European Council # Council of the EU # Council of Europe???
The Austrian EU platform has recently printed a very useful publication on “Understanding EU Development Cooperation”. The brochure gives a good overview and explanations on the EU development cooperation structures and procedures. It is available for download at: http://www.eu-platform.at/english/start.asp?showmenu=yes&fr=&b=805&ID=14032 If you would like to order a hardcopy or obtain the rights to use the raw version for a publication in your own language, please write to Claudia Bonk: office@eu-platform.at
In the framework of the Regional Partnership Programme (RPP), the Austrian EU platform held a seminar on ‘Understanding EU Development Cooperation’ in Vienna on 13 and 14 June 2007 . 22 people coming from NGOs from the different RPP countries (CZ, SK, H, SLO, A) participated in the seminar. Experts from the Austrian EU-Platform gave a comprehensive overview of the functioning of the European Union and Community. They explained the different institutions and bodies, their functions and influence as well as informed on the processes between the institutions regarding legislation, programming and budgeting. After a substantial introduction on the functioning of EU development cooperation, the participants were also informed about the possibilities and importance of NGOs to actively involve themselves in the EU development cooperation policies e.g. by participating in the European network CONCORD.
Source: http://www.eu-platform.at; http://www.regionalpartnership.at
Tuesday, 17 July 2007
Countdown for the GLEN Eurizons 2007 Tour
"We are part of this world - let's be part of its future"
After the successful campaign in 2006, GLEN Eurizons, the European Tour for Global Responsibility, will also take place in 2007.
The last preparations are running: young Europeans from 14 countries are getting ready for the great summer adventure with a noble goal. Between August 22nd and September 13th 2007, a team of 60 campaigners will hitch-hike 3000 km through 8 European countries, joining 8 events in 8 cities and creating a colorful development education caravan.
On their way they want to:
- raise awareness and educate about global interdependencies and development issues and involve Europeans in an active reflection of their responsibility;
- remind politicians to fulfill their promisses towards the 8 Millennium Development Goals and
- stand up for fair trade regulations within the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement) negotiations.
The highlight of this year's tour will be the meeting with the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where the "Eurizonists" will bring the voices and opinions of European public to the discussion about trade policy and currently criticized EPAs with the ACP countries.
As last year, the campaign was thoroughly prepared. TRIALOG supported the preparation team members from NGOs in the new EU member states. Two capacity b
uilding seminars in Krakow and Gdansk took place. In the beginning of July the team had its final meeting - now the real countdown starts - in less than 4 weeks Eurizons will hit the road and 'rock' the cities of Riga (LV), Krakow (PL), Bratislava (SK), Praha (CZ), Basel (CH), Freiburg (DE), Nancy (FR) and Brussels (BE) with street actions, political street theatre, panel discussions, development education workshops, concerts and much more - everyone's sincerely invited!
For details on the events schedule, background info, news from the tour, discussions in the weblog, photos and contact details please go to http://www.eurizons.net/. Eurizons is a project of GLEN, the Global Education Network of Young Europeans, please visit http://www.glen-europe.org/
For more information please contact the project coordinator of Eurizons, Christoph Hinske, at: christoph.hinske@eurizons.net
Information provided by Zuzana Kissova, Eurizons
After the successful campaign in 2006, GLEN Eurizons, the European Tour for Global Responsibility, will also take place in 2007.The last preparations are running: young Europeans from 14 countries are getting ready for the great summer adventure with a noble goal. Between August 22nd and September 13th 2007, a team of 60 campaigners will hitch-hike 3000 km through 8 European countries, joining 8 events in 8 cities and creating a colorful development education caravan.
On their way they want to:
- raise awareness and educate about global interdependencies and development issues and involve Europeans in an active reflection of their responsibility;
- remind politicians to fulfill their promisses towards the 8 Millennium Development Goals and
- stand up for fair trade regulations within the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement) negotiations.
The highlight of this year's tour will be the meeting with the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where the "Eurizonists" will bring the voices and opinions of European public to the discussion about trade policy and currently criticized EPAs with the ACP countries.
