainers ‘to keep control’ over the program. Furthermore, in such large groups (50 participants per two trainers) it is difficult to establish personal contact and control the schedules and workload. The latest mentioned was too high as the whole program was in two days: Friday and Saturday until 20:00, while there was no program on Sunday. This was a due to the flight schedule from Skopje to Amsterdam, which made it impossible for trainers to stay in Macedonia on Sunday morning. Nevertheless the participants appreciated the parts of the
27 training organized by the AMS very much. Although not always active during the theoretical parts, they came up with refreshing ideas in the workshops, showing that they well understood the earlier session and surprised the trainers in a positive way. The next time debates and speeches from politicians should be held on Sunday, and it should be considered to start the Summer School on Thursday as the programme in now too ambitions for the time frame.
Political Academy Organised by: Progress Institute for Social Democracy, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Olof Palme Centre Date and venue: 28-30 May, Štrumica Trainers: Martijn Beckers, Zoran Zaev, Rizvan Sulejmani, Stevce Jakimovski, Petar Atanasov, Nenad Markovik, Milos Djajic, Natasa Ristic Target group: Young members of SDSM
Report The Political Academy for Social Democracy is a project of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the Macedonian Progress Institute for Social Democracy and the Olof Palme International Centre. The Alfred Mozer Stichting (AMS) contributed to the project by sending our trainer, Martijn Beckers, to conduct a module on conflict management and time management. The 30 participants were carefully selected from more than 200 applicants and had to send in a written application, which was followed by a personal interview. In general the participants were very ambitious, talented, and capable and spoke English very well. The main goal of the Academy is to educate young and promising party members and to connect the different years of the Academy and thus empower and educate the next political generation. The modules conducted by the AMS trainer contained a lecture on the topic, a round of questions and answers and a role play in which participants practised the presented theory in the role-play, representatives from the party board, the youth movement, and the regional faction had to negotiate on the change of leadership and the allocation of the budget. Each group had a specific set of wishes and demands. During the time management module experiences were shared and focus lied on time management in political project management (e.g. campaign).
Conclusions and recommendations Political Academy is a very good initiative with a professional management and carefully selected talented and ambitious participants. It seems unquestionable that in the near future some of these participants will play an important role within the party structures. AMS should continue to contribute to this success, because of their specific interactive working method, and its expertise in political campaigning. In close coordination with the Progress Institute AMS should decide which modules would contribute to most to the program of the Political Academy.
28 Moldova (2.1.11)
Project development in 2010 In Moldova a special situation had arisen and new parliamentary elections were organised. In response to this special situation we have decided to step up our activities and also to organise an assessment visit. Our budget was €23.696 and our expenditure €32.168.
Political context Moldova’s political situation remained in turmoil in 2010. After failing to come to an agreement with the opposition Communist Party on a Presidential candidate, and thus failing to get the 61 votes in parliament needed to elect one, the ruling Alliance for European Integration (AEI) called a referendum to change the electoral law, and re-introduce direct Presidential elections. However, the referendum was declared void because of a low turnout following a Communist call for a boycott. As a result the AEI was forced to organize new early parliamentary elections, which took place on 28 November. As a result of the elections the Communist party received 42 mandates, the Liberal Democratic Party – 32, the Liberal Party – 12, and our partner the Democratic Party – 15. After the elections the AEI decided to continue working together in the format of the alliance, and thus ensured a majority in parliament. It is still missing 2 votes to elect the President, and the Communist Party leader Voronin has already stated his fraction will not vote for any candidate proposed by the AEI, and will only consider a candidate from outside politics, or one agreed on by all parties. DPM leader Marian Lupu is currently speaker of parliament and thus interim President.
Project development 2008-2010 Throughout the three years we have kept working with the Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM), and the cooperation has been very fruitful. In 2008 we held several trainings, including a Summer Academy (on campaigning), a training for Democratic Girls (a young women’s network within the DPM), a training for student members of DPM, and a training on the EU (considering the great interest of Moldovan youth to the workings of the Union, of which they hope to be a member some day). In 2009 all activities were geared towards the very important national elections that year – which eventually led to the Twitter revolution and the end of an 8-year authoritarian Communist rule. The training was mainly on campaigning, and the DPM made great use of them and the resulting groups of motivated and knowledgeable young people, who were then integrated in the campaign right away. We also continued the successful Summer Academy. In 2010 the DPM, although now in government, again requested campaign trainings, as Moldova was facing new (early) elections, and later a national referendum. We organised three such trainings (including a Summer Academy), and one seminar in the format of an international round table on social policy in Moldova, which characterised the DPM’s transformation from opposition party to governing party that has to think about specific policies.
Counterpart and motivation Since 2003 the AMS has developed a fruitful relation with the DPM. The cooperation with the party and the youth wing has been very good, and the DPM has been showing the desire to profile itself as the central-leftist party of significance on the Moldovan political arena. Its current popularity, however, can mostly be attributed to the personal popularity of its leader, Marian Lupu.
Primary aim & strategy To support democracy by supporting the Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM). To train young DPM members through the Democratic Youth.
Activities
Training “Door-to-door campaigning” Date and venue: 30 January-1 February, Chisinau Trainers: Liesje Klomp and Bas Batelaan Target group: Young activists of DPM
Report The main aim of the training was to improve the campaigning skills of young DPM activists and to improve their knowledge and skills on how to attract voters through direct voters contact. A total of twenty-five young DPM activists attended the training. By the time of the training the DPM already launched its central message for the national poll. The campaign manager of the PDM presented the
29 message and the party slogan for the elections which was: “You (Moldovans) deserve”. The trainers tried to integrate the central message in all possible workshops. The training included presentations and workshops on tactics, media relations, getting out the message, creating campaign events and canvassing. A brainstorm with the group provided the necessary information about the political environment in which the DPM has to operate and about the campaign experience of the participants, which was minimal.
Conclusions and recommendations The strength and spirit are present for the election campaign to be a very successful one with a large group of young activists. DPM was said to be the third party in election polls. Its ideas for the campaign are clear as well is its central message. All participants are now ready to spread the message and may have even gone canvassing the same day the training finished. Based on this training the trainers advised the AMS to keep supporting the DPM.
Promising young politicians training for DPM Youth Organisation Date and venue: 19-21 March, Location: Chisinau Trainers: Wouter Kolk and Hayte de Jong Target Group: Member of the DPM youth wing
Report Twenty-five young members of DPM participated in the training that was focused on campaigning skills. Subjects discussed included a SWOT analysis, central message, communicating the message, and in the end they were given the assignment to make a political ad, in which they had to use all the knowledge they incurred in the seminar. The group was very creative and eager, and continued to work hard until the very end of the training. The training was also meant by the DPM to identify future talents for the party.
Conclusions and recommendations The trainers were very satisfied with the training, and identified several participants that they thought had a real future in the party. The participants also seemed very satisfied. We suggest continuing the cooperation with the DPM in the future.
