GLEN is looking for a coordinator of RENew Seminar 2011

GLEN is searching for the Coordinator of the RENew Seminar that will take place on March 30th - April 3rd 2011 in Jedlinia, Poland. The RENew Seminar is the last phase of the GLEN Multipliers Training Cycle 2010 and it stands for the Review, Evaluation and Networking Seminar. The participants meet to present, evaluate and reflect on their experiences in the South as well as of the Global Education Practice Phase. During the seminar they will receive a more profound training in global education methodology and will be encouraged to brainstorm and network for new global education activities. Participants leave the RENew glenergised, motivated to do global education and conscious of the opportunities of involvement in GLEN and other organisations working in the domain of global education. Deadline for application is October 15, 2010.

In order to apply, please send your CV and motivation letter (max. 1 page) by email to Kasia Szeniawska (kasia@glen-europe.org). Please find more information on the GLEN website.

News from TRIALOG

TRIALOG hopes that you all enjoyed a relaxing and refreshing summer break and that you are back with a lot of renewed energy for upcoming events and activities. We would like to invite you to read the current issue of TIS.

There are few updates from our office. In September our new Policy Officer Monika Matus started in Brussels and replaced Rebecca Steel-Jasińska who is now on maternity leave. Monika’s previous experiences include international capacity building trainings and facilitation especially within the GLEN Europe network, cooperation with the DEEEP project, several development cooperation projects in West and East Africa, awareness campaigns on issues like gender in development or decent work in Southern countries and others. She recently worked with CEE Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe for the campaign challenging the European Investment Bank’s engagement in development. Also in September Elisa Romero started as Office Assistant replacing Brigitte Quehenberger who is on maternity leave. Elisa holds a degree in International Cultural and Business Studies with an emphasis on Latin American cultures from the University of Passau, Germany. Before joining TRIALOG she worked as assistant to the director at TRIALOG’s lead agency HORIZONT3000. Additionally new in our team are two temporary interns, Jess Blijkers in the Vienna Office and Karina Mereuta in Brussels.

We would also like to announce that we have revised TRIALOG’s Capacity Building Guidelines which detail TRIALOG’s capacity building activities, as well as the regulations in place to access TRIALOG´s support for capacity building. Please take a look at them: Capacity Building Guidelines.

The preparations for the Nicaragua conference in November are going on. Please have a look at the updated agenda. In a couple of days you will also find a complete translation of the Reader for the conference available in Spanish on our Website. This translation work was made possible through the UNV Online Volunteering Service (http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/) .

Happy reading!

Coherency of EU Development Policy, 6th October 2010, Vienna

The Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Cooperation (VIDC) in Vienna, Austria, is inviting for an event on the Coherency of EU Development Policy which will take place on the 6th of October, 2010. Speakers will be:
Abdalla Hamdok (Director, Governance and Public Administration, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa) on "Europe’s global role in development. An African Perspective"; Ollivier Bodin (European Commission, DG Development) on "EU Policy coherence for Development post-Lisbon: where are we?" and Maurizio Carbone (Jean Monnet Chair and Senior Lecturer, University of Glasgow) on "The EU and the Developing World: Partnership, Poverty, Politicisation". Please have a look at the programme.

Global Development Policy – Which Role for Europe?

The role of Europe in the global development policy was the focus of the speech of Dr. Marcus Cornaro, Dirctor for European Neighbourhood policy at EuropeAid at an event oganised by the Austrian Development Agency on September 7, 2010.

In his speech, Dr. Cornaro explained that with the Lisbon treaty and the establishment of the European External Action Service, development policy got the status of an important European policy. The challenges now are on one hand the establishment of new parameters for the development policy for the time 2014 – 2020 (accompanied by the new financial perspectives) and on the other hand the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

He emphasised that in order to reach the MDGs by 2015 a quantum jump in development cooperation is needed as 1.4 billion people still live in extreme poverty and the means provided by the EU and its member states are far below their commitments.

Some trends in the European development policy he mentioned, are the promotion of regional cooperation (in trade, transport, environment etc.), linking grants with loans for infrastructure projects and driving reforms via recipients budgets.

Global debates currently revolve around four main issues which are (1) the MDG review, (2) role and place for emerging donors (China, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa), (3) Aid fatigue combined with food, fuel and financial crisis and (4) the role of public ODA versus the share of private sector (Corporate Social Responsibility) and philantropy (like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation).

