hCa General Assembly in Baku - application package
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From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 18:20:42 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: hCa General Assembly in Baku - application package
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Tomas Krasauskas <[email protected]>
hCa General Assembly in Baku - application package
Dear friend,
We are happy to inform you, that Helsinki Citizens' Assembly is
holding its Fifth General Assembly in Baku, Azerbaijan, September 27 -
October 1, 2000
The Assembly is an exciting opportunity to get acquainted with the
Caucasian politics and societies, and to establish contacts with
people, NGOs and youth groups in the region. The Assembly will be
attended by 550-600 people - civic activists, journalists, etc. from
the Caucasus region and beyond.
If you are interested to attend this event, please check the
application package (sent in attachment) and submit us your
application form. Deadline for applications: August 25th, 2000.
Best wishes,
Helsinki Citizens' Assembly
------------------------------
hCa General Assembly
Baku, September 27 - October 1, 2000
APPLICATION PACKAGE
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in the hCa General Assembly, which will be
organised by the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly in Baku, September 27 -
October 1, 2000. The Assembly is an exciting opportunity to get
acquainted with the Caucasian politics and societies, and to establish
contacts with people, NGOs and youth groups in the region. We hope
that you will find some time to read the application package and to
submit us your application form.
The application package contains information on the General Assembly
(Part I), and the application form (Part II). Please fill in the
application form and e-mail it to [email protected] (you can copy the
application form to the body of the message, no need for attachment!)
If you prefer to send it by fax, send it to +420 2 20397251 (hCa
International Secretariat, Prague, The Czech Republic), or +994 12
938071 (hCa Azerbaijan, Baku, Azerbaijan).
Deadline for applications: August 25th, 2000.
I. General Assembly in Baku: information
The Helsinki Citizens Assembly (the hCa) plans to hold its fifth
General Assembly in Baku, Azerbaijan, September 27-October 1, 2000.
The goals of the Assembly are to strengthen civil society in
Azerbaijan; to promote co-operation at the level of civil society in
the Caucasus region as a whole; to develop co-operation with civic
activists outside the region especially in Iran, Russia and Turkey;
and to plan future activities and projects. Above all, it is hoped
that a big event in Baku will raise international public consciousness
about the urgent problems of the region - the ongoing war in Chechnya,
the 'frozen conflicts' of the Southern Caucasus, the struggle for
reform in Iran, the impact of religious and nationalist
fundamentalism, not to mention the implications of great power
competition for oil.
The work of the Assembly will be divided into four themes (civic
security, local community development, regional integration and youth
action across borders), which will reflect the on-going civic
activities in the region and will focus on concrete projects. The
Assembly will be attended by 600 civic activists from the Caucasus,
Middle East, Europe, North America and the rest of the world.
Representatives of governmental institutions, international
organisations, foundations and media will also participate.
Most participants in the Assembly are expected to come from the
Caucasus region and neighbouring countries. The Assembly will provide
an opportunity to present current projects and activities, and to plan
the new ones. In each of the themes, there will be workshops with
young people, women, refugees and IDPs and media who are already
working together.
The Assembly should also play the role of a civic bridge for cultural,
social, and economic co-operation between Europe and the Islamic
World. Azerbaijan is an ideal location to begin a dialogue with
citizens' groups outside the OSCE region. The Azerbaijan hCa has
already begun to make links with groups in Iran. We also hope to
involve groups in South Asia and in other parts of the Middle East. An
important topic concerning both the Caucasus and the wider region, is
the relationship between East and West, and, in particular, between
Christianity and Islam. This will be an important issue incorporated
into discussions at the Assembly.
The Assembly will also be a meeting place for hCa activists. It will
allow the participants to exchange experiences and to develop plans
for working together in the coming years on a range of issues of
concern to the whole organisation: conflicts in other areas,
especially the Balkans; minority issues; the role of civic
participation in the European Union and other international
organisations; civic security, and so on. There will also be
discussion also about the hCa structures - a perennial issue for an
organisation experimenting in international networking.
Activities of the Assembly
Activities of the Assembly will be divided into four themes, based on
the projects currently carried out by the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly
in the South Caucasus: (a) civic security, (b) community development,
(c) regional integration, and (d) youth actions. Each of the themes
will divided into workshops, where current situation and developments
in the Caucasus will be analysed on the bases of experience and
knowledge acquired through implementation of concrete activities. New
programmes and projects will be planned at the workshops as well.
This structure will help to analyse and plan concrete civic
programmes, as well as to evaluate them from a regional perspective,
improving the quality of each separate activity. Also, this structure
will enable co-operation and information exchange between different
activities, making each of them more efficient too.
