The French NGO Assemblée Européenne des Citoyens is a branch of the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (HCA) international network. HCA was founded in 1990 in Prague by activists from Eastern and Western Europe, with the support of then-Czechoslovakian President Vaclav Havel. It is a non-profit civic movement based on the involvement of individual activists from NGOs and social movements. Its main focuses are democracy, peace and empowerment of civil society.
HCA branches or partner organisations are active today in Germany, Netherlands, England, France, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Nagorno Karabagh, Azerbaijan.
During the 1990s, HCA activities were mainly oriented around peace issues and conflict resolution in Southeastern Europe (former Yugoslavia, Caucasus, Moldova, etc.), and since 199 HCA has regularly organized youth meetings - Seminar for international dialogue and understanding or “Sidu”. HCA also co-founded the Middle East Citizens’ Assembly (MECA) in Amman in 2005 and the Middle East Youth Forum in 2006, also in Amman.
The French branch of HCA, Assemblée Européenne des Citoyens (HCA-France), founded also in 1990, is a member of the French NGO network Initiatives pour un autre monde (IPAM).
For more information visit the http://aec.reseau-ipam.org