Advancing Beyond 2015: EU-12 Contributions to a Global Development Framework after the MDGs

In cooperation with FoRS - the Czech national NGDO platform TRIALOG organised the conference Advancing Beyond 2015 in Prague on 24 April 2012, where 65 representatives from the EU-12, Accession Countries (AC) and other Western Balkan countries discussed possible development frameworks after the Millennium Development Goals.

To ensure a successful and meaningful participative process, civil society across the world now comes together to discuss and formulate a vision of a post-2015 development framework in advance of the UN MDGs Summit planned for September 2013. Even if there are three more years to go, the official UN consultations, the negotiations of Sustainable Development Goals at the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the EC’s public consultations towards the 2013 EU Report on Development as well as European CSOs within CONCORD focusing on a joint Beyond 2015 position clearly show: the time to act is now!


Two thirds of countries involved in the conference are already planning to hold national Beyond 2015 consultations.

The conference participants discussed a number of key themes, including human security, sustainable development, inclusion, human rights, development effectiveness, global civil society, and democratic governance, as well as financing, mutual accountability and development beyond aid. Reflecting on their own transitional experience, participants stressed that above all, the process of creating a new development framework has to be inclusive, people-centred and action-oriented.

A briefing paper for EU-12/AC CSOs, which will further explain why, when and how to engage in the Beyond 2015 negotiations will be available on the TRIALOG and FoRS websites.

For more information please contact Faika El-Nagashi: f.elnagashi@trialog.or.at

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Information provided by Inka Pibilova – Independent Consultant/Rapporteur of the conference

Beyond 2015, Beyond EU12/AC and Beyond TRIALOG IV

The TRIALOG Central Training 2012 – the annual exchange meeting for EU12/AC NGDO platforms – was organised in cooperation with FoRS, the Czech national NGDO platform in the format of a 2-day event from 24th to 25th of April 2012 in Prague.

The first day looked at current debates around “Beyond 2015” that envision a new global development framework after the MDGs. EU12/AC platforms presented their work around specific elements and related their own perspectives of and approaches to a new development framework. This first day was organised as a regional deliberation conference with the participation of additional stakeholders (e.g. Czech MFA and Development Agency representatives) and was strongly supported by the Beyond2015 campaign. Tanya Cox, co-chair of the European Task Force of the Beyond2015 campaign, presented the global deliberation process and encouraged conference participants to further engage in the topic on national levels and to contribute to the process.

The second day focused on the exchange between platforms and provided an overview of the platform situation, the challenges in each national context and discussed the needs and assets each partner brings to a project – and potentially network – like TRIALOG. Some of the shared needs centre around securing the financial sustainability of the platform, improving cooperation with national governmental partners and increasing the capacity of the platform and its members with regards to policy and advocacy work (e.g. around PCD, networking and partnerships, awareness raising with the media and general public). The exchange also highlighted the diverse assets of each partner and the potential for mutual support and cooperation through bilateral or regional activities.
As at previous Central Trainings, representatives of CONCORD presented the annual priorities of the European confederation and highlighted opportunities for involvement and synergies. A valuable contribution to the Central Training came also through Markus Pirchner who was representing the EuropeAid Development and Cooperation Directorate-General. He gave an outlook on the EC’s future DEAR programme for the period 2014-2020 and opened up the floor for an engaging Q&A session.

This Central Training marked the last of the exchange meetings in the current phase of the TRIALOG project (TRIALOG IV). It also saw the broadest spread of participation of not only EU12/AC platforms but also CSO partners from the Western Balkans. 45 participants representing EU12/AC NGDO platforms and CSOs from Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina contributed to the event and confirmed the continued need for increased cooperation – preferably within the context of TRIALOG V, the next phase of the project.

In the photo: Participants of the Central Training 2012

Information provided by Faika El-Nagashi, TRIALOG

International Conference KNOW-HOW3000: Promoting Human Rights - Empowering Civil Society

TRIALOG facilitates an East-West-South exchange through supporting the participation of EU12 and Accession/Candidate Countries (AC/CC) as well as Western Balkan representatives at the International Conference KNOW-HOW3000: Promoting Human Rights - Empowering Civil Society which will take place from 25-27 June 2012 in Vienna.


HORIZONT3000 and TRIALOG organise the conference which will bring together partner organisations from the Global South, NGDO representatives from EU12 and EU15 (mainly Austria) and members of the official Austrian development cooperation to exchange experience and best practices within the sector Human Rights - Civil Society.