International round table seminar Date: 19 May Location: Chisinau Trainers: various experts from Moldova and the EU Target group: DPM members and larger public
Report The DPM requested a change in the planning of our seminar, as they noticed a need for a broad discussion that can serve as a beginning to creating social policy, which the DPM can then try to implement. As it is important for the party to think about social policy if it wants to profile itself as a social democratic, central-leftist party – which it does – we decided such a seminar would be very useful and agreed to it. During the seminar various experts – political, NGO, academic – discussed different aspects of the existing social policy in Moldova and the necessary changes to it that should be promoted by the DPM. Members of the party were invited to participate, which they did very actively by making suggestions and asking questions. The event marked the kick-off of a process that took several months, of similar workshops and consultations after which the party planned to draft its view on social policy.
Conclusions and recommendations The seminar seemed very useful and was considered important by the DPM, which was illustrated by the high-level participation from the party. The necessity of such a discussion was also stressed by the local Friedrich Ebert Stiftung office (which also works with the DPM), whose staff and representatives were enthusiastic about the event and assisted in its organisation. Although this was a one-time event in terms of an AMS project, we consider this a needed one for the DPM and hope that the eventual results will be satisfying.
30 Moldova fact-finding and DPM conference Location: Chisinau, Moldova Date: 27-28 May, 2010 Partners: PES, DPM, FES Target Group: representatives of political parties, international organisations and the civil society AMS participant: Marina Ohanjanyan
Considering the turbulent political times in Moldova and the radical change of power and international orientation in 2009, we decided to organise a fact-finding mission to the country to get a clear picture of the political situation on the ground. As always the fact-finding features bilateral meetings between our European delegation of social democrats and local representatives of political parties, international organisations working on the ground and the Moldovan civil society. Following the fact-finding mission our partner the Moldovan Democratic Party (DPM) organised a one-day seminar dedicated to the subject of social policy. With the assistance of the AMS and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) the seminar was organised to discuss the social policy that DPM, as the only social democratic party in the governing coalition, should be pursuing. Various experts from NGOs and the DPM itself presented the social problems that Moldova faces and what should be done.
31 Summer Camp Date and venue: 16-19 August Trainers: Kirsten Meijer and Zita Schellekens Target group: Members of DPM youth
Report The training was part of a Summer Camp for the young members of the party. It required complicated oragnisation, as it had many participants (around 60) who were trained by not only AMS trainers, but also DPM trainers and outside experts. The overall Summer Camp was meant as a broad platform for ideological and theoretic discussion about the DPM and its course, as well as a practical training on campaigning. The latter part of the training was taken care of by the AMS trainers. They received rotating groups of participants who were given the standard AMS campaign training, including the SWOT analysis, central message and communication. At the end of the training DPM leader Marian Lupu arrived for a debate and a Q&A session with the participants. The latter did not hold back, and voiced any questions or remarks they had, even very critical ones, which Mr Lupu treated seriously and responded to adequately.
Conclusions and recommendations The Summer Camp is an annual project we have been doing with the DPM for several years now. Each time it proves useful and successful, and is in fact one of the most popular events for the DPM youth, who are very eager to be chosen to participate. We suggest to continue this project in coming years, but to pay attention to the way the content is organised: the rotating system can be confusing as some of the groups get the information in an order that’s not entirely logical.
Campaign training for DPM youth Date: 22-24 October Location: Chisinau Trainers: Guus Staats and Wolter te Riele
Report Following the failed referendum to change electoral law, the ruling Alliance for European Integration (AEI) was forced to announce early parliamentary elections. Our partner the DPM requested a campaign training to prepare its youth for the campaigning period. As the announcement was very short-notice, the training took place only 4 weeks before the actual elections, and thus concentrated on the aspect of campaigning most relevant to that period: communication. The trainers did, of course, also dwell on the other aspects without which there would be nothing to communicate: SWOT, Central Message, but also working with the media (both old and new) and specific communication techniques.
Conclusions and recommendations The participants were eager to learn and also eager to combine knowledge they already had (internet, social media) with the knowledge they received during the training (on political communication etc.). They did wish the training could have taken place at an earlier stage in the campaign so they could use all the information they received, but unfortunately this could not be helped. Hopefully they will be able to use it in future campaigns.
32 Montenegro (2.1.12)
Project development in 2010 We carried out our plans without changes. Our budget was too low however. Montenegro is one of the most expensive countries in the region. Our budget was €13.464 and our expenditure €18.945.
Political context In December of 2010 Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, the longest-serving leader in the Balkans (since 1991), has resigned. He said that the conditions have been created for him to step down. Djukanovic will remain at the helm of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS). At the local elections in May of 2010, the Coalition for European Montenegro, led by DPS, won seven out of 14 municipalities and the city municipality of Tuzi. In the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, unlike in the past, it was not being able to form a government on its own. DPS formed a coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by the country's parliamentary speaker Ranko Krivokapic. This was the first time in a decade that the DPS and the SDP ran separately in the elections, the latter strongly improving its support on the local level. Montenegro’s achievement are promising, especially on the smooth conduct of the recent elections and its solid economic performance despite the global economic crisis. Regarding EU integrations, the country made important steps as it was officially granted candidate status for EU membership by the European Council on 17 December of 2010. The country has to continue its efforts on the path of reforms, tackling challenges, mainly in the area of the rule of law, freedom of the press and fight against corruption and organised crime.
Project development 2008-2010 During this period AMS successfully cooperated with Democracy Development Foundation and Social Democratic Party of Montenegro (SDP). The projects were partly run by the Slovenian Kalander Foundation, whose trainers were responsible for the program. In 2008, in cooperation with the above mentioned organisations, AMS supported a seminar on campaigning and communication skills for the youth members of SDP. In 2009, again through Kalander Foundation, AMS supported two seminars for the SDP youth members, one on political campaigning and one on how to deal with media. In 2010 AMS was asked to send trainers and organise a seminar for SDP youth on media and communication skills. The Democracy Development Foundation has proved to be able to attract young people to the party and to strengthen the party structures with a new promising generation.
Counterpart and motivation
Social Democratic Party (SDP) The SDP was founded in June 1993 after a merger of the Social Democratic Reform Party and the Socialist Party of Montenegro. The party is firmly anti-war oriented and strongly opposed Milosevic. The party remains crucial in influencing the society in the affirmation of, among other things, the social democratic idea and European values in Montenegro. The AMS started its cooperation with the SDP in 2006. We have conducted successful training seminars for young SDP members, mainly on campaigning and media relations. SDP has expressed its wish for further cooperation as there is need among young members for education on political skills and social democracy. Because the party finds itself in a stable phase, it is the right moment for the party and the AMS to contribute to the development of this knowledge. In the last two years the support for SDP has increased tremendously, which is showed by the results of the latest local elections. At this moment the party has 8 out of 75 seats in the parliament. SDP is a full member of Socialist International and a PES associate member.
Democracy Development Foundation The Democracy Development Foundation was established in 2006 by SDP of Montenegro. In that year AMS was requested to support the foundation in schooling of young SDP party members and development of party structures. As a result of close cooperation with AMS and international partners more than 20 per cent of people within the party structures belong to the young generation. The foundation asked for close cooperation and continued support in the future.
