First Global Assembly of the Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness in Istanbul

The Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness held its First Global Assembly from 28th to 30th in September 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey. The more than 200 CSO, donor and government representatives from around the world discussed and approved 8 global principles for CSO development effectiveness, based on the inputs from about 60 national, regional and sectoral consultations. The principles state that CSOs are effective as development actor when they…

1. respect and promote human rights and social justice
2. embody gender equality and equity while promoting woman and girl’s rights
3. focus on people’s empowerment, democratic ownership and participation
4. promote environmental sustainability
5. practice transparency and accountability
6. pursue equitable partnerships and solidarity
7. create and share knowledge and commit to mutual learning
8. commit to realizing positive sustainable change (outcomes and impact)

These principles will be the basis for a comprehensive global framework of CSO development effectiveness that will be completed over the next couple of months by interested CSOs in the Open Forum. They will also inform a multi-stakeholder dialogue in the run-up to the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in South Korea in late 2011.

The Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness is an initiative conceived of and led by a diverse coalition of CSOs from around the world to identify the elements that are essential to the development effectiveness of CSOs. This process is unique in its effort to create a global CSO consensus on the principles to which we hold ourselves accountable and to which we wish to be held accountable by the constituencies we serve and represent, by our fellow CSOs, and by donors.

For more information visit the website of the Open Forum. Download the Istanbul principles.

Sources: Open Forum for CSO Development Effectiveness, CONCORD

Third and Last Module of Training of Multipliers 2010 completed

The group of multipliers came together one last time in Vienna, from 22nd to 24th September 2010, to complete their training. This time the focus was particularly on the Monitoring and Evaluating of projects. Thomas Vogel, Programme Manager at Horizont3000 gave a helpful explanation of the advanced tools necessary for these tasks of Project Management. This included types of evaluation, costs and requirements, and concepts such as relevance, effectiveness or sustainability. Angela James, who runs the BOND EC Funding Advice line, shared her expertise on the EC Standard Contract, and its reporting requirements. “Take this contract very seriously” and “Ask the Commission when in doubt” were some of her advice.

During training skills sessions, the participants learnt how to deal with difficult situations and broadened their public speaking skills through brief interactive exercises. Two more interesting sessions prepared by the participants themselves focused on Innovation and Sustainability in Project Writing and Training Skills in Development Cooperation. On the last day, the Open Space gave participants the opportunity to discuss topics of their choice in groups.

To assess the impact of the training, a closing session asked the participants the visions they have for the future and the next steps they will take, individually, as a group and on a national level. Some of these steps included creating networks and partnerships among the multipliers, organising internal and external training sessions, and working on confidence and capacity building in New Member States NGOs. While all participants declared themselves strongly committed, support mechanisms, funding opportunities and in some cases stronger connections to the national platforms are needed.

Overall, it was a successful set of modules and the newly trained trainers returned satisfied and certificate in hand to their respective countries. The feedback from this year’s participants will help TRIALOG to put together the Training of Multipliers 2011.

Information provided by Jess Blijkers, TRIALOG

EPAN Working Group meeting in Brussels, 5-6th October

The Working Group EPAN (Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighbourhood) met at the beginning of October under the auspices of TRIALOG.

The Working Group Meeting gathered representatives of the three subgroups and of TRIALOG and discussed the progress undertaken so far, the following steps and the possible challenges in 2011. A focal point of the discussion was the link between EPAN activities and next year’s Hungarian and Polish Presidency of the EU. The members of the working group also discussed and identified means to enhance the efficiency and the profile of the group in order to consolidate its status as a link between North and Global South through the very specific transition experiences of new EU member states (NMS) and Accession/Candidate Countries.

The Southern Neighbourhood subgroup expressed its intention to be present at events relevant for the area, such as the Euro Med Forum. Moreover, the focus for next year will be strengthening the connections between civil society and the secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean.

The Eastern Neighbourhood subgroup will continue to focus on the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and on the Black Sea Forum, with the intention of identifying links between these two events and to correlate them with the EPAN agenda.

The Pre-Accession subgroup outlined the progress made in 2010 with regard to the information sharing process between the members of the subgroup. Next year, it is intended to enhance the engagement of the grass root level organisations in Pre-Accession countries and to strengthen the participation of members from Turkey, Iceland and Croatia. The subgroup concluded that it is important to increase the development capacities of the so-called Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)-countries and their capacity to absorb funding.

