Policy Digest: Lithuanian Presidency Priorities for Development Cooperation

From 1 July to 31 December 2013 Lithuania will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union (presidency) for the first time. This means that Lithuanian government members and officials will chair the process of the creation of EU rules and legislation during this period. With this role Lithuania will be in the centre of EU policy-making.
The period of the presidency is important for the citizens and civil society organisations (CSOs) in the presidency country because of the opportunity to contribute to the EU discussions with national expertise and influence the decision-makers with their priorities and recommendations.

Mainstreaming the transition experience in the field of development cooperation is the national priority issue concerning development cooperation during the Lithuanian Presidency. Lithuanian Umbrella (LU) which is made up of two development CSOs – LITDEA and National Platform of Development NGOs which together unite 30 national CSOs – will coordinate and implement a presidency project during 12 months, starting in June 2013. The overall objective of the project is to empower Lithuanian NGOs to proactively contribute to national ODA policies in relation to the EU agenda during the Lithuanian Presidency.

This Policy Digest will shortly explain the role of the country when holding the presidency; look at the main priorities and high-level events concerning development cooperation during the Lithuanian Presidency; explain the actions of the Lithuanian development CSO platform Lithuanian Umbrella (LU) during the presidency; and outline possible action points for CSOs outside Lithuania to engage in the presidency processes and activities.

The policy digest was written by Igoris Kononovas (Lithuanian Umbrella), Magdalena Trojanek (Zagranica Group) and Mirjam Sutrop (TRIALOG).

Download the Policy Digest here: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/lithuanian_presidency_pd_final.pdf  

Information provided by TRIALOG

Working together for Development – NGOs and Local Authorities’ Associations

TRIALOG was present at the conference “Working Together for Development – A Role for Citizens and Civil Society in Development Cooperation” in Budapest on 8 July bringing together about 40 participants form 15 countries. TRIALOG shared the experience of working with national development CSO platforms in Eastern and Central Europe at the time when these countries joined the EU and become donors instead of recipients of official development assistance (ODA). The role of civil society organisations in development cooperation was presented and discussed.

The conference was exceptional because it brought together representatives of local authorities’ associations and NGOs working on local community development. One of the aims of the conference was to further the participants’ thinking about development cooperation as many of them were not necessarily involved in international development cooperation on a daily basis. Participants discussed and reflected on a number of issues, including the evolution of the concept of aid which was facilitated by a presentation of Dr Andras Tetenyi form Corvinus University. The paradigm of local-global in development cooperation was presented by Mr Valery Pandzharov, the chair of the CONCORD working group on Enlargement, Pre-accession and Neighbourhood (EPAN). The conference was organised by Central and Eastern European Citizens Network (CEECN) – a network providing opportunities for grassroots citizens’ initiatives from CEE region to learn, exchange experiences and ideas.

CEECN is a partner in the Working Together for Development project (WTD) which is implemented by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA). WTD aims at improving the capacities of associations of local authorities and NGO networks in order to act as development agents in and outside Europe. The project is based on the method of multilateral decentralised cooperation and multi-stakeholder approach.

Read more about the WTD project form www.wtd-alda.eu
Read more about the Central and Eastern European Citizens Network from www.ceecn.net


In the photo: participants of the conference.

Information provided by Mirjam Sutrop, TRIALOG

Development Cooperation in the Youngest EU Member State

On 1st of July 2013 Croatia became the 28th member state of the European Union. After seven years of negotiations and the implementation of numerous political, social and legal reforms, the EU member states have decided that Croatia is ready to join the Union.

This negotiation process has also influenced the field of development cooperation. Since February 2011, Croatia has no longer received Official Development Assistance (ODA) and has become an official donor. However, the full understanding of development cooperation is still lacking within different state institutions as well as within civil society in Croatia. In 2013, Croatia defined its strategic thematic and geographic goals related to development cooperation. Geographically, Croatia wants to be present primarily in South-East Europe (with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina), the Southern Mediterranean (Morocco, Tunisia and Syria) and Afghanistan. Thematically, Croatia wants to focus on education, public health, tourism and the development of civil society.

However, the reality is very different from the political objectives and strategies. Croatia has significantly reduced its budget for development cooperation, reaching only 0.03% of GDP in 2011; around € 15 million. Finally, Croatian CSOs are also expanding their work towards development cooperation. Today, there are strong independent CSOs focusing mostly on the Croatian transition process. However, the skills and knowledge gained through this process, particularly in the field of peace building and democratisation, give Croatian CSOs huge potential within development cooperation. At the moment, over 30 organisations are working on the establishment of a national platform for development cooperation CSOs.

