TRIALOG Study Visit to Brussels

The study visit is a new activity in the current phase of TRIALOG, which foresees annual study visits for a group of CSO representatives from selected NMS platforms.

This year, the two neighbouring platforms, the Bulgarian Platform for International Development (BPID) and the Romanian NGDO Platform (FOND) took part in a study visit to the European Union institutions in Brussels, organised by TRIALOG during the 12th and 16th July 2010.

The study visit’s goal was to help the participants get better understanding about main EU institutions and how to better interact with them in fulfilling the platforms’ tasks. The programme included meetings with representatives of the European Economic and Social Committee, the Development Committee of the European Parliament, DG Dev and DG EuropeAid of the European Commission and the Bulgarian and Romanian Permanent Representations in Brussels, which increased the knowledge of the participants on the European development policy and on the advocacy role of NGDOs. There were free hours provided so each of the groups had separate meetings with their country representatives based in Brussels.

As one of the main highlights of the visit, the participants were able to observe a meeting of the Development Committee, which was also attended by the EU Commissioner, Mr. Andris Piebalgs, providing a very useful insight on the dynamics and interaction between the representatives of the two institutions.

Overall the study visit increased the participants’ understanding of the EU development policies, with focus on current important issues (such as the European Transition Compendium, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, the DEAR Study…) and provided useful contacts for them. Also, it emphasized the need for further strengthening of the policy/ advocacy capacity of the two platforms to engage more actively in development cooperation at the European level. The visit gave additional and practical information on the activity of TRIALOG, CONCORD and DEEEP.

As for concrete follow-up activities, the participants of the two platforms will disseminate the report of the study visit among the platform members, elaborate thematic dossiers for the member NGOs (on the ETC, European institutions in development cooperation, EDF, ENPI…), follow-up with the people met during the study visit and encourage platform members to become more active at the European level.

The report of the study visit will be available shortly on the TRIALOG website.

Information provided by Adela Rusu, FOND, and Dimitar Sotirov, BPID

DE Watch released

The report, initiated by the European Multi Stakeholder Steering Group on Development Education, provides a detailed overview of development education (DE) policies, practices and funding in the 27 EU Member States and Norway. It analyses DE concepts, policies and practices of national development ministries and related agencies, the formal education sector as well as the approaches of civil society organisations and local or regional authorities.

As a first systematic attempt to assess the DE performance of state and non-state actors in 28 European countries, the DE Watch report develops draft indices and aggregates them into a mapping of the DE commitments and practices of national Non-Governmental Development Organisations and the Ministries/agencies responsible for development.

Furthermore, the report calls for conceptual clarity in the discourse about DE, and suggests a typology which distinguishes between four different understandings of DE that occur in the concepts and practice of the different actors.

In times of decreasing aid budgets and of a more and more interlinked world, the report calls both state and non-state actors to strategically strengthen DE in their organisations and institutions, in order to provide European citizens with the values, knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of an increasingly globalised citizenship.

The European Multi-stakeholder Steering Group on Development Education was established in Helsinki, in 2006. Its members are experts from National Governments, European Institutions, international organisations, and civil society. In 2007, the group drafted the European Consensus on Development: the contribution of Development Education and Awareness Raising, which provides the first strategy framework on European development education and awareness raising at local, regional, national and European levels.Download the DE Watch report

Comments can be made at http://www.deeep.org/dewatch.html. For more information, contact Tobias Troll t.troll@deeep.org

Information provided by Tobias Troll, DEEEP and MSH Secretariat

Schools as key actors in promoting Global Education

The 12th edition of the Development Education Summer School (DESS), co-organised by DEEEP together with Artemisszio and the Hungarian Inter Church Aid (HIA) focused on the theme of NGOs and schools cooperation. The 61 participants, together with the facilitators, the experts and the candidates met in Balatonzsemes, Hungary, from June 6 to June 13, 2010.

The structure of the DESS allowed participants to meet everyday in specific working groups, focusing on environmental sustainability, trade and consumption, poverty, diversity, as well as to attend thematic sessions (quality and impact, teachers training, school curricula and whole school approach, NGOs/schools cooperation), aiming at providing them with a more theoretical information, to feed their reflection.

One of the aims of the week was for participants to prepare a “local action day”, which took place in an art and sport school, nearby the venue. The idea was to bring DE to a local school, and raise pupils’ awareness on topics which for the time being are not yet included in their school curricula. Participants met pupils (aged 6-13) and implemented development education activities for a couple of hours. Both school kids and DESS participants were satisfied with the outcomes of these sessions.

