Brussels, 12/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - As EUROPE reported earlier, the Commission has launched a new call for proposals under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights. The EUR 40 million will finance actions in support of: - abolition of the death penalty; - the prevention of torture and support for torture victims; - international justice, particularly through support for the work of the international tribunals and the establishment and operation of an international criminal court; - combating racism and xenophobia (implementing the Action Plan adopted by the World Conference in 2001) and discrimination against ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples. The Commission expects all proposals to include a dimension for the promotion of gender equality and the rights of children.
Twenty-nine countries are the designated targets of the initiatives: - Turkey, FRY, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia; - Israel, West Bank/Gaza Strip, Algeria, Tunisia; - Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Sierra Leone; - Cambodia, Indonesia, Pakistan , Nepal, Fiji; - Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Haiti.
The Commission manages an annual budget of EUR 100 million under the EIDHR. More than 770 projects worth over EUR 360 million are currently being implemented. (For more information: http: //europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/tender/index.en.htm ).