Civil society dialogue in the North Caucasus
The British Embassy in Russian Federation is successfully supporting civil society efforts to resolve conflict in the North Caucasus.
Civil Society Dialogue in the North Caucasus
With funding from the UK Conflict Pool, since 2012 the Russian NGO New Eurasia has been running an innovative civil society dialogue project in the North Caucasus. Their work aims to alleviate conflicts in the region by collaborating with governments, NGOs, student unions, youth associations and public councils.
The project organises open fora and thematic discussions hosted by regional universities and public councils as well as trainings and seminars for representatives of various social and professional groups.
These build new partnerships that serve as the foundation for interregional cooperation between the host institutions of higher education, the public administration sector, small and medium-sized businesses and civil society institutions.
The project successfully ensures cooperation between local governments and civil society – and between different ethnic groups. Such dialogue helps overcome deep-seated conflicts and divisions, fostering improved understanding and contributing to post-conflict reconciliation. New Eurasia’s models of cooperation are now being replicated by other NGOs and communities across the North Caucasus region.
New Eurasia project leader, Nadezhda Alenina said, “By using all-Russian experience, the North Caucasus has chosen a very important way of development. Our experience in the North Caucasus has proved that the close cooperation between civil society and government allows openly discussing and working out the issues of regional development, strengthening system of municipal administration, and supporting civil society institutions which lead to notable changes in social, economic and cultural development of the region. We are happy that our foundation facilitates development of this cooperation.”