ISAR | Partners

Initiative Center to Support Social Action
(Formerly ISAR-WestNIS)
P.O. Box 447,
Kyiv-150, Ukraine 03150
Tel/Fax: 380-44-201-0160.
e-mail: ednannia@isar.kiev.ua
http://www.ednannia.kiev.ua

To support the development of the NGO sector through fostering cooperation among NGOs and between the NGO sector and other sectors of society.

• To stimulate contact among NGOs;
• To encourage NGOs to help one another;
• To foster cooperation and the development of coalitions in order to address specific issues;
• To support the organizational and professional development of NGOs;
• To encourage cooperation between the NGO sector and other sectors of society;
• To foster the development of a positive image of NGOs in society;
• To assist foundations and organizations in shaping their programs to effectively meet the needs of NGOs in the region.

Ednannia was founded in autumn 1997 and officially registered on February 1, 1999. Ednannia's roots, however, go back to 1993, when the American organization ISAR: Initiative for Social Action and Renewal in Eurasia opened an office in Kyiv, Ukraine. (ISAR was founded in 1983 as the Institute for Soviet-American Relations; ISAR has six field offices throughout the former Soviet Union and an office in Washington, DC.) ISAR's Kyiv-based program was created to serve the countries of Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, also referred to as the Western Sector of the Newly Independent States. ISAR's initial work in the Western Sector involved administering the small grants program "Seeds of Democracy," funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), in order to provide support to NGOs in these three countries working on environmental projects. The idea to establish a local organization to support the development of the NGO environmental movement in the region was born in 1995 as a result "EcoForum-'95," an NGO conference organized by ISAR and held in Kyiv. More than 250 representatives of environmental NGOs from the countries of the Newly Independent States, the US and Europe took part in EcoForum. Though a broad international event, EcoForum was the first opportunity for so many environmental activists from Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine to meet, exchange ideas and share the difficulties they face. Many of their discussions revolved around ways to support the development of the environmental movement and the development of civil society in general in the Western Sector. Thus, EcoForum set the stage for cooperation of numerous NGOs to develop a strategy for assistance to the NGO sector. Part of this strategy has been to establish a local organization that can promote cooperation within the movement, as an organization that is part of it.

For more information on Ednannia's mission and activities, please visit http://www.ednannia.kiev.ua.