Friday 29 February 2008

March 15-20, 2008: NGDO seminar during ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The Slovenian NGDO platform SLOGA has the pleasure to invite to the NGDO International seminar and experts meeting which will be organised in the framework of the 15th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly session, from 15th to 20th of March 2008 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Find more information in the following documents:
Invitation NGDO platforms: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/invitation-ngdo-platforms.doc
Draft agenda ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/draft_agenda_jpa_slovenia.pdf
Registration/Travel Expense Claim Form: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/registration-travel-expense-claim-form.doc

SLOGA will cover the travel and accommodation costs for one participants per NMS NGDO platform. NGDO platforms from New Member States are kindly asked to nominate one representative per platform to attend the events and send the Registration and Travel Expense Claim Form as soon as possible to the SLOGA office at the following fax number: +386.1.542.14.24 or by email to: anja.mesic@sloga-platform.org; by 5th of March 2008 the latest.

Information provided by Marjan Huc, SLOGA coordinator

New SLOGA website for the Slovenian presidency

SLOGA – the Slovenian NGO platform for international cooperation and humanitarian aid - has set up a new website for the NGO presidency project “YOU TOO! are part of this world”. Visit it at http://www.tuditi.si/.

On the website you will soon find the Manifesto which has been officially released on February 5, 2008 in both English and Slovenian and regular information on the SLOGA activities and events during the Slovenian presidency.

Source: SLOGA e-novice 2008/06 from 12.2.2008

For more information, see also the main SLOGA site: http://www.sloga-platforma.org/ or the article from last TIS http://trialog-information-service.blogspot.com/2008/01/slovenian-eu-presidency-sloga-project.html

The governmental presidency website can be found at: http://www.eu2008.si/en/
The general Slovenian NGO portal for the presidency period: http://www.predsedovanje.si/

New TRIALOG study on development cooperation in Latvia

After the two recently published reports on Estonia and Lithuania, now the TRIALOG country study on the state of development cooperation in Latvia is available.

It was written by Annika Kool and covers the Official Development Assistance (ODA) as well as NGO activity in international development. The study gives a good insight into the state of development cooperation in Latvia.

Download the Latvian country study from:
http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/lv_countrystudy_final_jan2008.pdf

April 2, 2008: Giving a stronger voice to civil society in the EU neighbourhood, Slovenia

The international conference "Giving a stronger voice to civil society in the EU neighbourhood: Development of civil dialogue and partnership relations between civil society, national governments and EU institutions" takes place in Brdo, Slovenia, on 2 April 2008.

The Conference on the role of civil society in the European neighbourhood - particularly the Eastern European partners of the European Neighbourhood Policy and countries which are part of the accession process - is well placed into the context of the Slovenian Presidency and its priorities: Western Balkans, European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement policy.

Both the European Neighbourhood Policy and enlargement policy underline the role of civil society in the process of democratization and further integration into the EU. Organised under the auspices of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency, this conference provides an excellent opportunity for civil society to send a political message to the EU regarding the need to develop a coherent and coordinated strategy for the sustainable civil society development beyond EU borders.

This Conference is expected to result in Declaration in the form of policy recommendations on building civil dialogue and partnership relations between civil society, national governments and EU institutions as well as on enhancing the role of civil society organizations as development actors by engaging them into the dialogue on aid effectiveness.

The Conference is organized by CNVOS - Centre for Information Service, Co-operation and Development of NGOs and ECAS - European Citizen Action Service under the auspices of the Slovenian Presidency and in cooperation with the Government Communication Office and the Representation of the European Commission in Slovenia in the framework of the Management Partnership.

The registration is open until 15 March 2008.

To see the detailed programme, practical arrangements and application form please go to the ECAS website: http://www.ecas.org/ More information and background documentation is also available on the Slovenian EU Council Presidency's website http://www.eu2008.si/ and the Slovenian NGO portal for the presidency period: http://www.predsedovanje.si/

For registration and further information about the conference, please contact CNVOS at: eu@cnvos.si.

