Foreign Operations Assistance: Europe Regional

United States Department of State
Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia
Foreign Operations Assistance Fact Sheet, April 2012 *

EUROPE REGIONAL

The U.S. Government’s (USG) Europe Regional assistance programs promote regional security and economic cooperation, measure regional progress in democracy and governance, and invest in the health, education and welfare of the most vulnerable people in the countries of Southeast Europe.

Recent Successes by Areas of Focus:

Peace & Security

• In support of inter-ethnic reconciliation in Southeast Europe, the USG funded an effort to build public support for the establishment of RECOM, a regional commission mandated to collect and disclose the facts about war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, an effort that contributed to the commission’s endorsement by almost all regional government and party leaders, including the Croatian and Serbian presidents, and the Montenegrin prime minister. Eight youth organizations throughout the former Yugoslavia collected the signatures of over a half million citizens in support of the creation of RECOM and mobilized over 1,300 youth volunteers in over 150 cities and towns throughout the region.
• U.S. support for effective information-sharing and crossborder law enforcement facilitated the establishment of the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center (SELEC), a treaty-based organization that facilitates the secure transmission of sensitive law enforcement information and coordinates joint investigations among the countries of Southeast Europe. Over the course of the year, U.S. experts engaged extensively with the governments of the region, the European Union (EU) and the leadership of the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative (SECI Center) as its fundamental charter and organization was extensively revised. SELEC is now able to directly collaborate with the EU-based law enforcement structures and has overcome any legal ambiguities about its capacity to transmit information. This transition will also allow SELEC to build a sustainable framework for future collaboration on transnational crime cases in the region.
• The USG-supported trafficking-in-persons program implemented by the International Center for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD) rolled out transnational referral mechanisms and guidelines to provide comprehensive and appropriate victims’ assistance in FY 2011. This improved cooperation on transnational trafficking cases in the region. Notable FY 2011 accomplishments include completion of a background analysis of existing mechanisms of transnational cooperation in combating trafficking; a March 2011 draft of the template, revised with inputs from a regional seminar, that will provide for enhanced transnational cooperation; two transnational workshops emphasizing child trafficking and labor exploitation in addition to the regional seminar; and the collection of baseline and preliminary information for an end-of-activity evaluation.

Governing Justly and Democratically

• BY ACCOUNT	FY 2011 ACTUAL	FY 2012 ESTIMATE	FY 2013 REQUEST
  TOTAL ($000s)	$32,635	$26,250	$21,561
  Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia	$29,890	$26,000	$0
  Economic Support Fund	$2,495	$0	$20,911
  International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement	$0	$0	$400
  Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Programs	$250	$250	$250

  With a view to expanding objective public affairs and investigative reporting, the USG supported a regional network of journalists whose achievements were recognized when a project participant and editor were selected as runners-up for the Global Shining Light Award for investigative journalism at the 2010 Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Geneva.
• The Europe Regional Program published three indices in FY 2011, including Nations in Transit (NIT), the Media Sustainability Index (MSI), and the Non-Governmental Organization Sustainability Index (NGOSI). Their longitudinal nature, capturing comparable data across the region over more than a decade, make them unparalleled sources for information on overall democracy, media, and NGO trends in the Europe and Eurasia region. These indices assist donors and governments in assessing priorities, measuring potential broad impacts of programs, monitoring country progress, and making funding decisions, enabling programs to be adjusted to address current needs and to improve economic and social impact. All three indices have a growing domestic and international customer base.

Economic Growth

• BY OBJECTIVE	FY 2011 ACTUAL	FY 2012 ESTIMATE	FY 2013 REQUEST
  TOTAL ($000s)	$32,635	$26,250	$21,561
  Peace and Security	$22,318	$18,563	$16,356
  Governing Justly and Democratically	$3,786	$3,408	$2,214
  Investing in People	$2,989	$614	$431
  Economic Growth	$3,542	$3,665	$2,560

  Key achievements resulting from the Partners for Financial Stability (PFS) in FY 2011 include four informative, provocative, and well-regarded technical briefs, including The Ongoing Financial Crisis and Potential for Contagion in Southeast Europe and Eurasia: Who Should Worry? In FY 2011, the project trained 85 financial sector supervisors, established seven financial sector training and/or certification programs, trained 97 financial sector professionals on international standards, and introduced two material improvements that reduce market risks in financial infrastructure institutions. PFS has achieved a three to one ratio of cost-sharing from local partners.
• FY 2011 achievements in promoting energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy included the following: (a) four national policy briefs on the costs and benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency; (b) progress on the integration of renewable energy technologies into the high voltage transmission system in Southeast Europe, and (c) completion of National Energy Efficiency Action Plans in Albania, Macedonia, and Serbia and the provision of training on such plans in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Coordinator's Office Annual Reports
www.foreignassistance.gov

*This fact sheet does not reflect Peace Corps funding or centrally managed or regional Foreign Operations funding that is not specifically budgeted for the European region.