Objectives of the conference: 

• To discuss principles, strategies and methods to strengthen Civil Society organisations and structures, so that they can better defend Human Rights
• Exchange of good practices and project experiences from a variety of project partners from different continents
• Presentation and communication of the work of HORIZONT3000 (TRIALOG's lead agency) in the sector Human Rights - Civil Society to the official Austrian Development Cooperation, member organisations and other actors with-in the development cooperation in Austria.

TRIALOG offers reimbursement of travel and accommodation costs to a maximum of 3 NGDO representatives per EU12/AC/CC and Western Balkan country.

Background information and Invitation to the conference (pdf)
Application and reimbursement form (word)

The deadline for applications is 18 May 2012.

For further questions please contact Faika El-Nagashi f.elnagashi@trialog.or.at

Information provided by TRIALOG

Towards building a network - External Evaluation of TRIALOG IV

In April 2012, the external evaluation of the current (fourth) phase of TRIALOG was completed. The evaluator Nikki van der Gaag gathered and analysed numerous data from interviews with stakeholders, an online questionnaire, her attendance at international meetings and a national training event as well as from a wide range of project reports and documents.

In her evaluation report, Nikki van der Gaag states: “TRIALOG has achieved a huge amount in the last 12 years. […]NMS Platforms and their members have become actors on development in the EU and amassed a considerable amount of expertise through training, capacity building, conferences, meetings, study visits and exchanges. […]Many respondents gave due credit to the work of TRIALOG, which they felt had helped to build a body of people in the EU12 who are interested in, and committed to, development.”

The evaluation has shown that especially networking events such as the Partnership Fairs are highly praised and needed and therefore recommends that TRIALOG continues bringing people together and providing such spaces for exchange. The evaluator believes that TRIALOG has now reached a watershed and needs to move from a service organisation to support, and being part of an active and interactive network. In the future TRIALOG should support and build up peer-to-peer learning between EU12 platforms, as well as between people from EU12, EU15 and the Global South; focus on activities such as strategy meetings for EU12 platforms, study visits, training for key actors and support to accession countries.

Nikki van der Gaag concludes: “During the coming years TRIALOG has the opportunity to be part of building a participative network of development NGOs.” The TRIALOG team is excited about starting down this new, challenging path with all EU12 and Accession/Candidate Countries in the near future.

For Development NGO platforms, their members and cooperation partners, the external evaluation report is available upon request from information@trialog.or.at

In the photo: Evaluation networking exercise at TRIALOG Partner Meeting

Information provided by Elisa Romero, TRIALOG

FOND General Assembly

The 7th General Assembly of the Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND was held during the 26th-27th of March 2012, in Bucharest (Romania). During the two days, FOND members reflected on the activities carried out in 2011 and their contribution to the field of development cooperation.
Starting from these discussions, several challenges were identified as priorities for the next year: strengthening FOND members’ capacity to implement projects on development cooperation/development education, ensuring multi-annual financial sustainability of the platform, developing the policy and advocacy capacity of both members and the staff (national and European level).

Besides the usual statutory issues (membership, activity reports), the platform members were engaged in several discussion groups on the activities planned for 2012, such as the 5th edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum, Development Education Working Group’s action plan, opportunities to participate in CONCORD WGs. Also, the establishment of a new WG was voted by the GA - Humanitarian Assistance Working Group – requested by several members as to have a better coordination among NGOs working in this field.

Following a tradition established in 2007, the second day of the GA was dedicated to the partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The new head of the ODA Unit, Mrs. Doina Doroftei, presented the action plan of the MFA for 2012 (including the collaboration with FOND) as well as challenges and future plans for reforming the unit.

In addition, FOND welcomed 5 new member NGOs working in cross-border cooperation, civic participation, development education and migration, adding up to a total of 46 members. This will strengthen FOND’s role to give voice to a diverse spectrum of Romanian civil society organizations working in development cooperation.

For more information about FOND activities, please visit the platform’s website: www.fondromania.org

Information provided by Adriana Zaharia, Communication Officer, Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND

Possible Ways how to elevate the Promotion of Democracy within Development Cooperation were discussed in Bratislava

Transparent policy decision making leads to a long term sustainable development in the target countries. This is just one among many topics of the International Scientific Conference Democracy and Development held in Bratislava on the 3rd of May 2012. The conference which was organized by the Pontis Foundation, along with the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences of the Comenius University, aimed to discuss recent trends in development cooperation.

