With Fresh Wind Into the New Season

TRIALOG is back from the summer break and we are looking forward to an intensive and exciting autumn, which marks the beginning of the second project year. In September the Study Visit to Brussels for Croatian NGO representatives will introduce participants to EU development policy and its actors. Preparations for the Partner and Strategy Meeting in December will start soon and within the Systematisation process an Analysis Workshop is planned in November. New Policy Digests will be elaborated and describe development issues such as Eastern Partnership and Development Effectiveness.

New on the TRIALOG website
Under the menu Activities/Reimbursement you now find a list of “Currently supported external events”, like the Humanitarian Congress in the Czech Republic and the Red Cross training.

Furthermore we wish our former Junior Liaison Officer Katarina Sramkova all the best for her new position as Policy Officer at the Czech NGDO platform FoRS!

Photo: ©Lilya - Fotolia.com

Information provided by TRIALOG

The Romanian Development Camp 2013

The Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND, in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, organized between the 15th and 17th of July 2013, in Sibiu, Romania, the 6th edition of the Romanian Development Camp.

This year’s edition entitled “New Strategic Perspectives for the Romanian Development Cooperation”, continued the two-year strategic process started during last year’s camp: the revision of the national strategy on development cooperation based on the expertise and potential of the national actors, in accordance with the debates, priorities and principles setting out the European and international development agenda.


The event gathered a diversity of national actors from representatives of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, line ministries and local authorities to representatives of CSOs and the academic sector, as well as European actors, such as the European Commission, Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid, the UN Millennium Campaign, the Permanent Representation of Romania to the EU, the International Forum of NGO Platforms, CONCORD, the Polish NGDO Platform Grupa Zagranica and representatives of Polish and Croatian MFAs.

The first day was dedicated to the international and European development context, during which insightful presentations were given concerning the post-2015 development agenda, strategic and institutional models for aid delivery, EU ODA instruments and opportunities (MFF) and leadership in international development.

The second and third days were reserved for the discussion of the new strategic framework of the Romanian development cooperation policy. The participants were split up in three multi-stakeholder working groups to debate on the national strategic framework. Each working group gave suggestions and recommendations which will be summed up in the final report of the event and taken into consideration when drafting the final versions of the strategic documents.

The Romanian Development Camp is an annual event organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND, reuniting the national community of actors active in development cooperation in a unique space designed for an open and constructive dialogue resulting in recommendations towards improving the effectiveness of the Romanian Official Development Assistance policy (ODA).

The presentations given throughout the event are available on our website at: http://www.fondromania.org/pagini/scoala-romana-de-dezvoltare-editia-201-2.php

Information provided by Adriana Zaharia, Liaison Officer/Communication Officer, Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND, adriana.zaharia@fondromania.org

SLOGA’s Annual Strategic Meeting with the Executive Council

At the beginning of September the Slovenian NGDO Platform - SLOGA organised its annual strategic meeting with the executive council. The executive council consists of elected NGO members from the Platform's member organisations, thus constituting a representative body of SLOGA's members.


The meeting was organised for the second year in a row with the aim of reflecting and evaluating SLOGA's progress and setting the trajectory of our future work. In these unpredictable times, full of political and economic uncertainty in Slovenia and Europe, setting strategic goals for development cooperation is a challenging task. It is even more challenging due to the fact that we are facing the crucial process that will set the future shape and direction of development cooperation – the post MDGs agenda. Consequently, a lot of discussions were directed at the changing landscape of development cooperation and the need to include a broad range of interested groups and individuals in the debate on the future of our world. An important focus of this year's strategic meeting was strategic planning of development cooperation advocacy activities for the period of the next 3 years, putting it at the core of SLOGA's activity plan for that period. The post-2015 process, PCD and Slovenia's strategic documents for development cooperation will be at the core of SLOGA's advocacy activities for the next 3 years, which will hopefully also enhance the NGOs’ capacities in this field.

