TRIALOG at the European Development Days in Brussels

This year’s European Development Days (EDDs) took place in Brussels on 3-4 June and focused on the themes of the European Year for Development. Thousands of participants engaged in discussions around the following topics during the panel and working group events:
• Our world – Creating sustainable growth within the limits of our planet. 
• Our dignity – Developing a shared vision of universal and fundamental rights.
• Our future – Each of our policies can make a difference & we are all actors in development.

Civils Society representatives from around the world were engaged as active speakers and contributors in many of the events. CONCORD together with the European Year for Development Civil Society Alliance and Action 2015 had a Lounge space at the event where numerous discussions and interactive activities took place. For example, the Latvian development CSO platform LAPAS introduced their research on the role of new donors in development and the glocalization board game there. TRIALOG organized an interactive quiz “How well do you know Central and Eastern European development CSOs?” and shared the experiences form TRIALOG Systematization process.

In case you are curious how well you know civil society organisation from the EU13 countries, take this fun quiz with 10 questions!

In case you missed this year’s EDDs, take the opportunity to watch some of the videos from the discussions or listen to the podcasts.


In the photo: Participants during the TRIALOG session with Rebecca Steel-Jasinska and Mirjam Sutrop at the EDDs.

Information provided by Mirjam Sutrop, TRIALOG

Organisation of the Month: Documenta from Croatia

Documenta – Centre for Dealing with the Past was founded in 2006 by Centre for Peace, Non-Violence and Human Rights Osijek, Centre for Peace Studies, Civic Committee for Human Rights and Croatian Helsinki Committee with an attempt to encourage the process of dealing with the past and establishing factual truth about the war and to contribute to shifting of the discussion from the level of dispute over facts towards a dialogue on interpretations. The key reason for making this attempt was the silence and falsification of war crimes and other war-related events in the period from 1941 to 2000, which has influenced the recent past of Yugoslavia, as well as post-Yugoslav societies.

Since its establishment, Documenta contributes to the development process of dealing with the past on individual, social and institutional level, with a mission to build sustainable peace in Croatia and the region. This tasks is being conducted by deepening the dialogue and initiating a public debate on public policies that encourage dealing with the past, collecting data, publishing research on war events, war crimes and violations of human rights, and monitoring war crimes trials at the local and regional level as a contribution to the improvement of court standards and practices in the war crimes trials.

In order to achieve its goals, Documenta cooperates with its founding organizations, associations of families of the missing people, other civic initiatives, governmental institutions, international institutions and organizations, institutions of state and local government, academic institutions, religious groups, the media and other interested individuals. Structure of Documenta’s programs consists of three units: Public dialogue and public policies, Documenting, Improvement of court practices and standards.

In April 2015, Documenta published data they gathered as part of the research "Human loses in Croatia 1991 - 1995" (Ljudski gubici u RH 1991 - 1995. godine). They started this research in 2009, focusing on Western Slavonia region in Croatia, they interviewed 6150 people, gathered 25 000 documents and made a digital database. The data they presented had a great public response, and they will continue with this research which is important for the process of reconciliation in Croatia.

For more information please visit the website www.documenta.hr

In the photo: Vesna Teršelič and Slaven Rašković during their presentation of the research, taken at Human Rights House in Zagreb.

Information provided by CROSOL

Eventful Spring of European Year for Development in Slovakia

During the months of April and May, messages of the European Year for Development (EYD 2015) – “Our world, our dignity, our future” – have been spread by the Slovak NGDO Platform and its member organisations also throughout Slovak regions.

Among huge variety of topics, the issues of poverty and decent life were discussed with the Slovak public during an urban event called “Good Market”, which took place on one of the historic squares in Bratislava. In cooperation with the EC Representation in Slovakia, the Platform organised a public discussion CAFÉ EUROPA hosted by the ambassador of the EYD, an internationally acknowledged writer Michal Hvorecký. The Millenium development Goals were thoroughly discussed by the representatives of academia, government and NGOs. Bratislava also celebrated the annual Day of Europe, where the goodwill ambassadors of the EYD and 9 member organisations of the Platform presented their activities. The audience had an opportunity to see the television spots and also to participate in the debates with EYD ambassadors, together with two journalists who visited Kenya with the aim to report on the coherence betw
een non-development policies and development goals.