The conference was held under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Slovak Republic and was financed by Slovak Aid. The conference topic was mainly connected to democracy and development. One of the recent trends has been looking at the development cooperation from the point of view of the democratic system and the promotion of human rights rather than from the economic or social perspective. Besides, transparent political decision making leading towards a long term sustainable development in the target countries has an important role. The conference also sought to provide a dialogue among the decision makers of the development cooperation priorities as well as among the representatives of NGOs having field experience and being aware of the needs of the community and partner organizations.

The conference was attended by international experts and speakers. Possible ways how to elevate the promotion of democracy within the development cooperation were discussed by Geert Laporte from the European Center for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) along with Íňigo Macias Aymar from Barcelona Center for International Affairs (CIDOB) and Zuzana Fialová the president of the Slovak NDGO Platform. Nicoletta Merlo from the European Commission focused on the issue of increasing the impact of development policy and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Peter Javorčík spoke about the role of the Slovak foreign policy in the field of the development cooperation.

Danson Mwazo, Kenyan Minister of Tourism and a member of the Kenyan Parliament took part in the forum as well. He perceives a great potential in the Slovak-Kenyan cooperation. “We can mainly speak about fields such as education, agriculture, infrastructure and tourism from which both countries can benefit”, stated Mwazo. He highlighted Slovak support for the development cooperation e.g. projects seeking to elevate the “computer literacy” and projects in the field of agriculture. “We do not want any particular products; show us how to do it. Those are all projects changing the lives of our people”, Danson Mwazo noted. The Pontis Foundation has been already implementing its second project in Kenya regarding the computer literacy. The most recent computer lab has been opened at a school in the village Marungu. It will contribute to a better quality of education of the Kenyan students and teachers will obtain computer skills training also in Slovakia. “We are glad that due to the computers and internet some of our students are able to communicate with their peers from Slovakia and they can download study materials owing to the internet”, Kenyan Minister added.

Information provided by Petra Nagyova, PONTIS Foundation

Social Protection high on the Agenda of EU Development Policies

On May 7, Light for the World  together with the Dutch Coalition on Disability and Development  organised a seminar on Social Protection and Disability in Developing Countries. The event was held in Brussels under the End Exclusion — Let's Enable The MDGs project.

Social protection issues are on the agenda of many CSOs and EU officials as DG Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid is currently preparing a communication ‘Social Protection in EU Development Cooperation’ following an online consultation. The communication is planned to be published in September 2012 and it is a follow-up to the last year’s ‘Agenda for Change’ communication.

Social protection is a tool to make growth inclusive and sustainable by enabling people to participate in the economy, supporting a healthy workforce and providing protection against risk. Alicia Martin-Diaz from DG DevCo explained at the seminar that the emphasis of the European Commission (EC) communication will be on equity, efficiency, inclusion and social cohesion. According to the current EC vision, social protection should be based on internal country funding while the EC can help put social protection systems in place in partner countries. In some fragile states the EC could also pay for welfare transfers as an exception but what exactly the EU would fund is an open question at the moment.

Alexandre Cote from the International Disability Alliance emphasised that one of the principal aims of their work is to ensure that people with disabilities would be able to participate meaningfully in life. There are various tools to support people with disabilities in developing countries. Cash transfers work well in many cases but it is not the solution in countries where necessary services for disabled people are not available. Another major issue in managing support systems is ‘gate keeping’ – figuring out the rules and conditions of who is eligible for the support and monitoring this is essential for such programmes to be successful.

Information provided by Mirjam Sutrop, TRIALOG

MMN Online Debate :The Role of Local Communities in Migrants’ Integration Process

The Cypriot Mediterranean Migration Network (MMN) launched its first online debate. The debate focuses on the role of local communities in migrants’ integration process, and on how the local community stakeholders such as local authorities, civil society, migrants’ associations and migrants themselves can be engaged in the integration process. Participants will also have the opportunity to provide and discuss examples of successful and/or unsuccessful integration practices at the local community level. Furthermore, participants are expected to discuss the current EU and national policies and directives in the aforementioned field. You are invited to log-in to the MMN web platform at www.migrationnetwork.org and actively participate in the online debate.

Supportive documents are available under the Resources section  of the MMN platform.

