SEED has been awarded a Matra project titled Domestic Violence Eradication, Dove for short. It is set in Turkey, where violence against women is a major problem. The project involves the Dutch Umbrella organisation for shelter houses Federatie Opvang and the Turkish Directorate for the Problems and Status of Women. The project will last three years.

Together with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SEED is organizing a seminar on Civil Society Development in Belarus. The seminar will be a part of the EU Framework contract awarded to SEED in 2007. It will take place at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 27th, 2009. The programme includes speakers and panellist from both the Netherlands and Belarus including the team of consultants implementing the EU Framework Contract project in Belarus.

A SEED expert, a judge from Ghana, has accomplished an independent review on improving the legal and institutional framework for facilitating effective IPR protection and enforcement of anti-counterfeiting and piracy measures at the national level. SEED provided advice on:

• Improving legal measures for reducing counterfeits and piracy.
• Establishing IPR enforcement units, which will serve as contact points for anti-counterfeiting and piracy matters.
• A capacity-building programme for enforcement unit staff, e.g., outline a roadmap that ensures that staff are conversant in civil and criminal litigation procedures.
  

In addition, SEED is to demonstrate how the programme will improve business performance for local manufacturers and increase revenue collection by government agencies.

SEED has been asked to advise on the core methodology of the Women Entrepreneurship II project. The EC-funded project, led by Ecorys from the Netherlands, aims to develop a support model to accompany the incubator infrastructures in place in 9 provinces and 25 cities across the country.