Islamist radicalisation the challenge for euro-mediterranean relations

162 | N
ONA 
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IKHELIDZE 
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N
ATHALIE 
T
OCCI
 
 
Verkhovna Rada to enable civil society leaders to voice their opinions to the 
speaker of parliament. The IRF additionally supported the “New Choice 
2004” NGO coalition working to ensure a free and fair electoral process in 
Ukraine, and funded programmes aimed at monitoring election campaigns, 
supporting exit polls and assisting civil society actors in their protection of 
voters’ rights and voter mobilisation. Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech 
Republic and Romania, as well as the World Bank, the UNDP (United 
Nations Development Programme), the Canadian embassy in Ukraine, the 
Agency for International Development, the American Lawyers Association, 
the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs and the MacArthur Foundation also 
promoted projects to strengthen civic monitoring in various policy and 
governance areas.
21
 
In Georgia, most of the NGOs established during the 1990s proved 
their strength and influence during the Rose revolution; most had been 
established and had survived through Western funding. Western assistance 
helped NGOs build organisational sustainability, attract qualified staff and 
learn from international experiences how to act independently of 
government.
22
 Public and private international donors such as the 
MacArthur Foundation, Cordaid, the Open Society Georgia Foundation, 
the European Commission and USAID also financed Georgian research 
institutes, including its research on democratic transition and its education 
programmes in tolerance, non-violent communication and human rights 
awareness.
23
 The Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International 
Studies was supported by the Canadian Bureau for International 
                                                      
21
 See the IRF Annual Report for 2004 year (retrieved from 
http://www.irf.kiev.ua/ 
files/eng/projects_re_810_en_ar_2004.html
).  
22
 G. Nodia, Civil Society Development in Georgia: Achievements and Challenges, Policy 
Paper, Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development, Citizens 
Advocate Program, Tbilisi, 2005 (retrieved from 
http://www.cipdd.org/ 
files/7_114_458194_CivilSocietyDevelopmentinGeorgia-textEng.PDF
). 
23
 Other donors that focused on research included the Center for International 
Security and Arms Control of Stanford University, the Danish Refugee Council, the 
Norwegian Refugee Council, the Mensen in Nood Caritas Nederland, the United 
Nations University and UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women). 
These donors funded many of the projects of the International Centre on Conflict 
and Negotiation (ICCN). See the website of the ICCN, “Projects” (retrieved from 
http://www.iccn.ge/view_cat.php?cat=1
).  

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Education, the Canadian International Development Agency, the Center for 
International Security and Cooperation, the Club de Madrid, the Friedrich 
Ebert Stiftung, the Frontera Eastern Georgia, the George C. Marshall 
European Center for Security Studies, the Graduate Institute of 
International Studies, the Geneva Institute of International Studies, the 
Open Society Georgia Foundation and the Open Society Institute Budapest, 
Stanford University and the Swiss Agency for Development and 
Cooperation.
24
 The United Nations Association of Georgia, working to 
enhance civil participation in decision-making, was financed by USAID, 
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, the Eurasia Foundation, the UNDP and the 
German federal foreign office.
25
 
Finally, Western training and capacity-building programmes focused 
on the independent media. In Georgia, the Rustavi2 TV channel and in 
Ukraine the STB, Novyi Kanal and ICTV channels played critical roles in 
the revolutions.
26
 Here too external engagement was of the essence. In 
Ukraine for example, USAID funds helped establish the STB, supported 
independent, regional broadcasting stations and helped train regional 
journalists. USAID also supported the International Research and 
Exchanges Board (IREX), which produced political debates and talk shows, 
and provided legal assistance to independent journalists in Georgia and 
Ukraine. Media grants were similarly provided by the Knight Foundation, 
the McCormick Tribune Foundation, the OSI, the Ford Foundation, the 
Scripps Howard Foundation and the IRF.
27
 The IRF in particular 
encouraged media independence by fostering the establishment of an 
independent journalists’ trade union and helping to create the Civic 
Council on Freedom of Speech and Information in Ukraine, which voiced 
the views of Ukrainian NGOs in the media sphere. It also financed 
                                                      
24
 See the homepage of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International 
Studies (retrieved from 
http://www.gfsis.org/pub/eng/index.php
).  
25
 See the website of the United Nations Association of Georgia, “Programs”, 
“Democracy and Governance” (retrieved from 
http://www.una.ge/eng/ 
democracy&governance.php
).  
26
 D. Anable, The Role of Georgia’s Media – and Western Aid – in the Rose Revolution, 
Working Paper Series, Politics and Public Policy, Joan Shorenstein Centre on the 
Press, Cambridge, MA, 2005, p. 7. 
27
 Ibid., p. 23 

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