The European angle in this context is focused on the division of labour between EU and its member states and the question of what the European added value is; the programming 2014-2020 with better cooperation and coordination with member states against fragmentation of development cooperation; and the MDGs.

In the review of the European development policy the focus will be on inclusive, smart and sustainable growth. Emphasis will be placed on the following issues: How to deal with the “fragile bottom billion”? Linking development finance and leverage; Policy coherence; Natural resources and green growth; New ways of public – private partnerships, Phasing out middle income countries.

Information provided by Christine Bedoya, TRIALOG

A Step forward: The Establishment of a Humanitarian Response Center

The impact of humanitarian crisis around the world is increasingly severe and humanitarian action is a collective responsibility at an international level, involving many different stakeholders, including NGOs. With the aim of strengthening the role of Slovenia and its NGOs in international humanitarian community, SLOGA, the Platform of NGOs for development cooperation and humanitarian aid, with the cooperation of Foundation TOGETHER, will establish a Humanitarian Response Center (HRC) of NGOs. The establishment of the HRC is one of the activities of the DG ECHO financed project “Strengthening the Capacities of the NGOs in ECHO underrepresented countries”, in which Foundation TOGETHER is the applicant organisation of the project, SLOGA and the People in Peril Association are implementing partners.

On 7th September 2010 SLOGA organized a HRC introductory meeting of humanitarian NGOs, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Administration for civil protection and disaster relief. During the meeting NGOs activities, available resources and their expectations about HRC were presented. The NGOs agreed that HRC will primarily operate on the following areas: it will serve as a cooperating and coordinating point of NGOs, facilitate rapid reactions to humanitarian crisis, build capacities, ensure the linkage between NGOs and public authorities (ministries, civil protection and other relevant stakeholders), facilitate exchange of experience and transfer of good practice, work with other organizations and agencies on EU level, search partners in the field and raise awareness. For this purpose a web page of HRC is established (available on http://www.humanitarni-center.si/), that will provide information on activities of the center, trainings, humanitarian crisis around the world and other relevant information.

During the meeting all organizations expressed their interest to become members of the HRC and the representatives of the ministry and administration expressed their support and willingness for further cooperation.

For any further information please contact: Janja Mikulan, janja.mikulan@sloga-platform.org

Information provided by Janja Mikulan, SLOGA

Awareness Raising on Development Cooperation Issues in Lithuania

The Association LITDEA (Lithuanian Development Education and Awareness Raising Network) uniting 9 Lithuanian CSOs working on development cooperation and awareness raising issues is currently implementing the short-term (6 months) project titled “Society’s Awareness Raising on Development Cooperation Issues”.

The main aim of the project is to impart information about development cooperation to the public, encouraging not only the interest in this field but also the active participation, e.g. by contributing to the elaboration of Lithuana’s development cooperation activities. The project aims at inducing the interest of society for global problems and ultimately contributes to the strengthening of developing countries. The background of the project is the lack of information and insufficient education on development cooperation among the Lithuanian public, which limits the active contribution of Lithuanian citizens to development.

The heads of subdistricts and representatives of local communities of Lithuanian municipalities are the target group of the project as they have direct contacts with the majority of Lithuanian inhabitants every day. 80 of them, selected according to their motivation, will participate in the trainings on development cooperation issues. Experienced experts from member organisations of LITDEA, having knowledge on development cooperation issue and skills for working with local authorities, will prepare and provide the trainings in mid-autumn, 2010. The participants will get consultations about involving the concrete aspects of development cooperation issues into their existing and, especially, future action plans and will at the same time become multipliers for spreading the information further to their local community members.

This is a pilot project which is planned to be continued next year involving new participants. It is
implemented under the Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

For more information please contact Ms. Raimonda Kucinskaite, raimonda@npi.lt

Information provided by Raimonda Kucinskaite, National Development Institute

Estonian NGO is looking for partners from Georgia

The Estonian Roundtable for Development Cooperation is searching for project partners from Georgia for the European Commission call for proposals under „Non-Stae Acrtors and Local Authorities in Development“ EuropeAid/130519/L/ACT/GE, deadline for submission 1.11.2010. Deadline for the partnership proposals to Piret Tamberg (piret@terveilm.net) is 22.09.2010.
Please view more information on the TRIALOG website.

North-South Centre announces Global Education Activities

The North-South Centre announced a variety of Global Education activities taking place in autumn 2010. The Global Education Summer e-course will take place from 27 September to 22 October, deadline for application is 15 September 2010. For more information please click here.

