| Publication |
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| Title | RESOLUTION OF KYIV REGIONAL NGO CONGRESS |
| Author | KYIV REGIONAL NGO CONGRESS |
Contents RESOLUTION We, representatives from Belarus, Poland, Russia and Ukraine, together with participants from neighbouring countries, gathered in Kyiv for the Second Regional NGO Congress, discussed the problems and shared opinions on the role and participation of the civil societies of our countries in building and consolidating democracy. We reaffirm the need to strengthen dialogue and co-operation between the NGOs of the region. We call for the active involvement of the European institutions, national governments, business, and the media in the planning of our common future – the future of the democracy and prosperity of our countries. We welcome the adoption by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe of the Recommendation on the Legal Status of Non-Governmental Organisations in Europe (CM/Rec(2007)14) on 10 October 2007, and we invite all member states to apply its principles in their respective legislation. We encourage the INGO Conference in its role of promoting effective implementation of this Recommendation. We welcome the action of the INGO Conference to put in place the Expert Council on NGO Law and its Implementation, as called for by the First Regional NGO Congress held in Warsaw. We support the development of the active “quadrilogue” within the Council of Europe to ensure interaction between governments, national parliaments, locally elected representatives, and representatives of civil society. Eighteen months after the First Regional Congress in Warsaw, we regret that little or no progress has been registered in terms of strengthening democratic standards and practice in NGO legislation. Similarly, public participation in decision-making in the countries of the region has not improved. Our countries still face political and civil challenges in holding free and fair elections, respectful of European democratic standards, in particular the exercise of the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful gatherings, and freedom of and equal access to the media. On the basis of our two days of discussions, we have developed the following proposals and recommendations for each of the topics discussed. We commit ourselves: - To the development of dialogue and co-operation within the framework of the Baltic and Black Sea Civic Space, and to improve, i.a. national legislation regulating the functioning and funding of NGOs; - To support the Expert Council on NGO law and its monitoring activities on the implementation of the respective legislative frameworks in the region; - To strengthen participation of civil society organisations in public policy-making, and to create mechanisms for the exchange of good practice and for training programmes; - To contribute to the development of the Code of Good Practice for Civic Participation, in line with recommendations of the Forum for the Future of Democracy in Sweden, with a view to its completion by 2009 when the Forum will meet in Ukraine; - To develop civic monitoring initiatives for elections and the implementation of election campaign promises, as well as support to the conscious and rational choice of citizens, in particular at the forthcoming elections in Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Belarus; - To reinforce civil society efforts to secure respect for human rights, in particular the freedoms of expression and of association and peaceful gatherings, informational rights; - To co-operate with the European institutions in responding to Ukraine’s and Moldova’s European integration aspirations, as well as in the fulfilment of the objectives of the European Neighbourhood Policy in relation to the South Caucasus countries; - To contribute to Council of Europe human rights campaigns; - To pursue and further intensify our regional co-operation which is a pre-condition for the successful implementation of these proposals and recommendations. In this respect, we call upon the European Union to minimise the negative impact of its visa policy on countries of our region, this constituting one of the main barriers to trans-border co-operation and the establishment of a common civic space in the region. Expressing our deep concern about the state of democracy, human rights and civil society in Belarus, we support efforts of the Council of Europe and the INGO Conference aiming to facilitate the development and functioning of democracy, the rule of law and civil society in Belarus. We support the Council of Europe Plan of Assistance activities for Belarus, in close co-operation with PACE and other international organisations. We propose to the Conference of INGOs to support, through its European and worldwide network, human rights defenders from Belarus and their campaigns. We welcome the establishment of civil society communication platforms for Belarus, as well as the practice of the Conference of INGOs to regularly invite civil society representatives from Belarus to its meetings. We call upon the Council of Europe and other international organisations to consider initiatives for involvement and awareness-raising of European values to broader civil society communities in Belarus. We call upon the authorities of the Russian Federation to ensure on the eve of and during crucial parliamentary and presidential elections the respect and exercise of fundamental human rights such as freedom of assembly and expression, and free and equal access to the media, so vital for pluralist democracy and the rule of law. We express our concern that the first eighteen months of implementation of law on NGOs in the Russian Federation has caused serious problems for the functioning of a significant number of NGOs. We do however welcome the dialogue between the public authorities and civil society to improve the existing legal framework in the Russian Federation, including within platforms facilitated by the Council of Europe and its Conference of INGOs. We encourage the Council of Europe and the Conference of INGOs to pursue further their efforts to ensure the observance of European standards in NGO legislation, as well as their implementation in the Russian Federation, including through providing expertise and training on CoE standards to official and non-governmental partners. We call on NGO representatives to actively participate in the process of regional co-operation, and to use the resources of our partnership to the greatest possible extent for the harmonious and consistent development of civil society at the national level. In this respect, we welcome the creation of an internet communication platform for NGOs (www.non-gov.org). Understanding the importance of strengthening the dialogue between young leaders of our countries, we would like to stress the special role and importance of the European network of Schools of Political Studies of the Council of Europe and to welcome the establishment of such a school in Belarus. To ensure the broadest participation of the younger generation of civil society leaders and activists from our countries, we welcome the initiative to hold within the next regional congress a forum of the youth. We call on the INGO Conference, the governments of our countries, the Council of Europe, and the European Union to actively support the efforts of the civil society of the region to expand activities for the consolidation of democracy, as well as to ensure both respect for human rights, and the implementation of constitutional, political, social, and economic reforms. |
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| Publication date | 27-11-2007 |
| Categories | Pro-European and Pro-Democratic activities |
| Type |
Articles or papers |
| Download the document |  [11] |
Russian