Agenda
The Assembly will start with a high-profile Opening Plenary Session,
which will demonstrate publicly the importance of civil society in
Azerbaijan and the Caucasus. The themes of the Assembly will be
presented at the Opening Session, and introduction to themes will take
place (this will be done by the Theme Co-ordinators). Then, the work
of the Assembly will be split into the four themes, with workshops and
seminars taking place on specific programmes of the themes. The Theme
Co-ordinators will meet chairs of the workshops and will produce a
report with conclusions.
At the Closing Plenary Session, conclusions of the themes will be
presented.
The Agenda will also include visits to places of socio-political
importance, such as IDP camps, the Lezgyn district, border areas, and
so on. Also, roundtables on social and political issues in the
Caucasus with specially invited speakers will be organised in the
evenings.
The Plenary sessions will have simultaneous translation in English,
Russian and Azeri languages.
Workshops will have simultaneous or consecutive translation in English
and Russian languages, depending on the number of the participants
registered to the workshop, and the languages spoken by most of the
participants.
Thursday, September 28
Arrival and registration
9.00 - 17.00
Opening Plenary
18.00-20.00
Speakers include:
Martin Palous, Co-Chair of the hCa and Czech Deputy Foreign Minister,
Mary Kaldor, Co-Chair of the hCa and professor at the London School of
Economics
Arzu Abdullayeva, Chair of Azerbaijan hCa.
* In addition to the persons mentioned, other well-known human rights
activists and individuals, and representatives from international
organisations and governments are being invited to the Assembly.
Friday, September 29:
Workshops of the Themes
9.00 - 18.00
Round Tables,
19.00 - 20.30
I. Democracy in Azerbaijan, with speakers from political parties
including the ruling party, NGOs, media, and international
organisations
II. Frozen Conflicts in the Caucasus: Building detente from Above and
Below, with speakers both from official organisations and from
citizens' groups.
III. Global Civil Society: Networking between Citizens', with speakers
from Iran, South Asia, the US, Russia and Israel.
Saturday, September 30
Workshops (continued)
9.00 - 16.00
Closing Plenary
18.00 - 20.00
Social Event
20.00 - 22.00
Sunday, October 1
Tree Planting Ceremony in the Red Bridge area to celebrate the peace
zone
II.3. Participants
Since the focus of the Assembly discussion includes a wide range of
issues of Caucasian (refugees and IDPs, conflicts of Nagorno Karabakh,
Abkhasia and South Ossetia, etc), European (the Balkans, European
enlargement, the role of the OSCE and NATO, etc.), Turkey and the
Middle East (Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel, etc.) and global
(Christianity and Islam) dimensions, the hCa goal is to enable as many
people as possible to attend the Assembly.
Participants will be selected according to their interest and
experience in civic actions, conflict resolution, and ability and
interest to apply experience of the Assembly in their communities.
Participants will be selected in two ways: hCa branches and committees
will be asked to send 2-4 members from their branch to the Assembly;
the rest of the participants will be chosen on the basis of their
applications, which they submit to the hCa International Secretariat
or hCa Azerbaijan. This structure will help to strengthen networking
between current hCa members, as well as to bring in new people and new
initiatives into the hCa network.
In addition to civic activists, participants from donor agencies,
international governmental organisations will be invited to attend the
Assembly, in order to use this opportunity to discuss the opinion,
interests and needs of the civic society. Special attention will be
given for journalists - we plan to invite journalists from the largest
national or international newspapers and TV stations in EU, Caucasus
and Middle East, in order to have coverage of the Assembly in their
regions.
There will be no fixed registration fees for the participants,
however, applicants will be asked to make voluntary donations, which
would be used for hCa Azerbaijan projects on refugees and IDPs, women
rights, etc.
Applicants will be able to apply to have their travel and
accommodation costs reimbursed, because we cannot guarantee at this
moment that all travel and accommodation costs for all participants
will be reimbursed. Priority will be given for participants coming
from countries with low living standards and members of minorities.
The goal of the organisers is to encourage participants to cover their
participation costs themselves, however, high travel costs and poor
fundraising environments should not hinder people from participating
at this important civic event. Therefore, organisers will put all the
efforts to fund participation costs for all the participants.
II. Application Form
hCa General Assembly
Baku, September 27 - October 1, 2000
DEAR APPLICANT,
WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST TO ATTEND THE hCa GENERAL
ASSEMBLY IN BAKU. PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW, SO THAT WE COULD
LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR ACTIVITIES, EXPERIENCE, AND INTERESTS. THIS
INFORMATION WILL ALSO HELP US TO ADAPT THE ASSEMBLY PROGRAMME TO
PARTICIPANTS' INTERESTS.
THE INFORMATION THAT YOU PROVIDE WILL BE USED TO SELECT PARTICIPANTS
TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, AND WILL NOT BE DISCLOSED, EXCEPT CONTACT
INFORMATION; AFTER THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, A LIST OF PARTICIPANTS AND
THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION WILL BE CIRCULATED.