Information provided by Aleš Rovšnik, SLOGA http://www.sloga-platform.org/  

News from the Czech NGDO platform FoRS

FoRS will be represented in the Czech official delegation in the upcoming United Nations high-level forum focused on catalyzing and accelerating further action to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (September 23rd) and the General Assembly (September 24-25) including the UN Special Event on the MDGs and the Post-2015 framework. FoRS is a partner in the Panel Discussion “International Development Aid in the Context of Democracy Assistance” taking place during the 17th Forum 2000 Conference whose main topic this year is: Societies in transition. Representative from the Czech Republic (including a member of FoRS Board), Poland and Ukraine will exchange their views at the panel.
More information is available here.  

FoRS, together with other NGOs, organizes the Humanitarian Congress in the Czech Republic (Olomouc), on October 11, 2013. The headline is "Humanitarian Aid: Independence in Danger?". Around 300 participants (students, NGO professionals, governmental officials, international experts and any other interested people) are expected.
Up to 5 participants from EU13 can ask to have their travel and accommodation costs covered by TRIALOG applying for reimbursement according to TRIALOG internal procedures (www.trialog.or.at/reimbursement) by September 18th. Potential participants should present a letter of their platform as well as the application for events and send this to TRIALOG (office@trialog.or.at). TRIALOG will make the final selection of participants (in consultation with FoRS) before September 20th. TRIALOG will not cover the moderate participation fee (8 EUR).

Contact person: Marie Zázvorková (marie.zazvorkova@fors.cz)

 

Cyprus: Global Awareness for Youth

Future Worlds Center from Cyprus launched two new global education projects in cooperation with other European and an African partner.

The project “Youth of the World! Mainstreaming global awareness in Youth Work” was launched in 2013 to mainstream awareness about global issues within the activities of youth organisations, working in different spheres of youth work. The project will include activities such as research, training seminars, international workshop, international summer school, educational activities, development of resource materials, while also catering to the special needs of every group we work with.

The project aims to: 1) Increase public awareness among young citizens on the global interdependencies between EU and developing countries; 2) Increase engagement of young people in promoting fairer relations in the world and sustainable way of living; 3) Better integration of global development issues into the non- formal educational sphere regarding young people.

This Europe Aid project is coordinated and implemented by an international partnership of European partners from Bulgaria, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Scotland, Cyprus and an associate partner from Sub Saharan Africa, Ghana. For Cyprus, the project is coordinated by Future Worlds Center and the Global Education Unit.

For more information see the project’s website or contact: annagrace@futureworldscenter.org or globaleducation@futureworldscenter.org

“The World from our Doorstep” project was launched in February 2013, with the aim of raising awareness and changing the attitudes of young children towards development issues and ensuring they can take action to support sustainable ways of living. The project will introduce development issues to young children through the concepts of interconnectedness, sustainability and fairness. This will be achieved by working with pre-school practitioners, infant teachers, teaching assistants and other adult helpers. A range of stimulating learning resources such as story books will be used, as well as outdoor/experiential learning. The project is being coordinated by the Cumbria Development Education Centre in England, in partnership with Future Worlds Center in Cyprus, Institute for Global Responsibility in Poland and ACRI in Bulgaria.

For more information see the project’s website or contact: globaleducation@futureworldscenter.org

Picture: The World from our Doorstep project.  

Information provided by Ümran Avni, Intern, assistant@cyindep.eu  

Project to Measure Impact of DEAR

RISC (Reading International Solidarity Centre) spreads the word about their project “Quality or Quantity - measuring teachers' impact on pupil attitudes and actions”. The project is directed towards teachers, student teachers, teacher training institutions and DEAR providers. More information in the press release.

Information provided by Liz Allum, RISC Reading International Solidarity Centre, www.risc.org.uk 

EED Online Grant Application System Open

The European Endowment for Democracy (EED) is now accepting applications for support through its online grant application system. The online grant application system and additional details are available online on the EED website http://democracyendowment.eu/.. The countries/territories covered are Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Moldova, Morocco, the occupied Palestinian territories, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine.