During the two-day meeting the members of EPAN had the opportunity to exchange views with guests such as representatives of the European Commission, UNDP or representatives of NGOs from other thematic sectors.

More details from the meeting report will be available soon on TRIALOG’s website. For any further questions, please contact TRIALOG policy officer Monika Matus at: trialog@concordeurope.org

Information provided by Monika Matus, TRIALOG

Meeting with Comissioner for Enlargement

On September 15th, 2010 an informal group of Brussels based NGO representatives , such as the Open Society Institute, Transparency International, WWF, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network and the EPAN working group participated in a meeting with Enlargement Commissioner, Mr Stefan Füle. The participants of the meeting presented a memorandum describing current problems and policy recommendations concerning Enlargement, Pre-Accession, Neighbourhood regions. Several topics touched by the group, such as CSO participation, Political Conditionality or Human Rights were widely discussed with the Commissioner and members of his Cabinet. For the information concerning follow up after the meeting and the minutes, please contact TRIALOG Brussels office at trialog@concordeurope.org

Information provided by Monika Matus, TRIALOG

Development Education Projects from Writing to Implementation

Between 7th and 8th of October 2010 TRIALOG organized in cooperation with LITDEA a training focusing on Development Education, project writing and strategies for including Development Education in school curricula. The first day, an avid dialogue took place with representatives of civil society, teachers and Ministry for Foreign Affairs on what are the opportunities in Lithuania to include development education in school curricula. Case studies from the UK were presented and participants engaged in discussions reflecting on the challenges and opportunities. Transversality of development education topics was recognized as an opportunity and also the existing experience with such topics, even if not identified as
development education.

The second day, the focus shifted to project writing and throughout the day participants went over the phases of the project cycle and application writing and 3 project ideas were outlined. The day was intense and towards the end most participants recognized the training as interesting and useful for their work but also recognized the need for more NGOs to actively participate in such events and be ready to draft projects in cooperation with schools.

Information provided by Andra Tanase, TRIALOG

Commissioner Piebalgs visits Prague

On the 7th October 2010, the European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs visited Prague and met representatives of Czech ministries, NGOs and the private sector. Piebalgs called upon the Czech Republic to contribute more to the official development assistance of the European Union (EU) and to fulfil its financial commitments. Piebalgs also supported the cooperation with the nongovernmental sector, which he saw as driving engine of development assistance. The Czech non-profit and non-governmental organizations associated in the Czech Forum of Development Cooperation FoRS, welcomed the meeting with the commissioner and shared his opinion on the importance of setting long-term plans for the fulfilment of the EU member states’ commitments. According to the evaluation report of FoRS, the Czech Republic provides only 0,12 % of its gross domestic income to the official development assistance purposes. More information about Piebalgs’ visit is available on the web pages of FoRS.

Information provided by Tereza Vodova, FoRS

Slovak Contribution to the Millennium Development Goals

On 13th September, 2010 the Slovak NGDOs Platform organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Slovak agency for international development aid a public event titled the "Contribution of Slovakia to the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals and the reduction of world poverty“. The aim of the meeting was to evaluate the commitment of Slovakia to give the highest attention to the sustainable growth and battle against poverty, which was signed at the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. The NGDO Platform also presented a study about the fulfillment of MDGs during 2004-2009 at the event to the highest representatives of the Slovak Republic who took part in the UN summit about MDGs on 20th – 22nd September, 2010 in New York.

Speaking at a plenary session of the UN summit, President Ivan Gasparovic stated that the "Slovak Republic is aware of the shared responsibility of developed countries for global development. Despite a tight budget of the Slovak Official Development Assistance (ODA), Slovakia allocates funds to help developing and transition countries each year and intends to continue this policy. Our development assistance is not very significant in terms of volume, but the activities and results in partner countries are perceived very positively. This is mainly due to our efficient performance based on the knowledge of local conditions and in accordance with the needs of partner countries”.

The study can be downloaded at the web page of the platform in Slovak language (pdf), a short summary in English language (pdf) is also available.

Information provided by Lenka Nemcová, Platforma MVRO

“Development Education Awareness Rising (DEAR) is among the best answers to the problems we have in the modern world”

On the initiative of the European Development Education Multi Stakeholder Group, and co-hosted by Members of European Parliament Ska Keller (Greens, Germany) and Filip Kaczmarek (EPP, Poland), representatives of European institutions, member states and civil society discussed the role of development education and awareness raising (DEAR) in the fight against global poverty at a lunch event in the European Parliament in Brussels on 15 September 2010.