At the end of April, the Minister of the Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák officially met the goodwill ambassadors Adela Banášová (TV show host, ambassador for the campaign ŽI FÉR), Marián Čaučík (director of the Good News Campaign of eRko, ambassador for SlovakAid) and Michal Hvorecký (writer, ambassador for EuropeAid). One of the most visible outcomes of the meeting was a joint statement of the ambassadors, namely Marián Čaučík, who presented the plea to increase funding for bilateral development cooperation in order to come closer to the Slovak commitment of reaching 0,33% ODA/GNI by 2015. The EYD 2015 was present also in Banská Bystrica and Košice during the Africa Day celebrations organised by Partners for Democratic Change Slovakia, in cooperation with other NGO partners.

More information on the activities of the EYD in Slovakia can be found at www.err2015.zifer.sk.


In the picture: TV spot of Adela Banášová and its young spectators during the Day of Europe in Bratislava. Photo: Slovak NGDO Platform, May 2015 

Information provided by Andrea Girmanova, Slovak NGDO Platform

Seminar on “Global Education and the European Year of Development 2015” in Slovenia

On 2 May, the Slovenian Development NGO Platform SLOGA held a seminar titled “Global Education and the European Year of Development 2015”. Participants were discussing about the meaning of global education and its essence in their personal context. This was followed by an exchange of good and bad practices and evaluation of the performed activities.
The second part of the first seminar was dedicated to activities in the field of global education in the context of European Year for Development 2015, finding synergies and preferably greater participation and cooperation of NGOs in the field and a group evaluation and reflection of the seminar.

For more information, please contact Adriana Aralica at SLOGA.


Information provided by Adriana Aralica, SLOGA

SLOGA and CROSOL started a joint project as a part of EYD

In June 2015, the CSO platforms of Croatia - CROSOL, and Slovenia - SLOGA started activities as part of the ARSICRO project, financed by CONCORD, to mark the EYD - European Year for Development 2015.

In the Croatian city of Rijeka a whole day showkitchen event took place on 17th of June including an art show and a cook book promotion. Asylum seekers together with volunteers were cooking the meals from their home countries – Nigeria, Algeria and Senegal. In the evening, citizens of Rijeka could try their meals and hear their life stories.

The second showkitchen event happened in Zagreb on 20th of June. The chefs this time were from Ethiopia, Iran, Senegal, Algeria, USA and BIH, some of them were just visiting Croatia, some of them are living here with their family, and some are asylum seekers. In the evening meals were presented in the center of Zagreb together with the cookbook. The citizens could taste hummus, falafel, baba ganush, two types of rice, Ethiopian shirou and fir fir and Croatian traditional cake.

 In the photo: showkitchen group in Rijeka. 

 Information provided by Ela Narandja, CROSOL

News from the Maltese Development NGO platform SKOP

Social Justice in the Streets of Valletta 
The Development Education and Awareness Raising Working Group (DEAR WG) within SKOP worked in an awareness raising campaign that produced a series of informational banners that helped promoting messages of social justice within the general public. 2015 is a crucial year for global social justice as it is the target year where the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) should be met. The international community is gearing itself for this process to culminate in an evaluation of the results achieved and adopting a new strategy for the next 10 years: the SDGs Sustainable Development Goals. Moreover as 2015 is the European Year for Development, this campaign provides the unique opportunity for a broad public discussion to take place about meaningful civic engagement on human rights, environmental sustainability and social cohesion.
The banners were set up along Republic Street, a strategic point and one of the busiest streets of Valletta for a whole week in May. The messages on the banners addressed three main target groups: youth, professionals and families while tacking important topics such us, water, gender, health, youths, fair trade, climate change, migration and food security. The project has been funded with support from the VO Fund managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector (MCVS). 

Training Programme for Educators on Development 
With its seminar programme, the Maltese Development NGO platform SKOP, aimed at raising awareness among a group of educators and train them to become multipliers on development education in non-formal settings. The programme was delivered in 15 sessions of two hours each, including face to face training and personal jour
nal writing. Through this exercise the participants had the opportunity to reflect on their own awareness about global issues. The format of the seminar included lecturing, whole group discussion, small group workshops and journal writing. The training seminar tackled significant issues such us: Sustainable Development, Consumption, Development and Migration, Climate change, Ethical approaches to development and Children's’ Rights in the Broader Context of Human Rights.
This seminar enhanced the skills of a group of educators to be able to work on a global education campaign with children in a non-formal setting, thus stimulating a more active participation of the Maltese society in global social justice. Moreover it also contributed in creating synergies and reinforces links among different groups in society that will be working together for systematic change and global justice.

In the picture: Street banners of the awareness raising campaign, photo: SKOP.