DEEEP is currently working on the evaluation of the summer school. It will be finalised in the coming days and will be posted on the summer school webpage, hosted on DEEEP website. http://www.deeep.org/summerschool2010.html. A Summer school 2010 facebook page was created to allow participants to stay in touch in an informal way after the DESS!

Looking forward to DESS 2011…
DEEEP together with its Finnish partners is already working on the next summer school! The Summer School 2011 will take place in June (12-18), nearby Helsinki. The focus will be on Quality and Evaluation.

The final proposal for DESS 2011 will be submitted to DARE members in October. More information will be made available in the next issues of the DE Times.

For more information, contact Chiara Tripepi c.tripepi@deeep.org

Information provided by Chiara Tripepi, DEEEP

Maternity cover for Policy Officer in Brussels office

Our Policy Officer Rebecca Steel-Jasińska will go on maternity leave in the beginning of September. Her replacement will be Monika Matus from Poland, based in our office in Brussels.
Monika brings not only a “new EU member state”-perspective into our policy work but also a broad range of experiences in development cooperation and education as well as in policy and advocacy. Since 2005 she has been engaged with GLEN (Global Education Network of Young Europeans) as trainer and tutor and contributed to the network development. For the Kibera Kids 4 Peace programme in Nairobi, Kenya, she established a comprehensive support programme for Kibera slum community children. At the KARAT coalition in Poland she coordinated the “MakeITFair” & “ProcureITfair” campaign and over the last year she has been involved in advocacy activities in Brussels for Friends of the Earth Europe & CEE Bankwatch.

We are happy to welcome Monika in our team.

Information provided by Christine Bedoya, TRIALOG

From Slovakia to Kenya: Following the inner voice

She has always strove for seeing the world from the perspective of the poorest and empower them to change their situation. Thus, after studying engineering and psychology and many years of work in the international field, she decided to follow her inner voice and first set off for East Africa in 2000. From February 2005 to April 2010, Daniela Petrasova from Slovakia worked as HORIZONT3000 Technical Advisor and Director of Dreikönigsaktion and eRko Support Office in Nairobi, Kenya. She was accompanying and supporting more than 15 projects in the Nairobi region and also developing future project ideas with local partners. In a short interview she shared her experience with us:

What is, from your experience, crucial for the success of a development project?
Development work starts with an in-depth understanding of the situation of the target group, beginning where people are with their needs, dreams and fears and respecting their dignity and right to self-determination. It should respond to the real needs of people and communities and build on their inner potential without making them dependent on long-term outside assistance. At the same time, in development work we have to accept that changes happen only slowly and gradually. Those that want to see results too quickly get often very frustrated. There is a need to persist and persevere and then, if we are lucky, we can see some fruits of the work. Development is a marathon rather than a quick run.

A good development project also needs a common realistic vision that can inspire others, and motivated competent people able to face challenges and move forward.

Does your experience of transition in Slovakia - from a former communist country to a recipient country of ODA and then to a EU member and donor country - help you in your development work in Kenya?
Before I came to Kenya, I worked with two large international programmes assisting Slovakia in the transition period. These programmes also provided some technical expertise in form of personnel. From this experience I was aware that the outside assistance is always limited and those wishing to make an impact need to listen a lot, be patient and work very closely with local people who understand much better how things work in their particular context. At the same time, realizing what was achieved in Slovakia during the last 20 years with all the challenges is also encouraging. Change is indeed possible.

Thank you, Daniela, and all the best for your future work!

Interview by Anita Bister and Ulrike Bey.

Third Edition of the Romanian Development Camp

The third edition of the Romanian Development Camp under the title "MDGs in Focus: Perspectives from the re-emerging donors" took place from 24th till 27th of June 2010 in Bucharest and Covasna (Romania) and it was organized by the Romanian NGDO Platform (FOND) in partnership and with the financial support of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event brought together more than 100 participants from different countries and aimed at presenting the contributions of the new EU member states as re-emerging donors. The theme was chosen in the context of the UN Summit which will be held this year in September and will review the progress and the main challenges in achieving the Millennium Development Goals

The opening session, held in Bucharest on the 24th of June, had as guest speakers: Mr. Teodor Baconschi (Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs), Mr. Viorel Micescu (FOND President), EU Commissioner for Development, Mr. Andris Piebalgs and Mr. Paul Hoebink, Professor in Development Cooperation (Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen). Mr. Piebalgs emphasized in his speech that development cooperation should be at the center of the foreign policy agenda and noted that NGOs are a driving force for development cooperation.