Ska Keller underlined the key role of DEAR and citizens empowerment to make people participate in the development debate. She insisted on the need for concrete political action and financial commitment for DEAR in the view of the upcoming financial perspectives. Furthermore, she proposed to include DEAR as a mainstream topic and cross cutting issue in European policies – not only on development, but also programmes of other sectors such as Youth in Action.

Filip Kaczmarek emphasised the need for public support if ODA commitments shall be met and stated that “DEAR is among the best answers to the problems we have in the modern world.” In Poland, events as the Global Education Week or the European Development Days, planned for 2011, were crucial to mobilise public interest for development issues. DEAR shall be included in relevant upcoming parliament reports on development policies.

At the occasion of the event, Sergio Guimaraes from the Portuguese Development Agency IPAD and co-chair of the multi stakeholder group, presented the recent “European Development Education Monitoring Report (DE Watch)”, which shows how DEAR policies are gaining ground in Europe, while there is still a long way to go – and even some backslashes – in certain countries. In particular, the report underlines importance of DEAR strategies in member states and at European level.

The European Commission, represented by Markus Pirchner from EuropeAid, confirmed the institution’s commitment to a more strategic approach, which is currently under elaboration through the DEAR supporting initiative in the EC “structured dialogue”. Upcoming highlight of this process is a conference on 11 and 12 October 2010 in Brussels, where state and non-state actors from the European DEAR community will discuss elements for a possible future European DEAR strategy. Commissioner Piebalgs will hold a keynote speech.

In the debate, participants underlined that investment in DEAR and mobilisation of citizens’ support for development would pay in the long run. Integration in formal education should be reinforced, especially through cross-sectoral and cross-institutional cooperation, for example with the Council of Europe. The participants agreed that development education and public awareness should be at the heart of European development policies, and accordingly reflected in political process such as a possible revision of the European Development Consensus or the upcoming financial perspectives. As Sergio Guimaraes put it: “DEAR is at the very core of our concept of citizenship.”

Download the full report of the event

Information provided by Tobias Troll, DEEEP and MSH Secretariat

Application for Workshop “Engaging as Active Citizens in Development Education”, 6-13 March 2011, Romania

The NGO Formare Studia invites applications for the participation in the International Workshop “Engaging as Active Citizens in Development Education” which will take place from 6 to 13 March 2011 in Iasi, Romania. This workshop will be conducted with the support of the European Commission, DG Education and Culture, Lifelong Learning programme, GRUNDTVIG.

Themes of discussion will be for example active citizenship, European decision making process and how to get the citizens involved, being an active citizen, challenges to education and many more. There will be lectures, presentations of participants, experience sharing and working groups for an advocacy campaign for development.

Please have a closer look at the programme on the website of Formare Studia. The number of participants is limited. Application deadline is 20 December 2010. Please send the application form duly completed and signed by email to smaranda@formarestudia.ro. The application form is available online.

Czech - Polish Roundtable on Development Cooperation and Climate Change during the Polish EU Presidency

In the frame of the Czech, Polish and Hungarian cooperation of civil society organisations (CSOs) with the aim to share the experience of the EU presidency a Czech-Polish Roundtable will take place on 18. November 2010. The Czech - Polish Roundtable will bring together development and environmental CSOs who are interested in the EU Presidency, deepening their knowledge on selected subjects and providing space for planning of joint policy and advocacy actions.

Objectives of the Roundtable are to help development CSOs understand their role during the EU presidency and prepare for the key issues and events in 2011; to provide a wider perspective on Polish priority topics and to coordinate the preparation of policy and advocacy plans for the Polish presidency in 2011 among Polish CSOs and with international partners. Seats are limited, therefore kindly send application forms to monika@zagranica.org.pl latest by 31. October 2010.

Outcomes, impacts as well as possible follow up of joint cooperation will be discussed during the Prague Evaluation Seminar in the spring 2012 after both presidencies are completed.

Information provided by Tereza Vodova, FoRS

Fair Procurement conference looks into situation of New Member States

The FAIR PROCURA 2010, final conference of the Public Affairs project, was held in Dortmund, Germany, on 24th September 2010. It created an opportunity to present the key outputs of the Public Affairs project’s researches and initiatives, as well as to share experience with all stakeholders involved in Fair Trade, social and sustainable procurement fields. More than one hundred participants, public authorities, NGOs, Fair Trade producers, Fair Trade retailers and supplying companies participated in the discussions on various topics such as food and textile sectors, as well as legal aspects of Fair Trade Public Procurement (FTPP). The participants could benefit from the experience of high level speakers: Members of the European Parliament, legal experts and most advanced contracting authorities at EU level.