Information provide by Paola Prinzis Liaison Officer at SKOP.

News from the Slovenian Development NGO Platform SLOGA

Many events took place around the topics of cultural diversity, volunteerism and a new development agenda post-2015 over the past two months in Slovenia. The “Week of Africa” offered many occasions for intercultural dialogue, SLOGA promoted its work and visions at the “Happy Day of Volunteerism” in Ljubljana and organised a panel on »Post-2015 Development Agenda as a New Reality – Opportunities for Small States« before the official start of European Development Days in Brussels.

Week of Africa 
SLOGA organized in cooperation with various Slovenian NGOs and other institutions the Week of Africa, commemorating the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development and the Africa Day. Various activities have taken place between 20 and 31 May. The Week of Africa started with a show called Diaspora*, that took place in the cultural center in Velenje. This show has taken the audience into the world of multiculturalism, in which we are witnessing both the beauties of diversity as well as intolerance and discrimination.
A panel titled “To live intercultural, a challenge or a problem?” was organized on 21 May, the day of intercultural dialogue, at Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. The panel was composed of Eyachew Tefera, president of the SLOGA Board, and Faila Pašić Bišić, ambassador of intercultural dialogue. Workshops on intercultural dialogue and the role and importance of human rights were conducted by the volunteers of the United Nations Association of Slovenia at the primary schools in Videm and Ptuj.
An intercultural evening was held by Slovene Philanthropy, spiced up by the a-capella gospel choir Bee Geesus, ambassador of the project of Humanitarian association ADRA Slovenia. The role of youth in intercultural environments was also tackled during the Week of Africa. So called ‘young global neighbors’ - young people originating from other countries but currently living in Slovenia – have presented their experiences in meeting with a new culture and their perception of multiculturalism.
Another colorful event contributed to the overall image of Week of Africa. A football tournament for peace and unity was organized on 24 May in Ljubljana. Aims of this traditional event are to strengthen the body and mind to overcome diversity, and the promotion of integration and social inclusion of vulnerable groups in society. The Week of Africa ended with international ‘global picnic’, which was escorted by a rich program and various workshops that were intended for individuals, families and particularly children.
The Week of Africa was coordinated by SLOGA platform in cooperation with Slovenian national commission for UNESCO and with financial contribution of European Commission.

Round table on partnerships and implementation of new development agenda 
SLOGA platform, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Brussels, organized a panel titled »Post-2015 Development Agenda as a New Reality – Opportunities for Small States« before the official start of European Development days. Panel was composed of H. E. Mr. Matjaž Šinkovec, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Cabo Verde, the African Union and Ambassador Designate to Ethiopia; assistant professor Dr. Draško Veselinovič, President of the Board of Slovenian Business and Research Association; and Mr. Eyacehew Tefera, President of SLOGA Board. Panel was moderated by Dr. Sabina Lange, lecturer at the European Institute of Public Administration – EIPA. Panelists talked about challenges and opportunities arising from new development agenda, priorities of Slovenia in the field of development cooperation and negotiations on the Sustainable Development Goals, the opportunities for the private sector in the new development agenda and also the role of civil society in both implementation of the agenda as well as design of country’s priorities.

Happy Day of Volunteerism 
The Happy Day of Volunteerism took place in the centre of Ljubljana at Prešeren square on 9 June. Overarching slogan of the National Week of Volunteerism, organized by Slovene Philanthropy within which the Happy Day of Volunteerism took place, was “All generations, all colors, all knowledge. With love.” SLOGA took part in this event and promoted its work and vision, the work of its member organizations, and also launched the campaigns within two of its projects, Challenging the Crisis and You Too are a Global Neighbour.

Meeting with NGOs on the topic of human rights in Slovenian foreign policy 
On 4 June, SLOGA attended a meeting organized by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs with NGOs on the topic of human rights in Slovenian foreign policy. The aim of the meeting was to include NGOs in the process of preparation for the 29th session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.


In the photo: SLOGA stand at the Happy Day of Volunteerism.

Information provided by Adriana Aralica, SLOGA

News from the Polish NGDO Platform Grupa Zagranica

Poland no longer includes spending on refugees in their ODA 
Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided not to include spending on refugees in Poland in the Official Development Aid reported for 2013. For years this has been an advocacy objective of Grupa Zagranica, the Polish NGDO platform. CONCORD’s yearly AidWatch report counts in-donor country refugee costs, together with debt relief, interest on loans, tied aid and in-donor country spending on students, as inflated aid. Poland and Ireland are the only two OECD DAC member countries that did not report in-donor spending on refugees as ODA in 2013. In-country refugee spending amounted to less than 2% of Polish ODA in 2011 and 2012. Nevertheless, Grupa Zagranica sees this decision as a success and congratulates Polish MFA on the progressive step in their ODA reporting.


