See who's giving, who's getting grants in your field.

Strengthen your search for funds with the Foundation Center's Grants for Children & Youth.
Descriptions of 28,930 recent grants of $10,000 or more
Over $3.2 billion in distributed grants
Grants from 1,029 foundations
This new Guide is a great resource for grantseekers who focus on any of these areas:
adolescent parent services
adult/child matching programs
child development
children's museums
child welfare, including adoption, foster care, and prevention of child abuse
neonatal care
pediatrics and children's hospitals
pregnancy counseling and prevention programs
prevention of youth violence and rehabilitation for youth offenders
scouting organizations
youth centers and clubs
youth development
Easy-access indexes help you quickly find the information you need. The subject index helps you locate funders for your specific project...the geographic index shows which grantmakers fund programs in your state or country...and the recipient index allows you to track grants awarded to organizations similar to your own.
Grants for Children & Youth is one of 12 new-edition Grant Guides published by the Foundation Center. Click here to see all available Grant Guide titles.

First issue of „Bulletin Europe“ - Прв број на Билтенот Европа

The Secretariat for European Affairs has started to publish “Bulletin Europe”, in the line with the efforts to inform the public administration, local self-government and the wider public about the process of integration of the Republic of Macedonia in the European Union. Bulletin Europe will be published on a monthly bases on Macedonian language and will be distributed to the public administration and the units of local self-government.The Secretariat for European Affairs also prepares electronic edition of the bulletin in Macedonian and English. These issues will be accessible for the entire Macedonian public via internet, and will be distributed to the EU bodies and institutions, international organisations, embassies, think-tanks and international media.
If you want to be added to the distribution list, please register at the following link: contact@avis.gov.mk

Секретаријатот за европски прашања почна да издава гласило со име Билтен Европа како дел од напорите за информирање на државната администрација, локалната самоуправа и јавноста за процесот на интеграција на Република Македонија во Европската унија. Билтенот Европа ќе излегува еднаш месечно и печатената верзија на македонски јазик ќе се дистрибуира во државната администрација и до општините.Секретаријатот ќе подготвува и електронско издание на македонски и англиски јазик. Овие изданија ќе бидат достапни до целата македонска јавност, а ќе се дистрибуираат и до институциите и телата на ЕУ, до меѓународни организации, амбасади, истражувачки центри и медиуми.
Заинтересираните може да бидат вклучени на листата за дистрибуција доколку се регистрираат на следниов линк: contact@avis.gov.mk

Definition of Lobbying

The text here below is the first chapter of a paper entitled ‘Comparative Lobbying Practices: Washington, London, Brussels written by Mr. Conor Mc Grath, Lecturer in Political Communication and Public Affairs at the University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland.
The value of this presentation is that it is based on research as well as on the interviews conducted by the author.
In the national context in particular, lobbyists are often seen in a negative light as “pullers off strings” to influence politics out of the public eye. In Brussels on the other hand, in as far as they are playing a constructive role, lobbyists are appreciated as experts. The lobbyist bringing good ideas and convincing arguments to the table is likely to receive undivided attention and positions himself as a proactive partner assisting in solving the problem at stake. Admittedly, there is a problem of definition. Today people in the industry are ‘European Public Affairs Specialists’, ‘EU Public Affairs Professionals’, ‘Government Relations Officers’, ‘Business Communications Officers’, ‘Corporate Affairs Managers’, ‘Specialist Public Affairs Consultants’ probably taking into account that ‘lobbying’ is not more than 15% of what needs to be done. The rest of the time is taken up with monitoring, analysis, networking, strategy formation and a healthy dash of informed guesswork about likely future developments.
See more >

European Policy Summit: Bringing the Balkans into Mainstream Europe, 8 December 2005, Belgium

This high-level international event, the sixth in a series of yearly events on reconstruction and economic development issues in South East Europe, will be held at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels on Thursday 8 December 2005. The Summit will offer an ideal opportunity to debate the future of the Balkans before an audience of EU policymakers, government representatives, business leaders, NGO representatives, academia and members of the international press.
The debates will be organised around three main questions:
Are the Balkans becoming part of the European Economy?
Which Balkans countries are headed for EU membership?
What are the dos and don'ts of Balkan reconstruction and development?
Please click here to see the full programme of the summit and download the registration form.
The registration form has to be returned either by fax on 02 738 75 97 or by email at info@friendsofeurope.org.
For more information please click here or contact the organizers at +32 2 737 91 45 or +32 2 738 75 97 (fax).

East East Programme: Partnership Beyond Borders

Application deadline: at least three months before a project is due to begin
The East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders is one of the initiatives implemented by the Open Society Foundation in London (a registered UK charity). The program supports international exchanges that bring together civil society actors to share ideas, information, knowledge, experiences, and expertise and to support practical actions that result from that networking.
The programme provides financial and human resources that enable civil society actors to build and/or strengthen resources and expertise, share best practices/lessons learned in social transformation, collaborate on innovative solutions to common challenges, create and/or strengthen international advocacy coalitions.
The program gives priority to long-term initiatives with clear goals and realistic potential for effecting positive change, for example, by empowering marginalized and/or vulnerable sectors of society, promoting cultural, ethnic, and social diversity; managing the impact of social, economic, and political change; making information accessible and available to the public; encouraging public engagement and empowerment in civic dialogue.
In 2005 the East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders launched a Subprogram for European Integration. This subprogram will prioritize cooperation among new EU member states, candidate and potential candidate countries, and the EU eastern neighbours. The subprogram is open to Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Application InformationThe East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders is implemented by the Soros foundations. Applications are received and reviewed by these foundations. For more information, please contact the appropriate East East Program coordinator in the Soros foundation in your country.
Fore more information please click here or contact Geszti Judit, Program coordinator, at geszti@soros.hu.