Information provided by European Endowment for Democracy (EED)

Batory Foundation: For Belarus Grant

The program’s objective is to support civic initiatives aimed at building an open society and preparing for democratic changes in Belarus.

The grants are awarded in the following fields: 1) encouraging civic activity, developing self-government and self-organisation (also through educational and cultural work, and youth initiatives); 2) defending human rights, providing legal assistance, counteracting discrimination, and promoting tolerance; 3) conducting independent research and analyses; 4) broadening access to reliable information, developing traditional and social media.

The applications are accepted at any time, with an evaluation period of approximately three months.

More information here.

Source: KARAT News, August 2013 

Building Global Citizenship: DEEEP Conferences in Autumn 2013

DEEEP, the project of the Development Awareness Raising and Education Forum (DARE Forum) of CONCORD invites to two conferences this autumn: “Building a Global Citizens Movement” in Johannesburg and "Global Justice through Global Citizenship - the role of Global Education" in Brussels.

The Global Conference
DEEEP, GCAP and CIVICUS are preparing a unique event that will gather 200 participants from all over the world in Johannesburg from 10 to 12 November 2013. From grassroots to activists or CSOs, we will share experiences of how social justice is achieved around the world and how to join interlinked struggles around the world. By creating a global coalition and signing a "Johannesburg Declaration for the establishment of a global citizens movement", we want to engage the participants in systemic change through an ongoing process over the next 3 years.

More info about the event, travel grants and registration here.

The European Research Conference
Brussels, 20-21 November 2013: Another classic conference? Not really! The following elements will make this conference really special: - Practitioners, researchers and academics from throughout Europe will come together to discuss current global education challenges. - Research will be presented in an interactive way with a focus on how theoretical research can influence practice - 8 different workshop streams allows for a wide range of topics to be discussed and debated - High profile panelists and keynote speakers, including, among others, Nélida Céspedes (Council of Popular Education in Latin America and the Caribbean), John Hillary (War on Want) and Jethro Pettit (IDS). Interested in keeping up-to-date with developments in the DEAR field?

Join the event and find more information here.   

Information provided by DEEEP 

 

 

Conference “10 years of SlovakAid”

The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic and the Pontis Foundation cordially invite You to the International Conference “10 years of SlovakAid: A Vision of Development Cooperation for a Changing World” on the Occasion of the 10th Anniversary of SlovakAid.

Under the Auspices of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic Miroslav Lajčák the conference will take place on October 16 – 17, 2013 at the Congress Hall of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic and the Palugyay Palace in Bratislava, Slovak Republic.

The aim of the conference is to assemble European legislators, state officials, policy makers and opinion leaders, representatives of academia and NGOs, experts, private sector and media representatives. Our intention is to provide a discussion forum for a summary of Slovak development activities conducted over the past 10 years and an outline of new opportunities for the Slovak development agenda. An emphasis will be put on challenges for the Slovak EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2016. The two-day Conference will be the highlight of a thematic week encompassing numerous events and acknowledging the work of all Slovak development cooperation stakeholders and our international partners.

For more information on the conference programme and application, please write to: conference@pontisfoundation.sk. The deadline for applications is October 4th 2013.

Information provided by Pontis Foundation

Prepare to Respond: Red Cross Programme for Aid Workers

Prepare to Respond II is a programme of affordable training courses, free placements, study visits and tailor-made consultancy services offered to aid workers and humanitarian civil society organisations in the new EU member states (NMS) and candidate countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey.

The programme aims to strengthen the response and preparedness capacities of humanitarian organisations based in these target countries. The training programme has been specifically designed to deliver complete learning solutions that reflect the challenges faced by professional aid workers. Diverse programmes and methodologies, skilled facilitators and international groups of twenty participants - each with different skills and experiences - will provide for an ideal training environment.

The programme includes 11 training events in NMS and candidate countries during 2013-2014. Participants of a training are required to pay a registration fee of: EUR 5,- per participant/per day for staff from humanitarian organisations in new EU member states and candidate countries.