After more than 30 years’ exposure to the different forms of donor, with positive and negative experiences, the challenge for Croatian CSOs is to implement development cooperation policies and projects in solidarity with people across the globe and avoid making the same mistakes practised in our own surroundings.

The full article is published in the TRIALOG Bulletin 2013 and can be read online: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/trialog_bulletin_2013.pdf

Information provided by Gordan Bosanac, Center for Peace Studies

Opportunities for Regional Cooperation at the Black Sea

The Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND, with the support of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Parliament, organized on the 26th of June 2013, in Brussels, a debate dedicated to opportunities for regional cooperation in the Black Sea region. It is for the first time that such an initiative is launched by the civil society, with the support of MEP Ioan Mircea Pașcu, Vice-Chair of the Committee on External Affairs within the European Parliament.

This event represents a follow-up to the 5th edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum (October 2012) and an opportunity to present the impact of the Forum’s first four editions (2008-2011). The goal of this meeting, moderated by Olivia Baciu – FOND President, was to bring again into discussion the collaboration potential in the extended region of the Black Sea, with an emphasis on two examples of good practices, resulted in the aftermath of the Black Sea NGO Forum last year – the creation of a regional coalition for the protection of children’s rights – ChildPact and the launch of a youth network comprising 9 states from the region, coordinated by the National Youth Council from the Republic of Moldova.

FOND will continue to support this initiative and, for the 6th year in a row, civil society organizations from the Black Sea Region will gather between the 4th and the 6th September 2013, in Bucharest, at the Black Sea NGO Forum, in order to debate the most important themes of regional interest for civil society and to share local solutions to regional problems.

Read the full article here: http://blackseango.org/forum/home/articles/opportunities-for-regional-cooperation-at-the-black-sea-supported-by-fond-and-mep-ioan-mircea-pa-cu

Read more about the event on the following web pages: www.blackseango.org and www.fondromania.org

Information provided by Adriana Zaharia, FOND, adriana.zaharia@fondromania.org 

News from the Slovak NGDO Platform

In May and June 2013 the Slovak NGDO Platform organised 3 workshops for its member organisations. The first one that took place on 14th May 2013 aimed at presenting the fundraising campaign of CNCD-11.11.11, the platform from Belgium. The participants had an opportunity to learn more on the history of the campaign 11.11.11, tools and actions applied during the campaign. The Slovak NGDO Platform together with its members is organising its first fundraising campaign in October 2013.

On 3rd June 2013 a workshop on Ethics and Development took place. Following the survey conducted among Slovak NGDOs on the Istanbul Principles for CSO Development Effectiveness, a need was identified to create a code of conduct that the members of the Platform would adhere to. Currently, the Slovak NGDO Platform is exploring the possibilities of preparing its own Code of Conduct. During the workshop the guests from the Irish Platform Dóchas and the Czech Republic presented their experience and lessons learnt from their platforms while they were creating their own codes of conduct.

The workshop organised on 4th June 2013 aimed at increasing the capacities of the NGDOs´ representatives to plan and write EC projects. Participants could try a number of tools such as Problem Tree, Stakeholder Power Analysis, Kirkpatrick Learning Evaluation Model, or SMART / SPICED indicator setting or Monitoring Plan. Exchange of own experience among the participants was an important part of the workshop. Representatives of the network CEDRON took part at both workshops organised in June which increased the inter-regional dimension of the discussions.

The organisation of all three workshops was supported by TRIALOG.

From 6th to 9th September 2013 the Slovak NGDO Platform is running the third year of the photo competition Human Rights in Development Cooperation (http://fotosutaz.mvro.sk). The exhibition of the 30 best photos will be launched at the Development Day 2013 which will take place on 18th October 2013 at the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Slovak NGDO Platform and the program of Slovak Official Development Assistance - SlovakAid.

Information provided by Andrea Girmanova, Slovak NGDO Platform MVRO

International Development Actors in Hungary: A Research Study

The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) at the Central-European University (CEU) in Budapest has carried out a research project examining Hungary’s approach to development cooperation policy. The project was funded by EuropeAid, and was also carried out in 8 partner countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia).

