SPARK - Mission

SPARK supports people in post-conflict regions to provide for their own means of subsistence by building the capacity of local economic and educational institutions.
SPARK actively mobilises support for this within the Dutch Society, especially among economic and educational institutions.

SPARK is an independent non-profit institution and was founded in 1994. It has field offices in Belgrade, Mitrovica, Pristina and Skopje and SPARK-supported Business Start-up Centres in Bar, Bitola, Kragujevac, Pristina and Zenica. Our annual budget is over 2,5 million Euro and over 40 staff are employed.

Key principles in our work are:

A demand-driven approach that pinpoints the needs and priorities of local beneficiaries;
The promotion of local ownership as precondition for sustainability;
A society-oriented focus that ultimately benefits society as a whole;
The support of long-term cross-regional and international cooperation processes

Strategy
SPARK projects are developed in accordance with its main strategies for sustainable poverty reduction: Direct Poverty Alleviation through employment, Capacity Building of economic and educational institutions and Policy Making to support more effective participation of these institutions.

Partners
SPARK cooperates with academic and economic institutions, as well as Ministries of Education, Ministries of Economic Affairs, and a large number of NGOs and student organisations across Europe. Click here to view SPARK's Partners.

Projects
SPARK has developed projects in various parts of South East Europe, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Serbia. Since 2004, SPARK has also been working in Afghanistan. Columbia, Sudan, Iraq, Liberia and the Palestinian Territories are the focus of new project ideas. We currently develop new initiatives with our local economic and educational partners that can hopefully be started in 2009. One of the most challenging endeavours is a private international vocational college in Mitrovica (Kosovo). Click here here for an overview of our past projects.

Quality management
SPARK's quality management system is ISO 9001:2000 certified with certificate number QSC 554.

Download the SPARK flyer