ALBANIA
National Conference Focuses on Training Teachers
The Albanian Ministry of Education and Science, in cooperation with the Albania Country Office, organized in Korca on May 22 a national conference on "Education and Training of Teachers Towards Long-Term Professional Development" as part of the Education Excellence and Equity Project. Participants included the Minister of Education and Science, the mayor of Korca, university professors, representatives from all the Regional Education Directorates, and donors involved in the education sector in the country. The participants agreed that the system for teacher training and qualification is a national priority for Albanian education, and that reform in the education system can not be achieved without having first reformed this system.
Albanian Organizations Put in Good Showing at Development Marketplace
Six Albanian organizations were among 21 winners to receive grant awards for innovative employment projects at the final round of the 2006 West Balkans Development Marketplace on May 17-18 in Belgrade. Over 150 applications were received during this competition from civil society groups, social entrepreneurs, the private sector, private foundations, academia, and government agencies from all over Albania. Click here for the press release.
ARMENIA
State-of-the-Art Courthouse Opens under Bank Project
The opening ceremony of the newly-constructed First Instance Court in the Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun communities was held in Yerevan on May 26. The building now complies with international standards. This is the eleventh courthouse completed under the Bank-funded Judicial Reform Project. Cabinet members, Members of Parliament, the President’s Chief of Staff, the Mayor of Yerevan, NGOs, and media attended the ceremony. Country Manager Roger Robinson emphasized the Bank’s role in creating an independent, efficient, and transparent judicial system in Armenia. New Grant to Improve Urban Heating
Country Manager Roger Robinson and Tamara Babayan from the Government’s Renewable Resources and Energy Efficiency Fund signed a grant agreement for the Heating and Gas Project for Armenia on April 30. The amount of the grant is US$3.1 million, financed by the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid, a World Bank-administered trust fund. The objective of the Project is to improve access to gas and heating services for poor households in urban apartment buildings. The Project will be complemented with US$3 million from the “Capital Grants to the Poor” component of the Urban Heating Project approved by the World Bank in June 2005.
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
Bosnian Projects Perform Well at Development Marketplace
Four Bosnian organizations were among 21 winners to receive grant awards for innovative employment projects at the finals of the 2006 West Balkans Development Marketplace on May 18 in Belgrade. Ciklo Centar’s Mountain Bike Highway project received the best overall score among 55 NGOs and private firms that participated in the event. The total grant funding distributed was worth over US$700,000. Click here for the press release. Civil Society Day Encourages Collaboration; Small Grants Winners Announced
The Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Office held a joint meeting on May 5 with representatives of NGOs, private companies, youth associations, Youth Voices, and other organizations that have been involved in the Bank’s civil society programs. Country Manager Dirk Reinermann chaired the meeting of over 40 participants, including media and some of the Bosnian jury members for the West Balkan Development Marketplace. The Development Marketplace finalists and the 13 Small Grants Program winners gave presentations, and participants discussed the challenges facing civil and business communities in BH and opportunities for cooperation. This was the seventh year for the Small Grants Program in BH, and over the past two years the program has supported the engagement of vulnerable groups in social and economic development, as well as decision-making in the country. Click here for the press release. World Bank Supports Land Registration Reform in Bosnia
The Bank’s Board of Directors approved a US$17 million Land Registration Project on April 28. This project will facilitate the orderly development of transparent land markets through the registration of real estate rights and policies that enable secure and efficient transactions. It will help to clear up the land registration title system so that people in both urban and rural areas can develop their land or utilize it for investment with greater security. Click here for the press release.
CROATIA
Global Environment Facility Grant for Renewable Energy Projects
The Ministry of Economy and the State Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed an agreement for a US$5.5 million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on May 17. The money will finance the construction of renewable energy sources, such as wind farms, solar power plants, and small hydroelectric plants. The State Bank will implement the project and select the consultants. The government aims to increase the share of electricity produced from renewable sources from the current 0.5% to 5.7% by 2010, or 300 megawatts of capacity. Enhancing Agricultural Competitiveness in Croatia
Minister of Finance Ivan Suker and Country Director Anand Seth signed a loan agreement for €25.5 million for the Agricultural Acquis Cohesion Project and a grant agreement for €4 million from the Development and Dutch Trust Fund on May 8. The objective of the Project is to enable Croatia’s agricultural sector to capture benefits from potential European Union accession. Croatian Minister of Agriculture Petar Cobankovic and Dutch Minister of Agriculture Cees Veerman attended the signing ceremony. Read the feature story for more information. World Bank Awards Small Grants to Eight NGOs
Eight Croatian NGOs received grants of between US$3000 and $5000 from the 2006 Small Grants Program on May 4. The grants will help the NGOs implement civic engagement projects supporting activities that empower and enable civil society groups to take initiative and influence development outcomes. The activities also strengthen mechanisms for inclusion, accountability, participation, and partnerships with public sector and other civil society organization. The Program is also focused on empowering marginalized and vulnerable groups. The Country Office received a total of 103 project proposals.
