AMS Annual Report 2010

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.

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