The Black Sea NGO Forum 2011, 6th-8th of October, Bucharest

The 4th edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum will take place on 6th - 8th of October 2011 in Bucharest, Romania. The event is being organized by the Romanian NGDO Platform (FOND), with support of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Representation of the European Commission in Romania and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation.

Recent developments in the EU neighborhood have revealed once more the essential role of civil society and its potential as a positive force for change. The 4th edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum will explore the role and needs of civil society in the region, its vision(s) and solutions to the current local and regional problems and will include dedicated panels on different topics – democratization, leadership, regional cooperation models, monitoring of social models, education and children rights, environment, lessons learnt from the transition period. Representatives of Government, both from Romania and other foreign countries, European Commission, NGOs from the Black Sea Region, donors will debate on the European Strategy for the Black Sea Region, the impact of NGOs on programming process.

The Representation of the European Commission in Romania will award this year, within the framework of Black Sea Forum, the Black Sea NGO Award for Excellency. The aim of this award is to enhance the profile of the Black Sea Synergy and its role in proposing a regional, cooperative approach in the region, as well as the multilateral dimension of EU external policies.

The Black Sea Forum was launched in 2008 by FOND with the support of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation in the framework of the Black Sea Synergy. The Forum aims at increasing the level of dialogue and cooperation among NGOs in the wider Black Sea Region, strengthening the NGOs capacity to influence regional and national policies, and to increase the number and quality of regional partnerships and projects. The previous editions focused on good practices in various fields and countries and successful cooperation initiatives in the region, the main challenges and opportunities in the region and gathered more than 500 participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Byelorussia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Russia, and other EU member states active in the wider Black Sea region.

Find more information about the event on the website http://www.blackseango.org/pagini/index.php and www.fondromania.org/eng.

Information provided by Adriana Zaharia, FOND