One of the main questions of the research was, how far new donors draw on home grown civic organisations to help implement their development policy and, secondly, how far do they involve the domestic private sector. The research found that there is a capable sector of NGDOs in Hungary surprisingly not all dependent on state or EU support, but managed to find alternative funding sources such as private sector individuals. As joint efforts between NDGOs and the Hungarian private sector, there is a clear opportunity to contribute significantly to development activities, particularly in the agricultural and food industry sectors as well as areas such as water management. Unfortunately, in Hungary the low public interest in international issues coupled with the absence of an independent development policy undermines NDGOs’ efforts working towards the clear separation of international development efforts from foreign policy interest.

In cooperation with CPS, HAND – the Hungarian NGDO platform, has also conducted a policy lab examining the interplay between Hungary’s higher education policy towards foreign students from developing countries and its migration policy. The policy lab produced an interesting paper that can provide a baseline for further PCD investigations. Both CPS and HAND are looking forward for further cooperation.

Policy Lab research document on HAND website: http://hand.org.hu/media/files/1373963707.pdf   CEU-CPS research on ODA: https://cps.ceu.hu/research/official-development-assistance

Information provided by Márton Leiszen, HAND

Workshop on Organisational Development in Malta

Within the capacity building activities of the TRIALOG V project, SKOP - the Maltese NGDO platform had organised a three section workshop on Organisational Development on 2nd, 4th and 9th July. Different representatives from 9 local NGOs participated to the event. The workshop took the form of a professional discussion to build on the experience and knowledge of NGDO leaders and managers.

This workshop aimed to provide NGDO representatives with key aspects on:
(-) Organisational Strategy
During this section the participants discussed how NGDOs need to evolve over time to meet their objectives. The NGDO’s mission, vision and objectives and the development of policies and plans, has been discussed and clarified to understand better how these actually achieve the organisations’ objectives.
(-) Operational Planning
This section has shown the various aspects of annual planning including projects, on-going services, budgets, planning of in service training for the staff and or volunteers, resources and funding. Moreover the importance and sharing of examples of how to set a timeline for completion of projects and programmes and how to prepare cost projections for implementation has been discussed.
(-) Financial Sustainability
Various forms of funding including EU funds and fund raising events were explored and discussed during this last section of the workshop. The set up of a social enterprise has been explored as a key solution, which rather than maximising profit for shareholders or owners, profits are reinvested into the NGDOs projects and operations or back into the business. How a social enterprise can contribute to the sustainability of NGDO’s work is also been discussed together with some practical examples.

In the photo: William Grech, SKOP Malta

For more information please contact paola.prinzis@skopmalta.org

Information provided by Paola Prinzis, SKOP Malta

Challenges and Opportunities for Environmental and Development NGOs

The seminar “Unconventional Partnerships and Domestic Transformation: Challenges and Opportunities for Environmental and Development NGOs” was organised by the platform of Czech development NGOs - FoRS, together with Glopolis, the UN Information Centre Prague and Green Circle (Association of Czech Environmental NGOs) on June 25th.

The representatives of Czech NGOs, the UN and the businesses presented their views on global and national tendencies in the field of sustainable development. Sustainability and a long-term competitiveness tended to overlap. Concrete ideas and examples of working on a transformation within the Czech Republic using unconventional partnerships and methods in the field of social capital (capacity for communication with people with different opinions, openness towards something different, building and trust etc.), human resources (erudition, culture of the society, communication skills, critical thinking) and quality of the state institutions and functionality (considering that everyone is permanently interacting with the state and thus shaping it) served as a basis for further discussion. Stopping creating gaps between the global and local dimensions as well as searching for better and unconventional methods of cooperation between environmental and development NGOs, and between them and the academia and businesses were also at the heart of the debate, which is going to continue.

Contact person: Marie Zázvorková, FoRS, marie.zazvorkova@fors.cz

Information provided by Marie Zázvorková, FoRS

 

First Central and Eastern European Social Forum

During the first “Central and Eastern European Social and Environmental Forum", which took place on the Campus of the University of Vienna from 2-5 May 2013, about 150 participants from 13 countries discussed themes like the actual social, economic and political crisis in Europe and above all the precarious conditions people are living in Eastern Europe.

