IDEE

IDEE began in 1985 as an extension of the Committee in Support of Solidarity, which had supported Poland's underground Solidarity movement since the imposition of martial law in December 1981. In addition to continuing the effort to organize support for the Solidarity movement, IDEE supported the growing human rights and opposition movements in the countries of Eastern Europe seeking democratic change and an end to communism. It provided direct financial and material assistance to independent publications and to human rights and opposition groups that were at the forefront of the 1989-91 revolutions and offered a gateway for dissidents and semi-clandestine democratic movements to the West and for Western institutions and funders to the "East."... Since 1989, IDEE has helped democrats in the region, where possible, dismantle communism's legacy and build the institutions of a democratic political system and a plural and open society. In this period, IDEE has worked with a broad network..

Also known as: Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe

Primary location: Washington