For accepted NGO-participants from NMS TRIALOG offers a restricted budget for reimbursement of travel costs to a training. The participant has to apply for reimbursement directly with TRIALOG. Please check the TRIALOG criteria for reimbursement of the Red Cross training programme and visit the TRIALOG website for general reimbursement conditions.

Find the Red Cross training list here. For registration details and further information on the Prepare to Respond II programme, please see the factsheet or visit the website of Austrian Red Cross.  

Information provided by Austrian Red Cross

Humanitarian Congress in the Czech Republic

FoRS, together with other NGOs, organizes the Humanitarian Congress in the Czech Republic (Olomouc), on October 11, 2013. The headline is "Humanitarian Aid: Independence in Danger?"
Around 300 participants (students, NGO professionals, governmental officials, international experts and any other interested people) are expected.

Up to 5 participants from EU13 can ask to have their travel and accommodation costs covered by TRIALOG applying for reimbursement according to TRIALOG internal procedures (www.trialog.or.at/reimbursement) by September 18th. Potential participants should present a letter of their platform as well as the application for events and send this to TRIALOG (office@trialog.or.at). TRIALOG will make the final selection of participants (in consultation with FoRS) before September 20th. TRIALOG will not cover the moderate participation fee (8 EUR).

Contact person: Marie Zázvorková (marie.zazvorkova@fors.cz)

2013 AidWatch Report Launch

The 2013 CONCORD AidWatch report will be launched on the 17 October at the Residence Palace in Brussels. The report monitors the aid quantity and quality commitments of the EU and its Member States. The report contains country pages written by 28 National Platforms and an overview chapter written based on the questionnaires filled by the national platforms.

Register for the event here.  

Source: CONCORD Member to Member newsletter, 6/9/2013

Workshop on the IPA Funding and Programming 2014-2020

Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) would like to invite you to the policy workshop on Aid modalities for civil society support under IPA 2014-2020. The workshop will take place on 25th September, 2013 in Brussels.

The objective of the workshop is to focus discussion on implementation mechanisms and aid modalities, which according to the BCSDN Donor Strategies and Practices research from 2011 seem to be the real bottleneck in achieving the overall objective of the IPA CSF in “anchoring democratic values and structures, human rights, social inclusion and the rule of law”.

The EU has the potential to use its hegemonic power as the main civil society supporter and donor to determine the focus of democracy promotion agendas and assistance in Enlargement countries. For this reason, we will bring both practitioners (CSOs and donors) from Enlargement countries and EU to testify about the current support and best practices in terms of support to CSO capacity-building, grant-making, support to grass-root and informal civic groups and networks. In sum, we will provide food-for-thought on how partnership with CSOs could be increased making them the primary actors (and not objects) of democracy building and promotion in the next IPA cycle.

Download the invitation, the agenda and the backgroundpaper. If you would like to attend, please write to bst@balkancsd.net by Wednesday, 18th September, 2013.

Information provided by Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN)

Roundtable on the Future of Development and Development Education in Malta

The Maltese NGDO Platform SKOP organises a multi- stakeholder roundtable on "2015 & Beyond: What is the future of development and development education in Malta?" During this half day event international and national experts will be discussing about development in Malta.

On the agenda are:
- What is DEAR;
- Sharing good practices on development issues;
- Beyond 2015;
- 2015 as the Europeand Year for Development;
- Malta's 2017 EU Presidency.

The event will take place in Valletta on Thursday 17th October 2013. For more information please contact Paola Prinzis at paola.prinzis@skopmalta.org 

Information provided by Paola Prinzis, SKOP

Arab-Euro Mediterranean Exchange Opportunity

A new round from “DAWRAK-Exchange” offering civil society organisations opportunities for travel, training and learning.

The Anna Lindh Foundation has launched a new call for participation in “DAWRAK-Exchange”, which offers members of civil society organisations an opportunity to travel to a counterpart organisation in other Euro Mediterranean country for exchange of experience and knowledge and learning by doing in the host organisation. DAWRAK is the one of the pioneer programmes in the Euro Med region which facilitates the exchange of experiences and best practices between the Arab Mediterranean countries with similar socioeconomic conditions.
The submission of online applications to benefit from this opportunity is now open till the 18th of October 2013. 