The degrading situation of women and the international rise of the far right are seen as a consequence of the on-going neoliberal offensive. Particularly interesting was the encounter with members of the "Refugee-camp Vienna" who asked how their activity can be supported in Eastern European countries. In the same line, on Saturday, May 4th, there was an Open-Air-Action under the title: "Solidarity with the resistance in Greece" and "Freedom for Alexej Gaskarov" (who was imprisoned in Russia for political reasons). Finally a common action plan between "East" und "West" was elaborated by the different social networks (see the final declaration), where the participants came to the conclusion that a permanent cooperation is necessary by strengthening the existing or creating new forms of organisation. Themes like "How to counteract racism and sexism", "Struggle against poverty" and "Freedom for Migration" are possible crystallisation points for future international cooperation and solidarity.

A second forum is planned for 2014- in a city in Central-Eastern Europe (probably Poland or Hungary). Though the Social Forum was preceded by 3 international preparatory meetings (Vienna, Budapest and Tunis - during the World Social Forum) the number of participants was lower than expected. This was mainly due to technical and financial reasons, like visa regulations for Eastern Europeans. Only few organisations like TRIALOG, Transform, the Green Party Austria and Volkshilfe provided financial support to the forum.

More Information (in German) and the documentation (in English) here.

Contact Person: Dr. Leo Gabriel, lgabriel@gmx.net

In the photo: Leo Gabriel and participants of the Central and Eastern European Social Forum.

Information provided by Hermann Dworczak (member of the preparatory group of the Forum)

Eurodad – Glopolis International Conference 2013

Eurodad’s biennial conference “Debt, finance and economic crisis: consequences and solutions” has been a very inspiring event. Co-organised with a Eurodad  member, the Czech think-tank Glopolis, from June 3 till June 6 in Prague, the conference brought together leading civil society thinkers from around the globe working on issues ranging from debt, tax justice, aid and private finance to the international financial institutions and global monetary reform.

With almost 150 participants from 40 countries – including 33 participants from the Global South – the three-day event provided a great space for inspiring discussions about solutions to the current public/private debt crisis, and joint strategising on crucial issues related to finance and development. Video/audio and social media were used in order to reach colleagues and allies who could not be there in person, and to give all the participants a chance to catch up on the parallel workshops they could not attend. Further information including video and audio for all three days is available here  

In the photo from the left: Bodo Ellmers, Tove Maria Ryding, Jeroen Kwakkenbos, Øygunn Sundsbo Brynildsen, María José Romero (all Eurodad).

Contact person: Tomáš Samec, Glopolis, samec@glopolis.org

Information provided by FoRS, Czech Forum for Development Cooperation

Food Security and Hunger in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

On June 24th, the Czech NGOs Glopolis and People in Need, together with the United Nations Information Centre in Prague organized the international seminar „Food Security and Hunger in the Post-2015 Development Agenda with Focus on Responsible Agricultural Investment“ aiming at presenting current debates about how to ensure that food security issues remain high in the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

These debates cover up many sectors - economic, social, environmental as well as political. Focus was put on lessons to be learned, improvements which should be reflected while preparing new goals and responsible investment principles which need to be adopted to ensure coherence in development and economic policies. Prominent Czech and foreign speakers were invited to present their views, among others: Connell Foley (Concern Worldwide), Jesper Karlsson (FAO) and Jean Blaylock (UK Food Group).

Further information is available here.  

Contact person: Ingrid Mitáčková, Glopolis, mitackova@glopolis.org

Information provided by FoRS, Czech Forum for Development Cooperation

Media and Activists Learn How to Work Together to Bring About Change for Communities

30 representatives from different African, European and Central American countries met in Vienna between 22th and 24th June to attend an international media training, organised by the Vienna women organisation “Solidarity Among Women”. TRIALOG supported the participation of 3 representatives from EU13 countries.
The training has been delivered by Seidy Salas Viquez from Costa Rica and Valerie N. Msoka from Tanzania. The main focus was on how the media can be used to improve the situation of women and strengthen women’s rights, and what the role of alternative media and social media is.

First, S. Viquez introduced the term „edutainment” and shared her knowledge of power of fiction. “Because life is full with drama, humanity tells stories, with lessons, meanings, and questions”, she points out. What can we achieve with radio plays? Instead of a theoretical training participants had the opportunity to become producers and actors. In very limited time four teams produced 4 different but all emotionally moving radio dramas, based on real issues and supplemented by explanatory facts.

Participant Irina Veleva from Bulgaria who has a background from press, but now is involved in CSO, said: “The practical training on how to produce a radio drama was more than exiting I believe for all of us. We were shown and guided through all the stages of an artist’s work – defining an idea, constructing a story, building a scenario being mindful of the target audience and recording the drama. All that happened in the course of one day and with the help of the microphone. This was an exemplary case of empowerment lesson”. She also added that the training was extremely beneficial for her as it acquainted with honest and passionate people from all over the world and walks of life quite different from her.