The conference permitted to get an overview of Fair Trade Public Procurement in Europe, and explained the use of FTPP as a tool to support sustainable development and, in particular, marginalised producers in developing countries.

A session dedicated to FTPP issues in countries where Fair Trade awareness is still low was especially relevant for the TRIALOG project, working mostly with actors from New Member States potentially interested in the topic. Interesting discussions were raised, however there was little space provided for knowledge and experience exchange for “newcomers” in the field. This initiative could feed to further development of similar knowledge transfer oriented events.

To learn more about the project’s key outputs visit the website of the Conference of the European Fair Trade Association or contact fair-procura@eftafairtrade.org .

Information provided by Monika Matus, TRIALOG

Bad News for European NGDOs: decrease in EC funding between 2004 and 2008

CONCORD recently published a report entitled Facts and Figures: What the official 2008 figures continue to tell us about EC aid and NGOs in which they came to the following observations, unsatisfactory tidings for European NGOs.

Although the overall funding for CSOs (including universities, professional associations, NGOs, foundations, etc) has increased by 2.4% between 2004 and 2008, the grants accorded specifically to NGOs have not known such an significant increase, only 0.7%, out of the total EC External Aid, in that same time span. The funding for European NGOs in particular (as opposed to local NGOs) has even decreased dropping from €681 million in 2004 to €669 in 2008, even while 12 new countries joined the EU. The competition has risen further due to EC grants, previously reserved for European NGOs, being made accessible to other civil society actors such as trade unions, foundations or universities. Funding for development is not increasing as fast (+9.45%) as funding for emergency (+12%) and International Organisations received, in 2008, twice what was received by NGOs. Even if the EC budget did increase between 2004 and 2008, the share of external aid decreased by 1%. Finally, Concord notes the higher percentage of the total budget being deconcentrated and managed by EC Delegations in developing countries (23%).

In view of this report, CONCORD makes a series of key recommendations including more transparency, more consultation and analysis and additional funds allocated to long-term development actions without this being at the expense of humanitarian aid.
Follow the link to read the full report

Information provided by Jess Blijkers, TRIALOG

Global Education Online Training Course: the Human Rights Dimension

The North-South Centre is happy to announce the online training course Human Rights Education: Addressing Global Challenges offered by the North South Centre and The Network University (TNU).

This global education online learning course is designed for education practitioners, social workers, youth activists, as well as policy and decision makers. It has been designed to complement the Global Education Guidelines, a pedagogical tool for educators and policy makers to understand and implement Global Education, and share with a wider audience concepts and approaches promoted by the North-South Centre’s Global Education programme.

This course, under the main title "Global Education - The Human Rights Dimension", provides an introduction to human rights education as part of the Global Education context, and deals with its concepts, approaches, strategies and action, by considering its interconnections between the global and local. It is designed for professionals working in or with global education / human rights education, either as part of international organisations, national educational institutions or those working for national and local civil society organisations. The course also welcomes students with a special interest in the topic.

The upcoming course takes place from 8 November – 3 December 2010. The deadline for submitting the complete application is 27 October 2010.

For additional information concerning the course please access the link.

ERSTE Foundation Award for Social Integration – What Would You Change? (Deadline 30.11.2010)

The ERSTE Foundation Award for Social Integration 2011 addresses to twelve countries from CSEE region: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia. Organizations from these countries are invited to apply with their projects from the 1 September until the 30 November 2010. The foundation award for social integration promotes and recognizes organizations in the public and non-profit sectors that engage people’s abilities, capacities, and initiatives for socially-oriented practice and progressive change in society.

The Award is integral to the ERSTE Foundation Social Development programme , which emphasizes a commitment to human and cultural diversity, holistic human development, social and economic justice, and individual and group self-determination. It is given to innovative and creative social integration projects that have made a valuable impact and difference in the lives of intended beneficiaries. The financial component of the Award is intended to further the awardees in their social practice. In addition to the financial grant, the Award provides wide exposure so that winning projects get more visibility. It creates opportunities for the winners to have better access to networks of possible partners and supporters, as well as to the databases of ERSTE Foundation. Projects have to demonstrate outcomes, results, and sustainability. The Award is open to the public sector, civil society, private initiatives, and religious communities as well as to the media. Eligible projects must be: completed before the date of application, ongoing but with presentable outcomes, results, and/or sustainable elements and the implementation location must be in one (or more) of the twelve countries.