Primary aim & strategy To support the development of (social) democracy by strengthening the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its Youth Forum through the Democracy Development Foundation.
33 Activities
Campaign and media training In cooperation with: Democracy Development Foundation Date and venue: 12-14 November, Be čići Trainers: Renske Keur and Sherlo Esajas Target group: Members of the youth organisation of the SDP
Report In cooperation with Democracy Development Foundation, AMS organised a seminar on campaigning and media for the SDP youth. The main aim of the seminar was to improve the communication skills of the participants, 28 in total. The program included lectures and workshops on campaign strategy, central message, communicating the message, social media, crisis communication and press releases. In addition, a workshop on personal presentation skills was very much appreciated by the participants. Us usually, the training was a synergy of short theoretical parts and interactive workshops.
Conclusions and recommendations The participants were enthusiastic about the AMS working methods with many workshops. Some of the participants were very experienced with it, while for others it was a new experience. The Democracy Development Foundation managed to organise everything very professionally and smoothly. Furthermore, there was a good mix of participants from all parts of Montenegro and the group was gender balanced. The group dynamics, in workshops and in general, was excellent: the participants were working together actively, sharing their experiences and being very creative during the workshops assignments. AMS should continue to support SDP through the Democracy Development Foundation in its efforts to strengthen the party structures, increase the youth representation and in supporting social democracy in Montenegro.
34 Morocco (2.1.13)
Project development in 2010 We carried out two trainings instead of one. However working in Morocco is much cheaper than we expected, so we only exceeded the budget by a small sum. Our budget was €17.080 and our expenditure €18.999.
Political context Morocco remains a strong Monarchy. Although the basics of a political system are present much needs to be done. Political parties generally get their votes through association with the King; and the Parliament lacks popular trust and legitimacy because of its lack of power. The current King, Mohamed VI, came to power in 1999. While his father Hassan II was an autocratic ruler, Mohamed VI appears to have a different vision for Morocco’s future. Under his leadership the country seems to be heading towards a democracy and more liberal values. Mohamed VI has stressed the need for social and economic reforms. However, the King retains much of the executive power – despite the fact that the parliament is democratically elected – and there is little space for political dissent.
Project Development 2008-2010 In 2008 the AMS started working in Morocco for the first time, in a partnership with the Parti Socialiste Unifié (PSU). The pilot training – and the only one in 2008 - was on organisation, and being an effective political party. In 2009 the trainings were focused on activating the participation of women and youth in Moroccan politics in general and in the PSU in particular. The former involved a training specifically for female members of PSU that had run for and/or were elected into local councils just some weeks ago. Prior to those elections we had also organised a campaign training for PSU members from all over the country. In 2010 we continued this subject with a training for members of local councils – for which the previous training demonstrated a huge interest and need – as well as a training on new media. This was the first AMS training in its kind, focused solely on the use of internet for political parties. It also showed a great need for this as the internet provides for a crucial gateway to the public, and more and more people in Morocco are using it.
Counterpart and motivation In 2010 the AMS continued its cooperation with the Parti Socialiste Unifié (PSU). The party was founded in 2002 by the unification of four leftist movements. The party participated in the last general elections on a joint list with two other leftist parties, which all together have six seats in parliament. It did not do quite as well in the 2010 local elections, because of the rivalry of the relatively recently established Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) which is quite close to the King. The PSU aims for a parliamentary monarchy with separation of powers and a separation between religion and politics. Its party program is based on social democratic values and it wants to become a SI observer member. Over the years, we have developed a good cooperation with the PSU.
Primary aim & strategy To support democracy by supporting the Parti Socialiste Unifié (PSU). To train members of the Parti Socialiste Unifié (PSU).
Activities
Training on online strategy for a political organisation Date and venue: 1-3 April Location: Khemisset Trainers: Martijn Beckers, Jaap Stronks and Willem Dudok Target group: PSU members
Report The PSU requested a specific training on online strategy in order to develop its online resources and its members’ knowledge and skills in online political communication. This was the first time the AMS conducted such a training. The group was quite varying in terms of background and experience. They were very motivated and most had some experience in one or more internet resources or social networks. The subjects discussed were the possibilities of internet for political activity, the political use
35 of social media, blogging, but also the more standard elements of AMS campaign training like the SWOT analysis.
Conclusions and recommendations The trainers are confident that the participants, given the opportunity, should be able to make a difference with a good online strategy. The party should continue to invest in people who will coordinate and manage its online resources and information, as it can have a major effect on its campaigns. Cooperation with the PSU – although advised – is dependent on the AMS ability to find funds, as the MATRA program will no longer be financing projects in Jordan and Morocco.
Training on local councils Date and venue: 18-20 June Trainers: Souad Haouli Target group: Members of local councils and the PSU
Report Following a very successful training for female PSU members of local councils, the PSU requested another training for its local council member – a broader one- on the work of local councils. This time there were many more participants – again, because of the success of the previous training – which, despite, the good indication, also presented some difficulties in terms of the interactive nature of our trainings. The participants were very eager and enthusiastic, and yet again demonstrated the need for such trainings, not only in deferring knowledge and experience by the AMS trainer, but also in the amount of things they can learn from each other at such a training.
Conclusions and recommendations The seminar was evaluated positively by the participants, who expressed the wish to continue with such seminars as well as make them longer. However, for the future, the number of participants should be kept to the AMS standard of maximum 30, which facilitates the interactive and practical character of the training.
36 The Russian Federation (2.1.14)
Project development in 2010 We carried out our plans without changes. Our budget was €36.160 and our expenditure €35.878.
Political context Russia remains a country with a difficult political culture for dissent. It has become nigh impossible to register new (opposition) political parties, and very difficult for existing opposition parties to survive. No major political changes took place in Russia over 2010. The Putin-Medvedev tandem is still going strong, although it will be interesting to see what happens at the next Presidential elections as both men have expressed their intention to run in those elections, while latest polls show the popularity of Medvedev growing and that of Putin – although still superior – declining. President Medvedev’s rhetoric, although seeming increasingly liberal, does not seem to find a footing in reality apart from minor legal changes in Russia’s law. By the end of the year some major nationalistic rallies took place following the death of a football fan in a fight with men from the Caucasus. The situation escalated with pogroms in central Moscow.
Also at the end of the year repressions against the opposition seem to be on the rise, with the most prominent being the arrest of Boris Nemtsov (Solidarnost) and Eduard Limonov at a peaceful protest on the 31 st of December. They were released 15 days later. This perhaps has to do with the nearing dates of elections (parliamentary in December 2011, and Presidential in 2012).
