Education for Democracy Foundation

Short history of FED

At the end of the 1980’s, after decades of struggling against communism, the Poles were the world’s unquestioned leaders in underground publishing as well as in organizing mass strikes and protest demonstrations. At that time, during the roundtable talks and several months prior to the first real elections, a group of educators, teachers, teacher-activists of underground Solidarity as well as leaders of youth organizations realized that, shortly, these skills would become completely useless. When Poland becomes independent there won’t be anyone to protest against – we, ourselves, will have to make the decisions concerning our future. The Education for Democracy Foundation was established in order to prepare the citizens of the Republic of Poland to take responsibility for their own lives, for the future of their own streets, towns and cities as well as for the fate of the country.

In its initial years of activity, the Foundation received tremendous assistance from foreign friends and, primarily, from the American Federation of Teachers, whose experience in adult education in regard to how democratic organizations operate was invaluable for us. After several years, we began to repay this debt through supporting non-governmental organizations in countries of Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Mission

Convinced that a civil society exists not only for the few, the Education for Democracy Foundation supports local communities in building a civil society in areas where access to education, the labor market and possibilities for determining one’s own fate are limited in Poland, in rural areas and areas characterized by high structural unemployment, as well as in countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

FED implements its goals through:

• mobilizing local communities and breaking down barriers of helplessness in areas of high unemployment as well as in rural areas, and preparing citizens, particularly youth, to independently determine their own fate and willingly participate in public life on the local and national levels;

• supporting local government, and particularly local civic initiatives, regional government, non-governmental organizations, student government and cooperation between sectors;

• increasing public participation in schools – supporting the willing participation of the local community, parents, educators and regional government in determining local education policy, contents and methods as well as school curricula.

Working Abroad

The collapse of the iron curtain, USSR and the system of satellite states made far ranging political and social changes possible throughout the entire region. Despite the fact that decades of totalitarian governments encouraged societies to seek solutions in democratic systems, the vast majority of citizens has not had positive experiences with social activity.

For many Poles, the regaining of independence by Lithuania, Ukraine and Belarus was an important and joyful event. At the beginning of the 1990’s, the Education for Democracy Foundation was among the first Polish non-governmental organizations convinced that it was in Poland’s own interest to build good neighborly relations and one of the first engaged in supporting local communities in building a civic society in countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Foundation conducts its programs in Lithuania (since 1993), Latvia (1994), Belarus (1995), Central Asia - Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan (1995), Ukraine (1995), Mongolia (1997), the trans-Caucasus - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia - as well as in Russia (1999). At present, the Foundation’s activities are concentrated in three areas:

Education for Democracy - International Network

The Foundation’s long-term commitments led in recent years to the establishment in Eastern Europe and Central Asia of an informal international network of trainer teams supporting local communities through civic education. The network currently comprises 16 teams of trainers in 8 countries. Each team operates on the basis of a local non-governmental organization. Each is independent in terms of program, organization and finances. Comprising over one dozen trainers, the teams are becoming the catalysts for development in their local communities.

Operating within the framework of the network, in 2001 the trainer teams conducted more than 450 workshops throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, in which participants included more than 8500 trainers, leaders of non-governmental organizations, educators as well as representatives of local educational administrations and regional government.

Region in Transition – RITA

Region in Transition (RITA) is a Polish-American Freedom Foundation program conducted by Foundation Education for Democracy. The program’s objective is to support the democratic and market-oriented transformation in the former Eastern Bloc countries, primarily through sharing of the Polish experience.

The RITA program was implemented through:

• Supporting projects of Polish non-governmental organizations as well as educational institutions working in post-communist countries. Annually, almost 300 NGOs from across Poland entered the competition. Within the course of two years, 105 projects with a value of more than USD 900,000, were supported. Programs were addressed to participants from 12 countries. Among the financed projects were both local initiatives (cooperation of schools in Gorlice and Bardejowo) and projects with a national scope (analysis of macroeconomic reforms in Belarus).

• Assistance in establishing partnership-based cooperation among non-governmental organizations, educational institutions and regional governments from Poland and abroad, primarily from neighboring countries.

• Providing reliable information concerning the activities of Polish non-governmental organizations in post-communist countries as well as informing Polish non-governmental organizations about potential partners in the East.

Working Group ”ZAGRANICA”

International relations, traditionally the exclusive domain of the state, are also currently an area of activity of non-governmental organizations. It is precisely these organizations that support the building of a civil society in countries transitioning to democracy. The working group of Polish non-governmental organizations operating outside the borders of Poland was established at the end of the 1990’s on the initiative of the Stefan Batory Foundation. The group’s most important tasks include:

1. disseminating information about the work of Polish non-governmental organizations outside the country

2. developing common standards for work

3. providing assistance in building contacts between Polish non-governmental organizations and other sectors (co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic posts, media)

The members of the group developed Guiding Principles of Polish Non-governmental Organizations working Abroad.

Conclusion

FED is committed to its national and international work in education for democracy. It will also in the future actively contribute to the fulfillment of its mission. In this regard the access to civil society for as many people as possible is of great importance. Civil society will enable old and young democracies to face the ups and downs that are part of the day to day political reality.

Index: Podium

NGOs' critical role in advancing human rights in transition societies
by Albrecht Schnabel and Sale Horowitz

Working Group 'Human Rights Education' - Impressios of a Participant
by Walter Fisher

Education for Democracy Foundation
by Krzysztof Stanowski

Focus on Schools and Communities
Interview by Maciej Kozyra with Krzysztof Kacuga

A modern classic on Human Rights Education
Bookreview by Jana Eschweiler

Law-related and democracy education for countries in transition
by David McQuoid-Mason