Slovenian EU Presidency - SLOGA project

On 1 January 2008 Slovenia took over the presidency of the EU for a six month period, the first new member state to do so. During this period it will represent the almost five hundred million EU citizens. The EU countries account for more than 50% of the resources coming from the developed world to encourage cooperation with developing countries. Since development is one of the EU's most important policy areas, Slovenia will also leave its mark in this area.

During the Slovene presidency, SLOGA – the platform of non-governmental organisations for international cooperation and humanitarian aid – in cooperation with more than 20 Slovene NGOs, is planning activities designed to raise public awareness and directed at development education.

Through the project “YOU TOO! are part of this world” SLOGA wants to encourage the inclusion of development content in both formal and informal education and to make people more aware of the need for “global solidarity”. At the same time, the platform wishes to strengthen cooperation between NGOs from different areas and those involved in development, as well as increasing the recognition among the Slovene and European publics of the importance of development cooperation.

In the project, SLOGA will focus on the themes emphasised in the presidency manifesto:
- climate change and its effects on developing countries,
- intergenerational dialogue or focusing on the problems of older generations, who often take on the role of caring for children whose parents have the HIV virus or have fallen ill with AIDS,
- unaccompanied children and the advocating of their needs,
- trafficking in women and girls
- economic migration, focusing on children and women.

One of the project emphases will be a discussion among NGOs of the effectiveness of development aid; SLOGA will present a report at the international forum in Accra, Ghana, that will take place during the French presidency of the EU.

"Slovenia is not burdened by a colonial past, but for this very reason is faced with public opposition to any particular emphasis on development cooperation. If we want to overcome this opposition, we must combine the knowledge of specialised NGOs, institutions and individuals with the experience of development NGOs", says Marjan Huc, SLOGA coordinator.

SLOGA expects that the success of the project “YOU TOO are part of this world” will provide additional encouragement to NGOs to connect what they are doing in their particular field to a development cooperation perspective (for example, climate change does not effect only Europe, but will have much greater consequences for developing countries and their further development).

"YOU TOO are a part of this world and responsible for it”.

Download the presideny manifesto from:
http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/manifest_vzorec_slo1.pdf (Slovenian)
Find an English translation at:
http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/manifesto_english_prevod.pdf


Information provided by Marjan Huc, SLOGA coordinator, info@sloga-platform.org
More on: http://www.sloga-platform.org/

Read about the SLOGA development education conference in June in the Events-section of this TIS.