Project proposal for Nordic Amnesty sections Underlag till styrelsemöte 1-2 juni 2003

Till: Styrelsen
Från: Finska sektionen
Datum: 6 juni 2003


Project proposal for Nordic Amnesty sections


Helsinki 26.5.2003

The Human Rights Dimension of the European Union -- a two day conference in Riga in the autumn of 2003

Background

For a number of years the EU-association of Amnesty International has had Working Group on Enlargement and Development (EDWG). The purpose of this working group has been to prepare the existing Amnesty structures in the candidate countries for what EU-membership means for them in terms of lobbying/campaigning.

The main focus of the working group has been a series of workshops organized in connection with Amnesty’s EU-lobbyists meetings. On top of this, there have been some bilateral co-operation and a number of visits to these countries.

At the meeting of the EDWG in January this year it became quite clear, with enlargement of the EU with ten new member states being a fact, that the existing Amnesty presence in these countries1 would just not be able to cope with even the bare minimum of expected work. It also became clear that the work of the EDWG had to take a different approach.

One of the ideas that were proposed in January was to do a pilot project of recruitment of lobbyists in the Baltics in connection with an Amnesty International conference in one of the three Baltic States. The responsibility (both financial and organizational) for this project would be with the Nordic sections of Amnesty International (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden).

The proposal was discussed by chairs and directors of these sections at the Chairs/Directors forum organized in London in March 2003 and there given the green light.

At the EU-association AGM in Rocca di Papa (Rome), Italy in May 2003 the larger question of the challenges posed by the enlargement was again discussed and a Dutch Section resolution reaffirming that this is a particular challenge for established Amnesty sections in the EU and proposing a considerable increase in the funding for this work, was adopted almost unanimously (no-one against but two abstentions).

The Dutch resolution (see attachment) asks the EDWG for a preliminary report on the way to proceed to be presented to the current and future EU sections/structures (and to be discussed) at the ICM in Mexico. However if we want to proceed with the plan for a conference in the autumn of 2003 we have to move forward before that.

Outline of the project

The Nordic sections will organize a two day conference targeting law- and/or political science students in the Baltic States. It will be in a suitable location in one of the Baltic States (Tallinn/Tartu, Riga, Vilnius). The title of the conference would be something in the line of The Human Rights Dimension of the European Union – Challenges and Possibilities for Civil Society in the Baltic States and the ideal timing would be early October, however it might be that for logistical reasons it will have to be at a later date.

Co-operation and support would be sought from Nordic Human Rights Institutes and of course from corresponding institutions and existing NGO’s in the Baltic States. The speakers at the conference would include representatives from Amnesty (EU-office, Nordic sections), governments human rights experts (Nordic and Baltic, possibly also EU-officials and parliamentarians) and academics and possible other NGO’s.

From an Amnesty point of view we would use the conference for “headhunting”, to find people who might be suitable and interested to start working as Amnesty lobbyist on a voluntary basis in their own country. There would not be a need for other existing Amnesty structures in these countries; those recruited would get support from each other and from Nordic EU-lobbyists and the EU-office.

This approach has been approved by the development team at the Europe Program at the IS.

Work done so far

Further than coming up with the idea and keeping it on the agenda, the Finnish section has been in contact with the director of the Human rights institute at Åbo Akademi University. The Institute has extensive co-operation with corresponding institutes in the Baltic States and regular contact with over 200 students in the area. We have also contacted a Finnish academic who works as lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University in Tartu, Estonia.

On the basis of these discussions we have come to the conclusion that the best place to organize the conference would be Riga and that the main local partner would be the Institute on Human Rights at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Law. There has yet been no contact with this institute or any other possible partner in the Baltic States.

The reasons for this choice is that the Latvian institute has co-operation with all Nordic Human rights institutes and naturally for geographical reasons (it is in the middle and it is easy to get there).

The Finnish Section has also secured a financial contribution for the conference from a MEP, Mr Matti Wuori (around 6000 euro).

What needs to be done

If we are going to proceed with the organizing of a conference in a third country with little knowledge of the local partner and a very complicated structure of participants (institutes, govts, NGO’s, students) from at least seven different countries we can fore see a logistical nightmare.

We need to organize a venue, we need to find appropriate speakers (balance of local, Nordic, Brussels) and check their availability at a common date, we need to market the event to the students and we need to have in place a system for registration, travel, food and accommodation. All these things have to be budgeted and we of course need somebody to do the administration.

To pull this through, we need extensive commitment, including money and staff available to work on the project, from more than one section.

How to proceed

The Nordic sections meeting in Oslo 6-8. June 2003 need to decide if the commitment is there. If it isn’t the proposal cannot proceed.

If the commitment is there, the initial things to do:

1. Look at possible date (plus back-up dates)
2. Contact local partner (back-up if first choice not available) an co-operating organizations
3. Make a preliminary program (consulting partners)
4. Invite speakers
5. Organize logistics (accommodation, registration)
6. Start marketing

Ideally most of these things would have to be done before the summer, which might seem impossible. If this is the case, this should not deter us from proceeding, but only to adjust the timetable.

There are probably a number of things that are not listed above and there are also a number of things which relate to the event itself and follow up (administration, recruitment, support of lobbyists) which will need a continuing support and commitment to do this.



On behalf of the Finnish Section

Frank Johansson
Director


1 Small sections in two countries: Poland and Slovenia, rudimentary structures in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, two initiative groups in Estonia and nothing in Cyprus, Malta, Latvia and Lithuania.





amnesty international
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