As last year, the campaign was thoroughly prepared. TRIALOG supported the preparation team members from NGOs in the new EU member states. Two capacity b
uilding seminars in Krakow and Gdansk took place. In the beginning of July the team had its final meeting - now the real countdown starts - in less than 4 weeks Eurizons will hit the road and 'rock' the cities of Riga (LV), Krakow (PL), Bratislava (SK), Praha (CZ), Basel (CH), Freiburg (DE), Nancy (FR) and Brussels (BE) with street actions, political street theatre, panel discussions, development education workshops, concerts and much more - everyone's sincerely invited!For details on the events schedule, background info, news from the tour, discussions in the weblog, photos and contact details please go to http://www.eurizons.net/. Eurizons is a project of GLEN, the Global Education Network of Young Europeans, please visit http://www.glen-europe.org/
For more information please contact the project coordinator of Eurizons, Christoph Hinske, at: christoph.hinske@eurizons.net
Information provided by Zuzana Kissova, Eurizons
Monday, 16 July 2007
Glopolis seminar: Climate, Agriculture and Development - CEE NGO Advocacy
A regional capacity-building seminar focused on Climate, Agriculture and Development – CEE NGO Advocacy. The seminar was organized by Glopolis - Prague Global Policy Institute and took place in Prague from May 21 until May 23, 2007. The seminar hosted about 30 participants, mainly from development, environmental, alter-globalization and other civil society organizations (CSOs) from the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries along with top NGO experts from the EU-15 countries.
The main objectives of the seminar were to:
The main objectives of the seminar were to:
- find linkages between climate change, agriculture and development,
- exchange experience with other civil society organizations from the CEE region and with experts and NGOs from the EU,
- strengthen regional and EU networks,
- strategize, brainstorm and plan how to enhance NGO advocacy and policy work in the region.
The seminar was divided into two parts – an analytical one with panel discussions, workshops and brainstormings where participants presented different views on, and links between, economic globalization and sustainable development (food sovereignty, climate change, EPAs). They identified and discussed pro-development and pro-sustainable alternatives to these global problems.
The second part consisted of meetings between Czech NGO representatives and decision-makers on the advocacy work and lobbying. This was followed by a debriefing of the meeting and strategic brainstorming about advocacy strategies for CEE NGOs.
The recommendations can be summarized as follows:
CEE NGO’s need to monitor and analyze relevant national, EU and international policies (agricultural, energy/climate and trade policy) and their impacts on sustainable development (with a view to increasing policy coherence for development) to be able to advocate for alternatives in these fields among key target groups (decision-makers, media, public). This includes learning how to hand over advocacy skills in the local work, through transfer of knowledge and skills from selected international and European development campaigns.
For further information on the Glopolis seminar please contact: vaculik@glopolis.org
Information provided by Marek Vaculik, Glopolis
GLEN training seminar: Transferring South Experience into quality global education
The Global Education Network of Young Europeans, GLEN, established in 2004, is active in global education activities. It organises three-month stays for selected young Europeans in East-European, Asian and African countries. Since the stay abroad is part of a wider range of activities aiming at awareness raising in Europe, GLEN organises accompanying activities which prepare participants of the program for using their experience in global education activities.
“Transferring South experience into quality global education” was the topic of a seminar, conducted within this broader framework for participants of GLEN in May 2007. The Slovene Philanthropy, a new member of GLEN hosted the seminar, which took place in Vojsko, West of Ljubljana, Slovenia. 22 Europeans from 6 European countries participated in the 4 days seminar co-financed by TRIALOG. Those participants, most of which were former and future participants of GLEN, will work as multipliers for issues of global development in the future.
The seminar was facilitated by the former GLEN participants Dorota Gadzinowska and Gabriele Lipska who work for the Polish Humanitarian Organisation (PHO). After the GLEN project phase, they have conducted several global education activities in cooperation with Polish schools. The seminar offered a broad overview on organisational, methodological and conceptional aspects of global education particularly in schools.
