The Central Eurasia Project, a regional initiative of the Open Society Foundations, aims to promote social progress and human rights in the South Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia by developing programs and international campaigns that use policy research and advocacy to shape debates on significant economic, political, social, and security challenges facing the region. Through its grantmaking and operational activities, the Central Eurasia Project supports local NGOs that implement programs and pursue dialogue with governments on issues such as democratic governance, respect for human rights and rule of law, and transparency and accountability.
As a regional initiative, the Central Eurasia Project supports programming that engages partners in multiple countries across the region. In addition, the Central Eurasia Project manages Open Society Foundations activities related to the countries in the region without local foundations, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Recent Central Eurasia Project activities have sought to combat declining media freedom through diplomatic efforts and assistance programs that promote reform; challenge growing repression against human rights and democracy activists in Central Asia and South Caucasus; push for greater tolerance of religious freedom; and create approaches for dealing with non-traditional and often nonsecular civil society groups.
Ongoing initiatives focus on partnering with human rights groups to protect the rights of labor migrants and promoting approaches that stress the mutual dependence between Russia and the region created by the use of migrant labor. In cooperation with local civil society groups, the project has helped improve the transparency, accountability, and management of natural resource revenues and the electric power sector.
The project has responded to natural disasters and to military conflict in places such as Georgia by working to galvanize international responses, support credible media coverage, protect human rights, provide humanitarian aid, and ensure transparency in the use of relief funds. Working with European donors, the project continues to strengthen relations between the European Union and Central Asian countries by supporting initiatives that bring local and international scholars and experts together to provide EU institutions with policy ideas and advice about Central Asia.
EurasiaNet is a website operated by the Central Eurasia Project that provides information and analysis about political, economic, environmental and social developments in the countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in Russia, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. The website also offers additional features, including newsmaker interviews, book reviews and a discussion forum.
Based in New York and updated daily, EurasiaNet advocates open and informed discussion of issues that concern countries in the region. The website presents a variety of perspectives on contemporary developments, utilizing a network of correspondents based both in the West and in the region. The aim of EurasiaNet is to promote informed decision-making among policy makers, as well as broadening interest in the region among the general public.
EurasiaNet maintains its own separate website in English at www.eurasianet.org and in Russian at russian.eurasianet.org.
The Central Eurasia Project uses grantmaking to international and regional NGOs, academic institutions, think tanks and other structures to support their work, help build local capacity, bring international expertise to bear on the region and promote cooperation between local activists and international civic movements. The ultimate goal of such activity is to strengthen civic leaders in the region and to construct support networks for them within international structures and movements. The Central Eurasia Project’s grantmaking generally dovetails with its research and advocacy agenda.
For more information, see the Central Eurasia Project grant focus areas and guidelines.