The World Aware Education Awards seeks to recognise and encourage projects which promote the practice of global education in formal and non-formal educational settings, displaying excellence in networking, partnership and coordination for increased and improved global education; bringing together different actors and institutions. Deadline for applications for the World Aware Education Awards 2010 edition is 13 October 2010. View information.

The Global Education Week 2010 will take place from 13 to 21 November 2010 and has as theme “Peace and Non-Violence for the children of the World”. The North-South centre has launched a special webpage with information, resources, partners and stakeholders.

Conference: ‘Development, Trade, Foreign and Security Policies", Bucharest 25-26 Nov, 2010

The conference ‘Development, Trade, Foreign and Security Policies: How Can Emerging Donors Make a Difference?’ is organized by The Romanian Association for International Cooperation and Development (ARCADIA) with the endorsement of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the support of The Romanian NGDO Platform FOND, The European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI) as well as other national and European organisations. Through this conference, our organisation creates a space of interaction, dialogue and exchange of practices between national and European groups interested in international development, namely policymakers, academia, business, professional associations, NGO platforms and mass-media.

As a new EU Member State, Romania is (re)emerging as a international donor and is interested in becoming a dynamic actor on the global arena, in its capacity as contributor to international development. In this context, the focus of the event is twofold: (1) to analyse the interplay between trade, foreign and security policies in emerging donors’ contexts and (2) to explore the manner in which such donors shape their identities while trying to make use of their transition experience in their development engagements.

In addition, the event will address the following issues: the role of professional communities in supporting policy making and mapping out stakeholders in Romania currently involved in or with an interest in international development; determine best practices in development during the transition period and how these can contribute to ODA programs, enhance awareness on international development issues and promote global education.

The conference especially welcomes NGO practitioners in the field of development cooperation. NGO representatives can attend individually as participants or can propose a workshop together with at least 2 other members of similar organizations. Deadline for workshop proposals is September 20. For individual applications the deadline is October 1. For more information on the conference, application forms and procedures, please visit http://arcadianetwork.org/conference/2010/ or directly contact Ms. Corina Ciambur (e-mail:
corina.ciambur@arcadianetwork.org).

Information provided by Corina Ciambur, ARCADIA

New Eurobarometer Survey "Europeans, Development aid and the MDGs"

Since 1973, the European Commission has been conducting surveys on public opinion in the Member States addressing major topics concerning European citizenship. This report examines European public opinion on development policy in general and the EU’s role as aid donor in particular. Over 26,500 people living in the 27 EU member states were surveyed in June 2010. The results of the survey can be seen as a barometer of current European attitudes toward development in view of two forthcoming events.

European citizens continue to show resolute support to aid provided to developing countries. One week before the UN High Level Meeting on the Millennium Development Goals, the survey shows that 89% of respondents consider development aid is important or very important. Two in three Europeans believe that the EU should honor, or even improve, on its promises to increase development aid to 0.7% of GNI by 2015, the deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goal. This support, shared by a vast majority of citizens regardless of the nationality, has remained consistently high despite the financial crisis and the economic situation in Europe. In this context, three quarters (76%) of Europeans believe that there is added value in EU countries working together which contributes to avoid duplication and ensure aid effectiveness.

See the survey or visit the EU Public Opinion website

Peace Building Expert Lebanon, forumZFD

The German peacebuilding NGO Forum Civil Peace Service (forumZFD) has currently two vacancies for its Lebanon-programme. The two forumZFD placements in Beirut are in the framework of the "Civil Peace Service in development cooperation" programme, funded by the German government. Deadline for applications is 28 September. Please note that working level of German language is a requirement, next to regional expertise and experience in with peacebuilding and conflict resolution issues. For further information see http://www.forumzfd.de/jobs. Please see the Job description (pdf, in German).

EC Details of Who Received EU Funds in 2009

The EC has disclosed who in 2009 received EU funds in policy areas like research, education and culture, energy, transport or external aid. The online database, now containing more than 114 thousand entries going back to 2007, has been upgraded to allow more search options. It now also provides information on Commission administrative expenditure. The Financial Transparency System (FTS), launched in 2008, discloses information on the beneficiaries of budget lines managed directly by the Commission and its executive agencies. The FTS provides data on some 20% of the EU budget, i.e. the part managed directly by the Commission. The remaining part of the EU budget is handled mainly by the national administrations and the responsibility to publish the names of beneficiaries rests with them. See the general portal providing access to all websites with information on EU beneficiaries.