Information provided by ECAS

Conference on Challenges of EU 27 Development Policy

The conference "Challenges of EU 27 Development Policy with a Technical Seminar on the European Development Fund" took place on 18th February 2008 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The aim of the conference was to discuss present and future challenges the EU development policy is facing. The technical seminar brought together relevant actors from EU member states with the purpose of exchanging information on the role, challenges and contributions of the new member states (NMS) in the European Development Fund (EDF). There has been participation of NGOs and business communities in EDF financed projects.

At the technical seminar, NGOs have pointed out that the EDF should give special attention to assuring:
- broader ownership (including civil society from the South) to Strategic development documents,
- democratic governance,
- broader civil society organisation's participation in the creation of Strategic documents.

Some members of NMS NGOs have pointed out the need of opening EDF more to NMS, which used to be the domain of old member states in the past.

Find further information on the event at:
http://www.eu2008.si/en/Meetings_Calendar/Dates/February/0217_GAERC.html

Information provided by Marjan Huc, Slovenian NGDO platform SLOGA, info@sloga-platform.org

Thursday 28 February 2008

TRIALOG in Council meeting

TRIALOG’s director, Christine Bedoya, was invited to speak during a Council Development Cooperation Working Party (CODEV) meeting in early February, chaired by the Slovenian Presidency.

The intervention, on old member state (OMS) and new member state (NMS) cooperation, followed an overview of development education and awareness-raising (DE/AR) given by Deepali Sood on behalf of CONCORD’s Development Education Forum.

Christine explained the purpose of TRIALOG and gave examples of activities that TRIALOG has played an active part in, to encourage cooperation between new and old EU member states.

In preparation for the Slovenian presidency, TRIALOG supported the NGDO platform through direct training and advising, but also joined them up with the presidency projects of Austria, Germany and Finland.

A second success was the additional 10 million euros allocated for DE/AR projects in NMS under the European Commission’s NGO co-financing budget line in 2006. This amount was absorbed by 22 projects involving more than 100 NGOs from NMS and in addition there were 35 NGO partners from NMS in projects presented by OMS outside the additional funds. The fantastic outcome was in great part thanks to the TRIALOG partnership fair, where many project ideas were first discussed by more than 200 participants from all Europe.

A third main area for activity encouraging cooperation between member states is CONCORD’s Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighbourhood (EPAN) working group, convened by TRIALOG. All NMS are represented in the group, many OMS are as well, and there is active participation from Croatian and Macedonian civil society networks. It is probably the only European working group on development issues where new member states have more expertise than older ones.

A final area Christine talked about was the existence of regional projects such as the Regional Partnership Programme between Austria and its four NMS neighbours – The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. This programme involves platforms and governments in the countries, and funds development cooperation and development education pilot projects.

Christine made concrete recommendations to the council working party:
  • For future EU presidencies to include civil society organisations (CSO) in early discussions on priorities for presidencies;
  • For EC and member states to support more modest criteria for new member state NGOs, not only in the development education budget line, but in others as well and to offer incentives for joint projects between new and old member states;
  • For EC and member states to guarantee access to CSO in consultations on and implementation of IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) and ENPI (European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument) funds;
  • For member states to promote regional and cross-border initiatives.

Find the full text of Christine's intervention at: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/codev_feb08_trialog.pdf

Photo: © Slovenian NGDO platform SLOGA

April 8-13, 2008: Workshop on Rights Based Approach to Development, Budapest

The Minority Rights Group (MRG) International is inviting to the 5-day International Workshop on the Rights Based Approach to Development - Promoting Development in Europe: Towards a Critical Mass and Beyond - which will take place from 8 – 13 April 2008 in Budapest, Hungary.

The workshop is intended for individuals affiliated with development NGOs, teachers training institutes, teachers associations, coordinators of youth groups and other institutions working on a variety of development and human rights issues.