Valerie N. Msoka from the Tanzania Media Women’s Association talked on the role of media in social change: “The media training was a great opportunity for the meeting of two sides that need to work together. This is because the common denominator for the media and CSOs activists is public. The media is accountable to the public for providing information and civil society organisations - for rising issues. Therefore, COSs cannot attain much without embracing the power of media in order to bring change. Engaging the media in CSOs activities strengthens a mutual relationship which has the positive effect of shaping issues for the benefit of society.”

For more information, you can download the programme.

Link for the radio dramas.
If you are interested, you can join the Facebook group.

Photos:
(-) Women organisation “Solidarity Among Women” invited 30 women to share their experiences in Vienna
(-) In the shoes of an actor: recording “Story of Zinga”
(-) Sucsessful finish

Information provided by Anita Kehre, Latvian Platform for development cooperation - LAPAS

Strengthening Human Rights Movements Globally

The Vienna + 20 Action Week took place in Vienna from June 24 to 28th as an anniversary of the 1993 Second World Conference on Human Rights. The main focus of the variety of events was on strengthening the human rights movement on a universal scale.

The CSO (Civil Society Organizations) “Human Rights in Crisis” conference was organized on June 25 and 26th within the framework of the Action Week. Some of the key organizers were FIAN, the Centre for Economic and Social Rights and Frauen Solidarität. The conference happened with the support of the European Commission and the European Parliament, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, the Austrian Development Cooperation, ETOs for Human Rights and others.

The motto of the international forum was All Human Rights for All, reclaiming the supremacy of the human rights in all spheres – corporate, governmental, political, economic, cultural, personal. The Declaration adopted on 26th of June was passed after broad discussions held in English and Spanish between the changing panels and the floor - both including politicians, academic figures, activists, media people and NGO representatives. Climate change, food producers worldwide getting poorer and poorer, the gradual loss of traditional livelihoods, the globalization and the labour market were the key words that were referred to in every discussion.
Much attention seemed to circle around the increasing gap between multinational companies’ capital and the ordinary people, as well as the impact of the large companies on local governments. Voices were heard saying that the spheres gained by human rights upholders over the years were now shrinking as the world witnessed too many incidents of human rights activists losing their lives for defending their cause.

Discussions being intense did not prevent participants from demonstrating friendliness, solidarity
and understanding for different points of view or approaches.


In the photo: participants of the conference “Human Rights in Crisis”.

Information provided by Irina Veleva, Bulgaria, Gender Education, Research and Technologies (GERT) Foundation Contact : gert@mbox.contact.bg  and wellewir@gmail.com
 

Prevention of and Fight Against Child Trafficking in Malta

In the framework of the project “Catch & Sustain”, aimed at identifying vulnerable subjects and preventing child trafficking and re-trafficking, the Maltese NGO KOPIN organised, on 11th of July, a meeting between all the relevant stakeholders, amongst them representatives of: the Commissioner for Children, Malta Police Force, Jesuite Refugee Service, Integra Foundation, Aditus Foundation, UNHCR, Ministry for Home Affairs, Aġenzija Appoġġ, Adoption Board, International Organisation of Migration, People for Change Foundation (PfC).

The project is co-funded by the EC and involves eight different countries, through the participation of fourteen partner and associate-partner organisations; it started on the 1st of May 2013 and over a period of two years, the project aims at designing, pilot testing and assessing a prevention model, through a dedicated training of professionals involved in services targeted to minors and through the empowerment of potential victims.

After a brief introduction of KOPIN by Mr Dominik Kalweit, Vice-Executive Director and a presentation of the project by Ms Federica Di Giulio, Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci from PfC presented, via teleconference from London, his research paper on existing literature on the subject in the Maltese context, in order to profile possible trafficking victims among children population in Malta and to identify strengths and weaknesses in the Maltese system of child protection related to trafficking. Following the presentation, a discussion took place about possible good practices to be implemented within the Maltese context and suggested regulations to be introduced in the legal system. In general, all the attending representatives agreed in identifying migrant children as the most vulnerable category of possible victims of child trafficking in the Maltese context.

For more information please contact federica.digiulio@kopin.org

In the photo: participants of the stakeholder meeting.

Information provided by KOPIN

Are Croatian CSOs Fit for the Implementation of International Development Cooperation Projects?