The working sessions of the camp took place in Covasna and consisted of plenary sessions, workshops and debates. The conclusions of this edition of the Romanian Development Camp reflected the need for an effective national development cooperation policy and an increased involvement of other relevant actors such as the national parliament, academia, local authorities and private sector.

The Romanian Development Camp is an annual event bringing together major stakeholders in development cooperation at national and European level: governmental actors, civil society, experts from European and international donors, partner countries, mass-media, academia and the private sector.

For more information about this event, please contact the FOND Secretariat: office@fondromania.org

Information provided by Adela Rusu, FOND

BCSDN Policy Paper on the State of Civil Dialogue in the Western Balkans

The Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) published a policy paper titled “The Missing Link. Development and Functioning of Civil Dialogue in the Western Balkans”. This policy paper is a continuation of the BCSDN effort to offer both local and international stakeholders, especially the EU institutions, analysis and recommendations related to development of civil society in the Balkans with a focus on its role in the EU accession process.

While drawing from findings and recommendations from the Balkan Civic Practices 6 - “The Successes and Failures of EU Pre-Accession Policy in the Balkans: Support to Civil Society” on support to development of civil society in the Western Balkan countries, the present paper focuses on analyzing the current situation in development and functioning of civil dialogue in the seven Western Balkans (pre-) accession countries. Furthermore, the paper draws conclusions on how the Enlargement policy could better support the ongoing local efforts on both regional and national level with recommendations addressed equally to the three stakeholders involved – the EC, national Governments and civil society. Experience of three New EU Member States, i.e. Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia are also included in order to explore the effect of the before and after EU entry as in many cases civil dialogue is a EU benchmark and thus, funded area by the EC in the accession period.

Thus, the paper is not a one-off activity, but part of targeted activities of the BCSDN Mid-term Programme 2009-2011, which in 2010 aim to improve influence of CSOs on the development and functioning of civil dialogue mechanisms in the Balkan countries. The paper is available in English and 3 main local language(s) groups - Albanian , Macedonian and Serbian . The English version is also available in hard-copy upon request from the BCSDN Executive Office .

Source of information: BCSDN

Roundtable "The Influence of the Lisbon Treaty in International Development Cooperation"

On June 28, 2010, a roundtable on the influence of the Lisbon treaty on the international developmental cooperation was organized by Sloga at the European Commission Representation in Slovenia. Representatives from the government, EU, and NGOs gathered to talk about the novelties that the Lisbon treaty brings with regards to the functioning of the European Union in the field of development cooperation.

Matej Marn, the political director at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, talked about the creation of the External Action Service (EAS) and pointed out some issues which are still under discussion, such as the scope, budget, and personnel of the EAS. The head of Office of the European Parliament (EP) for Slovenia, Nataša Goršek Mencin, emphasized the role the national parliaments play in influencing development policy through the cooperation with the EP as well as their respective governments. She also talked about the role of the EP as one of the oversight organs of the EAS. The roundtable continued with the EUROSTEP representative Verena Winkler who provided a critical point of view of the decision-making process at the European level, as too many actors are involved and no clear hierarchy is established. The event was rounded up by SLOGA coordinator Marjan Huč who presented the main novelties and challenges of the Lisbon treaty and the implications they have on the functioning of developmental NGOs.

Information provided by Anja Novak, Sloga

EPAN Steering Group Meets in Vienna

The steering group of the working group on Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighbourhood (EPAN) met at the beginning of July to update one another on the work that has progressed since the working group met as a whole in Vienna in March, and to plan the next few months before the next meeting in Brussels in October.

Things have been progressing in each of the working group’s three subgroups – on eastern neighbourhood, southern neighbourhood and pre-accession. The group exchanged information about events that have been held and discussed the pressing issues in each case. These include the lack of progress in the Union for the Mediterranean, how to engage most effectively in the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, which will meet again in November and moving forward the building of links with grassroots organisations in the Western Balkans and Turkey.
There was also discussion on the importance of linking EPAN work more closely with CONCORD priorities and processes, including southern engagement, where the Mediterranean has been identified as a priority for 2011.

