Baltic News Service
March 11, 2005
ESTONIA TO GIVE DEVELOPMENT AID TO GEORGIA, UKRAINE, ARMENIA
TALLINN, Mar 11
Estonia is going to support five development aid projects targeting
Georgia, Ukraine and Armenia in the sum of 1.36 million kroons (EUR
0.09 mln).
The funds will come from the Foreign Ministry’s development aid and
humanitarian relief budget, spokespeople for the ministry said.
The aim of the first of the two Georgian projects is to share
Estonia’s experience of the organization and development of the
vocational education system and the work of vocational schools. The
plan includes a visit of Georgian vocational school leaders to this
Baltic state to study the local experience.
The objective of the second project is to work out a Tiger Leap
program of information technology development for the Georgian
Ministry of Education and Science, with a test phase scheduled for
this and the next year, and a follow-up stage for the 2007-2008
period.
Georgia has named the program the Deer Leap.
Two projects are aimed at supporting the development of public
service in Ukraine on both the central and the local government
level.
One of them is a sequel to an earlier training program carried out in
2000-2004. Its objective is to support Ukraine’s public service and
its development and political and economic reforms through educating
public servants. In the framework of the project two training
programs in Estonia for 12 Ukrainian environmental and social sphere
officials are planned.
In the framework of the second approved Ukrainian project Estonia’s
Polva County is going to share its social reform experience of the
past 15 years with Ukraine’s Kulikovka district.
The Armenian project is designed to help the Caucasian country
develop its population protection system and it will be carried out
through seminars, visits, training and humanitarian aid organized by
the Estonian Rescue Service and its institutions.
The Foreign Ministry noted that target countries’ interest in
Estonia’s reform experience and progress has lately been on the rise
and local organizations’ readiness to put their knowhow and
experience to use outside this Baltic state has also grown.
The ministry’s budget for development aid and humanitarian relief
this year stands at eight million kroons.