Project development 2008-2010 In 2008 our partner the Yabloko party asked us to focus our trainings on improving the organisation of its youth wing, to make it more efficient and effective in its political activity. In 2009 organised a training for trainers, which allowed Yabloko to have its own pool of local trainers who could provide trainings to its members. They also requested a training on coalition formation, which became more and more relevant to their work, as, having an increasingly difficult time under the Putin-Medvedev tandem; they felt the need to cooperate with other opposition parties/organisations. Following the success of this training and the repeated desire of Yabloko to continue with this subject, we organised negotiations and coalition formation trainings again in 2010, this time with the participation of members of other opposition organisations that Yabloko occasionally cooperated with. This mixed nature of the group, we believe, helps the overall goal of cooperation as well. In 2010 Yabloko also organised a training conducted by its own trainers – previously trained by the AMS – for the first time.
Counterpart and motivation The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko is a Russian social liberal party. The party dates back to early 1990s and stands for greater freedom and civil liberties in Russia, for greater integration with the West and membership in the European Union. The party opposes Vladimir Putin for what they see as his increasing authoritarianism. The AMS has been working with it many years now despite its liberal character, because it is one of the few – if not the only – remaining democratic (true) opposition party in Russia that is truly independent and not linked to the Putin power system. In the 1990s, Yabloko had been represented, among others, in the St Petersburg City Council and the national Duma but currently, the party does not have any elected representatives at neither local, regional nor national level. The St Petersburg branch of Yabloko is estimated at approx 500 members.
Primary aim & strategy To support democracy by supporting the Yabloko Youth Union. To train members and sympathisers of Yabloko Youth Union in the St Petersburg region.
Activities
Campaign training Date and venue: 6-8 May, Location: St Petersburg Trainers: local, with AMS observer Berend Jan van den Boomen Target group: Yabloko members
37 Report Having had an AMS training for trainers the previous year, Yabloko requested a training by their own trainers, but asked for supervision from an experienced AMS trainer. The participants were young, most of them participated for the first time, and a third had had previous trainings. The training had a good build-up in the sense that there was a revolving pattern: after each new piece of theory a return to the previous point in order to deepen and extend the lessons learned. There was a good mix of short theoretical lectures, followed by a practise session. The trainers related to the group and what they presented was easily accepted. The time frame was balanced, the whole of the programme fulfilled.
Conclusions and recommendations In general the local trainers did a good job and should be encouraged to train more. There were some details that can be improved, like a positive round a feedback before turning to the points to be improved, and a more clear explanation of the internal and external factors in a SWOT analysis, but overall these are skills that can be improved with experience.
Training on Negotiation Skills Date: 25-27 June Location: St Petersburg Trainers: Wouter Kolk and Thijs Reuten Target group: Yabloko youth St Petersburg, Yabloko youth from different regional offices of the North-West of Russia, Solidarnost, Oborona and other oppositional movements
Report This was the first AMS training geared exclusively at negotiation techniques. It was requested by Yabloko because more and more they feel the need for members with such skills, and their political activity more and more depends on being able to forge alliances with other opposition groups. Elements discussed in the training were chairing a meeting, negotiation techniques, strategy and central message, coalition formation and building a common negotiation result.
Conclusions and recommendations The trainers noticed a great desire within the group assembled for this seminar to maintain and broaden a sustainable coalition of oppositional forces and to work on political representation through grassroots campaigning and actions. Working on their negotiation skills, the goal of the training, may help them to realize internal as well as external goals. By improving their negotiation skills it will be easier to find and maintain common positions within the coalition and also to deal with other forces in St. Petersburg politics. The mixed character of the training – with participants from different organisations – also helps facilitate this. We suggest continuing such trainings, especially since Yabloko has actually requested this as well for 2011.
Campaigning, cooperation and negotiations training Date: 15-17 October Location: St Petersburg Trainers: Ramses Man and Wim Klei Target group: Members of Yabloko
Report Following the success of the previous training on negotiations, Yabloko asked for a continuation as many more of their members could use such training. This time the focus was on Yabloko members. This training included more elements of campaigning than the last one, and especially the SWOT analysis was appreciated by the participants. Other than that, negotiation techniques were discussed, as well as ways to come to an agreement and cooperate.
Conclusions and recommendations The group picked up the information very quickly and was able to use it effectively. We suggest that some of them can be trained to be trainers themselves.
38 Serbia (2.1.15)
Project development in 2010 We carried out our plans with some changes. One training for SDU was not carried out. We decided to organise an assessment visit and to participate in a Roma Conference. Our budget was €23.696 and our expenditure €34.508. The reason for this over spending is that we organised extra activities. The total amount is reasonable given the number of activities carried out.
Political context In February of 2010 the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU entered into force and Serbia has further progressed in complying with SAA requirements. Furthermore, the country has made progress towards meeting the political criteria. Judicial reform has continued but there were shortcomings in the reappointment procedure of judges and prosecutors. Despite the active on-going cooperation of Serbia with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the two remaining ICTY fugitives, Ratko Mladi ć and Goran Hadži ć, are still at large. The EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule has given the EC questionnaire to Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovi ć in November of this year. Regarding the EU integration, visa liberalisation entered into force in 2010. This is considered as an important signal for the country in its EU aspirations and a crucial step for Serbia’s citizens. Regionally, the relations with Croatia have improved after Ivo Josipovi ć has been elected Croatian president. Both Josipović and Serbian President Tadi ć strongly support regional cooperation and dialogue. Tadi ć has become the first Serbian leader to pay his respects to Croatian victims in the Vukovar massacre in 1991 and the Serbian Parliament has adopted a resolution condemning crimes committed in Srebrenica. In December of 2010, the Democratic Party (DS) has re- elected Tadi ć as party leader. It is expected that the bilateral talks with Pristina, with EU mediation, will start in the beginning of 2011.
Project development 2008-2010 During this period AMS successfully cooperated with the Democratic Party (DS) ― through DS education centre, the Centre of Modern Skills, Social Democratic Union (SDU) and the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV). In 2008 Centre of Modern Skills (CMV) and AMS organised two seminars for DS local councillors on campaigning in multi-ethnic societies. Furthermore, AMS and CMV organised a seminar on communicating the message for 18 newly elected members of city councils. In addition, AMS organised a seminar on campaigning for young members of LSV and two campaign seminars for SDU ― one for SDU youth members and one for SDU local representatives ― in close cooperation with the political foundation of SDU, Dimitrije Tucovic Foundation. In 2009 CMV and AMS organised three Training of Trainers (ToT) seminars for DS and two seminars for SDU, one for the SDU women organisation and one for SDU local representatives. In 2010 CMV and AMS organised three seminars for the Democratic Youth Women Network (DYWN) of DS. In addition, one seminar was organised for SDU local representatives. In 2009 and 2010 AMS and LSV did not organise any activities due to organisational issues within the LSV. The party has requested support for 2011. DS, LSV and SDU have asked the AMS for continued support in the future. In close cooperation with our partners we shall develop tailor made modules and trainings which will help improve the party organisations and structures. Finally, in 2010 AMS participated in a high-level political fact-finding mission in Serbia and a conference on Roma political inclusion in Western Balkans in Belgrade, both organised by the European Forum.
