From March 27 to 30, 2006, twenty trainers representing ten non-governmental organizations from 3 regions of the Russian Far East participated in a training of trainers as part of Winrock International’s Path to Success! program in Khabarovsk, Russia.  The 4-day training was entitled, “Conflict Resolution and Negotiations” taught by Valery Dudarev from FD Global Technology in Moscow.  This event gave participating trainers the theory of how to work through difficult situations as well as allowed them to practice useful techniques to be used during meetings.
At the end of the training, participants talked about how useful this training was to them and that they will use the techniques in their future meetings with administration officials. This training is another example of how this USAID sponsored program is introducing new skills to young people supporting them as they work to make their communities better places to live.

A partnership program linking Alaskan cities with Russian Far East cities to assist local economic development got underway at the inaugural workshop held in Khabarovsk on March 24-25 as part of the International City/County Management Association's (ICMA) CityLinks program.
The Russian cities chosen for the project were those who indicated a high interest in the program and which had needs that could be met by Alaskan cities reported Sue Cosner, Senior Program Manager for ICMA at a press conference held on March 25 and hosted by the Khabarovsky Krai administration.
Four American cities and five Russian cities are teaming up for this project with Anchorage partnering with Dolinsk and Yuhzno-Sakhalinsk, Wassila with Ussurisk, Juneau with Bikin and Kenai with Bolshoy Kamen. Each city had several community representatives present to kick off Khabarovsk's opening weekend events.
The two-year program aiming to improve government transparency, encourage citizen participation in governmental decision making and provide municipal training is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
The venture establishes technical partnerships between communities in the Russian Far East and communities in Alaska by giving them access to hands-on technical assistance and the use of peer-to-peer learning which is intended to result in the sharing of knowledge with other Russian Far East communities.
At the conclusion of the weekend workshop, Alaskan city representatives traveled to their respective Russian partnership city who hosts the delegates for a diagnostic week where the leaders are introduced to the city. The group then dually formulates a work plan tailored to each respective city's specific needs.
In June 2006, the Russian representatives are scheduled to travel to their Alaskan partner's city to evaluate the progress and participate in more practical training and focused learning.
ICMA is a non-profit professional and educational association with more than 8,000 local workers and urban management officials worldwide. ICMA has supported over 75 CityLinks partnerships around the world since 1999.

On March 23-24 Natalya Ivanova, Democracy Commission Small Grants Program Coordinator, US Embassy, Moscow visited Sakhalin with the purpose of presenting the USG-sponsored Small Grants Program to Sakhalin NGOs. During her visit she met with attended and spoke at: Anti - AIDS NGO, American Russian Center, American Corner, US-RFE Partnership Program, Pilgrim NGO and two Round Tables with NGO and Sakhalin Region Administration representatives. Totally about 70 people participated in those events.
At the meetings Natalya Ivanova explained the substantive elements of as well as how NGOs can apply for the grants stated above. Small Grants Program awoke a great interest and NGOs had the opportunity to obtain many pieces of advice on their project ideas. Amidst other discussions Natalya Ivanova spoke about the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship.
All meetings were organized by the Regional Initiative, RFE and RI anticipates a growth in the number of applications to the Democracy Commission Programs.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) held public consultations for non-governmental organizations and the public in Russia and Great Britain to decide whether to approve a loan for the environmentally controversial Sakhalin-2 project.
The public hearings were held in London on February 28, Moscow on March 14, Nogliki (north Sakhalin) on March 20, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on March 23, Korsakov on March 24 and in mid-April it will take place in Sapporo, Japan.
RI Coordinator and Coordinator Assistant visited consultations in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on March 23. About 200 people were in attendance, including 6 representatives from Environmental, Social and Financial Departments of EBRD. During the meeting which lasted for more than 3 hours environmental, social and financial issues were discussed. The main purpose of the public hearings was to clarify public opinion with regard to HSE and Social Action Plan which SEIC has come up with. All participants were welcomed to look at the web-side, and send documents, letters, and petitions to the bank.
The results of public consultations will be compiled into a report to be presented to the Bank’s Board of Directors, which will come up with their decision on financing Phase 2 of Sakhalin-2 Project.

During March 21-22, 2006, the Russia Far East Forest Certification Center, under the auspices of USAID’s FOREST Project, implemented a roundtable educational session focused on voluntary certification VLT (verification of legal timber) as a means to manage and control logging and counter illegal logging. More than 100 students from the Khabarovsk Technical University worked on identifying measures to control illegal logging, and discussed how the Federal and regional levels of governmental administration can establish stronger forest management practices. These students are studying to Forestry Management and expect to one day make their careers in government or in the private sector associated with forestry products. As a direct result, participants gained new insight and understanding in the need for certification of forests and wood, export and trade, and also that certification can be a strong measure for government structures to employ in managing for sustainable forestry practices.