The group finalised a date for the next meeting – 5/6 October 2010 and drafted a framework agenda. The agenda will include sessions on various topics: how to engage in the southern neighbourhood given the fact that the political process of the Union for the Mediterranean has stalled, with a guest speaker from another sector – an environmental NGO; how to link the MDGs with the neighbourhood following the MDG summit in September, with a guest speaker from the UNDP; a follow-up session on the European Transition Compendium with a guest speaker from DG external Relations of the European Commission and the usual sessions of information sharing, presidency updates and CONCORD priorities.

More information about the next EPAN working group meeting will be made available on the CONCORD extranet.

Information provided by Rebecca Steel-Jasińska, TRIALOG

New EC Report on Development Cooperation in 2009

At the end of June, the European Commission adopted its Annual Report on the EU's development cooperation in 2009. Divided into 5 main parts (Policy, Implementation, Featured Articles, Performance and Results, and Aid Management) the report reminds yet once again, that the EC prides itself with being the second largest provider of development aid in the world, discusses the broad policy objectives and principles of actions of the EC and outlines the range of new financial instruments adopted by the EC in order to tackle the development challenges of the present and covers the programmes implemented in 140 countries.

The policy priorities outlined are not new to the ears of development workers: coherence, mainstreaming of cross-cutting issues, effectiveness and multi-actor cooperation. The EC promises to continue its work both with traditional donors and emerging partners and to keep the policy coherence very high on the agenda. In the implementation section, the report outlines all the funding instruments.

For the "Non-State actors and local authorities in development" budget line the section states the importance of this line in bringing participation into development projects, and mentions, that from the 53 projects monitored in 2009 (4% of the total number of projects) "In general, the ongoing CMTP [centrally managed thematic projects] which were monitored performed in a positive way in 2009 with regard to all five criteria. No projects with overall really serious deficiencies were identified." The performance, according to the ROM (results-oriented monitoring) seems satisfactory (see graph below), especially in the areas of relevance and impact with efficiency and effectiveness needing some improvement.

However, the Commission identifies some areas which need closer thought and consideration: a) more attention to the analysis of problems, risks and needs during the early programming phase; b) continuous monitoring and readjustment from project managers and c) better and closer involvement of various stakeholders. The report ends with a graphical representation which summarizes the main data on development assistance in 2009. Overall, the document encompasses some food for thought, some good statistics and definitely a worth-while reading for anybody working on Development Cooperation in the EU.

Performance by evaluation criteria

The full report is available on the EC Website http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/multimedia/publications/publications/annual-reports/2010_en.htm

Information provided by Andra Tanase, TRIALOG

Capacity Building in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene - open for application

The Austrian Red Cross conducts a training program in the field of water, sanitation and hygiene in disaster relief and development cooperation. Between September 2010 and June 2011 a range of different training events offer the opportunity for humanitarian actors to build up capacities in the WatSan sector. Beginners as well as advanced relief workers will find workshops that suit to their levels. For example, a WatSan Induction Workshop will be held on 21st and 22nd September 2010 in Romania. The Application process is now open until 9th of August.

Participation, accomodation and meals are covered due to the support of the European Commissions Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO). Find more details at www.redcross.at/watsan . The trainings might also be an excellent possibility to strengthen the capacities of local implementing partners in developing countries. We are looking forwards to receive applications. The complete Training Porgramme you find here.

Information provided by Jürg Graf, Austrian Red Cross

CONCORD General Assembly: one and only one

For its sole general assembly of the year, CONCORD dealt with a consistent pack of statutory matters, reforming its way to approve its budget, defining its members’ fee for 2011 and welcoming its 43rd member: the Bulgarian platform. 4 board members were also elected. Amongst them are Andrea Maksimovic from Solidar (re-elected), Harry Goddard from Plan, Daniel Verger from Caritas Europa and Johannes Trimmel from the Austrian Platform. They are replacing Jake Bharier (Bond), Eva-Christina Nilsson (Aprodev) and Annamária Kekesi (Hungarian NP) that CONCORD thanks greatly for their commitment during all these years.

For CONCORD participants, it was the political debates that were of significant interest. The policy debates reflected CONCORD 2010 priorities: Policy coherence for Development, Aid Watch/MDGs, the impact of the European institutional reform and the quadrilogue process.