Read the report here (pdf)

Information provided by Sotiris Themistokleous, CARDET

EPAN (Last?) Spring Meeting

Platforms involved in the EPAN Working Group (the CONCORD working group for members working on Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighbourhood) gathered in Brussels on 20/21 March 2012 for the final meeting with TRIALOG as convenor.

The agenda focused very strongly on continuing the internal discussions about the future of EPAN. There are questions about how the group will continue once TRIALOG stops its role as convenor with the end of the TRIALOG IV project in September. Representatives from other CONCORD working groups were invited to join the discussions and input was provided by the Policy Forum and FDR (Financing for Development and Relief).

In addition, a governmental representative attended the meeting as an observer as well as the CSO participants from EU members, the Balkan Civil Society Development Network and FYR Macedonia.

Sessions covered the relevant new instruments proposed for the next multiannual financial framework (European Neighbourhood Instrument ENI and Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance IPA II); the current situation in Serbia, the newest candidate country for EU membership; and subgroup work, where each of the three subgroups reviewed their plans for 2012 and mapped out next steps. The group also welcomed a guest speaker from the cabinet of Commissioner Štefan Füle, who talked to members about the neighbourhood civil society facility, the IPA civil society facility, the instruments and the current status of the European Endowment for Democracy.

Minutes will be sent to participants shortly and will be available soon after on the TRIALOG and CONCORD websites.


Information provided by Rebecca Steel-Jasińska, TRIALOG

Update from the CONCORD working group FDR

From 22 - 23 February, the CONCORD working group on Funding for Development and Relief (FDR) met in Brussels for its first plenary meeting of 2012. This year the FDR meeting will take place three times because of the amount of issues to be followed and analysed.

On the first day, participants shared their national situations focused around issues related to funding. One of the clear conclusions from this session was the fact that the situation in EU 12 is very unstable. In some EU12 countries this year is even worse than previous years. Only in some countries have there been improvements but the situation is still far from stable in financial and structural terms. It is obvious that most of the countries have to work hard for recognition related to their international development work.

The FDR subgroup working on de-concentration has surveyed CONCORD members to analyse the experience organisations have with regards to working with EU delegations. Results will be disseminated soon.

The geographic and thematic instruments sub-group, which monitors EC programmes and instruments is looking for volunteers to become focal points and follow up with relevant DEVCO staff in order to set up longer term dialogue. The aim is to have a longer term view on what is going on in programming, including from 2014 onwards. Some members have already agreed to volunteer and the full list of the focal point people should be completed at the next FDR meeting.

The financial regulation sub-group informed the rest of the group about the eligibility of VAT under EC programmes. Generally VAT is an eligible cost, unless there is any other interstate regulation, which is rare. The sub-group is organising a workshop on financial and contractual management, which will be held in Brussels on the 14th June 2012. DEVCO representatives will present at the workshop.

Regarding the current MFF negotiations, the FDR group will ask for more clarity on thematic programmes and will analyse annexes and develop a position. There was a representative from the European Investment Bank (EIB) presenting EIB’s involvement in the development field and where they the place for NGOs within their financial frame.

The FDR has updated its terms of reference, which are available on the CONCORD extranet. An open call has also been launched for new steering group members and one co-chair. Elections will take place at the next FDR plenary meeting in Brussels on the 12th and the 13th of June 2012.

Information provided by Robert Križanič, Institute Povod, Slovenia

Towards an EC-DEAR Strategy 2014-2020

On May 7, the EC invited representatives from EU member states, national CSO platforms, CSOs and international networking bodies to a European Union DEAR stakeholder consultation.

As a follow up to the “Structured Dialogue”, the EC has decided to present a “Communication on Civil Society in Development” due to be published later this year. In this context, the EC plans to present a Staff Working Paper regarding the orientations for the EC Development Education and Awareness Raising (DEAR) programme, which will also be the basis for DEAR in the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 and this was the reason for the consultation with relevant stakeholders.

The main issues discussed at the event were the justification of EC engagement in DEAR, what the EC should do and why, how the relationship with member states and CSOs, their platforms and international networks should work and the added value of the EC being active in DEAR. All of these issues are interlinked and not possible to separate as the justification of the engagement also indicates what should be done and why and how the relationship with other stakeholders should look in each activity. There was broad consensus about a clear justification for the EC being active in DEAR which includes enabling the European dimension of DEAR activities, facilitating European DEAR stakeholder coordination and disseminating good practices regardsing the “encouragement” of and “encouraging” national governments towards more funding and quality standards in DEAR activities in countries where this would not happen without external “support”. Especially in times of financial crisis, when the DEAR budgets in most EU countries are shrinking and only through high European-wide multi-stakeholder interest can this tendency be stopped or reversed. Last but not least the funding for DEAR from the EC and its role in promoting policy coherence for development inside the Commission are seen as key aspects in the justification of the EC engagement in DEAR and its added value over other DEAR stakeholders.

