Fact Sheet
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
Washington, DC
June 1, 2004
FY 2002-2003 Human Rights and Democracy Fund Projects
DRL's Human Rights and Democracy Fund (HRDF), which is DRL's allocation of the Economic Support Fund (ESF), is used to fulfill the Bureau's mandate to monitor and promote human rights and democracy worldwide. HRDF supports innovative programming designed to uphold democratic principles, support democratic institutions, promote human rights, and build civil society in countries and regions of the world that are geo-strategically critical to the U.S. The following are programs that have been or are currently being supported through the fund. FY 2002-2003 ESF Funds ($13,000,000)
Central Asia
Political Party Development in Uzbekistan ($300,000) – Promote the growth of democratically oriented political parties and parliamentary factions, foster the development of civil society, and encourage constructive dialogue between the government and opposition groups.
Political Party Development in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan ($500,000) – Promote the growth of democratically oriented political parties and parliamentary factions, foster the development of civil society, and encourage constructive dialogue between the government and opposition groups.
Advocacy in the Ferghana Valley ($496,000) – Create a network of advocates in the Ferghana Valley region that will address issues and demands of citizens who are currently unable to advocate effectively on their own behalf.
Human Rights and Media Development in Central Asia ($700,000) – Two-year project that will strengthen accurate and responsible journalism and increase coverage of human rights issues within Central Asia.
China
Advancing the Rule of Law via Court to Court Exchange ($116,000)- Justice Sandra Day O’Connor will lead a delegation of seven senior-level U.S. District and Appellate Court judges to China to meet with their counterparts in the political and judicial sectors and discuss key legal reform issues. This trip represents a unique opportunity to bring top American legal expertise to bear on some of the most important issues in Chinese political and legal reform.
Improving Local Elections, Governance and Rule of Law ($850,000) - This project will support activities designed to improve local elections, governance and the rule of law in China, including training election officials and potential candidates.
Promoting Judicial, Administrative Law and Regulatory Reform in China ($580,000) – This project is positioned to respond to growing debates in China over judicial independence and the relationship between the courts and other government authorities through a series of conferences to debate drafts of laws, including those that address the government’s role in everyday economic and social activities and that expand the legislative and administrative hearing process.
Strengthening Direct Elections for Chinese Township and County Level People’s Congress Deputies ($350,000) – This project support the implementation of new procedures that increase transparency and fairness in township and county level people’s congress deputy elections.
Promoting Citizen Participation in Government and Encouraging Government Accountability in China ($758,000) – This project will strengthen public legislative hearings and the emergence of NGOs, citizen and industry watchdog groups to monitor government activity. Activities include training on how to hold a public hearing, training for NGOs on their role in the legislative process, an assessment of hearings, and expansion of a website on democratic parliamentary procedure.
Promoting Criminal Defense in China ($101,000) – Chinese criminal defense attorneys will be supported through a project to address the ways China’s laws and policies prevent criminal defense attorneys from effectively representing their clients. This project will also develop strategies for criminal defense attorneys to help them protect themselves within the Chinese legal system.
Support for Chinese Initiatives in Judicial Reform and Citizen’s Rights ($600,000) – This project supports Chinese initiatives that will result in meaningful legal reform, including improving legal services in rural areas, strengthening the legal system’s ability to address election violations, promoting criminal defense reform, and supporting efforts to improve the efficiency and fairness of judicial decisions.
NED China Rule of Law, Human Rights and Democracy ($1,000,000) –The National Endowment of Democracy will support a grant-making program to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the People’s Republic of China.
Strengthening Legal Services in China ($297,000) – This project supports activities to improve the ability of lawyers and legal services workers to represent their clients in the areas of family and gender law, especially cases involving domestic violence and pregnancy discrimination.
Promoting Civil Society and Public Advocacy in China ($100,000) - This project will support citizen advocacy projects that provide direct support to a variety of private groups and individuals that are doing environmental awareness work in the public sphere. Projects will support impact litigation, advocacy campaigns, and outreach activities on public environmental matters.
Middle East
Training for Middle East Democracy Activists ($559,000) – Provide democratic activists in the Middle East with skills and knowledge necessary for building a new political paradigm in the Arab World.
Reporting for Humanity ($728,000) – Increase the availability of fact-based journalism provided by independent media in the Middle East and expose journalists to skills and techniques that defuse conflict in their own communities.
Synergies for Electoral Development ($625,000) - Support and consolidate political reforms in the Gulf through a regional strategy of technical assistance to nascent election administration institutions. Project Terminated.