The overall goal of the workshop is to develop the understanding of the nature of rights based approaches among participants in order to build sustainable capacity of development NGOs and other stakeholders in the new EU member states to enable them effectively to:
  • raise public awareness of development issues in developing countries and the benefit of adopting rights based approaches when targeting these issues
  • incorporate rights based approaches into their development work
Eligible countries include Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia.

In the framework of MRG's development education programme, participants of the workshop will be provided with an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have gained during the workshop through the implementation of specific in-country campaigns in their respective countries. Following the workshop, participants will be invited to submit proposals for follow-up 12 month long in-country campaigns.

Find more information in the following documents:
Call for application: http://www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=442
Application form - http://www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=441

For any further inquiries, please contact: development.workshop@mrgmail.org

Information provided by Minority Rights Group International, Development.Workshop@mrgmail.org

Second FOND General Assembly in Bucharest

On the 23-24th January 2008 the second General Assembly of the Romanian development NGO platform FOND took place in Bucharest.

On the first day the assembly tackled issues related to the development of the platform, its achievements and its future plan of actions for 2008. Moreover, three more organizations adhered to the platform: the Institute of Public Policies, A.R.T.Fusion Association and The Youth for the Future 2006 Association.

On the second day three guests joined: Robin Barnett, Ambassador of the British Embassy in Romania, Ana Maria Almasan, Foreign Affaires and ODA Office within the MFA, and Jan Sorensen, Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Romania.

For a full list of FOND board members and member NGOs, visit the FOND website at:
http://fondromania.wordpress.com/organizatii-membre/

For more information on the General Assembly and FOND future plans, please contact Claudia Iatan, FOND coordinator at: claudia.iatan@fond-romania.ro


Source: http://fondromania.wordpress.com/

New Accession Partnerships for Candidate countries

The European Council has adopted a decision revising the accession partnerships with Croatia and Turkey.

The Council formally adopted the partnership with Croatia on 12 February and with Turkey on 18 February, both of which have updated principles, priorities and conditions.

Although the agreement with Croatia does not distinguish between objectives with different timeframes as in the partnership agreed with Turkey, there are key priorities that Zagreb must implement immediately. These include ensuring the proper implementation of the stabilisation and association agreement (SAA); updating and implementing the strategy and action plan for judicial reform and the anti-corruption programme; rapidly adopting and implementing a strategic framework for public administration; implementing the Constitutional Law on National Minorities; maintaining full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and pursuing efforts to bring reconciliation among citizens in the region, as well as enhancing efforts to find solutions to ongoing problems with Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Turkey’s commitments include short term priorities related to democracy and the rule of law; human rights (including civil, political, economic and social rights, minority rights and cultural rights); regional issues and international obligations and assuming the acquis. Longer-term commitments refer to economic criteria and the ability to assume the obligations of membership.


Links:
Press Release: Council adopts a revised accession partnership with Croatia: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/98712.pdf Press Release: Council adopts a revised accession partnership with Turkey: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/98784.pdf

Information provided by Rebecca Steel, TRIALOG Policy Officer

Dochas Consultants: New on-line service of the Irish platform

In February 2008, Dóchas, the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organisations, has launched a new service, Dóchas Consultants- an on-line register of consultants. The register is a response to a growing demand from Dochas member organizations – as well as from other organizations – for recommended consultants in a wide range of areas.

The website is online at: http://www.dochas.ie/consultants/Templates/consultants.htm

Dóchas Consultants will enable development organizations free access to trainers, facilitators, consultants, mentors or coaches with a specific background in international development and provide a cost-effective opportunity for consultants to reach a large number of potential clients in this sector.

To register as a Consultant, download the application form at: http://www.dochas.ie/consultants/documents/application_consultants.pdf

For further information, please contact: Anna Farrell, consultantregister@dochas.ie

Information provided Hans Zomer, Dochas, hans@Dochas.ie

Increased absorption rates of structural funds in new member states

Danuta Huebner, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy has announced that the absorption of payments made to new member states from the EU’s structural and cohesion funds in 2007 was excellent.