Counterpart and motivation
Democratic Party (DS) The Democratic Party (DS) was founded in 1920 and re-established in 1990 after decades of inactivity. Boris Tadi ć, Serbia’s President, has been re-elected as DS party leader in December of 2010. DS has 64 seats in the national Parliament and took the responsibility in eleven Ministries. DS is a full SI member and PES associate member. Its main political goals are EU and NATO accession, full cooperation with ICTY and comprehensive implementation of economic reforms. The cooperation between AMS and the DS runs through the party’s centre for education, Centre of Modern Skills, which has been founded in 1992 and continues to improve its expertise in the field of capacity building of the party and campaigning.
39 Centre of Modern Skills (CMV) The co-operation between AMS and DS runs through the party’s centre for education, Centre of Modern Skills, which has been founded in 1998 and continues to improve its expertise in the field of capacity building of the party and campaigning. The successful co-operation between AMS and CMV started in 2007. Until now, DS received help from AMS for inner party dialogue and preparing women campaign, training for trainer, campaigning in multiethnic municipality, and training of youth trainer and raise capacity of Democratic Youth Women Network. CMV is and professional organisation and organizes seminars for left oriented parties in other countries of former Yugoslavia.
Social Democratic Union (Socijaldemokratska Unija, SDU) The SDU was formed in May 1998 after a split from the Civic Alliance. The small party became one of the most progressive anti-nationalist parties and adopted a social democratic orientation. The pro- Western attitude of the SDU guaranteed it a place on the margin of everyday politics in Serbia. It struggles for a democratic Serbia, respect of human rights of all ethnic groups, political participation of women and the inclusion of Serbia into all international institutions. The party is headed by Zarko Korac, former deputy Prime Minister between 2001 and 2003. The close cooperation between AMS and the SDU started in 2001 and AMS will continue supporting SDU in its ideology and offer it the possibility to carry forward its positive democratic ideas. In 2010, we agreed to organise one seminar to support the party.
League of Socialdemocrats of Vojvodina (LSV) The League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina (LSV) is a small, but significant regional social democratic party. We have been working with the LSV since 2000. In April 2008, we organised a successful seminar for members of the LSV on campaigning. In 2009 the LSV participated in a regional Course for Promising Politicians organised by the European Forum and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and conducted by AMS trainers. Currently LSV has 5 out of 250 in the Serbia’s parliament. The party has requested AMS to support a youth summer school in 2011.
Primary aim & strategy • To support the (social) democratic development of Serbia by strengthening the Democratic Party (DS). To train members of DS. • To support the (social) democratic development of Serbia by strengthening the Social Democratic Union of Serbia. To train members of the SDU. • To support the (social) democratic development of Serbia by strengthening the League of Social democrats of Vojvodina (LSV). To train (young) party members of LSV.
Activities
Training for Democratic Youth Women Network (DYWN) of the DS In cooperation with: Centre of Modern Skills Date and venue: 9-11 April, Niš Trainers: Souad Houali and Channa Minke Target group: DYWN members
Report AMS organised a campaign training for the DYWN in cooperation with the centre of Modern Skills, education centre of the DS. The seminar, in which twenty-six women participated, took place in Niš. This was the first seminar, out of three, AMS and Centre of Modern Skills will organise this year. The main aim of the seminar was to raise the capacities of DWYN and to strengthen the network. The carefully selected participants were from all over the country and of different ages, between 20 and 32 years old. The group was very talented, motivated and eager to learn new methods to promote the women’s network issues, to raise the capacity of the members and to get to know each other in order to further strengthen DYWN. The program included lectures and workshops on campaign strategy, central message, communicating the message, domination techniques and negotiations.
Conclusions and recommendations The participants were very positive about the training. They liked the workshops and the interaction with the trainers a lot. It was said that the seminar offered a save environment to practise skills and as a result the self confidence of the participants increased. Especially the modules on domination techniques and negotiations were evaluated as very useful. All participants looked forward to share
40 their new knowledge with other women from their region and to become more active within DYWN. Participants said that in the future they would like to have a same kind of training, with more focus on public appearance and negotiations. AMS should continue the cooperation with centre of Modern Skills and DYWN. This group of young women has great potential because of their own abilities, and also because of their motivation to stimulate other women and to become more involved in politics.
Training for Democratic Youth Women Network (DYWN) of the DS In cooperation with: Centre of Modern Skills Date and venue: 21-23 May, Zrenjanin Trainers: Janny de Boer and Naomi Woltring Target group: DYWN members
Report AMS organised a campaign training for the DYWN in cooperation with the centre of Modern Skills, education centre of the DS. The seminar, in which twenty-five women participated, took place in Zrenjanin in Vojvodina. This was the second seminar, out of three, AMS and Centre of Modern Skills organise this year. The main aim of the seminar was to raise the capacities of DWYN and to strengthen the network. The selected participants were from all over the country and of different ages, between 18 and 30 years old. Again, CMV succeeds in selecting talented and motivated women. The program included lectures and workshops on campaign strategy, central message, communicating the message, domination techniques and negotiations. In addition, there was a presentation of the women network of the Dutch Young Socialists. It was interesting to compare its organisational structure with that of DWYN.
Conclusions and recommendations Among the motivated participants were very talented women and the whole group was active, creative and enthusiastic during the weekend. During the evaluation participants said they were very pleased with the training and the interactive way in which the seminar was conducted. Especially the modules on domination techniques and negotiations were evaluated as very useful, just as during the first seminar. The participants said that they will use the skills they learned and activities they proposed in they every they work of DYWN in their region. Furthermore, some participants emphasised that by working together they got better results. As usually the CMV organised everything just fine. The location was good, all materials were there and the interpreters were very good and helpful.
Training for Democratic Youth Women Network (DYWN) of the DS In cooperation with: Centre of Modern Skills Date and venue: 4-6 June, Fruška Gora Trainers: Miloš Djaji ć and Igor Jojki ć Target group: DYWN members
Report The last seminar ― out of three ― was conducted by trainers of CMV. The seminar, in which thirty women participated, took place in nature reserve Fruška Gora. The main aim of the seminar was to raise the capacities of DWYN and to strengthen the network. More specifically, this seminar focussed on developing knowledge and skills in the area of gender mainstreaming, campaign strategy, central message, communicating the message (mainly public speaking), project writing and the use of new media in political communication. The selected participants were from all over the country and of different ages, between 18 and 30 years old.
Conclusions and recommendations Just as in 2009, CMV has proposed to have three seminars in 2010, two with Dutch trainers and one with experienced local trainers from Serbia. The participants were very satisfied with the provided modules. As interpreters are not needed it was possible to conduct more modules in depth during the seminar. On the other hand CMV still strongly appreciated having Dutch trainers as well, as they bring their own experience and can provide another, alternative, perspective on the Serbian context. The seminar was conducted in accordance with the AMS training method ― short theoretical parts combined with many interactive workshops.