See more at the Dawrak website.

Source: CIVICUS, e-CIVICUS newsletter issue No. 643, 27 August 2013

BEYOND 2015: UN Report and Meeting to Shape a Post-2015 Development Agenda

In August the UN Secretary General’s report entitled “A life of dignity for all” was released. It is focused mostly on accelerating the MDGs, but contains encouraging language around the prioritisation of equality and a universal framework. There is a strong message that the future framework needs to build on MDG progress while simultaneously identifying new challenges. The last section on the post-2015 process calls for “Member States to adopt a universal post-2015 development agenda, with sustainable development at its core.”

Link to the report here.  

UN General Assembly and Special Event
The focus for the post-2015 process during the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York will be around the September 25 Special Event towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The associated Outcome Document will be important, as it will include a political indication of the way forward for the Post-2015 process that will very likely include information on the context and potentially an indication of top line content. However, it is unsure the timing on when the Outcome Document will be finalised as there is currently still disagreement from a few strong member states that there should be one unified process towards a post-2015 framework.

In terms of CSO representation, the UN Special Event will feature eight civil society representatives who will participate in four round table sessions and an additional representative who will be the opening speaker. The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) is in the process of preparing a background note for the roundtable sessions, which will have a strong focus on inequality.

During the High Level Week of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly a series of events are intended to substantively contribute to shaping the post-2015 development agenda. Major groups of Civil society will have an opportunity to engage in the inter-governmental processes, with limited access, as well as in a series of UN and/or civil society led events that will be open to all NGOs. In addition, governments and/or civil society are convening side events.

All events are posted and updated at: http://csonet.org  

The Process After September
The main post-2015 process after September will be conducted through the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development (OWG). The series of four meetings to be held from November to February will be the continuation of an intergovernmental process that will culminate in a report in September 2014. Currently, the OWG is just at the beginning phase of discussing goals and progress, but the report next year will make significant progress towards reaching a set of goals. The OWG has so far engaged with civil society through the Major Group structures, but has also put in place a process to ensure non Major Group Civil Society representation during the OWG meetings. Beyond 2015 is working to ensure that participating organisations are represented.

UN representatives emphasised the need for continued civil society representation and participation. They affirmed that they would continue to construct an architecture to bring in the voices of as many people as possible. In the next phase of the process they are hoping to develop a set of activities for CSO participation. They additionally reaffirmed the need for CSOs to engage in advocacy to influence decision makers at National and Regional levels as the process moves forward.

Information provided by Sara Mason, Beyon2015 Campaign

Policy Paper: Financing for Development Negotiations- What Should the EU Bring to the Table?

Concord, Eurodad and CAN Europe propose 12 specific actions as an initial test of the EU’s ambition and credibility in these global negotiations, and we urge the EU to go beyond restating old commitments and adopt the proactive, positive and powerful measures suggested.

More information and download of the Policy Paper on the CONCORD website.

Source: CONCORD Member to Member newsletter, 6.9.2013

Policy Paper: EU Delegations’ engagement with Civil Society Organisations

At the end of phase 1 of the EU geographic programming process, CONCORD launched a survey to assess whether and how CSOs had been consulted. The objective was to draw lessons from this assessment and formulate recommendations to try to influence and improve CSO consultations in the second programming phase as well as in other future processes and new channels for EU Delegations’ engagement with CSOs such as CSO roadmaps, Policy Coherence for Development commitments and Human rights and democracy focal points in Delegations.

More information and download of the Policy Paper on the CONCORD website.   

Source: CONCORD Member to Member newsletter, 6.9.2013

Development Cooperation in a Changing World: CSO and Private Sector as Development Actors

Center for Economic Development (Bulgaria) implemented a project “Update of the current status of implementation of international/bilateral trade regimes with ODA recipients and the current role of civil society and private sectors as development actors in the new EU Member states” in the partnership with 8 NGOs from different NMS (Czech, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). Project was supported by European Commission funding.