With the financial support of TACSO office Croatia and logistic support of Centre for Peace Studies from Zagreb (TRIALOG Partner), the independent consultancy firm K-faktor has conducted the first research on needs assessment and capacities of CSOs from Croatia for the implementation of international development cooperation (DEVCO) projects.

Totally 84 NGOs participated in the research. The first preliminary results show that 30 % of CSOs are already implementing DEVCO projects and 37 % are planning to start with the implementation in the near future. 50% of those who are implementing the projects are working within the topic „Governance and Human Rights“, 30 % in the field of „Human Development“ and some projects were implemented in the field of “Food and natural Resources”, “Economy” and “Trade”. Geographically, most of the projects were implemented in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania. Only 3 projects were implemented in Turkey and one in Burma/Mijianmar, Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria and Tunisia.

When CSOs where asked where they are planning to implement future projects, the geographical distribution was the same. Most of the focus is on former Yugoslavia states and Turkey. Still there are no enough capacities for work in other geographical regions. This is in discrepancy with the strategic plan of Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MfA) which apart from the Western Balkans wants to be present through development cooperation in the South Mediterranean, Syria and Afghanistan. The answers to the questions related to financial capacities of NGOs for the implementation of international projects show that 56% of CSOs have less than 25% of their total organization budget dedicated to international projects. This affirms that the majority of activities are still targeting national level. Only two organizations said that their „international budget“ is up to 60% of the overall organization budget.

The funding for DEVCO projects is coming mostly from the EU, some local authority sources and from the national foundation for development of civil society. No NGOs were supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MfA). The research has also shown that there is a huge interest for joining the national CSO platform (97% are interested to join the platform once it will be established) and as a priorities for rising internal capacities they expressed the need for more information on DEVCO, better contacts and needs assessment of the partners from the states where is a need for DEVCO projects and better knowledge on possibilities and more opportunities for funding (on EU and national level).

This research will be the baseline for future activities of the national CSO platform and will also influence the MfA to include more CSOs in the implementation of national development policies. Full results will be available by the end of July 2013.

Information provided by Gordan Bosanac, Centre for Peace Studies

Museo Mundial – Museums and NGOs Cooperating on Global Learning

On first of April started „Museo Mundial“ as a joint project of museums and NGDOs in Hungary, Czech Republic, Portugal and Germany. The objective is to develop an innovative approach of embedded Global Learning in museums in order to desseminate the MDGs amongst new target groups.

Museums often work on similar fields as NGDOs, such as trade, energy, housing, transport, environment, culture, etc. and provide opportunities to work on global topics, bringing development education to a broad public. The project gets together the experience of museums and NGDOs and until march 2016, the partners will develop and show 40 innovative tools of Global Learning for exhibitions of museums. All the process will be documented and later desseminated by an online multiplier database, a mini manual, as well as training courses for museum staff and NGOs.

The project is co-financed by the European Commission and is implemented by fourteen European partners, including the NGDOs forum for international development + planning – finep (D), Dachverband Entwicklungspolitik Baden-Württemberg – DEAB (D), Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr – IMVF (PT), Hungarian Baptist Aid – HB Aid (HU), EDUCON (CZ) and Eurosolar (CZ), the museums Naturhistorische Gesellschaft Nürnberg e.V. – NHG (D), Museum of the Câmara Municipal de Loures – CML (PT), Národní zemědělské museum Praha – NZM (CZ), Magyar Vasúttörténeti Park/Hungarian Railway Museum (HU), Budapesti Történeti Múzeum (HU), Museum of Hungarian Agriculture (HU), Néprajzi Múzeum/Museum of Ethnography (HU) as well as the Instituto Politécnico de Leiria – IPL (PT).

For more information, visit the Website or contact finep (kai.diederich@finep.org) or DEAB (julia.keller@deab.de).

Information provided by Julia Keller, DEAB
 

Development Education Project in Cyprus

The NGO Support Centre, member of the Cypriot NGDO Platform CYINDEP, in collaboration with Pontis Foundation from Slovakia and Kimmage Development Studies Centre from Ireland, is launching a three-year EuropeAid Project entitled “UNIDEV – Bridging the gap between theory and practice”, in an effort to promote education within the field of international development.