GEORGIA
World Bank Supports Avian Flu Prevention in Georgia
The Bank’s Board of Directors approved on May 31 a US$3.5 million credit and US$3.5 million grant for the Avian Influenza Control and Human Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project. This project will minimize the threat posed to humans and the poultry industry in Georgia by avian flu and will prepare for, control, and respond to influenza pandemics and other infectious disease emergencies in humans. Click here for the press release. Georgia Office Announces Small Grants Winners
The Georgia Country Office announced the Small Grants Program winners for 2005-2006 on May 8. A total of $34,000 available for this year’s Program, complemented by grant funds from Open Society Georgia Foundation and Eurasia Foundation, will be used to support 10 projects selected out of the 77 grant applications submitted. This year’s Program supported projects promoting dialogue and dissemination of information on youth development in the country. The World Bank’s Georgia “Youth Voices” decided on the following sub-topics this year: youth participation in decision-making, youth and unemployment, youth and non-formal education, youth and creative initiatives, and youth and conflicts.
KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
Kyrgyz Project One of 30 Winners at 2006 Development Marketplace
The project “Cane Reed: 19th Century Idea, 21st Century Solution” from the Habitat Kyrgyzstan Foundation was one of 30 winners at the Global Development Marketplace held May 8-9 in Washington, DC. The objective of the project is to improve the living conditions of poor families in Bishkek by providing affordable and environmentally-friendly home heating systems. The project combines a traditional but forgotten construction method using cane reed and clay with a technological innovation to create an affordable floor heating system. The benefits of this innovative construction technique, which can be applied to both new buildings and existing housing stock, are significant: 40% reduction in the cost of home construction and maintenance, 75% reduction in heating costs, and reduced environmental degradation. After demonstrating the sustainability of the technique in a pilot in which multi-apartment houses will be constructed for 10 families, the project will be replicated in other areas. Click here for the press release.
MOLDOVA
Poster Contest Communicates Value of Water
Under the auspices of the Moldova Pilot Water Supply and Sanitation Project, the village of Corjeva and the World Bank sponsored a poster contest on "Why We Value Water." Children from the two village schools provided over 50 submissions. In early May, the Project team returned to Corjeva to hand out awards, and the students thanked the World Bank for providing clean, safe water to the village. Corjeva was selected as a pilot under the project component that helps rehabilitate malfunctioning village water supply systems. The pilot involves a small grant from the Moldova Environmental Fund as well as in-kind contributions by the villagers and the collection of funds by the villagers to help with design costs. Click here for the project success story.
RUSSIA
AIDS Conference Held in Moscow
The Eastern European and Central Asian AIDS Conference, held in Moscow May 15-17, provided an opportunity for organizations and individuals from across the region to share experiences and develop common approaches to the fight against HIV/AIDS at a time when the course of the epidemic can still be reversed. The event was organized by the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Surveillance in Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare with UNAIDS and the International AIDS Society. The World Bank was a conference supporter and was represented by a group of health specialists. Debrework Zewdie, Director of the Global AIDS Program and head of the Bank’s delegation, addressed the participants. For more information, read the feature story.
SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Small Grants Awarded to Civil Society Organizations
For the fifth time since 2002, the World Bank awarded Small Grants to civil society and non-governmental organizations in Serbia and Montenegro. Representatives of 9 NGOs, whose projects were awarded a total of US$34,000, had an opportunity to discuss the impact of their activities and share views on possibilities for their enhancement with the Country Manager and World Bank staff. This year, the Small Grants Program focused on public accountability, improved social protection, and access to public services for poor and vulnerable populations. 2006 West Balkans Development Marketplace
The first-ever West Balkans Development Marketplace took place in Belgrade on May 17-18. During the Innovation Day on May 18, 55 finalists from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Kosovo - selected in a competitive process at the national level - presented their innovative ideas for job creation in the formal sector and competed for grants of around US$35,000 per project. An international jury chaired by Country Director Orsalia Kalantzopoulos selected 21 projects from the region, winning a total of US$712,000 raised from donors. As a complementary activity, a Knowledge Forum focusing on youth employment was held on May 17, organized in partnership with a prominent local NGO Civic Initiatives. The event gathered over 100 youth NGO representatives and policymakers from the participating countries and was an opportunity to exchange experience with a focus on models of youth empowerment and youth inclusion into labor market. Click here for the press release.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Small Grants Awarded to NGOs in Slovakia
The 2006 Small Grants Program supported projects targeting civic engagement, with a specific focus on the Decade of Roma Inclusion. A total of US$68,000 was awarded by the World Bank and Open Society Foundation Slovakia (OSF), with each organization pledging matching funds. For the second year, the program was launched and managed jointly with OSF Slovakia. Nine projects out of 31 were selected, focusing on activities promoting joint initiatives by community members, increasing citizens' involvement in decision-making, and influencing policymaking at local and regional levels. Emphasis was also put on disseminating information on the Decade objectives to increase awareness of the Decade among policymakers and beneficiaries. New Study on Slovak Agri-Food Sector
The study Market Linkages in the Slovak Agri-Food Sector has been finalized, focusing on the vertical coordination between farms and agribusiness companies, which has recently become a major phenomenon in Slovakia and the rest of Central and Eastern Europe. The study indicates a need to integrate supply chain developments into policy thinking and program strategies. It reinforces the importance of a macroeconomic and regulatory policy environment that stimulates investment and restructuring, the importance of competition, and the empowerment of farms. The study also suggests that the role of the government in policymaking should be revised, with the focus on policy analysis and information gathering, rethinking traditional public investments, and considering public-private partnerships. The study was prepared in cooperation with the Research Institute for Agriculture and Food Economics.
TURKEY
President Wolfowitz Delivers Speech on Turkey’s Education, Economy
President Paul Wolfowitz delivered a speech titled ''Turkey: Embracing East and West'' at the 2nd annual Sakip Sabanci Conference held by Sabanci University and the Brookings Institute in Washington D.C on May 23. Mr. Wolfowitz touched on the economic and social improvements that Turkey has achieved and stressed that they are important both for its neighbors and the rest of the world. However, he indicated that despite Turkey’s significant economic reforms, unemployment is still too high. In regard to Turkey's European Union accession, Wolfowitz indicated that Turkey's EU accession would bring several benefits to the union. He added that Turkey should focus on its education system and employment. Mr. Wolfowitz also emphasized Turkey’s secularism and its respect for religion. Loan Agreement Signed for Avian Flu Project
The loan agreement for a €27.3 million Avian Influenza and Human Pandemic Preparedness and Response Project for Turkey was signed on May 17. The objective of the Project is to minimize the threat in Turkey posed to humans by highly pathogenic avian influenza infection and other zoonoses in domestic poultry and to prepare for the control and response to an influenza pandemic and other infectious disease emergencies in humans. To achieve this, three areas will be supported: prevention, preparedness and planning, and response and containment. Achieving these goals will contribute to diminishing the burden of disease and loss of productivity in Turkey, limiting the regional spread of the avian flu virus, and enhancing economic and social prospects at the national, regional, and global levels. Click here for the press release.
UKRAINE
Bank Discusses Restructuring of Suspended HIV/AIDS Project
The World Bank held a press conference on the current status of the suspended Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS Control Project on May 18. Country Director Paul Bermingham announced at the press conference that the World Bank looks forward to receiving and discussing with the government of Ukraine precise proposals to restructure the suspended project, but emphasized that the project and the national program will only succeed if there are significant changes from past practice. The Bank also announced that the report Socioeconomic Impact of HIV/AIDS in Ukraine, co-authored with the International HIV Alliance, will be launched shortly. Click here for the press release.
UZBEKISTAN Nutrition Workshop Brings Experts Together
A national workshop titled “Improving Effectiveness and Coordination of Ongoing Programs on Nutrition in Uzbekistan” was held on May 22-23 in Tashkent. The workshop was organized by the Ministry of Health with the World Bank and UNICEF. Workshop participants from different ministries, state agencies dealing with nutrition and food safety, and various international organizations discussed the current status of nutrition programs, identified challenges and barriers in the nutrition sector, determined strategic priorities, and initiated the development of a National Nutrition Policy. To follow up, a press conference devoted to nutrition problems was held on May 23. Country Manager Martin Raiser, UNICEF Country Representative Rezza Hossaini, and D. Akhmedova from the Ministry of Health answered questions. Small Grants Awarded to NGOs
The Uzbekistan Country Office hosted a ceremony for recipients of awards from the 2006 Small Grants Program on May 16. The event included a welcome speech from Country Manager Martin Raiser and Irina Tsoy, who organized the Program; project presentations by new grantees; results presentations from and the experiences of prior grantees; and greetings on behalf of the evaluation committee from Asian Development Bank gender expert Mekhri Khudaiberdieva. The awards ceremony ended with the signing of grant agreements between the Bank and the grantees.
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