"Over
the past 14 years, ECESP has conducted technical training for democratic
institution building, health care administration, and financial sector
management, among other fields. The program’s efforts have resulted in
strengthened skills and understanding for over 1200 administrators, managers
and government leaders. ECESP alumni include members of national parliaments
and the European Council, bank examiners of central banks, hospital
administrators as well as administrators of non-governmental and non-profit
organizations.
From 1989 until 1998, ECESP focused its work in
the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, assisting in the systemic
reforms required for integration into the European community. Since 1998,
ECESP has been engaged in similar efforts focusing on Albania, Bulgaria,
Macedonia and Romania.
Over the last decade, the
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, through ECESP, has been able to provide
training to some 300 financial managers from all of the participating ECESP
countries. That training has provided these managers with expertise in bank
risk management, financial management, and supervision of financial
institutions, all of which are critically important to stable market
economies. At the same time, the program has enabled U.S. students on the
UW-La Crosse campus to benefit from interaction with the international
students and a greater awareness of international perspectives in these areas...."
(Partial
text taken from a Statement of Congressman Ron
Kind, on H.R. 2800, Foreign Operations
Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2004, July 23, 2003)