Other thematic information was shared on the Spring Alliance work, how to increase the partnerships with the South (a first meeting will take place on 27 July), the upcoming Belgian presidency of the European Union, the progress and plans of the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness, the Development Education Watch report, the non-eligibility of taxes within EC-funded projects, the workshop on how to improve members capacity in lobbying parliaments (a second meeting will be organised end of September in on lobbying national governments).

One of the high point on the agenda was of course the debate with Development Commissioner Piebalgs who proposed to build an EU development acquis, looking for opportunities to use directives and legislation, and stressed that he wanted civil society organisations to be more consulted and more active.

For further information: aphilippart@concordeurope.org



Information provided by Agnès Philippart, CONCORD

Roundtable "Bilateral and Multilateral Mechanisms of the fight against Climate Change in Developing Countries"

On July 13th, 2010 a roundtable on the bilateral and multilateral mechanism of the fight against climate change in developing countries was organized by Sloga. The roundtable was opened by Monique Barbut, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). GEF is an independent international financial organization, that provides grants to developing countries and countries with economies in transition for projects related to environmental issues.

Monique Barbut highlighted the special nature of GEF and its way of financing huge projects that are worth more than 1 billion dollars as well as small projects implemented by smaller NGOs. The financial crisis will affect the functioning of GEF, but despite this fact, donors, including Slovenia, have raised their contribution to GEF. The Panelists agreed that multilateral agencies play an important role in fighting against climate change but at the same time we cannot forget activities of NGOs and other bilateral actors with their effective impact in preventing further negative causes of climate change. Panelists also highlighted the importance of new and additional sources dedicated to climate change in developing countries.

Information provided by Janja Mikulan, Sloga

Visit of the Turkish Cypriot NGO Network in Slovenia

In the beginning of July (4th to 11th) 2010 twelve representatives of the Turkish Cyprus NGO network visited Slovenia to learn about Slovenian NGO networks. Sloga, who was coordinator of the visit, enabled meetings with more than 20 NGO from different sectors (healthcare, human rights, environment, education, culture, poverty) and 4 ministries. They were also welcomed by ambassador of Cyprus. The purpose of the visit was to understand slovenian NGOs, the process of building networks and cohesion among them, to learn about their projects and work with media. The most important and useful information they received was on influencing the legislation and on cooperation with government.

Information provided by Dunja Segrt, Sloga

EC Application proposal writing trained in Slovenia

On 14th and 15th of June TRIALOG conducted an educational seminar “European Commission Application Proposal Writing”. The purpose of the seminar was to present project proposal writing rules and processes when applying for EC co-funding to members of Slovenian NGOs.

The Seminar was led by Andra Tanase from TRIALOG. On the first day the participants were presented with EU funding possibilities, an overview of the guidelines for grant applications, the components of the application form (including problem analysis, target group, partners etc) and the Logical Framework. On the second day participants were introduced to monitoring, evaluation, sustainability and visibility rules that must be considered when applying for EC co-financing.

The seminar improved the capacity of Slovenian NGO members for applying for co-financing of their projects from EC funds. Participants will now be able to successfully apply for EC co-financing. This will improve their chances for successful application and consequently their contribution to development cooperation. The evaluation results show that the participants were satisfied with the training. They suggested however, that in the future such seminars would last longer, especially if they contain workshops. They also hope that in the future more application proposal writing seminars will be held, so that they could improve the knowledge they received here.

Information provided by Vlado Odar, Sloga

Asia Europe Peoples' Forum: Challenging and Eroding Corporate Power - Building states of citizens for citizens

In October 2010, heads of state and governments from across Asia and Europe will meet in Brussels for the eighth Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM-8) to discuss their future priorities and plans. Just before this high-level summit, the 8th Asia-Europe Peoples’ Forum will be held in Brussels.

The Asia Europe People’s Forum (AEPF) began in 1996 in Bangkok, in parallel, and in response to the first ASEM summit which pushed for stronger regional blocs and the promotion of corporate power. AEPF is grounded in the common desire of people’s organisations and social justice networks across Asia and Europe to open up new venues for dialogue, solidarity and action.

On 2-5 October 2010, the 8th Asia-Europe Peoples' Forum will be held in Brussels where a series of events will be conducted. Events will focus on the relation of corporate power to: trade/investment, food sovereignty, climate change, decent work (including social protection) and peace and security. The AEPF will be a series of interlinked dialogues, workshops, actions, tribunals and policy debates with the European Commission and Members of the European Parliament. Events are being co-ordinated by Belgium organisations, Brussels-based European networks and the AEPF International Organising Committee.