PCD in Polish Impact Assessment Guidelines 
Every official regulation in Poland needs to be analysed in terms of its potential impact on economy, society and environment before being submitted to the parliament for debate and enactment. Impact Assessment is a common practice in EU countries, further encouraged and supported through the ‘Better Regulation 2015’ programme. The recent update of the Impact Assessment (IA) guidelines opened an opportunity for the integration of policy coherence for development (PCD) approach in the Polish legislative process. Following a focused advocacy action of Grupa Zagranica the new guidelines include a question relating to the potential “impact on social and economic development of priority countries of Polish development cooperation”. Grupa Zagranica plans further activities aiming at supporting the implementation of this element of the IA guidelines.

For more information, please contact Kasia Szeniawska, Policy Officer at Grupa Zagranica. 

Sources: For ODA http://goo.gl/FkTmdt and PCD http://goo.gl/sdv7be

News from the Czech NGO Platform FoRS

FoRS-Czech Forum for Development Co-operation has recently organized a couple of events for its members as well as other entities. The first one -workshop on private fundraising- was supported by TRIALOG and was organized in cooperation with Czech Fundraising Center on May 12 – 13. FoRS members learned advantages and disadvantages of corporate fundraising, different forms of support from private companies as well as the necessary steps to suceed in establishing long-term cooperation with these entities. There was also space for discussion about possible ways of cooperation in fundraising, especially from individual donors, within the platform FoRS.

The following two events were supported by DEEEP4 EC grants. The workshop „How to jointly promote changes: advocacy workshop not only for development education and awareness raising“ (May 21, 2015) was organized for FoRS members and their partners to help DEAR practitioners to enhance their own policy and advocacy capacities. The participants could better understand the importance of advocacy and its relation to their own work and learn how to effectivelly plan and carry out advocacy activities related to NGOs´ topics from concrete examples of good advocacy practice of Czech NGOs. They could also discuss opportunities for joint advocacy work at the regional and national level as well as what to do in case of limited capacities for advocacy work. The outcomes of the discussions about the joint advocacy work were recorded and will be used for the following work of the FoRS Working Group gathering the DEAR practitioners.

The national seminar „Vision for Education: Open Gate for Debate“ (June 4, 2015) was held within the European Sustainable Development Week and its participants from NGOs, academia, public administration and businesses could discuss a recent open document - vision for education for our common future. It was prepared by a working group of representatives of NGOs, universities and other entities in the context of the finalization of the Sustainable Development Goals as well as current debates on reforms of the Czech educational system. According to this document, in a interconnected and rapidly changing world it is increasingly evident that education does not only mean preparation for a concrete profession, but should also provide young people with skills, which would help them live a successful life and at the same time will contribute to sustainable development of the society as a whole. Thanks to this event the discussion with the business representatives has been started and some of them have also expressed their willingness to participate more in the further process associated with the promotion and implementation of the vision.

Photos are available here.


Information provided by Marie Zázvorková, FoRS Liaison Officer

First Annual Assembly of the Croatian Platform CROSOL

On 22nd of May 2015, CROSOL Platform held its first annual assembly in Zagreb.

Present were 17 members, 16 full members and 1 observatory member. Two members changed their membership status from observatory to full: OBRIS and Autonomous Women's house Zagreb. The assembly voted on a new statute that will improve the work of the Platform and its bodies. The Platform also welcomes five new members: ADRA, M.A.R.E., Institute for Development of Education, MIRamiDa Centre, Odraz and Zivi Atelje Dajhl Kralj.











In the photo: participants of the annual assembly of CROSOL.

Information provided by Ela Narandja, CROSOL

CIDSE echoes the Pope’s Call for Global Solidarity

CIDSE, the international alliance of Catholic development organisations warmly welcomes the Pope’s encyclical “Laudato si’” on Care for our Common Home, whose open tone and bottom-up approach paves the way for dialogue with all the people of goodwill to identify solutions to the current ecological crisis and address inequalities.

The work carried out so far by many civil society organisations to fight for justice was not unnoticed by the Pope, who wrote: “We cannot fail to praise the commitment of international agencies and civil society organisations which draw public attention to these issues and offer critical cooperation, employing legitimate means of pressure”. The encyclical also reinforces the spirit of transformation and “rethinking development” that runs through CIDSE’s work: based on St Francis’ understanding of the creation as our common home, the text makes a call for a transformational change that allows all human beings to live in dignity and that requires responsibility to be taken up at all levels: internationally, locally and individually.

