The European Union continues to support civil society peace building efforts over 5agorno-Karabakh

Brussels, 6-11-2012 — /europawire.eu/ — The European Union has announced the launch of the second phase of the civil society programme European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (EPNK). This programme aims to support peace-building efforts concerning the conflict over NagornoKarabakh by facilitating dialogue between civil society, media and policy-makers.

Established under the Instrument for Stability – the EU’s special financial instrument created to support the peaceful settlement of conflicts, de-escalation of tensions and post-conflict rehabilitation worldwide – EPNK is a consortium of five European NGOs, which seeks to work with local partners in the South Caucasus on a wide range of peace-building projects and to help improve conditions for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process.

The programme promotes a dynamic dialogue between a broad range of policymakers, media and civil society from all sides of the conflict. It also supports a wider participation of conflict-affected people in the peace process, including women, youth, internally displaced persons and refugees. Programme activities are arranged around three main themes: media, public policy and conflictaffected groups. They aim to:

• Broaden the base of participation in peace-building initiatives, with special attention given to marginalised groups;
• Build confidence between all sides of the conflict through increased people-to-people contact;
• Promote fresh analysis and new ideas that challenge existing discourses on the conflict with peace-oriented visions of the future, and
• Actively engage civil society in dialogue with policy makers at national and international levels on the transformation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The EPNK programme will last three years and is a continuation of a programme launched in 2009 under the Instrument for Stability.

For more information:

European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh EPNK Phase 1 – Project Summary
EU relations with Armenia
EU relations with Azerbaijan
The Instrument for Stability