The projects aims at raising awareness among young people regarding poverty and the MDGs and actively engage in dialogue and action for the promotion of fair relations between the Global North and South. The project will provide the opportunity for NGO’s and academics to take part in summer schools based on exploring the theory and practice around the MDGs, create new teaching materials & curricula for New Member State (NMS) universities, create opportunities for field visits for NMS students and academics of Development Education to universities in sub-Saharan Africa, and overall increase the opportunities for the teaching and learning of global poverty particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, in collaboration with local universities and NGOs, UNIDEV will organise open lectures, hosting international experts on issues related to development policies and the global development agenda, as well as human rights, sustainability, and gender equality.

Through this project, public discussions will also take place, aiming at informing the general public, but also targeting decision making bodies, stressing on their crucial role in the design and implementation of development policies and the importance of Cyprus contributing to the eradication of global poverty and inequalities between developed and developing countries.

For more information please contact Louisa Hadjivassiliou louiza@ngo-sc.org  

Information provided by Sophia Arnaouti, CYINDEP

Educators’ Perceptions Regarding Third Country Nationals

The international research centre CARDET, in collaboration with the consultancy firm INNOVADE, and with the support of the European Integration Fund and the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Cyprus, undertook during the period of January-June 2013 the project “Research on educators’ perceptions and behaviors on issues pertaining to Third Country Nationals (TCNs) and suggestions for improving TCNs’ integration in the local society”.

The project involved a first-of-its-kind nationwide research, which aimed to investigate the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of educators in primary, secondary, and tertiary level educational institutions in Cyprus regarding TCNs. The research followed a mixed-methods design with the combination of quantitative research (the completion of questionnaires by 1465 educators) and qualitative research (25 interviews and 3 focus groups). Based on their experience, educators were asked to express their attitudes and views regarding TCNs, as well as pedagogical practices that they apply in order to help the integration of TCNs in the educational environment in Cyprus. The research aimed to provide recommendations and good practices that could improve both the integration policies of TCNs in the local society and the integration of TCNs’ children in the educational system in Cyprus.

The results of the research, which were presented at a press conference in Nicosia, Cyprus on June 26, 2013, revealed that educators have ambivalent attitudes towards TCNs on a number of issues. Regarding their perceptions on issues related to TCNs and education, half of the participants believe that the presence of TCNs in the classroom is important and has a positive contribution. They also believe that the presence of TCNs enriches the learning environment, which is appropriate for the integration of TCNs. A little more than two thirds of the educators indicated that they are not satisfied with the integration policies of TCNs and that the educational system in Cyprus is not ready to accept TCNs. Regarding their pedagogical practices, a little more than half of the participants reported that their teaching accomodates each student’s cultural background and that they differentiate their lessons in order to aid TCNs be better integrated in the classroom. However, three quarters of the participants pointed out that they do not use the TCNs’ mother tongue in their teaching and that they are not satisfied with the pedagogical practices that exist and which relate to TCNs’ integration. Finally, the vast majority of the participants mentioned that there are not enough training opportunities on intercultural education offered by the relevant governmental bodies, and that they are not provided with teaching material that is based on practices, which could help the integration of TCNs.

Suggestions for improving the integration of TCNs included the need for formulating a holistic approach to TCNs’ integration, formative evaluation of their integration, and the need to adjust integration practices based on the local needs of each educational institution.

For further information on the project please, please contact CARDET at info@cardet.org.


In the photo: Ms. Christina Hadjeconomou ,Solidarity Fund / Ministry of Interior

Information provided by Charalambos Vrasidas, CARDET

Major Changes for EC Call for Proposal 2013 for DEAR

The European Commission is planning to launch a new Call for Proposal for Development Education Awareness Raising (DEAR) in October 2013 (see forecast here). This call will include major changes compared to previous calls.

There will be five different funding lots: three for projects within the formal and outside the formal education system as well as advocacy and campaiging. Additionally to these there will be a specific envelope for EU12 countries and Croatia with lower criteria and one for Local Authorities.

The project size will increase as organisations will be able to apply for projects between 1 and 5 Million Euro – depending on the lot. Similarly, 6 to 10 countries will have to be covered by the project. EC co-financing reaches is 85 % or 95 % (EU12/Croatia).

Thematic priorities will be based on an "European Year of Development 2015" and the EC communication "Decent Life for All" which proposes a common EU approach to poverty eradication and sustainable development for an overarching framework for post-2015 (more Information here).

The Powerpoint presentation explaining the changes introduced to the 2013 DEAR Call for Proposals is available on the Policy Forum CiSocH page.

