Call for proposals for national and regional training courses in human rights education for 2006

Application deadline: 31 January 2006
The Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe has been running a European youth programme on human rights education since the year 2000, aiming to bring human rights issues in the mainstream of youth work practice. This programme is designed to achieve wide synergies between human rights education and youth work in the Council of Europe member states and beyond.
The Council of Europe welcomes proposals and expressions of interest from non-governmental youth organisations, other non-governmental and governmental organisations and institutions interested in human rights education with young people.
For all further information please click here

SALTO SEE Activities update

Information concerning support activities organised by SALTO SEE in 2006 on our website has been updated. In particular, you can now find calls for participation and application forms for the following activities:
Training Course on the financial management of YOUTH programme grantsDates and venue of the activity: 17 - 20 March 2006, Sarajevo (BiH)Deadline for applications: 6 February 2006
National Agency staff training and YOUTH programme evaluation workshop on Cooperation with South East EuropeDates and venue of the activity: 24 - 28 May, Mostar (BiH)Deadline for applications: 20 March 2006
Full information can be found or downloaded under http://www.salto-youth.net/tcsee/

Second Call for YOUTH Programme Contact Points in Partner Countries in South East Europe

Application deadline: 25 January 2006
The SALTO SEE Resource Centre is issuing a second call for YOUTH Programme Contact Points in South East Europe to complement the existing Contact Points which were set up in September 2005.
Following a public call for applications in spring 2005, a total of 12 YOUTH programme Contact Points were nominated by the SALTO SEE Resource Centre in consultation with the European Commission, and set up in September 2005 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the fYR of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro.
The SALTO-YOUTH SEE Resource Centre is issuing this second call to invite NGOs from specific regions in South East Europe, which could not be covered after the first call, to apply for this role, in particular:
Albania: Up to 3 YOUTH Contact Points can be established in different parts of the country.
Eastern part of Croatia (Slavonia,...) : One YOUTH Contact Point should be set up to complement the work carried out by the two already existing Contact Points in Croatia (Volunteers Centre Zagreb in cooperation with the Croatian Youth Network, Zagreb, and ZUM, Pula)
Kosovo (UNMIK): One YOUTH Contact Point should be set up.
The main role of the YOUTH programme Contact Points is to assist the SALTO SEE Resource Centre in enhancing the visibility of and access to the YOUTH programme in the Programme's Partner Countries in South East Europe.
The selected NGOs will be sub-contracted as service providers by the SALTO SEE Resource Centre for a period of in total 6 months, starting on1 April and ending on 31 October 2006, and will receive a small fee to support them in carrying out their tasks as Contact Points for the YOUTH programme.
Candidates must apply by sending the completed "YOUTH programme Contact Point application form" to the SALTO SEE Resource Centre, in which they are asked to describe the nature and experience of their organisation, as well as a proposal of how they would fulfill their role as a contact point for the Programme.
Applications must be sent by post to the SALTO SEE Resource Centre by 25 January 2006 (date of the postal stamp).
The full Call for Applications and the application form can be downloaded under http://www.salto-youth.net/seeStrategy. For more information, please contact the SALTO SEE Resource Centre.

Europe scores with the '.eu' !

Did you know that the EU got its own '. eu' internet domain on 7 December? On the eve of the registration day, about 100 000 '.eu' requests had already been registered
If you want to know all about this new saga, pay a visit to the Information Society website of the European Commission!
A general fact sheet, a technical fact sheet and the Frequently Asked Questions will keep you up-to-date with all the '.eu' news.
The registration process will happen in three stages: during the first two months – called 'sunrise' period – the registration of '.eu' names will be reserved to trademark holders and public bodies. From 7 February to 6 April 2006 registration will be open to other applicants, f.i. company names, unregistered trademarks or works of art. Registration will be open to all from 7 April.
How can you register? It is a piece of cake. You just need to get in touch with one of the 779 registration offices around the world, from the United States to Japan. These offices are accredit by EURid, a non-profit organisation which has been selected by the European Commission to manage the '.eu' domain name.
How much will this cost? During the 'sunrise' period the basic fee charged by EURid will be of €10. It will cost an additional €35 for public bodies, €45 for trademark holders and €85 for other types of domain names. '.eu' applicants will also need to pay about €100 to their registration office.
Uptil now the most popular domain names are 'hotel.eu', 'travel.eu', but also 'sex.eu', 'jobs.eu', 'casino.eu' and 'music.eu'.