Information provided by Christine Bedoya, TRIALOG

CIDSE North-South Development Forum In Brussels - “The EU and Civil Society: Where do we go from here?”

At the beginning of May 2012, CIDSE organised a panel discussion as part of a two-day development forum in Brussels, on the EU’s relationship with civil society. The panel was made up of Kristian Schmidt, the director of the human and security development directorate in the European Commissions’ Directorate General for Development and Cooperation; Chris Bain, the president of CIDSE and Director of CAFOD; Safia Abdi Dima, from Cordaid in Kenya and Thijs Berman, a member of the European Parliament.

The panel was expertly moderated and covered the current relationship between the EU and Civil Society; how it has changed and continues to change; and where it is headed, with recommendations from each panellist. It was agreed that the relationship does, and should, go far beyond simply funding, with Kristian Schmidt talking about the ‘maturity’ of the relationship where processes has evolved to ensure CSO voices are heard and can influence EC development policy. The panel had an interesting discussion centered around the role of parliaments in a democratic country with Thijs Berman pushing for more capacity building for elected representatives as well as CSOs, where questions sometimes still centre around their legitimacy. This was countered by examples from Southern countries where CSOs provide a powerful force for keeping elected representatives in check. The role of the private sector was also debated, with the view that business’ first interest, to make profit, would always be a strong consideration when assessing the private sector’s contribution to development efforts.

The audience was made up of CSO representatives and partners from all over the world, and several audience members spoke up to give their experiences from the field, as well as posing questions to the panel.

Information provided by Rebecca Steel-Jasińska, TRIALOG

Conference on Fundraising for Development and Relief: A quest for private sources in CEE region

TRIALOG provides travel reimbursement for the Conference on Fundraising for Development and Relief: A quest for private sources in CEE region 23-24 May 2012 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The international conference is organised by Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia (PDCS) in partnership with Visegrad Four national NGDO platforms, national fundraising associations and TRIALOG and aims to:

• Promote experiences with fundraising from private sources for development and relief
• Inspire participants and their organisations, create space for sharing experience and examples
• Contribute to professionalisation and building capacities of NGDOs in the region

Accepted NGO-participants from EU-12 states and Croatia can apply for a reimbursement of their travel costs from TRIALOG. A total of 12 participants will be eligible for financial support. More information on the conference visit: www.ngdofundraising.net/conference
and read the background document (pdf). 

How to apply for reimbursement of this event (pdf)

Deadline for applications 14 May 2012

For more information please contact Elisa Romero: information@trialog.or.at

Information provided by Elisa Romero, TRIALOG

Sailing for Sustainability Project

A global education activity initiated by a group of GLEN alumni.

Sailing for Sustainability is a European-wide global education activity on sustainability. In summer 2012 we are going to catch up on Rio+20 (United Nation Conference on sustainable development) and organise a four weeks sailing expedition across the Baltic Sea.

On the ship, 4 sessions of one-week seminars – focusing on sustainability topics – will be held. We have organised events on the ship (taking 30 people per week on board), as well as organised different global education events in harbours on the route.

Therefore, we would like to invite motivated and committed people to join our crew. 4 different seminars will be in the four weeks from 18th June to 15th July. The basic conditions for participants are: aged 18-30, living in Romania, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, France or Germany, however some exceptions might be made. If you are interested to take part in the project please send an email to: sailing@ge-forum.org  

Please include the following information:

• Write a 1 page (max 230 words) essay about “Sustainability in your Life” (Be as creative as you want) Complete the application form (attached)
• The 3 most creative essays will be published on our platform www.sailingforsustainability.com
• The participation fee it is based in a minimum and up to what you would like to contribute: for students a minimum of 40€ to 150€/person per week employed people a minimum of 80 to 200€/person per week

The travel costs of the Participants to the Sailing for Sustainability Project will be reimbursed.

Find further information here (pdf).

Deadline for registration is the 20th of May 2012.