AEPF provides a space for citizens to share, strengthen struggles and develop recommendations, campaigns and alternatives for both regions. AEPF has actively engaged with ASEM, lobbying for the integration of people’s rights into ASEM. AEPF has contributed to building stronger networks at national and regional levels and has implemented cross regional initiatives on peace and security, economic and social justice, democratisation and human rights.

Deadline for registration and organisation of an event is August 2, 2010 at http://www.aepf.info/register-now.html

More information: http://www.aepf.info/
EC website on ASEM http://ec.europa.eu/external_relations/asem/index_en.htm

EuroNGOs Conference “Gender and SRHR at the Heart of the MDGs”

By acknowledging that attaining the MDGs will not be possible without a much stronger focus on gender issues in general and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in particular Marie Stopes International (MSI), the host of this year’s EuroNGOs conference, the EuroNGOs Secretariat and the EuroNGOs Steering Committee are warmly inviting you to our Annual Conference 2010, entitled “Gender and SRHR at the Heart of the MDGs”. The conference will take place 8-9 November 2010 in the Grosvenor Hotel, London/UK.

In cooperation with expert speakers, policymakers and participants both from the “Northern” and “Southern” hemisphere, and a broader community of development cooperation, women’s, human rights, and humanitarian organisations and experts, it will provide a space to find common grounds and joint ways forward. The conference will allow for the opening up to and bringing in a broader constituency of NGOs working towards poverty alleviation from a rights-based perspective. It will also foster support for the South-North partnership cooperation and promote EuroNGOs’ pilot project on this.

For more information, background and registration please visit http://www.eurongos.org/Default.aspx?ID=1571

Bulgarian NGO is looking for partners in the field of sports and migration

The Organization "Association Sport in school" in Sofia, Bulgaria is looking for partners in the area of sports for the Europaid call for proposal EAC/22/2010 “Preparatory Action in the field of sport”. Deadline for getting in contact with the organisation is August 4th, 2010. More information is available on the TRIALOG website. Contact: Rayko Ivanov, r.ivanov@scan.bg.

Setting the Framework for Development Education in Romania

The FOND Working Group on Development Education organised the National Seminar on Global/ Development Education “Setting the national framework for development education in Romania” on the 8th and 9th July 2010 , in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports. The event took place in cooperation and with the financial support of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and the European Commission.

The objective of the seminar was to bring together key Romanian stakeholders in the field and raise awareness on development education among governmental and non-governmental actors in order to create a multistakeholder process to prepare the national global/development education strategy. Among participants invited were representatives from central and local authorities, ministries, civil society, academia and media.

The event focused on the communication and collaboration between NGOs and the governmental actors and the presentations covered interesting topics such as: theoretical approaches on development/ global education concepts, good practices in the field of development education in Europe, financial opportunities and the national context in development/global education.

The conclusions of the seminar emphasized the need for a common vision of the national community involved, on the two concepts of development education/global education as well as coherence and communication between all the relevant actors. The FOND Working Group on Development Education will ensure the follow-up of this event by initiating and facilitating a national multi-stakeholder group including the participants at this seminar.

Information provided by Adela Rusu, FOND

BE FAIR International Contest – Call for proposals

On the occasion of the 9th Fair Trade Week, the Belgian development agency (BTC), through its Trade for Development Centre, organises the “Be Fair" contest. The organisers invite organisations established in developing countries that are engaged in Fair Trade to participate in the contest for one of the following two categories:

BE FAIR Award South-South (second edition): Best initiative for the promotion and sales of fair trade products/services within the domestic market and/or in markets of other developing countries
BE FAIR Award for Her (first edition): Organisation that best encompasses women's participation and development

The two winners are granted a BE FAIR Award and prize money of Euro 5,000. Winners are invited to attend the BE FAIR Award ceremony (costs related to attendance are paid by BTC) that will take place in Brussels on September 30th. Deadline for submission of proposals: August 23rd 2010. Information for participation you find at BE FAIR Award South-South and BE FAIR Award for HER

Tools for Global Education

The European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity of the Council of Europe - more commonly known as the "North-South Centre" - offers a variety of tools for Global Education. On the website of the North-South Center at http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/nscentre/GE_en.asp there are "Global education guidelines" and a "Global education on-line training course". They provide methodological advice for teaching about development issues.