Prior to the final discussion there were advocacy efforts by CSOs and Member States to prevent these major changes, which could mean the exclusion of smaller organisations and countries. The CONCORD position paper you find here.

Also TRIALOG sent a letter of concern. DEEEP is also following the process permanently updating the information on their website.


Information provided by Ulrike Bey, TRIALOG

Call for National Seminars from DEEEP Project

You work in the development education sector and you have a great idea to develop a national seminar in your country? You want to reinforce and reposition global learning and global citizenship as instrumental for systemic change and global justice?

DEEEP project of the CONCORD DARE Forum, offers you the opportunity to realise these objectives by submitting your seminar proposals! In order to facilitate European development education sector and overcome their national capacity needs, we want to provide adequate capacity development mechanisms to national platforms and open a call for seminars.

Modalities: the Call will be open from July 16th to September 6th, funded with up to 3600€ for each selected proposal. To access the application form, follow this link.

Before applying, please coordinate with your CONCORD DARE Forum representative.

For more information, don’t hesitate to contact Luciana Almeida, DEEEP capacity building officer at luciana.almeida@concordeurope.org.

Photo: DEEEP.

Information provided by Helene Debaisieux, DEEEP

Development Education Events of the North-South Centre

North-South Centre has been co-organising national and regional seminars on global/development education with local partners in the 12 new EU member states during 2009-2012. From 2013 to 2015, a series of regional seminars will be organised to follow up the previous ones. Moreover, kick-off seminars will be organised in EU acceding and candidate countries. A closing conference will take place in 2015.

These seminars bring together different stakeholders with the aim to discuss the present situation of global/development co-operation in the respective country and promote national policy recommendations and practices.

The next regional seminar will take place from 5-6 September 2013 in Hungary focusing on the Visegrad countries. More information on the regional seminars here.

The “Global Education Week” will take place this year from 16-24 November 2013 on the topic: Strategies for Increasing and Improving Global Education “Go for a sustainable life style!”
More information here. 

Information provided by the North-South Centre

UN High Level Panel Report on Post 2015

The United Nations High Level Panel report on the future development framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals after 2015 was presented in Brussels on 9th of July 2013 at an event organised by the European Commission.

The event was attended by both EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs and Commissioner for the Environment Janez Potocnik, as well as Members of the European Parliament and civil society representatives.

CONCORD spoke on behalf of civil society organisations with Tanya Cox of the CONCORD/Beyond2015 European Taskforce being one of the main panelists. She says: "The UN high level panel report has all the buzzwords but the devil is in the detail. Missing is a commitment from developed countries for future development goals to apply to themselves. The solutions of the high level panel report don’t sufficiently confront the challenges of today’s world head on. It’s very business as usual but speeded up. The report also has an over focus on economic growth without a plan B."

For more information visit the CONCORD website or contact: gvives@concordeurope.org

Source: CONCORD

Development Post’s Summer 2013 Edition Published

Security for Prosperity - plumbing the depths of country security: what is it, who are the actors, and why is it increasingly relevant to the aid and development community?

Read it online: http://digital.edition-on.net/links/6923_summer2013.asp






Source: CONCORD Member to Member Newsletter July 2013

German Toilet Organization looking for DEAR Partners

The mission of the German Toilet Organization (GTO) is to protect the environment and improve public health by raising awareness of, and providing people with, clean and sustainable toilet and wastewater treatment systems. The organisation has profound experience in development education with school pupils. The GTO is currently looking for partners and a lead agency to apply for EU funding under the 2013 NSA LA Development Education Call for proposals this autumn.

More Information here (pdf).

Information provided by TRIALOG.

Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta is looking for new Partnerships under DEAR

The Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta is looking for new partnerships to elaborate joint projects under the EuropeAid NSA LA Development Education Awareness Raising (DEAR) Call 2013. The organisational focus is to increase understanding about global development issues with the help of minority groups within our society: immigrants, the disabled and ethnic minorities.

Here you find a summary of the DEAR activities that the Organisation suggests to implement, identified over the last few months already in the context of this call for proposals.

Please note:
(-) Hungarian Charity Service focus on social activists (young NGO volunteers and staff) as a target-group, thus aiming directly to the core goal of the EU’s NSA/LA Programme;
(-) Comparative advantage: as one of the largest NGOs in Hungary, which enables to implement this project widely on the ground, both within own programmes (network of over 100 social institutions of different kinds) and in support of other NGOs.

Information provided by TRIALOG.