The Open Society Institute announces the launch of a new initiative, the Turkmenistan Project. The project will build on the work OSI has done since the 1990s to promote civil society in Turkmenistan, a closed and repressive country in Central Asia that was part of the former Soviet Union. That work has included grant-making and programmatic activities in areas as far-ranging as arts and culture, access to information, and public health.

The Turkmenistan Project plans to add resources and implement its goals for civil society in a more strategic and comprehensive way. To that end, it will focus on three principal areas of activity. First, it will increase current grant-making and broaden opportunities for Turkmen citizens to study and integrate more fully into international development and civil society initiatives. Second, it will seek to provide fuller information about the situation inside the country through independent research and media outreach, including on EurasiaNet (www.eurasianet.org), the website of OSI's Central Eurasia Project. Finally, with the political situation inside the country becoming increasingly volatile, the project will also seek to galvanize demands for government accountability internationally through aggressive policy work, media outreach, and targeted advocacy.

For more information about the Turkmenistan Project, contact:

Erika Dailey
Director, Turkmenistan Project
Central Eurasia Project
Open Society Institute
400 West 59 Street
New York, NY 10019 USA
Tel. 1 212 548 0134
Fax 1 212 548 4607
Edailey@sorosny.org