Trade Unions in the Middle East ($499,000) – Educate trade union leaders and workers in the principles of democratic, transparent, and accountable trade unions that will function as a moderating and democratic institution in civil society. A primary focus is on increasing women’s participation in unions.
Morocco Judicial Reform Part II ($138,000) – Follow-on activity to prior Morocco justice sector reform project that will enable government, parliamentary, and civil society actors to complete the process of amending the Penal Procedure Code. This project will finalize the revisions to the code made as a result of the earlier project and address deficiencies in rights appeal, the Statute of Limitations, oversight of investigators in torture cases, and incommunicado detention. It will also provide training and education to equip judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and human rights activists to ensure correct implementation of the new code.
Western Hemisphere
Promoting Political Party Reform and Renewal through Training Departments ($400,000) - support for political party reform and renewal in Peru, Bolivia and Argentina.
Regional Political Party Renovation Program ($304,000) - Support for a regional party-strengthening program that will address the crisis of political parties in Mexico, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Guatemala, Bolivia and Argentina.
Africa
Women’s Leadership Program in East Africa ($300,000) – Establish the first permanent women’s candidate/leadership program in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. Candidates will receive training in order to empower them to participate fully in the democratic processes in their countries. The program will also include a train-the-trainers component so that these women can in turn train other potential women candidates in their countries.
Europe
Turkey Judicial Exchange Supplement – ($112,000) - To support continued funding of a judicial sector exchange program that addresses Turkey’s two most serious human rights problems of torture and restrictions on free expression.
East Asia
Documentation Center of Cambodia ($57,000) – This project supports efforts to conduct an initial forensic analysis of a limited number of mass graves, as well as collect and preserve a sample of traumatized human skeletal remains as important physical evidence of the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge.
Indonesia Pesantren Training Phases 2 & 3 ($118,000) – This project will build on a previous project to support democratic reform and curb Muslim fundamentalism in Indonesia by funding the last two phases of a training program for Indonesian community leaders, including training on democracy and education issues. Community leaders will also develop proposals for increasing community participation in the management of their Pesantren (boarding school). Phase three will involve monitoring the implementation of the projects and conducting workshops that will bring the participants of the Pesantren projects together to discuss not only the community projects, but also human rights and religious tolerance.
South Asia
Pakistan Electoral Support ($500,000) – Contribute to the overall USAID Pakistani elections support program for $2,500,000 and will help create the conditions for the restoration of democratic rule in Pakistan by strengthening the integrity of the electoral process and increasing voter participation.
Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission ($250,000) – Support the establishment of an Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission as set forth in the Bonn Agreement of December 2001. Specifically, HRDF will be used to help establish the commission’s human rights advisory and institution building capacity and to establish adequate commission capacity to formulate, develop, and manage its mandated functions of processing petitions and complaints.
Worldwide/Regional
NED’s Small Grants Program in the Muslim World ($2,500,000) – The primary focus of NED’s program is to strengthen solidarity networks among democratic activists in Muslim countries. The program will foster the opening of political systems; work to establish more neutral, independent, and effective election administrations; assist civil society organizations and mass media in monitoring elections and expanding the constitutional, legal and political space for civil society; support local efforts to make governments more accountable and transparent, and increase broad-based participation in the political process; and support programs that defend human rights and provide training in conflict resolution and inter-ethnic dialogue. Sub-grants will be made to groups in Muslim countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
Survey of Countries’ Commitment to Democracy and Human Rights ($267,000) – Provide funding to survey 30 countries in order to measure its on-going commitment to rooting out corruption, respecting human rights, and adhering to the rule of law around the world. The surveys will be uniquely tailored to reflect DRL priorities, such as a country’s commitment to promoting democracy and human rights within its region and in global fora.
Worldwide Governance Indicators and Country Diagnostics ($120,000) – Support the increase of efforts to collect and analyze data on global good governance from every three years to every year. The surveys will expand on existing work to develop new mechanisms for gaining insight into good governance, human rights, and civil and political freedom in countries throughout the world.
World Movement for Democracy ($250,000) - Support for the Third Assembly, a global democracy conference scheduled to take place in Durban, South Africa, in April 2003. The conference will bring together participants of various backgrounds and professions including to offer practical help to those struggling to liberalize authoritarian regimes, consolidate emerging democracies and to exchange ideas and experiences and foster collaboration among democratic forces around the world.
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