The new member states received a record 4.3 billion last year, which is the same amount as they spent over the three previous years – 2004, 2005 and 2006 – put together.

The rates of absorption for the ten member states that joined the EU in 2004 reached an average rate of 75%, not far behind the average 84% of the EU15. Rates between the states varied, ranging from 62% for Cyprus and 82% for Hungary. There is a similar variation between the older member states. Ireland has an absorption rate of 91%, but the Netherlands’ is much lower, at 65%.

These results come after a warning from Dalia Grybauskaite, the Budget Commissioner in September last year. She reported that in 2006, 43% of new member states’ structural funds and 78% of their cohesion funds had not been used. Grybauskaite warned then that absorption levels were not satisfactory and that time was running out.

The key aim now is to ensure not only that EU money is being spent, but that it is being well spent. The challenge, according to Huebner, is to ‘keep up that momentum so that economic modernisation, growth and job creation are achieved on the ground.’

Link: Danuta Hübner: Record payments for cohesion policy in 2007; http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/204&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Information provided by Rebecca Steel, TRIALOG Policy Officer

Successful Networking Support for Joint Projects

We are pleased to see that during the last two months NGOs actively used TRIALOG support for finding partners for their project proposals, especially for joint development education projects which were submitted to the EC within the call for public awareness and education for development with deadline on February 19 for the submission of concept notes.


8 NGOs from different European countries were searching for project partners via the TRIALOG website and information services. 6 further NGOs were in contact with our office per email or phone on their more specific partner searches.


We received feedback from 6 organisations on the results of their partner search. On average, each request received feedback from around 7-8 NGOs (reaching from 2 replies to 15 replies to one partner search). Except for one NGO, all of them submitted the project proposal as planned and with new partners in Europe. For example, a Romanian NGO found a lead agency from Italy, a Danish NGO found 2 partners from Bulgaria, an Austrian NGO found partners from Poland.


Although sometimes, through the partnership, the project proposals became slightly different from the initial idea or the partner NGOs in the end came from other countries than first envisaged, all NGOs seemed satisfied with the feedback and hope to build a good long term relationship. The one NGO which did not submitt the initial proposal, still identified a number of possible future partners in Central Europe and three NGOs which replied joined another initiative than initially publicised.

French NGO searches for project partner

The French NGO’s network “Humanis”, located in Strasbourg, is looking for border partners (Germany, Belgium) and NGO’s partners or associates from new Member States for a joint Coordination, Cooperation and Networking project to be submitted to the EC within the open call (deadline april 02, 2008).

For more information and contact details, please visit:
http://www.trialog.or.at/start.asp?b=85&ID=146


Information sent by Anne-Marie MARZIALE, Humanis

Wednesday 27 February 2008

April 17-18, 2008: Conference on the Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict, Vienna

The conference "Perspectives beyond war and crisis? Donor politics and gender orders in the Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict" is thought to reflect on the relevance of UN-resolution 1325 for societies in long lasting conflicts like the Israeli-Palestinian-Conflict by focusing on the impacts of donor politics on women civil society organizations. It is the aim of the conference to develop feminist perspectives and potentials for conflict resolution in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in accordance to UN-resolution 1325.

The speakers will be: Sara Roy (Harvard University), Ghada Hashem Talhami (Lake Forest College Chicago), Siham Barghouthi (Association of Women's Action in Palestine), Randa Siniora (PICCR) and Gila Svirsky (Women in Black Israel)

The conference is organised by the Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation - VIDC.

Conference language: English

Location: Albert Schweitzer Haus, Schwarzspanierstraße 13, 1090 Vienna
Download the conference programme from:
http://dp.vidc.org/fileadmin/Bibliothek/DP/pdfs/programm_eng1.pdf

For more information and registration please contact: Magda Seewald, seewald(at)vidc.org

Information provided by Magda Seewald, VIDC

April 21-22, 2008: Malaria Conference - Joining Forces, Synergising Action, Bonn

The European-African Malaria Campaign Stop Malaria Now! in cooperation with the German Red Cross and the German Foundation for World Population as German members of the European Alliance against Malaria will host a high-level International Malaria Conference on 21 and 22 April 2008 in the run-up to Africa Malaria Day 2008.

