plan of activities

Implementation and Management Support Office in Turkmenistan – Europa House – PLAN OF ACTVITIES

Implementation and Management Support Office in Turkmenistan - Europa House

Plan of Activities 2008

Draft May 2008

This project is funded by A project implemented by ABG GmbHthe European Union

Implementation and Management Support Office in Turkmenistan – Europa House – PLAN OF ACTVITIES

1. PROJECT SYNOPSIS

Project title Implementation and Management Support Office in Turkmenistan

Project N° EuropeAid/125521/C/SER/MULTI/Lot 1Contract N° 2007/147-766Overall objectives To increase knowledge and visibility of EC-EU

programmes and policies with the Turkmen stakeholdersTo increase the efficiency and effectiveness of technical assistance funded by the Commission in Turkmenistan

Purpose To open/set up an Europa House in Ashgabat

Expected results Opening an Europa House, and implement activities as described below:Increased visibility of EC assistance in TurkmenistanImproved co-ordination between European Commission and Member States co-operation programmesUpdated information and precise policy inputs on the country political, social and economic environment provided to the ECImproved implementation of the Tacis/DCI programmes as well as tangible support provided to different EC services and EC Task Managers in charge of programme managementPlanning and programming support provided to the EC

Planned activities(as per ToR)

Situation analysisSupport to the Commission in planning and programming of EC funded assistanceImplementation of visibility activities and information strategy for EC funded assistance and EU policiesLogistical support to EC Projects

Project starting date 01/01/2008 Start date of activities

14/01/2008

Project duration 11 months (01/01/2008-30/11/2008)

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Implementation and Management Support Office in Turkmenistan – PLAN OF ACTVITIES

2. EUROPA HOUSE – ROLE, CLIENT, DIRECT BENEFICIARIES AND LOCAL PARTNERS

Role

The Implementation and Management Support Office in Turkmenistan – “Europa House”- is the focal point for all EC assistance and general EU initiatives in Turkmenistan.

Client and Direct Beneficiaries

The client of the “Europa House” services is the European Commission and specifically the Europe Aid Co-operation Office.

The European Commission’s Directorate General for External Relations (RELEX) and other Directorate Generals of the European Commission, including notably the Directorate General for Transport and Energy (TREN) and the Directorate General for Education and Culture, will benefit directly from the activities of the “Europa House”. Whenever appropriate, and upon agreement of the European Commission, the “Europa House” will also provide support to other EU institutions, and notably the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament.

Local partners

The key partners of the “Europa House” in Turkmenistan are the resident EUMS diplomatic missions (France, Germany, Poland, Romania, UK), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Technical Assistance to the National Co-ordinating Unit (TANCU) project, the National Tempus Office (NTO).

3. EUROPA HOUSE – ACTIVITIESActivity 1: Situation analysis To provide monthly background information regarding general project

implementation environment including the social – economic situation , structure and staffing of the public administration of the country, important legal aspects and changes in the legal framework, development of the civil society and the human rights situation or other aspects of the situation as requested by the Commission services.

To provide, at request of Commission services, background surveys and studies of specific topics.

To provide background information about developments in the regions of the country.

To maintain a data base in English with appropriate background information gathered from the media, including press, television and radio which is made accessible by internet to the Commission.

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Activity 2: Support in planning and programming of EC funded assistance. To provide background investigation and analysis in preparation of Country

Strategy, Indicative Programmes, Action Programmes and Terms of References of projects.

To support in the preparation and planning of missions of EC Task Managers or consultants.

To participate in the mission, if so requested. To provide technical reviews of projects or programmes. To translate key Commission programme and project documents and

correspondence to the Russian and Turkmen languages.

Activity 3: Support to the implementation of projects To provide transitional accommodation and facilities, such as those for kick-off

meetings, for Tacis/DCI projects in the first stages of implementation. The permanent facilities of Europa House (information, communication, offices) will be available for project teams to use, on a temporary basis, prior to dedicated project offices being established. Such transitional accommodation is expected to support earlier and more efficient commencement of projects.

To provide assistance, transitional accommodation and facilities to Tacis/DCI project teams during the closure of a project, such as for closure events for Tacis/DCI projects in the final stages of implementation. The permanent facilities of Europa House (information, communication, offices) will be available for project teams to use on a temporary basis after project offices have been closed.

To provide, at request of the EC Task Managers, information regarding projects under implementation.

To maintain a filing system of the main project documents for institutional memory.

To prepare monthly overviews of the status of project implementation. To facilitate the resolution of problems occurring during project implementation. If appropriate, to provide a central support facility for some or all Small Project

Programmes (SPPs) of Tacis in the country or region concerned, and for other Tacis-funded programmes such as Tempus. The Europa House office will enable a single contact point to be established for such SPPs, and enhance both their co-ordinated presentation and accessibility for present and prospective local partners.

Activity 4: Implementation of visibility activities and information strategy for EC funded assistance

To further develop and implement an information strategy to improve visibility of EC assistance to Turkmenistan. This strategy should include improvement of visibility for selected target groups such as beneficiaries, government counterparts, the media and universities and schools as well as information aimed at the general public.

To produce tools for information dissemination, such as a newspaper publication of an overview of all programmes and projects funded through the Commission , a magazine, and exhibition, maintenance and updating of the websites, a brochure and promotional materials.

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To maintain a central point of reference/information point in the country for information about the Tacis/DCI programme if requested by Commission services. Information materials may be commissioned and produced locally, and Europa House information point will act as a distribution point for material produced by other Tacis/DCI information programmes.