41 Campaign training for SDU local representatives In cooperation with: Dimitrije Tucovic Foundation Date and venue: 9-11 April 2010, Fruška Gora Trainers: Erik de Groot and Thijs ‘t Hart Target group: Members of local SDU branches
Report AMS organised a campaign training for members of local Branches of the SDU in cooperation with the Dimitrije Tucovic foundation, related to the party. The seminar took place in Fruška Gora, a nature reserve close to Novi Sad and twenty-six local representatives participated in the seminar. The selected participants were from all over the country and of different ages, between 18 and 40 years old. The group was very enthusiastic, motivated and eager to learn. Most participants joined SDU in last two years and had little experience in political party work. The main aim of the seminar was to strengthen SDU on local level, to get more people active for the party and to increase the visibility of SDU in the local communities. The program included lectures and workshops on campaign strategy, central message, communicating the message, volunteer management and canvassing.
Conclusions and recommendations The SDU political program is very close to that of the Dutch Labour Party. Although SDU remains on the margin of political scene in Serbia, it makes the party very attractive to work with. SDU members are highly motivated, well organised and eager to learn. The training for the local representatives was very successful. The participants, organizer and trainers were satisfied with the training. In the evaluation the participants were very enthusiastic about the training and emphasised the good spirit within the group. Furthermore, it was said that the creative ideas invented during the seminar will be implemented in the local communities in order to strengthen SDU locally. In order to be more effective a follow-up seminar has been proposed. The organisation of the seminars was very good. AMS should continue supporting SDU and, in close cooperation with SDU, develop programmes that are the most needed.
Mission to Serbia Location: Belgrade, Serbia Date: 16 April 2010 Partners: S&D Group in the European Parliament and Centre of Modern Skills Target Group: representatives of social democratic political parties from the EU, international organisations and the civil society AMS participants: Danijel Tadi ć
Report A delegation of the European Forum and the S&D Group, headed by Hannes Swoboda (vice- president of the S7D group) and Jan Marinus Wiersma (vice-president of the European Forum), visited Belgrade and held talks with government representatives and social democratic partners, the outgoing governor of the Bank of Serbia and journalists. The visit gave an excellent insight in the political situation in the country and the position of Serbia in the region. It was stressed during the meetings that despite the worrying economic situation, the political situation in Serbia is stable due to the strong commitment between the coalition partners. Serbia has managed to improve the relations with the neighboring countries. The relations with Croatia — due to the election of Ivo Josipovi ć as the new president of Croatia — have strongly improved, just as with Albania whose foreign minister Ilir Meta, made a historic visit to Belgrade. The adoption of the Srebrenica resolution and Istanbul declaration between Turkey, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina — in which it has been agreed that regional policy should be based on ensuring security, permanent political dialogue and preservation of multiethnic, multicultural and multi-religious characteristics of the region — have resulted in visit of the BiH Presidency Chairman Haris Silajdži ć to Belgrade, his first in 18 years. Furthermore, it has been stressed during the meetings that Serbia has always clearly expressed full commitment to the Dayton Peace Agreement and the sovereignty of BiH. Serbian government representatives where optimistic about the EU integration process, of which the visa liberalisation was a very concrete and important step. Government officials were very pleased with the support of the S&D Group for the visa liberalisation and the EU integration process of Serbia in general. Serbia is putting huge effort in lobbying and making the necessary reforms, Božidar Djeli ć, Deputy PM for EU Integration said. Despite the fact that the EU has decided not to connect the Kosovo issue with the European integration process of Serbia, it has send a clear message that Serbia will have to deal with it before
42 entering the EU. Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic made clear that there is no room to manoeuvre on the position of Serbia when it comes to independence of Kosovo.
Strategies for Roma political inclusion in Western Balkans Location: Belgrade, Serbia Date: 17 April 2010 Partners: S&D Group in the European Parliament and Centre of Modern Skills Target Group: Social Democratic parties from South East Europe and the EU, political foundations and external experts from the academic and civil society AMS participants: Danijel Tadi ć
Report Roma is the main poverty group in most countries of the Western Balkans. This poverty is related to a low education level, high unemployment, poor health care and inadequate housing. Furthermore, there is widespread exclusion and discrimination of Roma within society, for example exclusion from the legal and social system due to the fact that many Roma do not have an official identity document. The impressive visit to Blok 67 and the afternoon conference, with sometimes heated debate, have shown that the Roma issue should be put high on the agenda of local and national authorities in Serbia and the region. In this an important role lies within the political parties who should reach out to the Roma community. Roma community should act more united and show willingness to participate in the institutions. This is, however, very difficult as the gap between these institutions and Roma is too big. In bridging this gap civil society should play an important role. The first concrete steps that have to be made are registration of Roma and access to the education and healthcare system. Social democrats from the EU have always supported the EU integration of the Western Balkans countries. It is the role and the responsibility of the EU to be actively engaged in the debate with the accession countries on how to improve the position of Roma in the region and how to integrate Roma in the society and politics. The social democrats should be the forerunner in this. In a letter the S&D group will address the Serbian government and major of Belgrade about the situation in Roma settlements and the forced eviction of Roma people in some settlements.
43 Ukraine (2.1.16)
Project development in 2010 We carried out our plans without changes. Our budget was €23.696 and our expenditure €27.806. The reason for this over spending is that we failed to find another partner for the Gender seminar.
Political context 2010 marked a difference in Ukrainian politics. The effects of the newly appointed President Victor Yanukovich on Ukraine were two-fold. On the one hand, he brought about more stability, which initially was judged as a breath of fresh air after the quibbling between former President Victor Yuschenko and former PM Yulia Timoshenko, who seemed to be engrossed in their mutual dislike to the extent of not getting anything done. However, on the other hand, Yanukovich’s Presidency seems also to have brought back political repression. The first to feel it were the independent media outlets, who suddenly felt pressure again. The political prosecution of Yulia Timoshenko – currently perhaps the most vocal member of the opposition - for alleged missteps during her time as PM have also caused great concern and reprimands from the EU.
Project Development 2008-2010 In 2008 we were working with the youth wing of the Socialist Party (SPU), the SMS. That year we organized a series of trainings on improving the organization of the youth wing. The idea was to have a series of such trainings in many regions in Ukraine, as the SMS has an extensive network. However, in 2009, after the first such training of the year we encountered a problem. The contact person at the SPU/SMS in charge of our project had to leave as a result of a conflict within the party. After that, despite several attempts, it was impossible to establish communication with the SPU and we had no choice but to cancel the following planned trainings. Instead, we received a project proposal from the Institute for Democracy and Social Processes (IDSP), to which many of the people who left the SPU gathered. Thus, the knowledge about the AMS and its activities also travelled to the IDSP. Having approved their project proposal, we conducted the proposed trainings in 2010. The trainings were of two difference characters: one was meant to bring together young, progressive people from various left-wing parties and organizations and make them work and think together to facilitate the establishment of a (first) informal network among them. This project is geared towards establishing a common platform for the highly fragmented political left of Ukraine, with the main obstacle being inter- personal conflicts between the various (old garde) leaders. The second seminar was on gender equality and geared towards establishing a parity coalition in Ukraine.