The conference aims to analyse different aspects of integrated malaria control while at the same time promoting an inclusive approach of control strategies. Moreover, the respective roles and activities of governments, civil societies and private sector will be actively discussed. Malaria control strategies, the presentation of practice examples and new initiatives in the field of research and development of antimalarials as well as innovative ways of predictable, reliable and sustainable financing for malaria control will represent the main focus points of the conference.

A detailed programme of the conference will be available by February 2008 at http://gb.medeor.org/

Information provided by Antje Mangelsdorf, Deutsches Medikamentenhilfswerk, action medeor e.V.

For more information please contact Antje Mangelsdorf at: antje.mangelsdorf@medeor.org

May-October, 2008: EsoDoc-European Social Documentary Workshops

The ESoDoc workshop is a training initiative intended for TV documentary, NGO and NPO (non profit) sector professionals with some audio-visual experience, especially targeting NGO field workers who want to use film in their work and new media specialists with a human rights, environmental protection perspective. ESoDoc is promoted by the ZeLIG School for Documentary, Television and New Media (Bolzano-Italy), and supported by the EU’s Media Plus Programme.

ESoDoc offers three 1-week workshops, held over a 6-month period, during which participants, either individually or in groups, develop projects based on specific Social Documentary themes.

Deadline for application for ESoDoc 2008 workshops is March 18, 2008.

For more information see: http://www.esodoc.eu/

Information provided by Divna Popov, TRIALOG Intern

Tuesday 26 February 2008

News from the Presidency Fund

The Fourth Call for Proposals of the Presidency Fund ended on 30 September 2008 as a result of which 20 organisations were invited to participate in the Main Phase. From these applications, three applications have been selected to implement their proposed projects with the aid of the Presidency Fund. These organisations are:

FoRS, the Czech National NGDO Platform with their project "Starting Policy Activities at the Czech NGDO Platform"; International Policy Gender Network is implementing the project "Equal Opportunities for Men & Women: Advocacy for Change"; the Polish Green Network is receiving aid from the Presidency Fund for the second time to implement the project "Challenging Poland as one of the EU Development Policy-makers".

The summaries of these project proposals can be read on the Presidency Fund website along with summaries of the Final Reports of the 7 organisations that received aid from the Presidency Fund in its first Call for Proposals and Mid-Term Reports of organisations currently implementing their projects with the aid of the Fund as a result of the subsequent Calls.

The Fifth and final Call for Proposals issued by the Presidency Fund is currently in its Main Phase. The Fund was happy to include NGDOs from Romania and Bulgaria to participate in this Call. A total of 37 applications were received during the Preliminary Phase from which 23 applications have been invited to submit a Main Application by 3 March 2008.

The Presidency Fund has learnt much from the organisations with which it had the pleasure of working with in implementing their projects and would like to thank all the NGDOs who have been actively participating in each of the Calls for Proposals.

For more information, please visit: http://www.presidencyfund.org/

Information provided by Samantha Saldanha, ssaldanha@eurostep.org

WIDE and KARAT newsletters and resources

WIDE´s monthly electronic newsletter includes news, resources, and opinions on current developments in the fields of gender, development policy and trade. It provides insights into European Union policies on trade and development and the impact of these policies on women, and follows the work of international bodies such as the UN and the World Bank. Besides articles, each issue of the newsletter contains links to online resources and announcements of upcoming events, as well as updates on what WIDE members and partners are working on in their regions.

The latest WIDE newsletter can be found on:
http://62.149.193.10/wide/download/2008_News_1.pdf?id=573
To subscribe to the newsletter go to:
http://www.wide-network.org/index.jsp?id=7&random=216018677324065

KARAT News is a monthly electronic publication covering diverse information on women's and gender issues relevant to women and women's organisations in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS). Beside information on gender issues in CEE/CIS, Karat News also includes related information from EU, and updates on various activities undertaken by Karat.