4. EUROPA HOUSE – PUBLIC INFORMATION/VISIBILITY ACTIVITIES

A crucial task of the project is to design and implement a public information strategy to increase the visibility of EC assistance to Turkmenistan.

The target groups of the strategy are as follows:

Central government institutions- seminars will be organised to familiarise partner institutions of Tacis/DCI projects and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with EC Project Cycle Management. Slide presentations and round-table discussions will also be organised for the international relations departments of key line ministries in the priority areas of EC assistance (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Oil & Gas) on the EU assistance strategy for Central Asia, DCI regulations, centralised programmes, and regional programmes. A study tour for officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, Ministry of Finance, and representatives of the mejilis to EU institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg is also planned.

Regional governments (Velayats)-agreements will be sought with regional government authorities to open permanent information-points of the “Europa House” in the five velayats administration buildings.

Tacis/DCI projects/ other donor organisations/projects- the “Europa House” will produce a Visibility Aide Memoire for Tacis/DCI projects and establish a database on EC external assistance to Turkmenistan.

Civil society institutions- though few and their presence scattered, joint activities will be developed with in particular, the NGO Bosfor in Ashgabat, the Deaf and Blind Society (DSB), the new Centre for the Supreme Professional-Attestation Committee, the French Cultural Centre, the German Language Centre in Turkmenabad as well exhibition and conference centres and theatres. Most of these activities will be of a cultural nature (such as for example the concert and European food fair organised in celebration of Europe Day in Ashgabat) but also round-table discussions such as the one organised jointly with the French Cultural Centre on “Construction of the European Union: History and Institutions” during May in Ashgabat.

General public-a library will be established in the premises of the “Europa House” with information materials on EC-funded programmes and factsheets on projects being implemented in Turkmenistan. A web-site of the “Europa House” will also be published.

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5. LIST OF PUBLIC INFORMATION/VISIBILITY ACTIVITIES

Europa House public information/visibility activities Description

Hosting opening ceremony of the Europa House in Turkmenistan

Banner & badges Flags Interpreters Guests assistants Media coverage Decorations Invitation cards production/dissemination Tri-lingual information sheets on Europa House and

Turkmenistan Buffet Equipment

Supporting the EU Troika mission in Ashgabat Banner& flags Simultaneous interpreters

Participation in project steering committee meetings Inform on EU visibility requirements Inform on monitoring of visibility actions

Participation in EUMS resident missions weekly meetings Inform on EC assistance programme/projects development

Elaborating and regularly updating a list of public venues and events Disseminate the list to Tacis/DCI projectsParticipation in donor co-ordination meeetings Inform on EC assistance programme/projects

development

Supporting the planning and implementation of Europe Day celebration

Banner Trilingual Information sheets on Europe Day, Schuman

Declaration, Europa House Information stand with EU booklets Key speech delivered by Co-ordinator

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Lecture on European Union: History and Institutions at the French Cultural Centre

Slide presentation prepared and delivered by the Co-ordinator

Print-outs of the presentation Photographic coverage of the event

Europa House public information/visibility activities Description

Supporting Commissioner Piebalgs mission in Ashgabat Equipment Flags Transport Simultaneous interpreter Article for EU Review newsbulletin

EU Visibility Aide Memoire for Tacis/DCI projects Writing Publishing Dissemination

Supporting EU-Turkmenistan 9th Joint Committee Meeting Equipment Banner Flags Transport Interpretation Dissemination of press releases Media coverage

Official opening of the UNHCR/EU-Tacis Reception Centre in Farap Speech by Co-ordinator Flags Press release

Bi-monthly newsletter production Writing Translation in three languages Publishing

Europa House Information Points EC information materials Europa House information sheets and leaflet (tri-

lingual)

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Europa House newsletter (tri-lingual) EC/Europa House posters (bi-lingual) Factsheets on Tacis/DCI projects (tri-lingual) Photographs on Europa House public activities Flag

Europa House Library Factsheets on Tacis/DCI projects (tri-lingual) Europa House newsletter (tri-lingual) Europa House information sheets and leaflet (tri-

lingual) Information corner for EUMS missions EC information materials EC projects technical reports

Participation in exhibition “Turkmenagro-2008” jointly with Tacis project 2007/138034

Information point jointly with Tacis project

Production of factsheets on on-going Tacis/DCI projects including regional projects and PAPs

Writing Translation in three languages Publishing

Publishing and updating of Europa House web-site Concept Information structure Design Programming Content Management System (CMS) Processing and publishing

Organization of European film festival in Ashgabat jointly with EUMS

Programming of three-days European films presentation

Three-day European films show open to general public

Trainings on EC Project Cycle Management, centralized programmes, DCI regulations, regional programmes

Preparation of presentations (in Russian language) Selection of participants from central government

bodies

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Delivery of seminars in the premises of Europa HouseConducting a study tour to EU for MFA, National Parliament,

NIDHR, Ministry of Finance Planning and budgeting a 5 days study tour to

familiarize officials with the working of key EU institutions in Strasbourg (Council of Europe, Ombudsman, Parliament) and Brussels (Commission, Secretariat of the Council of the European Union)

Implementation of the study tour in Strasbourg and Brussels

Round-tables on EU: History and Institutions and other related thematics

Round-table discussions open to the general public with presentations by the Co-ordinator of the Europa House

Participation in DBS festival for social integration of disables Europa House Information point Contribute to the production of videos on festival Contribute to the concert organisation

Participation in international exhibition and books fair “Publishing Products in Golden Age” jointly with EUMS

Europa House information point Display of valuable art books collected from EUMS

member countries

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6. Timetable

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plan of activities

Documents