Source: BCSDN E-Mail Alerts 214

Call for Papers and for Panels, EADI / DSA Conference 2011

For the conference Rethinking Development in an Age of Scarcity and Uncertainty: New Values, Voices and Alliances for Increased Resilience of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), in co-operation with the Development Studies Association (DSA) of the United Kingdom and Ireland the organisers call for the submission of panel proposals as well as papers. The deadline for the submission of panel proposals is 15 October 2010. The deadline for abstract submission is 15 January 2011.

The conference will take place from 19 – 22 September 2011 in York, UK.

For further information on the conference topic and the working group sessions please take a look at the conference website www.eadi.org/gc2011. Submissions are welcome in English and French. Please contact the conference team at gc2011@eadi.org for any questions.

BCSDN Website publishes 1st On-line Database on Civil Dialogue

For the first time, an on-line database on civil dialogue mechanisms and structures provides complete information on the state of civil dialogue in the Balkan countries in one place. The data include information on the legal framework, current situation, history and concrete mechanisms and structures that exist in each country. It includes also an inventory of all available documents (i.e. strategies, agreements, and bylaws) and contacts of coordination mechanisms. The database gathers data for 10 countries, both 7 EU pre- and accession countries and 3 Balkan EU Member States (Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia). The data were gathered through a unified questionnaire by BCSDN members and its partners, primarily from secondary sources or research conducted for their own needs, which makes this database a collaboration of local CSOs, especially BCSDN members and its partners. Visit the database.

Source: BCSDN E-Mail Alert 213

Czech AidWatch report 2010

The Czech Forum of Development Cooperation (FoRS), is launching the annual AidWatch report ahead of the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The report called How the Czech Republic Eradicates Global Poverty focuses on the MDGs from various points of view.

The report shows how the MDG commitments are reflected on the highest level of Czech politics including the conceptual and strategic frame of Czech development cooperation. It analyzes the impact of MDGs on the programming of development cooperation from 2005 till 2009.

The Czech development cooperation has progressed rapidly since its revival in 1995. It has increased not only in volume, but also in quality and advanced from pure humanitarian help to programming development. However, this report shows that the economic and pro-export interests of the Czech Republic have dominated during those five years. A great part of Czech development cooperation’s bilateral resources were directed at countries situated in the Southern and South-eastern Europe, where poverty is not as alarming as in Africa. It is also barely arguable that developing the industrial sector can influence decrease in mothers’ death rate or improvement of conditions of girls’ and boys’ education. The increasing level of Czechs’ living standards does not lead to the relative value rise of Czech development cooperation’s magnitude.

On the occasion of the UN Summit on MDGs, FoRS will discuss development cooperation and global issues with MPs. This is especially relevant as most of the MPs are new-comers. The FoRS representatives will introduce the main conclusion from the “How the Czech Republic Eradicates Poverty” report.

The full report will be available in Czech on the webpages of FoRS from 16th September, an English summary will be available soon.

Information provided by Tereza Ambrozova, FoRS

Workshop on Climate Change and the Humanitarian/Development Sector. Prague, 23-24 Sept, 2010

Caritas Czech Republic toghether with the Czech NGDO platform FoRS invites you to the Workshop "Climate Change, Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid: Effective Responses to an Uncertain Threat". The event will take place on September 23 and 24, 2010, in Prague. The workshop is led by international speakers and is open for participants from other countries than Czech Republic. However, travel and accommodation costs unfortunately can not be covered for the participants. Further information is available at http://www.fors.cz/ in News section. Download the programme (pdf).

Information provided by Marie Zazvorkova, FoRS

CARDET Development Education Portal

CARDET, an international NGDO based in Cyprus announces the launch of the Development Education Portal http://www.developmenteducation.org/.
The Portal has been developed by the ICT Department of CARDET - with the contribution of the project partners - in the context of the EuropeAid Project “Raising Awareness on Development Cooperation”. The web portal will be a specialised resource space for educational institutes at all levels, NGOs, civil society organizations, educators, students, journalists and the general public interested in development education.

The site will serve as a tool to disseminate the ongoing results of the project and provide opportunities to interested groups and individuals to learn about development cooperation. The portal can provide the opportunity for social networking through easy-to-use online discussion tools where individuals and organizations will engage in MDG related debates, voice their opinions and share ideas. Through the portal, registered members will be able to attend e-learning courses related to Development Education and the MDGs. All online modules developed in the context of the project will be available via blended learning courses supported by the Learning Management System Moodle. The website will be regularly updated with news related to the project, the MDGs, and Development Education. All interested actors are strongly encouraged to register on the portal and use its resources. CARDET will also welcome any reports, articles or relevant material on topics related to Development Education. For further information please contact us at info@cardet.org.