Enlargement strategy endorsed

The enlargement strategy presented in November by the European Commission received strong endorsement from European Union foreign affairs ministers at their December 12 General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels. In its formal conclusions, the Council welcomed the Commission’s Communication on Enlargement presented on 9 November 2005, and the reports, recommendations and partnership proposals that accompanied it. At the request of several member states, the EU is planning a major reflection next year on the direction, speed and scope of enlargement, in the context of the broad reflections on the future of Europe. The Commission strategy is a good basis for "a necessary, further discussion on enlargement in 2006", the Council concluded. Meanwhile, careful attention was needed to anchor and develop support for the enlargement process across the EU, taking particular account of the views of EU citizens and the absorption capacity of the Union, the Council said. Conditionality should be applied effectively, at all stages of the process, in a fair and rigorous way, the Council added, reiterating at the same time its "strong encouragement to candidate countries, and other countries in the Western Balkans, along the road to reform and stability by reconfirming their European perspective." On Croatia, which started EU membership negotiations in October, the Council underlined its commitment to the accession process, and urged the country to make further progress on all the issues identified in the Commission's November report and in the Accession Partnership that has now been agreed. The Council exhorted Turkey to continue its reforms and preparations. And it reminded the Turkish authorities that there would be an EU verification to ensure "a follow-up in 2006 on the progress made on relevant issues" set out in the EU September declaration – a reference to the formal reminders that the EU offered to Turkey on recognising Cyprus and opening up its ports and airspace to accommodate traffic with the island.
Accession Partnerships set out principles, priorities and conditions to focus candidates' preparations for accession, and provide guidance for EU financial assistance. European Partnerships are similar documents, for countries in the Western Balkans as they move towards the prospect of EU membership. Each country is expected to develop a plan with a timetable and specific measures to address the legislative, budgetary and administrative planning priorities of these partnerships, and implementation is regularly monitored by the EU. The partnerships are updated in the light of developments, and successive versions identify new priorities for action adapted to each country’s specific needs and stage of preparation.
The Council also welcomed the Commission’s November road map for the Western Balkans and the progress reports on the countries in the region. It "drew encouragement from the region’s recent progress that the EU’s policies, based primarily on the fair and rigorous use of conditionality and a clear European perspective, were proving effective." And it reaffirmed its longstanding message that the future of the Western Balkans, with its potential candidate countries, lies in the European Union. Each country’s progress towards the EU would depend on how quickly it establishes respect for and protection of minorities, and other requirements of the links with the EU, including full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the Council confirmed. It particularly urged Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina to build on the positive development of the recent arrest of fugitive Croatian general Ante Gotovina, and to "take decisive action to ensure that all remaining fugitive indictees, notably Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, are finally brought to justice". The Council also gave its political agreement to European Partnerships with Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro including Kosovo.

SALTO Upcomming Inclusion activities

• Inclusion - Breaking the barriers of social and physical disadvantages through voluntary service: a contact making seminar to establish partnerships between the organisations from the EU, and Pre-Accession Countries, that will trigger new volunteer exchange projects, enhancing the young peoples' mobility and promoting their participation and inclusion in the development of civil society. Bulgaria 9-12 March 2006. Course Description
• Out! - summercamp 2006: Summercamp for young people, aged 16 to 25. The theme will be "Living in a group is not easy". This theme came up due to the many questions OUT! receives about it. Living in society can be difficult, especially when you are gayminded or face some other identity. This can raise even more questions when you are dealing with different cultures. Who am I within an intercultural group? The Netherlands 27 July-8 August 2006. http://www.outinfo.nl - summercamp@outweb.nl

SALTO Inclusion Training Course 'NO Offence' - Apply now -

No Offence , 3-10 April 2006, Belgium (Flanders) - A Training Course for youth workers (social workers, peer educators,...) working with young ex-offenders, offenders who are currently in prison or youth at risk of offending - about how to use the European YOUTH programme as a tool to create meaningful projects for this target group.
This course will be organised according to the SALTO Inclusion Quality Charter for organising training courses - check them out online at www.SALTOYOUTH.net/InclusionQualityCharter/. This way you know what you can expect when applying for a SALTO Inclusion Course, and maybe you can get inspired by this Quality Charter for the training activities that you are organising, to make them (even) better.
The SALTO Inclusion Resource Centre organises this TC No Offence, within its strategy to promote the inclusion of a variety of specific target groups with fewer opportunties in the YOUTH programme.
Read course description and apply now (www.salto-youth.net/applicationonline/69.html)!