The latest issue can be found on:
http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/karat-news-january2008.pdf
To subscribe to Karat News please write to secretariat@karat.org.pl or visit http://www.karat.org/news1/last_news.html

A new Karat report “Fair Play - always in fashion. Consumer’s awareness and working conditions of women in sporting goods industry” is now available.
The electronic version of the report can be downloaded at: http://www.karat.org/publications/report_fashion_EN.pdf

Information sent by WIDE and KARAT, compiled by Divna Popov, TRIALOG Intern

Job Vacancy: DSW Executive Director

The position of executive director at the German Foundation for World Population (DSW) is advertised. Application have to be sent by March 17, 2008.

Find the vacancy announcement at the following link: http://www.economist.com/classifieds/view_classified.cfm?sitd=6729&key=&sitd_type=R
For further information please visit: http://www.weltbevoelkerung.de/en/

Information provided by Sabine Weber, Deutsche Stiftung Weltbevölkerung (DSW), via worldpoplist

Job Vacancy at the EMHRN in Brussels

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) invites candidates to apply for the post of coordinator for its work on Palestine, Israel and Palestinians.

Candidates should apply before 8 March 2008. Start of the assignment: As soon as possible.
Duration: Until 31 December 2009 - with possible extension
Duty station: Brussels

For more information please go to: http://www.emhrn.net/57
Or visit: http://www.euromedrights.net/

For further information, please contact Marc Schade-Poulsen, Executive Director, EMHRN: msp@euromedrights.net

Information sent by Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN)

Global Education newsletter

Global Education News is a monthly electronic newsletter focusing on the North-South Centre's global education events and practices worldwide; global education practitioners can find useful thematic links and educational pedagogical tools. It also serves as a medium for the North-South Centre Global Education Week network national coordinators' own use.

The latest issue of the Global Education newsletter is focusing on intercultural dialogue through its related useful links, resources and events. Under resources, you will find references related to child rights and several calls for proposals and papers. Updated information on Sustainable Development is available under heading 7 with a special focus on Africa. Read about the outcomes of the Africa-Europe Youth Summit organised by the North-South Centre and get acquainted with its final recommendation. Learn about the outcomes of the Global Education Week 2007.

Download the latest newsletter from January 2008 from: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre/GE/GE_Newsletter_en.asp#TopOfPage

Information provided by Miguel Silva, North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, miguel.silva@coe.int

Monday 4 February 2008

Conference on EU budget review

Over 90 participants, mostly NGO representatives, attended the EU Civil Society Contact Group conference "Building a value based EU budget for the future - What role for NGOs?" on Thursday 24 of January in Brussels. The aim of the conference was to bring together representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) around Europe and enable them to get involved into the review of the EU budget launched by the European Commission (deadline April 15, 2008).

The conference was divided into two parts. The morning session was devoted to a smaller group of representatives and enabled them to get to know better the experience of CSOs lobbying of national budgets around the world (presented by Warren Krafchik, Director of the International Budget Project) and the state of affairs concerning the EU budget, especially after the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon (presented by Jan Seifert, assistant to Helga Trüpel, Green MEP and member of the budget committee).

The afternoon session presented two panels on priorities and contribution of CSOs to the EU budget review debate. The two sessions featured representatives of EU CSO platforms from different sectors, think-thanks and the EU institutions. They all agreed that CSOs can potentially have a considerable impact on the future shape of the EU budget in terms of priorities and values it reflects. The EU Civil Society Contact Group is expected to launch further activities to support CSOs in contributing to the consultation and following the EU budget review.

For more details about the conference and the conference report (including the presentations), please visit the website of the EU Civil Society Contact Group at: http://www.act4europe.org/code/en/actions.asp?id_events=125

Information provided by Tanja Hafner Ademi; Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, coordinator - Balkan Civil Society Development Network