Information provided by the Sailing for Sustainability team

International Congress of Belarusian Studies "A Turn to Belarus: Ideas, Methods, Concepts"

The Consortium of Belarusian and Lithuanian organisations under the auspices of the Vytautas Magnus University (Lithuania) and "Political Sphere" Institute (Belarus) is pleased to announce a call for individual applications for the 2nd International Congress of Belarusian Studies "A Turn to Belarus: Ideas, Methods, Concepts", held on September 28-30, 2012 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Around 200 scholars from around the world, engaged in studying Belarus and East-Central Europe region, are expected to participate. The Congress will bring together researches of social sciences and humanities, and offer the discussion of regional development issues, Belarus relations with other countries, and other topical problems.

For further details on the concept of the Congress, its organizers and partners, please visit Web-site of the Congress www.icbs.lt

In order to apply, please:
1. Fill in the form.
2. If accommodation and travel expense reimbursement needed, please fill in the appropriate sections in the above indicated form.

Please, feel free to ask any questions via: icbs@palityka.org

The deadline for application is June 15, 2012.

Information provided by BISS - Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies

Disability and Poverty in the Global South: activating movements for change

Basic Information: Five day course held in Malta, organised by Integra Foundation Malta in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU)
Funded by: Grundtvig Adult Training
Date: 05/11-09/11/2012

The recent World Report on Disability estimates that some one billion people around the globe are disabled and some 80% live in the global South. Around 20% of the worlds poorest are said to be disabled people. The organizers have tapped into a transnational team from academia and civil society to engage critically, and discuss in participatory ways, key themes around disability and poverty in the global South. The course is built on a commitment to raising awareness of development issues, promoting development education initiatives, and support actions promoting poverty reduction, especially among the poorest populations. All are welcome to apply!

For more information on the course: please consult the Grundtvig  and Integra websites.
For more information on the venue and funding click here 
To register click here 

EU Funding for travel and daily expenses is available!
Contact your national agency for more information.

Any questions or queries, please contact Maria Pisani: integrafoundation@gmail.com  

Information provided by Integra Foundation, Malta

Preparations for European Development Days 2012 have begun

The European Development Days (EDD) 2012 will be held in Brussels between 16 and 17 October 2012. The first preparatory stakeholder meeting took place on Monday 23 April 2012 in Brussels. CONCORD`s Communications Officer Daniel Puglisi attended the meeting and reports:

The Commission will focus on the two priorities of the Agenda for Change: development, democracy and human rights as well as inclusive and sustainable growth.

The Commission wants to promote the event as High Level Policy Dialogue Overarching theme: Inclusive and Sustainable Growth

There will be 3 subthemes (on which stakeholder panel applications must be based):
• Agriculture and food security (including policy coherence for development, role of rural women, global food crisis, role of private sector, mix of public and private finance)
• Private sector and development (how to leverage private funding, private sector role in green economy, collaboration with other development actors)
• Social protection (including decent work, productive employment and migrants rights)

Stakeholder panels/Participants:
• 15 Stakeholder panels
• The event will be invitation only (1500 participants max.), not open to the public. Participants invited last year will be re-invited in 2012, if not need to contact EU Commission stakeholder@eudevdays.eu for more information.

Stakeholders are now invited to submit their proposals for the panels. The Event Submission Form is available on the official website. Completed forms should be returned to stakeholder@eudevdays.eu

Application criteria:
1. Collaborative aspect of event proposal, including supporting evidence on the content of topic
2. Communication Strategy of proposal: visibility potential of event, social media and panel promotion 3. Inclusiveness of event proposal: Gender balance, North-South balance

Deadline for stakeholder panel applications: 23 May, 2012
Decision by EU Commission on applications: 11 June
Second Stakeholder meeting: 2 September

Follow the preparation process online at: www.eudevdays.eu  

Information provided by Daniel Puglisi, CONCORD

UNDP: From transition to transformation - Sustainable and inclusive development in Europe and Central Asia

This UNDP report was launched at the first Global Human Development Forum which brought together high-level experts from governments, corporations, civil society and international organizations to examine the global policy changes in order to ensure a sustainable future.
The report, supported by 13 U.N. agencies, calls for a transformation to integrated policy making, where social equity, economic growth and environmental protection are approached jointly. It is a contribution of governments, experts, researchers and development practitioners ahead of the ‘Rio+20’ U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development in June in Brazil.

Download the report from UNDP website

Source: United Nations Development Programme UNDP website