Counterpart and motivation In 2010 the AMS continued working with the political NGO Institute for Democracy and Social Processes (IDSP), which seems to have become a new home for many former SPU members who decided to leave the party. IDSP sees itself as a think-tank that tries to look into creating a unified social democratic ideological platform that could help bring together the highly fractured political left of Ukraine.
Primary aim & strategy To support democracy by supporting the Institute for Democracy and Social Processes (IDSP). To train young members of various leftist parties and NGOs under the umbrella of IDSP.
Activities
Training for leftist youth Date: 21-23 May, Location: Kyiv Trainers: Tijmen Rooseboom and Anne Graumans Target group: Young members of different social democratic political parties and organisations Organised by: IDSP
Report The goal of the training was to teach young members of leftist political parties and organisations about the role they could play in their organisations. The subjects included political party organisation and the role of youth wings with elements of campaigning. The goal was to let the young people see the role they could play in reforming their parties or contributing to their development. The reasoning
44 behind this was the fact that the fractured character of the political left in Ukraine probably has much to do with interpersonal conflicts of the old garde at the head of those parties. It seems that the younger generations don’t have any trouble cooperating and communicating.
Conclusions and recommendations The trainers and participants were positive about the training, with the latter expressing the need for more such trainings in which they can get to know each other.
Parity coalition on gender Date: 26 March and 23 October Location: Kyiv Trainers: Local
Report The seminar was geared towards creating a gender parity coalition in Ukraine which would help activate women in politics. Subjects discussed included the practical conceptualisation of such a coalition, gender equality in political NGO and party statutes, quotas, gender stereotypes etc. The second seminar included some established (old garde) gender experts of Ukraine, the younger generation of gender activists and international experts of the issue with other social democratic parties in Europe (e.g. France, The Netherlands).
Conclusions and recommendations The seminars showed the polarisation within the gender movements of Ukraine. Some of the problems raised by the younger generation were not accepted or understood by the older generation gender experts. This resulted in very lively, and sometimes emotional and difficult discussions which did bring to light and identify the difficulties. The organisers and the representative of the PvdA both expressed their views as to the need of such seminars to continue in the future as well.
45 Regional projects
Course for Promising Politicians Former Yugoslavia 2010
Political context Since the end of the wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, the resolution of the conflict in Macedonia and the democratic changes in Serbia, a situation has emerged in which all countries of the former Yugoslavia and Albania share more or less the same basic principles of stability and democracy. In all of these countries social democratic parties are active. They can benefit tremendously from mutual experiences and discussions on issues such as modern social democratic ideology, the harsh realities of governing and coalition forming, party building, election campaigns and other challenges that political parties face. Since 2003 the European Forum for Democracy and Solidarity, in cooperation with the Alfred Mozer Stichting and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, has been organising annually a series of seminars for young and promising politicians and members of social democratic parties from the former Yugoslav republics (later Albania was included as well). The positive evaluation of the course throughout the years, led to the decision to organise a Promising Politicians Course in 2009 as well. The course includes seminars on ideology, organisation, political campaigning, mass media, national sovereignty, and EU integration. The aim of the course is to introduce young politicians to the various aspects of political leadership, governance and the dynamics and structures of party policies. In addition, the organisers aim to create a network among young and politically active persons and to improve their knowledge on the political developments of countries in the region. The invited parties in 2010 are DS, SDU, LSV (Serbia), DPS, SDP (Montenegro), PSD, PDK (Kosovo), SDSM, DUI (FYROM), SNSD, SDP (Bosnia and Herzegovina), SDP (Croatia), SPA, LSI (Albania), and SD (Slovenia).
Counterparts The youth movements of social democratic parties in South East Europe (SEE). See for more detailed descriptions of our partners the previous parts on bi-lateral projects in countries in SEE countries.
Primary aim & strategy To train a group of promising politicians in SEE countries in order to built on their capacity. To introduce them to the various aspects of political leadership, governing and the dynamics and structures of party policies. To strengthen their network and to improve the relations between the political young people and the political parties elites in SEE countries. Training the selected talents of the above mentioned parties.
Target group Young members of social democratic parties in former Yugoslav countries and Albania.
Seminar I – “Social Democracy and its Policies” In cooperation with: FES Belgrade Office Date en venue: 27-30 May, Becici, Montenegro Trainers: Arjen Berkvens (director of the AMS and Secretary General of the European Forum); Danijel Tadic (AMS and the European Forum) and Milan Zivkovic (Secretary of the National Commission and director political academy ‘Novo Drustvo’ ) Guest Speakers: Sebastjan Jereti ć (Social Democrats (SD) Slovenia, PR expert), Vladimir Pavi ćevi ć (Faculty of Political Sciences, Belgrade University), Michael Weichert (director FES office in Tirana)
Report The first seminar of this year’s program was attended by 27 participants, who were welcomed by director FES office in Tirana, Michael Weichert. The theme of the first seminar was ‘Social Democracy and its Policies’ and therefore Arjen Berkvens, prepared an introduction on the history and the values of social democracy. After this introduction Danijel Tadi ć gave an outline of other mainstream political theories: liberalism and conservatism. The second part of the seminar dealt with social democratic issues. Milan Živkovi ć gave a presentation about how to go from theory to practice and how policies are developed. Theoretical parts were combined with workshops on social, health care and education. After lunch, Arjen Berkvens gave a presentation on how to go from practice to strategy. He stressed that it is important to have a clear central message, which is a key to success. The last day of the
46 seminar welcomed Professor Vladimir Pavi ćevi ć as guest speaker, who discussed social democracy versus monitory democracy. In a monitory democracy the elected people’s representatives are monitored by the actors of civil society, civilians, media and the society as a network throughout their whole period in office. This presentation was followed by a presentation Sebastjan Jereti ć who discussed the future and current challenges for social democracy. Jereti ć argued that one of the biggest problems social democrats in the region face it that they do not win elections, are unable to remain in power and therefore, cannot implement their policies.
Seminar II – “Media and communication skills” In cooperation with: FES Belgrade Office Date en venue: 7-10 October, Zagreb, Croatia Trainers: Žiga Čebulj ( Public relations consultant, Socialni Demokrati (SD), Slovenia) and Dig Istha (Director Corporate Affairs RWE Energy) Guest Speakers: Sre ćko Horvat (journalist) and Ivan Ra čan (member of the SDP main board)
Report The introduction to the seminar on media and communication skills was prepared by Žiga Čebulj, who talked about the methods of communication and how to develop and communicate the message. He stressed the importance of a media mix for political parties and explained the essence of a good PR strategy. The second day, Čebulj talked about how to give a good press conference and write a press release, and elaborated on the aspect of verbal and nonverbal communication. In the afternoon, Dig Istha shortly presented the theory on crisis management. He explained how to deal with a crisis during, for instance, an election campaign. After this there workshop during which the participants had to prepare causes’ which could let to crisis within a party? The last day of the seminar started with a presentation on the independence of the media and the media landscape in Croatia by journalist Sre ćko Horvat. In Croatia many media outlets are owned by influential businessmen. Finally, Ivan Ra čan discussed the political situation in Croatia and presidential election campaign in which SDP candidate Ivo Jopsoivi ć was elected president.