A special emphasis was put on how to use South experience without reproducing stereotypes. Representation of the so-called South, such the assumption, is often using pictures which show a very small and distinct part of the reality of life in these countries. GLEN is concerned with producing an alternative picture in and through its global education activities. The seminar offered a great possibility for sharing ideas concerning this topic and for exchanging on different country contexts. The international context of the seminar contributed to strengthening exchange of knowledge for further networking and engagement in global education on country- and cross-country level.
For further information visit the GLEN website at: http://www.glen-europe.org
Information provided by Joanna Muenker, ASA/GLEN. For additional information contact her at: joannamue@gmx.de
“Transferring South experience into quality global education” was the topic of a seminar, conducted within this broader framework for participants of GLEN in May 2007. The Slovene Philanthropy, a new member of GLEN hosted the seminar, which took place in Vojsko, West of Ljubljana, Slovenia. 22 Europeans from 6 European countries participated in the 4 days seminar co-financed by TRIALOG. Those participants, most of which were former and future participants of GLEN, will work as multipliers for issues of global development in the future.
The seminar was facilitated by the former GLEN participants Dorota Gadzinowska and Gabriele Lipska who work for the Polish Humanitarian Organisation (PHO). After the GLEN project phase, they have conducted several global education activities in cooperation with Polish schools. The seminar offered a broad overview on organisational, methodological and conceptional aspects of global education particularly in schools.
A special emphasis was put on how to use South experience without reproducing stereotypes. Representation of the so-called South, such the assumption, is often using pictures which show a very small and distinct part of the reality of life in these countries. GLEN is concerned with producing an alternative picture in and through its global education activities. The seminar offered a great possibility for sharing ideas concerning this topic and for exchanging on different country contexts. The international context of the seminar contributed to strengthening exchange of knowledge for further networking and engagement in global education on country- and cross-country level.
For further information visit the GLEN website at: http://www.glen-europe.org
Information provided by Joanna Muenker, ASA/GLEN. For additional information contact her at: joannamue@gmx.de
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Call for Proposals for NGOs from 12 NMS: development debates
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Commission announce a call for proposals for non-profit organizations from 12 EU New Member States (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia) to organize national debates on development cooperation and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The project is funded by the European Commission and is implemented by UNDP - UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre and UNDP Country Office in Poland.
UNDP and EC cooperation aims at raising awareness and building support for development cooperation and achievement of MDGs. To this end UNDP will be contracting non-profit organizations from these countries for organizing debates in October 2007, promoting the issue in national media, preparing materials/brochures.
The debates have primary objectives of promoting the European Development Days 2007, mobilizing national media coverage of development/MDGs topics (including MDGs mid-point assessment), mobilizing participation of Members of Parliaments (MPs) and decision-makers in discussing development topics.
Eligible non-profit organizations, which have capacities of mobilizing participation of MPs and media, are encouraged to apply for this project. The project does not require providing co-funding. It is advisable that the applicant has at least one Member of the Parliament (for example the Speaker of Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs or European Integration committee) and at least one nationwide media as co-organisers of the debate.
The detailed information accompanied by application templates is available at:
http://europeandcis.undp.org/?menu=p_tenders&tid=175.
The deadline for submitting the applications is 24 August 2007.
For further inquires about this initiative, please contact Ms. Simona Petru, Project Manager, simona.petru@undp.org, tel. +421 2 59337-413 or Mr. Jan Szczycinski, UNDP Communications Officer, jan.szczycinski@undp.org.
Information sent by Jan Szczycinski, UNDP Communications Officer
UNDP and EC cooperation aims at raising awareness and building support for development cooperation and achievement of MDGs. To this end UNDP will be contracting non-profit organizations from these countries for organizing debates in October 2007, promoting the issue in national media, preparing materials/brochures.
The debates have primary objectives of promoting the European Development Days 2007, mobilizing national media coverage of development/MDGs topics (including MDGs mid-point assessment), mobilizing participation of Members of Parliaments (MPs) and decision-makers in discussing development topics.