Information provided by Sotiris Themistokleous, CARDET

Report on Global Development Education in the Czech Republic in 2008-2010

The Czech Forum of Development Cooperation (FoRS) launched the report Global Development Education in the Czech Republic 2008-2010. The report arose from the National Seminar on Evaluation Methods and Monitoring of Activities in the Area of Global Development Education (GDE) that was organized by FoRS in cooperation and with the financial support of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe and the European Commission. The seminar took place in Prague in June 2010.

The report builds on information and recommendations comprised in the Global Education in the Czech Republic report, elaborated by the Global Education Network (GENE) in 2008, and submits supplementary information about trends of Global Development Education in the Czech Republic in 2008-2010, focusing on the monitoring and evaluation of activities.

The trends are characterized from the perspective of the development cooperation sector, the education sector, the creation of inter-sectional education strategies and from the European context. The report also provides information about the practical part of the seminar led by international expert from the UK-based organization RISC Louise Robinson. It comprises the main findings and recommendations for the main actors in the field of GDE. The Report is available on the webpages of FoRS in Czech and English.

Information provided by Tereza Ambrozova, FoRS

Advocacy for CEDAW implementation in Poland 2010-2012

KARAT has the pleasure to announce its new project within its Women’s Human Rights program. The project aims at advocating for the full implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Poland to advance women’s human rights and women’s access to justice. The Project is related to the CEDAW reporting process in Poland where the Polish government is due to be reviewed in 2012. The Project includes the production of the Shadow Report in coalition with national women’s rights organizations and advocacy for the priority critical women’s rights issues in Poland (e.g. adoption of parity and anti-discrimination act, reproductive rights). The Project also aims to asses women’s access to justice and eliminate barriers that hamper the litigation of their rights. The Project is funded by the Open Society Institute - Budapest.

For more information contact Magda Pochec at magda.pochec@karat.org.pl

Source: KARAT News, 13.8.2010

Mobilising Europeans for the Eradication of Global Poverty, Brussels September 15 2010

The European Multi-stakeholder group on Development Education, with the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Ska Keller (German representative of the Green/ European Free Alliance) and Filip Kaczmareck (Polish representative of the European People's Party) will hold a lunch event “Mobilising Europeans for the Eradication of Global Poverty: The Role of the European Parliament in Promoting Development Education and Public Awareness on Development Challenges“ at the European Parliament in Brussels on September 15. At the event the European Development Education monitoring Report "DE Watch" and the European Commission DEAR Study will be presented and a roundtable on the role and added value of the European Parliament in mobilising European citizens for development will be held. Outcomes of the event will be shared in the next TIS issue.

Information provided by Chiara Tripepi

Conference Documentation New Voices in Development

On 23 April 2010, the association of Irish Non-Governmental Development Organisations Dóchas hosted a conference entitled New Voices in Development, which brought together established and emerging development organisations with southern voices and representatives of the private sector, philanthropy and academia. The aim of the conference was to provide a forum for discussion between these groups to encourage cooperation between them and improve their collective understanding of what works. See the Dochas-Website http://www.dochas.ie/newvoices/ for the conference documentation and lots of resources.

Sharing the Czech EU Presidency Experience

The Czech Platform of Development Cooperation (FoRS) has launched a new report titled „How to engage in the new EU Presidency” sharing the Czech EU presidency experience with Polish and Hungarian development CSOs and their platforms. From 15 to 17 June 2010, a pre-Presidency workshop and study visit to Prague took place where nearly 20 Polish and Hungarian CSO representatives participated. At this workshop experiences with the Czech presidency were shared both on the policy/advocacy and project level. The main EU developments were explained, such as the development effectiveness agenda and climate change negotiations.

This programme enabled a reflection on national platforms' priorities and plans for the EU Presidency in the light of the Czech experience and initiated discussions of a potential cooperation with respect to Hungarian and Polish official presidency priorities. The presidency experience was summarized from the perspective of the national platform and CSOs, and it was advised how to develop and manage a successful advocacy strategy based on this experience.

The role of the representation of the European Commission in the presidency countries was also discussed and and finally, government representatives shared their experiences of the Czech presidency. The report summarizes the main recommendations and findings from all the meetings and discussions. You can find the report in English and Polish on webpages of FoRS.

