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In The News:
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 U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Steven Pifer Announces Special Grant Competition
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of Europe and Eurasia Steven Pifer announced on November 8 a special grant competition to promote freedom of the press and human rights. The goal of the competition is to increase public knowledge of international standards of human rights and freedom of the press. The Embassy's Democracy Grants Program and Media Development Fund are funding the $300,000 competition. Non-governmental organizations and independent media outlets are eligible to submit proposals. The Embassy expects to fund one or two projects in each oblast throughout Ukraine. The application deadline is December 5, 2002.
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 Ambassador Pascual Opens Window on America Center in Luhansk
U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual officially opened an American resource center at the Luhansk Oblast Library on October 25. At the same event, the Ambassador opened the photo exhibit "Ukraine through the Eyes of an American Peace Corps Volunteer," a collection of 53 photographs taken by Peace Corps Volunteer Richard Krauze. At the opening, the Ambassador also announced a Media Fund competition to support independent media in the Luhansk Oblast.
The resource center in Luhansk, called a "Window on America," is one of seven such centers in Ukraine. Window on America Centers already are open in oblast libraries in Kirovohrad, Donetsk, Odesa and Lviv. Two additional centers will be opened in the coming months in Simferopol and Sumy. The resource center will be open to the public and will contain a variety of information on the U.S. government, American culture, literature, history, universities and businesses.
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 U.S. Government Provides Equipment to Ukraine's Border Guards
U.S. Ambassador Carlos Pascual handed over $460,000 of vehicles and equipment provided by the U.S. Government to Ukraine's State Border Guards on October 17. General Colonel Mykola Lytvyn, commander of the Border Guards, received the equipment at the ceremony.
The equipment, purchased locally, includes 22 GAZ trucks, four GAZ vans, two UAZ four-drive vehicles, 200 hand-held radios, night-vision devices and other items (fully listed below.) The equipment represents the first phase of an assistance plan between the United States and the border guards. The technical assistance program uses Freedom Support Act funds to provide equipment and training to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union.
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