At the PASOS Board meeting in Riga, Latvia, on 6-8 April 2006, the nominations of three policy centres were approved for PASOS membership, bringing the current number of PASOS members to 26 (plus one Associate Member). The new member centres are: the Economic Research Center (ERC), Baku, Azerbaijan, the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), Skopje, Macedonia, and the Jefferson Institute, Belgrade, Serbia. All three policy centres were featured in the PASOS Directory of Think-Tanks in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, published at the PASOS Assembly in Brussels in November 2005, and representatives from both ERC and CRPM attended that event.
Economic Research Center, Baku
www.erc-az.org
ERC is an independent non-profit research institution established in July 1999. The mission of ERC is to promote the provision of sustainable economic development and good governance.
The goals of the centre are:
1. to spread economic reform and the market economy in Azerbaijan;
2. to develop market values;
3. to supply people and businessmen with the necessary information on law and economics, and to give them accurate information about economic events and legal processes, market mechanisms and market infrastructure activity;
4. to promote reforms, and provide scientific analysis.
Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), Skopje
www.crpm.org.mk
CRPM is an independent, non-profit research and policy institute, created in recognition of the pressing need for independent, impartial, in-depth analysis of the complex issues involved in promoting stability and prosperity in Macedonia. CRPM aims to produce independent, timely research and challenging policy analysis that will facilitate the monitoring and critical scrutiny of policy-making processes. The goal of CRPM is to invigorate the public policy process in Macedonia by increasing the information base on socio-economic developments, increasing public and government awareness of pressing socioeconomic issues, and contributing to contemporary policy debates through new empirical research, and objective and thorough analysis.
CRPM seeks to promote stability, democratisation, full respect for human rights of all groups, and economic development of the country and the region by increasing the awareness in government and the general public of contemporary social and economic issues, and promoting debate on issues of importance to Macedonia.
Jefferson Institute, Belgrade, Serbia
www.jeffersoninst.org
The Jefferson Institute is an independent research and education organisation. Its mission is to inform decision-makers with alternative policy solutions. Inspired by Thomas Jefferson's challenge to pursue truth, wherever it may lead, the Jefferson Institute believes Jefferson's vision of policy devoted to democratic ideals and the free flow of commerce is more necessary than ever to promote peaceful and productive relations among nations and within societies.
The Jefferson Institute delivers focused, original policy analysis from field-based teams with extensive and nuanced knowledge of local politics and culture. Striving to build local capacity for applied research throughout the communities where the researchers work, the institute's research blends cutting-edge methodologies with the unique insights of associates to supply clients with analyses of exceptional depth and value.
The institute focuses on four areas: Security, Competitiveness, New Faces in Foreign Aid, and Capacity-Building.
