Minorities and Marginalized Communities in Central and Eastern Europe
Please find a release from the Helsinki Commission (Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe) regarding Sen. Alcee L. Hastings' comments on minority inclusion at the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues here: Hastings Continues to Lead on Minority Political Participation at UN Forum
Partners and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) focused on effective interventions to improve the treatment of minorities and marginalized people - particularly the Roma in Eastern and Central Europe - and efforts to integrate them more fully into their respective communities.
Panelists:
Daniela Kolarova, Director, Partners Bulgaria Foundation
Dr. Daniela Kolarova, Ph.D. is the Executive Director and founder of Partners Bulgaria Foundation (PBF), a nongovernmental organization committed to advancing civil society, working with Roma and other marginalized communities, promoting the rights of children in schools and the larger community, and providing mediation services to resolve neighborhood, family, business and other disputes. She has more than 15 years of experience designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs and projects funded by a variety of international aid organizations, including USAID, worth up to $5 million. Dr. Kolarova is an expert in administering grants, conducting needs assessments, preparing contracts, monitoring and evaluation, contracting and contract administration, and managing budgets. She has a proven ability to communicate effectively in diverse cultural environments, and has established good working relationships with international clients and donors, government institutions, and civil society leaders during her time as Executive Director. Dr. Kolarova is also a highly experienced international trainer in cooperative planning, conflict resolution, consensus building, negotiation and communication, civic and human rights education, among other diverse topics. She has acted as a facilitator for many international meetings, conferences, workshops and seminars, and has worked for over 15 years as a lecturer at Sofia University. She has been certified as a trainer, project manager, and mediation credentialing program manager by the Center for Public Management in the United States, the National Conflict Resolution Center in the United States, and the EU Commission, among other respected institutions.
Shukrie Gashi, Director, Partners-Kosovo: Center for Conflict Management
Ms. Shukrije Gashi serves as Director of Partners-Kosovo: Center for Conflict Management. In 2001, Ms. Gashi founded the Center as a non governmental organization committed to advancing civil society and promoting mediation and a culture of conflict resolution in Kosovo. She is one of Kosovo’s leading conflict resolution and mediation training specialists. Ms. Gashi has led Partners-Kosovo to positively impact hundreds of people in communities throughout Kosovo through the implementation of numerous mediation and conflict resolution programs. Under her leadership, Partners- Kosovo has pioneered the drafting of new government laws and regulations, such as Kosovo Mediation Law and Code of Ethics and the Regulations for Kosovo Civil Servants, both of which were passed into law. Through Partners-Kosovo, Ms. Gashi collaborates with the Partners for Democratic Change International Network on a range of program design, strategic planning, and fundraising initiatives, and coordinates with the network on training programs, NGO and municipal government capacity building, women’s programs, and mediation services.
Dana Rabinakova, Director, Partners for Democratic Change-Czech Republic
Dr. Dana Rabiňáková has served for over a decade as the Director of Partners for Democratic Change – Czech Republic (Partners Czech), an independent non-governmental organization specializing in education, ethnic minority issues, NGO development, and local government reform. Partners Czech has vast experience working with Roma and other ethnic minority populations on integration and development programs, including the $2.8 million, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Roma Integration Program that seeks to improve Roma political and economic opportunities at the local and national levels. In her role as Director, Ms. Rabiňáková manages a staff 10 trainers and program managers, oversees strategic planning and budget development and assists with the design and implementation of Partners Czech trainings and programs. She is also a senior trainer and facilitator, has worked as a consultant, and is trained in mediation, conflict resolution, collaborative planning processes, and other peaceful change management skills. She holds a Masters and Ph.D., both in Psychology, from Charles University in Prague.
Janos Wagner, Former Director, Partners-Hungary
Mr. Janos Wagner has over ten years experience building civil society and supporting Hungary’s democratic transition. As Director of Partners-Hungary, Mr. Wagner was responsible for managing organization staff, trainings and programs, and outreach efforts. He has extensive experience conducting mediation, negotiation, cooperative planning, and other peaceful change management trainings, and is an expert mediator and organizational development consultant. Mr. Wagner led efforts to develop Hungary’s National Mediation Association, which has united the country’s disparate mediation efforts and successfully promoted the inclusion of mediation as an official dispute resolution process in national legislation. He also has extensive experience facilitating community dialogue processes that have collaboratively addressed issues involving municipal officials, business leaders, police, Roma and majority populations.
Moderator:
Ms. Painter has over 25 years’ experience providing corporate, institutional and public sector clients with results-oriented external affairs, foreign policy and business development strategies within the international marketplace. As such, she oversees Dutko’s offices in Brussels, Buenos Aires, Kiev, Prague, and Vienna. Ms. Painter has a successful track record of supporting countries in their bids to join the NATO Alliance as well as leading large-scale public-private projects, including as a lead advisor on the most recent NATO Summits including: Washington, DC – 1999, Prague - 2002, Istanbul – 2004 and Riga – 2006. Ms. Painter has also worked with opposition leaders in countries in transition, including Ukraine, Azerbaijan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. For three and a half years, Ms. Painter served as the Director of International at Tenneco Inc, a Fortune 500 company with manufacturing facilities throughout the world.
Preparatory Documents
Partners-Bulgaria Case Study: Ethnic Interaction and Conflict Resolution Programme