Seminar III – “European integration” In cooperation with: FES Belgrade office Date and venue: 4-7 March, Portorož, Slovenia Trainers: Suzanne Jansen (The Hague Academy for Local Governance) and Bas Batelaan (head of European affairs - SSE Renewable) Guest Speakers: Valentin Inzko, High Representative and EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tanja Fajon and Zoran Thaler, members of the S&D Group in the European Parliament
Report After a short introduction Suzanne Jansen explained how the European Union works by giving a historical overview, shortly discussing the enlargement rounds and the consequences thereof, shedding a light on the key terms related to the European Union ― such as pooled sovereignty, supranationalism, intergovernmentalism, deepening and widening ― and by looking at the institutional triangle of the EU. Hereafter, Bas Batelaan discussed lobbying in the EU and shared his experience as lobbyist in Brussels. In the afternoon of the first day, the trainers set out the theory of “chairing a meeting”, which was followed by a short workshops on this issue. The seminar continued with the showing of the controversial documentary “The road to Europe”. The film follows the Danish Prime Minister and EU President, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as he leads the negotiations towards the Union's enlargement. The documentary provides a revelatory behind the scenes insight into how the EU enlargement was discussed between the leaders during the Danish EU presidency. Finally, the first day of the seminar ended with a guest speaker, Dr. Valentin Inzko High Representative and EU Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) , who discussed the EU integration of Western Balkans. Inzko mainly focused on the situation in BiH, the role of the EU in that country, and the importance of BiH for regional stability. The second day of the seminar started with a presentation on the theory of negotiations. As a warming up to the negotiations simulation game on Turkey, the trainers prepared a short simulation game in which three parties had to get as much money as possible of the total available amount, in order to realise their plan. The last day of the seminar welcomed Tanja Fajon and Zoran Thaler who discussed the political situation in the region and the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.
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Social Democracy Mapping Project – Social Democracy in South Caucasus conference Location: Tbilisi, Georgia Date: 26-27 March, 2010 Partners: S&D Group, PES, FES Georgia Target Group: Social Democratic parties in South Caucasus, political and social democracy experts from the academic and civil society worlds AMS participant: Marina Ohanjanyan
Report The seminar was in the context of a larger social democracy mapping project, in which we try to map the situation with democracy and social democracy in three regions: Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. This was the first such seminar, focussing on South Caucasus. The first day of the two-day seminar was the more political one, with social democrats from all three South Caucasus republics (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) as well as European social democrats taking the floor to discuss the current situation with democracy and social democracy in all three countries, and the role that European social democrats could play. The second day was the more research-oriented day, with experts from the academic and NGO worlds discussing the more historic development of democracy and social democracy in their respective countries since independence. Prior to the seminar we also organised a fact-finding mission, featuring bilateral meetings with representatives of political parties, the state (including President Saakashvili, Minister of Foreign affairs Vashadze etc.)
Social Democracy Mapping Project – fact-finding and conference in Kazakhstan on Central Asia Location: Astana and Almaty, Kazakhstan Date: 4-7 November, 2010 Partners: S&D, PES, FES Target Group: representatives of Kazakh political parties, the state, international organisations and the civil society AMS participant: Marina Ohanjanyan
Report Continuing our mapping project, this was the second seminar, focusing on Central Asia. Prior to the seminar we had a fact-finding mission spread over Astana and Almaty, in which we had bilateral meetings with representatives of political parties, the state, international organisations and the civil society focussing on Kazakhstan. Afterwards, the two-day seminar went into the regional situation. On the first day, representatives of social democratic political parties of the region discussed the situation with democracy and social democracy in their country, and European social democrats discussed their potential role. On the second day representatives of the academic world and the civil society discussed the more historic development of democracy and social democracy in their respective countries since independence. We had representation from all Central Asian states except for Turkmenistan, where it appeared unsafe for independent experts to attend such a conference.
Winter Academy Ukraine Location: Irpin, Ukraine Date: 19-24 November 2010 Partners: UK Labour Party, IDSP Ukraine Target Group: promising members of partner parties in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus AMS participant: Marina Ohanjanyan
Report We organised a pilot training for young, promising members of our partner parties in Eastern Europe (Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, and Moldova) and South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia). The motivation behind the combined training was the fact that the countries and their inhabitants share much of their history and some of the resulting geo-political problems, but seem to be at the same time at very different stages in their democratic development. We believed this would be an opportunity for them to not only undergo a more intense training than usual, but to also exchange experiences with each other and create a network of young promising politicians in the region. The subjects of the training were: ideology (social democracy), PR/communication and the EU. The evaluation of the pilot
48 training was very positive, so we suggest continuing the project in the future as well, on an annual basis.
Promising politicians Romania-Moldova Location: Chisinau, Moldova Date: 15-17 October 2010, 18-20 February 2011 Partners: FES Moldova, FES Romani Target group: promising members of the Democratic Party of Moldova (DPM) and Social Democratic Party (Romania) Trainers: Milan Zivkovic and Kirsten Meijer; Berend Jan van den Boomen and Suzanne Jansen
Report In 2010 we worked together with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) offices in Romania and Moldova to organise a Promising Politicians series for Romania and Moldova, similar to the one in the Balkans. A group of young, promising politicians is chosen from the participating parties to receive a series of three trainings: on ideology, PR/Communication, and the EU. The AMS provided trainers for the first and third training. Because of logistical reasons the third and final seminar was organised in the beginning of 2011. The series was a success, and was evaluated very positively by trainers, organisers and participants. The participants received knew knowledge and skills, and exchanged experiences, being from two communities with a similar cultural and historic heritage but different positions in the modern-day international arena (one being an EU member). However, they also created an informal social network and friendships. In fact, many requested a so-called alumni- meeting in order to see each other again in the future. Considering the fact that the participants were selected on their perceived political potential, it is likely that many of them will end up in official positions within their parties or countries, and having this network might strongly facilitate their communication and cooperation. Considering the success of the project we propose to continue it in the future. The wish was also echoed by the local organisers from FES.
News service & website
The AMS publishes a successful monthly digital newsletter. The number of subscribers is approximately 1500. Besides individuals interested in Eastern Europe, the newsletter is received by a huge number of NGOs, foundations, Ministries etc. The newsletter pays attention to the AMS activities, to the developments in ‘our region’ with a special focus on political developments, upcoming events relevant for our audience and offers the possibility for discussions, especially regarding EU-enlargement and foreign policies.
The news service is a spin off of our newsletter. Whenever we think it is important we disseminate information on meetings of organisations in the PvdA or outside the PvdA that are of importance to our target group of in (Eastern) Europe interested individuals. To avoid annoyance we try to limit the amount of e-mails, but we have received a lot of encouraging reactions. Our websites are: www.alfredmozerstichting.nl and www.effectivetraining.org . The first website is the place where those interested can find all information on the AMS. It contains all articles of the Newsletter and other news, together with technical information on the oganisation and the projects. This website is visited more than 2000 times a month.
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