During March 19, 2006 the Khabarovsk Krai Regional Forest Agency, NGO Ecological and Biological Youth Center and Education Department of Nanaiski district – with support from USAID’s FOREST Project - conducted a Nanai village public advocacy campaign entitled “Certification of Forests Stops Illegal Logging!” Advocacy campaign organizers applied methods institutionalized through USAID’s FOREST Project. As a result, seventy-five representatives from the indigenous local community were trained on how certification can counter illegal logging and help prevent destructive forest management policy in the district. Nanai children were awarded prizes at the advocacy event.

On March 17, 2006 Sakhalin Energy and Resource Center (RC) "Pilgrim", Yuzhno -Sakhalinsk signed an agreement for administering and coordinating the program "Small grants - big deeds". It is the first step of the collaboration of the non-governmental organization and the corporation. It is the first time that the foreign business company involves the Russian non-governmental organization in efficient development of social investments. It is also a sign of high recognition of RC "Pilgrim" staff as professionals and experts, which previously gained good experience in grant administration of the Russian Far East Civic Initiatives Program funded by the United States Agency for International Development.

In March FRAEC launched its new website, www.fraec.org. Now it has a new look, more content, and more user-friendly format. Some of the new features include:
- A Search mechanism that not only allows you to search for information on our site but to search via Google for all information requests;
- A FRAEC Dialogue - our Blog - that features key information on Business & Economics, Government & Politics, and NGOs, Civic & Community Development;
- A Secure site to register for an event, to become a Friend of FRAEC or become a Member of FRAEC
Information on the U.S. – RFE Partnership Activity has also been updated in English and Russian. Please visit http://www.fraec.org/?page=usrfe for English and http://www.fraec.org/?page=usrferus for Russian to find information about projects funded under this initiative.

On March 15 Judith Elliott, Senior English Language Fellow  visited the American Corner, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to meet with members of English Club and alumni of USG exchange programs. About 40 persons were in attendance including Olga Pyatnitskaya, Director of American Corner, Svetlana Vasina, and Olga Vinokurova both from the Regional Initiative RFE. Mrs. Elliot conducted a lecture on “History and Traditions of the Amish and Mennonites” and presented a 2 hour movie “The Witness” that was followed by an open discussion. At the conclusion of the meeting which lasted for about 4 hours attendees expressed their satisfaction with and appreciation for a very interesting lecture that helped them to improve their English language and understanding of American history and traditions.

Judith Elliott, Senior English Language Fellow resident in Vladivostok visited Sakhalin to conduct workshops for teachers of secondary schools and Sakhalin State University on March 13-17.
On March 14-16 20 teachers of secondary schools of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and nearest cities were trained at the Teacher Training Institute, Sakhalin Oblast on academic writing and designing writing techniques. Judith also ran seminars for 30 professors of Sakhalin State University (SSU) providing pedagogical and practical advice relating to: oral speaking; creative writing; writing techniques and formal essays. SSU Vice-Rector Viktor Korsunov and numerous SSU English instructors strongly praised Mrs. Elliott for her extremely interesting English teaching approaches that SSU faculty hopes to inculcate into their English lectures. Mrs. Elliott was impressed how easily Russian teachers accepted new techniques and made their recommendations in return. Mrs. Elliot developed an evaluation form to get feedbacks on her workshops to improve them in future.
RI Coordinator and RI Coordinator Assistant met with Judith at the American Corner (AC), Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. During discussions at the meeting Mrs. Elliot stressed that the activity of AC makes a great contribution to the development of Russian-American friendship on the Island.

On March 14 RI Coordinator and RI Coordinator Assistant met with Derek Norberg, Director of the bilateral U.S.-Russian forum "Russian-American Pacific Partnership" (RAPP) and "FRAEC Business Services" at RI office. During discussions at the meeting Derek Norberg announced the dates of the RAPP 11th Annual Meeting as October 17-19 in San Francisco, California, USA.
With each U.S. hosted RAPP meeting, a primary objective is to attract strong Russian participation in the RAPP meeting. RI staff will assist in disseminating information to promote this upcoming event during various meetings with RFE Administrations, NGO's, businesses and USG sponsored programs.
Online registration will be started in May, 2006. For more information: www.fraec.org/RAPP

Within the framework of “USA-RFE Partnership Program” implemented by FRAEC on March 1, 2 and 3, 2006 in the cities of Sakhalin region Kholmsk, Aniva and Dolinsk respectively were held the opening ceremonies of public internet access centers. The opening ceremony in Aniva city was attended by Coordinator Assistant of Regional Initiative, RFE The center was found at the Central District library. Among 50 attendees was the Mayor of Aniva city Nikolay Petrov, who made congratulatory remarks and thanked partners for the great input to the development of Aniva community.
Also Aniva city administration website: http://www.aniva.marketcenter.ru/ and an internet catalog of local enterprises: http://dir.sakhcod.ru/ were established.
For such a small town with population less than 13 000 people opening of public internet access center became a very significant event.