Follow-up events will take place in October in Hungary and in November in Poland on presidency priorities. Please contact FoRS, Zagranica Group or HAND for details.

Information provided by Tereza Ambrozova, FoRS

3rd Black Sea NGO Forum, 21-23 October, Constanta, Romania

The third edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum with the title is approaching. The traditional annual event will take place on 21-23 October 2010 in Constanta, Romania. Thus, for the first time the Forum the Black Sea will be present not only in the minds of the participants, but also in their sights.

This year the theme of the forum is “Investing in our common future”. The topics of the forum will include panels dedicated to Democracy and citizen participation, Economic Development and Corporate Social responsibility, Youth movements and youth policies, Bridging Divided Communities, and Environment, as well as on tools for strengthening civil society. The focus will be on the vocation of civil society to lead by example. Good practices in various fields and countries and successful cooperation initiatives in the region will be presented during the Forum. Based on an analysis of the regional dynamics during the last three years of existence of the Forum, a set of recommendations for Governmental actors and civil society in the region will be proposed.

The Black Sea NGO Forum was launched in 2008 by the Romanian Federation of Development NGOs (FOND) and is organized in cooperation with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation. The Forum aims at increasing the level of dialogue and cooperation among NGOs in the wider Black Sea region, as a means of strengthening NGOs and their capacity to influence regional and national policies.

Since 2008, the event has provided a unique regional forum for debate centered on NGOs as a driving force for positive change in the wider Black sea region. Over 300 participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, European Union member states and other important actors in the wider Black Sea Region, with different backgrounds (civil society, Governments and international organizations) have been engaged in the Forum's discussions.

Participation to the 3rd edition of the Forum is open to all actors in the region or working in the region, with a vocation for transnational and regional cooperation, interested in sharing good practices, mutual learning and joint mobilization.

As usual, a limited number of organizations from outside the wider Black Sea region are invited to participate to the Forum. Unfortunately, organizers cannot cover travel and accommodation costs. To apply, please fill in the application form available at http://www.blackseango.org/ and send it by the latest 20 September to forum@blackseango.org .

The agenda of the event and further details are attached, and also available on the web page of the Forum. For further details please contact us at forum@blackseango.org (contact person: Valentin Burada, project coordinator).

Report The Missing Peace - the need for a long term strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

On 14th of September 2010 the report "The Missing Peace - the need for a long term strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina" was launched in Brussels. The report is the result of the collaboration between UK based organization Saferworld working on conflict prevention and a local partner organization from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Nansen Dialogue Centre Sarajevo (NDC). It outlines findings from research carried out earlier this year and analyses the post war situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina with regards to politics and ethnicity, economy, regional relations.

The report focuses on community perceptions of the current situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a special attention towards youth, seen as a propagator of ethnic prejudices, due to educational systems and parent’s influence.

The launching benefited of the presence of various participants, from local activists and representatives of international NGOs, to representatives of European Commission (DG Enlargement) and European Union Special Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUSR).

The main conclusion of the report is that despite significant achievements in the security field, Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to face a unique set of challenges. As for the EU role in the region, it is noticeable that even after years of engagement its credibility in the public perception is at a very low level. Therefore the authors recommend that the EU strategy towards the country should be adapted in a more realistic manner to Bosnia and Herzegovina real needs and problems.

You can download the full version of the report (pdf) in English.

Information provided by Karina Mereuta, Trialog Brussels

Guatemalan Organisation INEPAS offers internships and voluntary work

INEPAS was founded in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, in 1994 as a self-sustaining non-profit organization. It is fully recognized by the Guatemalan government for performing a range of social, legal, and humanitarian projects within the framework of developing rural communities in and around Quetzaltenango. INEPAS functions solely with the help of national and international volunteers who offer their support, professional talent and work experience in diverse fields.
INEPAS has received official recognition from UNESCO. Its first social project, the foundation and construction of a rural school in the Maya-K'iché community of Choquiac was designated by UNESCO as exemplary for other organizations that work on similar projects. INEPAS generates the necessary funds for its social aid programs through its Spanish language school, thus remaining self-sustaining and non-partisan. It offers programs for individuals wishing to learn Spanish in the context of voluntary work and voluntary internships both in Social Projects and as an International Co-ordination Assistant.

If you would like to receive more information about our organization, please visit our website at http://www.inepas.org/ or contact INEPAS at info@inepas.org.