IF YOU AGREE (PLEASE SEE QUESTION 16), YOUR INFORMATION WILL BE ALSO
KEPT IN THE hCa DATABASE, SO THAT WE COULD INFORM YOU ABOUT OTHER hCa
ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS.
Deadline for applications: August 25, 2000.
We will notify you whether you have been accepted, and what amount of
your travel costs will be reimbursed by September 1, 2000 at the
latest.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
1. FAMILY NAME:
2. FIRST NAME:
3. TITLE:
4. GENDER:
5. COUNTRY(IES) OF CITIZENSHIP:
6. ORGANISATION/COMPANY
6.A. POSITION
7. ADDRESS (THE MOST CONVENIENT MAILING ADDRESS)
7.A. STREET, HOUSE (AND FLAT) NUMBER:
7.B. CITY
7.C. POSTAL CODE
7.D. COUNTRY
8. E-MAIL ADDRESS:
9. TEL. NUMBER:
10. FAX NUMBER:
11. WHAT NGO ACTIVITIES ARE YOU INVOLVED IN? (PLEASE EXPLAIN):
12. WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE A PRESENTATION ABOUT YOUR
PROJECT/ACTIVITIES? YES/NO
12. A. IF YES, WHAT IS THE TOPIC AND TITLE OF YOUR PRESENTATION?
12. B. WILL YOU NEED SPECIAL AUDIO/VIDEO EQUIPMENT FOR YOUR
PRESENTATION? IF YES, PLEASE LIST IT HERE:
(IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE A PRESENTATION, YOU SHOULD PRESENT SUMMARY
OF IT BY AUGUST 25, 2000. SUMMARIES WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE
INFORMATION PACKAGE AND PRESENTED TO ALL THE PARTICIPANTS BEFORE THE
ASSEMBLY).
13. LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE (EXCELLENT/GOOD/LIMITED/MINIMAL)
PLEASE INDICATE YOUR LEVEL
RUSSIAN:
ENGLISH:
(THE WORKING LANGUAGES WILL BE ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN, THEREFORE, WE
EXPECT THE PARTICIPANTS TO HAVE THE BASIC KNOWLEDGE OF THOSE TWO
LANGUAGES, TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN CONVERSATIONS AND
DISCUSSIONS. INTERPRETATION INTO RUSSIAN OR ENGLISH WILL BE PROVIDED
DURING MOST OF THE SESSIONS).
14. DO YOU AGREE THAT WE STORE THE INFORMATION ABOVE (QUESTIONS 1-13)
IN THE hCa DATABASE, AND USE IT FOR INVITING AND SELECTING
PARTICIPANTS TO OTHER hCa EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES? YES/NO
15. REASON FOR APPLYING TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN BAKU AND YOUR
EXPECTATIONS FROM THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (PLEASE EXPLAIN IN 4-5
SENTENCES):
TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATION INFORMATION
NOTE: VIZA, ACCOMMODATION, MEALS, AND LOCAL TRAVEL COSTS RELATED TO
GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROGRAMME WILL BE COVERED BY THE ORGANISERS FOR ALL
THE PARTICIPANTS.
THOSE PARTICIPANTS WHO CANNOT ARRANGE FUNDING FOR THEIR TRAVEL COSTS
(OR PART OF IT) THEMSELVES, SHOULD APPLY TO THE TRAVEL COSTS SUPPORT
PROGRAMME.
WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO FIND FUNDING FOR ALL THE APPLICANTS TO THE
TRAVEL SUPPORT PROGRAMME, HOWEVER, WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT TRAVEL
COSTS WILL BE REIMBURSED FOR ALL THE APPLICANTS.
TRAVEL
16.A. WHAT IS THE COST OF YOUR RETURN TRIP TO BAKU? PLEASE INDICATE
THE APPROXIMATE AMOUNT IN USD. DO NOT INCLUDE VISA COST.
16.B. WHAT AMOUNT OF YOUR TRAVEL COSTS TO BAKU AND BACK ARE YOU ABLE
TO COVER YOURSELF, OR FIND FUNDING YOURSELF?
16.C. FOR WHAT AMOUNT WOULD YOU LIKE TO APPLY TO THE TRAVEL SUPPORT
PROGRAMME?
ACCOMMODATION
SPEAKERS WILL BE ACCOMMODATED IN SINGLE ROOMS. OTHER PARTICIPANTS WILL
BE ACCOMMODATED IN DOUBLE ROOMS. SINGLE ROOMS ARE AVAILABLE FOR
ADDITIONAL FEE OF 14 USD/NIGHT.
17. IF YOU ARE NOT A SPEAKER, WOULD YOU LIKE TO REQUEST A SINGLE ROOM?
YES/NO
ALSO PLEASE NOTE, THAT PARTICIPANTS ARE EXPECTED TO ARRANGE HEALTH
INSURANCE THEMSELVES.
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