3rd Annual General Assembly of the CRINGO – Caucasian Refugee and IDP NGO Network was held in Kiev, Ukraine, on October 4-8, 2004. GA was attended by the representatives of the 50 organizations working throughout the Caucasus.
CRINGO network represents the joint initiative of the Caucasian NGOs working in the field of forced displacement. Sixty-six organizations assisting IDPs/Refugees and other persons with common status are united under the aegis of this network in order to better assist their beneficiaries via cross border efforts. The initiative is supported by the DRC (Danish Refugee Council).
This year GA differs from the previous ones. “The most important issue this year was to adopt strategic action plan for CRINGO for the next three years… Most important is actually that it is united plan. That means it is agreed among the 66 members of the network” says Shanna Jensen, Regional Program Coordinator for DRC.
Strategic Planning means, that network member NGOs have agreed on principal issues like: what should be done to make CRINGO actions more promoted and target oriented, how network can advocate the problems and needs of its’ beneficiaries with local authorities and international agencies, how to increase the level of information of civil society, what are the actual priorities of the network and how network can contribute to the trust building in the Caucasus.
“This GA is different from the previous ones, because of two reasons. First is that now we are having new form of relationship with DRC and secondly we have elaborated Action Plan based on strategic 12 issues. They would give us possibility to see in three-year perspective what would be happened within the Network” Karen Asatryan of Armenian Sociological Association, Member of Coordination Board says.