Eligible non-profit organizations, which have capacities of mobilizing participation of MPs and media, are encouraged to apply for this project. The project does not require providing co-funding. It is advisable that the applicant has at least one Member of the Parliament (for example the Speaker of Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs or European Integration committee) and at least one nationwide media as co-organisers of the debate.
The detailed information accompanied by application templates is available at:
http://europeandcis.undp.org/?menu=p_tenders&tid=175.
The deadline for submitting the applications is 24 August 2007.
For further inquires about this initiative, please contact Ms. Simona Petru, Project Manager, simona.petru@undp.org, tel. +421 2 59337-413 or Mr. Jan Szczycinski, UNDP Communications Officer, jan.szczycinski@undp.org.
Information sent by Jan Szczycinski, UNDP Communications Officer
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
Presidency Fund: Results of the Third Call for Proposals
The Third Call for Proposals issued by the Presidency Fund came to a close on 21 February 2007. As a result of the call 44 applications were submitted to the Preliminary Phase of which 22 were invited to participate in the Main Phase of the Call. Unfortunately two organisations did not submit a Main application and so, 20 project proposals were assessed by the Presidency Fund Board. It must be said that the quality of the proposals submitted to the Preliminary and the Main Phase were of a quality that surpassed the previous two calls and the Board members deliberated much before selecting six proposals.
To begin with, the National Platform of Maltese NGDOs was selected with its proposal to build up its capacity and that of its members to participate more actively in the debate on the EU Development Policy. This project would also help build up the Secretariat to ensure the long term sustainability of the Platform.With the upcoming Presidency of Slovenia and its focus on climate change, the project submitted by Focus Association for Sustainable Development with their project to link the issues of climate change with the general debate on development cooperation was also an obvious choice for the Board. The project submitted by the Environment Management & Law Association- EMLA was also selected for its interesting focus on environmental governance in the global south and the implementation of the project which would involve NGDOs from five of the EU-10 countries. A Latvian NGDO was also awarded aid in a project applying the principles of the global movement Social Watch to the EU-10. Lastly, the Network of East-West Women was awarded aid again to continue the project "Gender Watch" in order to expand the activities of the Gender Watch Network to focus on aid monitoring at the EU level especially with respect to development cooperation with the CEE/CIS countries. With aid received in the first Call for Proposals, NEWW set up the Gender Watch. The Hungarian National Platform, HAND, was also selected for its proposal to build up its capacity to focus on aid-monitoring.
To read summaries of each of these Projects, you can follow this link http://www.presidencyfund.org/wcm/content/category/24/349/129/
Information sent by Samantha Saldanha, Presidency Fund
To begin with, the National Platform of Maltese NGDOs was selected with its proposal to build up its capacity and that of its members to participate more actively in the debate on the EU Development Policy. This project would also help build up the Secretariat to ensure the long term sustainability of the Platform.With the upcoming Presidency of Slovenia and its focus on climate change, the project submitted by Focus Association for Sustainable Development with their project to link the issues of climate change with the general debate on development cooperation was also an obvious choice for the Board. The project submitted by the Environment Management & Law Association- EMLA was also selected for its interesting focus on environmental governance in the global south and the implementation of the project which would involve NGDOs from five of the EU-10 countries. A Latvian NGDO was also awarded aid in a project applying the principles of the global movement Social Watch to the EU-10. Lastly, the Network of East-West Women was awarded aid again to continue the project "Gender Watch" in order to expand the activities of the Gender Watch Network to focus on aid monitoring at the EU level especially with respect to development cooperation with the CEE/CIS countries. With aid received in the first Call for Proposals, NEWW set up the Gender Watch. The Hungarian National Platform, HAND, was also selected for its proposal to build up its capacity to focus on aid-monitoring.
To read summaries of each of these Projects, you can follow this link http://www.presidencyfund.org/wcm/content/category/24/349/129/
Information sent by Samantha Saldanha, Presidency Fund
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