The project objective was to build transnational alliances between new EU Member states so as to capitalize and disseminate their best network and advocacy practices on the occasion of the existent international trade systems with ODA recipients and the role of private and civil society sectors as development actors. The project delivered many national and international opportunities for discussing the following topics and producing reports on those topics for up-mentioned countries:
- the role of the private sector in development assistance and aid effectiveness,
- the role of civil society in development assistance and aid effectiveness,
- Developing open, rule-based, predictable non-discriminatory trade relations with priority ODA recipients

SLOGA, the Slovenian NGDO platform for development cooperation and humanitarian aid, as one of the project partners, analyzed the national context and also conducted several national debates about it.

Links to the online reports
Development cooperation in a Changing World: Policy input to Post-2015 International Development Agenda Sеtting (published: 2013-06-27) THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE AND AID EFFECTIVENESS

Development cooperation in a Changing World: Policy input to Post-2015 International Development Agenda Sеtting (Part 2) (published: 2013-06-27) THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE AND AID EFFECTIVENESS

Development cooperation in a Changing World: Policy input to Post-2015 International Development Agenda Sеtting (Part 3) ( date published: 2013-07-12) DEVELOPING OPEN, RULE-BASED, PREDICTABLE, NON-DISCRIMINATORY TRADE RELATIONS WITH PRIORITY ODA RECIPIENTS

Information provided by Marjan Huč, SLOGA - Slovenian NGDO platform for development cooperation and humanitarian aid

Czech NGO NaZemi would like to lead projects under the 2013 EU NSA LA DEAR Call

NaZemi, a Czech non-governmental organisation would like to find possible partnerships for joint projects in their priority areas: development education, Fair Trade, responsibility of companies for their supply chain, global sustainability. NaZemi would like to lead projects under the 2013 EU NSA LA DEAR Call, as mentioned in the document enclosed (informal development education, corporate accountability) and is open to cooperation (partnership) in any other projects matching their priorities.

More information and contacts via the TRIALOG website.

Information provided by TRIALOG

Project Partners with Experience in Using Digital Methods for DEAR

SODI is a German-based organisation supporting local partners in South-East Asia, Southern Africa and Latin America. A second pillar of their work is Global Learning in Germany to increase awareness for the “one world”. Here they pursue an innovative approach by using digital methods such as TV and Internet to reach youth and young adults as main target group.Currently, SODI is looking for European partners who are interested to apply for the 2013 EU DEAR Call.

More information and contacts via the TRIALOG website.

Information provided by TRIALOG

Valladolid University in Spain looking for DEAR Partners

The International Cooperation Department at Valladolid University in Spain wants to submit two project proposals and looks for partners especially from the EU13 countries. One project is on Strategic Local Action Planning on Education for Development. The other project is about Implementing fair trade, ethical comsumption and public procurement in University.

More information and contacts via the TRIALOG website.

Information provided by TRIALOG

Partners for DEAR Project on Food Production

Progressio, a UK based NGO, is looking for partners for a project under the EU NSA LA DEAR Call with the title: "The food we eat: European action towards socially and environmentally sustainable food production in Europe, Africa and the Middle East."

More information and contacts via the TRIALOG website.

Information provided by TRIALOG

VIDC looking for DEAR and IPA Partners

VIDC (Vienna Institute for International Dialogue and Co-operation) is interested in joining a proposal submission as co-applicant/partner under the EU NSA LA DEAR Call, which is expected to be launched in October 2013. VIDC is interested in a co-operation on the following topics: (•) Gender and development, (•) Culture and development, (•) Football and development.

VIDC further invites interested organisations to jointly submit a proposal under the EU Call to combat trafficking in human beings (DG Home Affairs - ISEC 2013). Most victims trafficked to Western Europe particularly Austria come from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Organisations working in these countries for and with victims are encouraged to contact VIDC.

More information and contacts via the TRIALOG website.

Information provided by TRIALOG