Conference "Balkan Caucasus Programme", 18-22 December 2005, Macedonia

Community Development Institute - Tetovo starts with implementation of the Balkan Caucasus program. This initiative of collaboration and building partnership between the Balkan and Caucasus region started in November 2002 during the discussion among the participants from the Balkans and Caucasus at the DLP forum organized by the Community Development Institute (CDI) - YIC. In August 2003, at the conference "Building Balkan and Caucasus NGO network" organized by the project partners, a declaration has been signed and the principles for further collaboration were established.
The objectives of the programme are: to establish links and to forge more effective cross border collaboration between young leaders and NGOs from the Balkan and Caucasus countries; to provide training for the DLP alumnus and Balkan Caucasus NGO network Members in mediation and negotiation skills to be used in their further youth work; to create a comprehensive data base about methods, tools and case studies used in the Balkans and Caucasus countries by the youth political leaders for confidence building measures.
The participants are welcomed to propose topics of their interest within the frame of the program described. In general, the topics will cover the following issues:
Youth building peace and intercultural dialogue.
Integration processes and inter-ethnic stability.
Multiethnic society - advantages and disadvantages. Lessons learned.
Case studies.
Issues of common interest and possibilities for joint approach and collaboration.
The training component of the introductory event will cover the following topics: "Negotiation and mediation skills". Total number expected to take part at this meeting, including the participants, local staff members,speakers, translators and others is 40 people.
The target audience will be young leaders; DLP alumnus and BC network members from the Balkans and the Caucasus.
Working language of the conference is English. The travel expenses and accommodation will be covered by the organizer.
The application form is available upon request.
For more information please click here or contact the Community Development Institute Macedonia (www.mic.org.mk). Contact person: Sreten Koceski, tel. +389-70-250-286, e-mail sreten@mt.net.mk.

Training Course "Adventure Education", 8 - 15 July 2006, Luxembourg

Application deadline: 10 January 2006
National Agency of the YOUTH programme from Luxembourg has published a Call for participants for the Training Course "Adventure Education", that will take place at the Youth Hostel Lultzhausen, Luxembourg, 8 - 15 July 2006.The Training Course will touch practical aspects of Youth Work through workshops, presentations, information space, exchange of experience, discussions, learning by experience, intercultural learning. The participants will have the opportunity to present their personal, professional and cultural backgrounds. They will also have the opportunity to share experiences about their work with young people and to see how to transfer their experiences of adventure education to the reality of their everyday work with young people. Working language of the TC: English.
Objectives
to provide a general introduction to theory and practice of experiential education,
to enable participants to implement outdoor projects in their organisations and within the YOUTH programme,
to help contact making between youth workers and youth leaders from the different countries involved,
to share and learn from different experiences and work realities in the different countries,
to enable participants to improve their knowledge and their future work concerning adventure education,
to put questions and find answers to adventure education,
to promote co-operation between youth workers, to initiate projects in the YOUTH programme.
Number of Participants
They are expecting around 23 participants:
7 participants from different Partner Countries of Eastern Europe and Caucasus ( Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine),
6 participants from different Partner Countries of South East Europe (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Serbia and Montenegro, including UNMIK Kosovo)
3 participants from Belgium (Flemish, French and German speaking Communities),
1 participant from France,
1 participant from Germany,
1 participant from the Netherlands and
4 participants from Luxembourg.
Profile of Participants
Priority will be given to applicants:
who come from organisations with a certain knowledge and/or interest of adventure education and want to improve them,
who have the will to set up projects with partner countries and programme countries while using adventure education,
be in a good physical condition and willing to participate in sports activities,
have an organisation commitment/support.
Costs
Board and lodging will be provided and paid by the European Commission. Travel costs will be reimbursed.
Application procedure
All applicants must apply by filling in this application form and sending it back by 10 January 2006 to the SALTO Resource Centres or the different Agencies involved. Participants from Partner Countries (South East Europe, Eastern Europe and Caucasus) must send their application form to the SALTO-Centre in charge of their region. Participants from Programme countries (Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands) must send their application to their National Agency.
For more information and contact details please consult the official Call for Participants and Programme of the TC.

New website exposes recipients of EU farm support

A Europe-wide network of investigative journalists will today (1 December) launch a website with detailed information about the end-recipients of EU farm support.Last year, the European Union spent €43.5 billion on agriculture, more than 40 percent of the whole EU budget. But in most countries information on who gets the money is kept secret.
The new website, FarmSubsidy.org is for the first time offering the public easy access to this information.

Интересен WEB за тоа која земја колку пари добива од фондовита на ЕУ за земјоделство.

Eight countries are waiting in the wings to join the European Union.

Bulgaria and Romania have signed accession treaties and are set to join in 2007 or 2008.
Croatia and Turkey started accession talks on 3 October 2005. Turkey could complete them in 10 years, Croatia in five.
The other four Balkan countries have been told they can join the EU one day, if they meet the criteria. These include democracy, the rule of law, a market economy and adherence to the EU's goals of political and economic union.

Candidates for EU membership