Five undergraduate students, who all hope to obtain their Bachelor degree in the coming months, have been selected by their Faculty to spend two months interning with RCPAR.

In co-operation with the State Chancellery of the Republic of Latvia, the RCPAR invites applications for 6th Annual Public Management Summer Institute. Target groups are middle/upper level managers from government, academics and representatives of NGOs in the region. Working knowledge of English or Russian required. New deadline: 5 July.

The post holder's main responsibilities will be to facilitate, promote and further develop a vibrant Community of Practice on Human Resources Management in the Civil Sector in the Western Balkans. Deadline is May 17, 2010.

All network members are invited to apply for participation in the 3rd training for the Network of Focal Points, which will take place in Turin, Italy in the period 31 May - 3 June 2010. 30 network members will be selected to participate. Working knowledge of English is required. Deadline for application: 30 April 2010.

The Biennial Forum, scheduled to take place on 23-24 April in Thessaloniki, has been postponed for three weeks, to 14 and 15 May.

The consultant will coordinate regional research on governance crisis responses and serve as resource person at the upcoming Regional Forum on Governance Reforms in the aftermath of the economic crisis. Deadline is March 15, 2010.

The topic of the Forum is the regulatory role of the State vis-à-vis the economy and society. The deadline for applications has been extended to 12 March.

The 5th issue of the IQUAL Newsletter, focusing on the implementation of CAF in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, has been published following the successful completion of the CAF training organized on 2-4 February 2010.

The training is a component of the RCPAR's Multi-Country Activity entitled "Improving quality management through application of the CAF model" (IQUAL), and 15 practitioners from the region have been invited to participate.

In the framework of the activity "Government action in response to economic downturn", the workhop on functional reviews and audits will take place on 18 and 19 Feb 2010 as a follow up to the 5th Annual Public Management Institute.

The 4th issue of the IQUAL Newsletter, focusing on the implementation of CAF in the Ivanovo region of Russia, has been published following the successful completion of the first two CAF trainings organised in September and October 2009.

The seminar will take place in Tallinn, Estonia and applications should be submitted by 28 Dec (for those needing visa) and 5 Jan (for those holding a valid visa).

In the first week of December, a group of five employees from the press-service of the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic visited Athens.

The 3rd RCPAR Advisory Board meeting took place in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, on 21 and 22 November 2009.

The 2nd training for the members of the Network of National Coordinators and Focal Points from Central and Eastern Europe and CIS was completed at the ITC/ILO in Turin, Italy.

The RCPAR is inviting its Network members to participate in the selection of the next theme for the Public Management Summer Institute, as it is seen during this period of economic crisis. The most popular theme will be analysed through situation-based presentations, discussions and workshops.

With financial support from the RCPAR, the State Chancellery of the Republic of Latvia, in co-operation with partners in the Ukraine, Estonia and Romania, organised the 5th Annual Public Management Summer Institute in Latvia.

21 network members from 13 countries participated in the first of a series of trainings for the network, intended to facilitate their engagement in RCPAR’s regional programming and strengthen the interaction between the members.