Source: BCSDN E-Mail Alerts 216

New Slovak Platform Project Manager

From 1st October, 2010, Jana Bielikova became a new project manager of Slovak NGDOs Platform (Platforma MVRO). She studied International Relations at University of Economy in Bratislava and is experienced in NGO management, marketing, project and event management. She has worked in different countries, among them the Philippines and Pakistan. Daniela Balazova, a former journalist, became external collaborator in function of media coordinator of the Slovak NGDOs Platform. The contacts of the secretariat of the Slovak NGDO Platform are published on the platform's website http://www.mvro.sk/en/contacts

Information provided by Lenka Nemcová, Platforma MVRO

Young Reporters Against Poverty (YRAP) competition

Young Reporters Against Poverty (YRAP) is the first Europe-wide competition for journalism and communication students passionate about development issues. Young Reporters Against Poverty is a chance for European journalism and communication students to receive hands-on training about development, the EU and how to report live from the European Development Days.

The Young Reporter Against Poverty competition is open to journalism and communication students aged between 18 and 30 years old from all EU 27 member states and is organised by the European Journalism Centre with financial support from the European Commission’s EuropeAid Co-operation Office.

A handpicked group of 33 finalists will be selected to attend this year's European Development Days, to be held in Brussels in early December 2010. After receiving hands-on training to assist them in their live reporting of the event, the finalists then have one week to perfect their best article/broadcast, to be presented to a jury of professional journalists and media professionals. Three overall winners will then be selected for the press trip of a lifetime – to Africa.

Deadline for submission is 29 October 2010. Find all necessary information on http://www.youngreporters.net/

Two Vacancies Peacebuilding, Kosovo: forumZFD

The German peacebuilding NGO Forum Civil Peace Service (forumZFD) has currently two vacancies for its programme in Western Balkans. The two forumZFD placements in Prishtina are in the framework of the "Civil Peace Service in development cooperation" programme, funded by the German government. Deadline for applications is 15 November 2010. 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 or follow the link to the description and pdf.

Mary Robinson Award for Young Women's Leadership in Human Rights

If you are a young woman, under the age of 30, involved in Human Rights work - Please nominate yourself for the Mary Robinson Award for Young Women's Leadership in Human Rights. The deadline for submission of the reviewed nomination is October 31, 2010. Download the Nomination form at http://www.worldywcacouncil.org/Mary-Robinson-Award or find attached. Email the completed form to maryrobinsonaward@worldywca.org

The World YWCA established the Mary Robinson Award for Young Women's Leadership in Human Rights to recognise young women leaders and human rights activists. The first recipients of the award will be honoured and celebrated during the International Women's Summit in Zurich, Switzerland from July 12 - 13, 2011.

The award recognises: 1. young YWCA human rights activist ; 2. A young woman human rights activist from the broader community of partners working on human rights; 3. A member association that demonstrates exemplary support and
promotion of young women's leadership in the field of human rights.

Mary Robinson is a renowned human rights activist and a trailblazer for women's rights and leadership, was the first woman President of Ireland (1990-1997) and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002). She has spent most of her life as a human rights advocate. As an academic (Trinity College Law Faculty 1968-90), legislator (Senator 1969-89) and barrister (1967-90, Senior Counsel 1980, English Bar 1973) she has always sought to use law as an instrument for social change, arguing landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights, the Irish courts and the European Court in Luxemburg. Mary Robinson served as Chair for the Council of Women World Leaders and is presently leading Realising Rights: the Ethical Globalisation Initiative.

Bretton Woods Conference, London, 22 November 2010

The Bretton Woods Project is announcing its conference on 'the private finance turn' in development in London. This conference brings together a range of different organisations that have begun to concentrate on the new trend of private finance for development, notably through Financial Intermediaries and private equity lending. It will focus on the International Finance Corporation (IFCs) of the Worldbank Group and the European Investment Bank (EIB) as perhaps the two longest-standing private finance supporting international financial institutions (IFIs), but also on other funders involved in the same activities such as the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), African Development Bank (ADB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The conference under the title “Private equity, financial intermediaries and what they mean for development” will be on Monday November 22nd, with a strategy and action day on Tuesday 23rd. For more information and to register, please follow the online link http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-566623.