CIDSE will further discuss and analyse the messages of the encyclical during the conference: ‘People and Planet First: the Imperative to Change Course’ taking place in Rome on 2-3 July 2015. The conference will bring together Church leaders, Decision Makers, Scientists as well as a wide range of representatives of Catholic and civil society organisations from different regions of the world.

Read the CIDSE Press Release here and find more information on the conference here. 
TRIALOG lead agency HORIZONT3000 is part of the of CIDSE network through the Austrian member organisations KOO.

Source: www.cidse.org

Czech NGOs assess their implementation of CSO development effectiveness principles

Since 2011, Czech NGOs associated in the platform FoRS carry out an annual self-assessment based on FoRS Code on Effectiveness. The number of participating organizations is increasing – this year it reached 33 NGOs (77 % of the membership) and FoRS secretariat. FoRS members assessed their performance in 5 areas linked to the 8 Istanbul Principles for CSO Development Effectiveness: Grassroots Knowledge, Transparency and Accountability, Partnership, Respect to Human Rights and Gender Equality and Accountability for Impacts and their Sustainability. On average, 94 % responses were positive –Absolutely yes or Mostly yes (on a 4-point scale).

In addition, FoRS self-assessment questionnaire both inspired a similar self-assesment process of the CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness (CPDE) and got inspired by this latter offering its members to share concrete examples of good practice, challenges and lessons learnt. The whole self-assessment process is a very valuable moment for NGO reflection, it facilitates exchange and learning. FoRS will use its outcomes to design capacity building activities for its members to support them to improve their practices.

Contact persons: Marie Zázvorková (marie.zazvorkova@fors.cz) and Adéla Stiborová (adela.stiborova@fors.cz)

Information provided by Marie Zázvorková, FoRS Liaison Officer

2015 Annual Conference of the Czech Evaluation Society (CES)

In June 2015 the fifth year of the Conference was held. Czech evaluation society has been organizing the conference together with Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague and since 2011 has become the most important evaluation event in the Czech Republic. Each year more than 100 participants attend approx. 15 lectures of the Czech and foreign speakers, carefully selected by the Conference Steering Committee; this year 110 participants took part at the Conference.

Usually the opportunities, prospects and alternative routes of future development of evaluations are discussed; recently the presentations on improving the utilization of evaluation reports or applicability of Capability Approach were given. Substantial attention is also paid to evaluation methodology and its advances. That is why the current contributions focused among others on outcome mapping and harvesting and behavioral approaches in evaluations. Further on, new methods and techniques in evaluation like e.g. most significant change technique or photovoice strategy were appreciated by the participants.

There were also other activities related with the CES Annual Conference. First, it was the poster session for those who wanted to present the case-study or evaluation that used unique design or inquiry that might inspire others. Another activity was the “bookstore” when it was possible to obtain actual evaluation literature, e.g. on impact evaluations or on local development initiatives. Furthermore, recent issues of the Czech peer-reviewed journal on evaluations (Evaluation Theory and Practice) were available. Satisfaction survey conducted among participants, shows that 93 % were overall satisfied (50 % very satisfied) whereas most of the participants expressed their satisfaction with professional level of the lecturers (96 %) and significance of the lectures (93 %). Response-rate in this inquiry achieved 49 %.

About Czech evaluation society (CES) 
CES is a non-profit, non-governmental and independent organization staffed only by volunteers without any paid employees. The main goal of CES is to associate individuals and institutions interested in evaluations. Members of CES are driven by their concern in building evaluation capacities within the Czech Republic, in increasing awareness about evaluations among relevant target groups, in improving reputation of evaluations as well as in advancing professional skills of practitioners and commissioners. CES represents the platform supporting cooperation with international associations and networks of evaluators, especially with NESE (Network of European Evaluation Societies), IDEAS (International Development Evaluation Association) and FoRS (Czech Forum for Development Co-operation).

Contact person: Jiri Remr (remr@czecheval.cz)

Photo from the conference.

Information provided by Jiri Remr, President of the Czech Evaluation Society

Norms over Forms: Civil Society Development in the Enlargement Process

On 4th June, 2015, the Balkan Civil Society Development Network BCSDN organized a debate at the European Parliament to present the state in which civil society operates in Western Balkans and Turkey, and how the accession process can promote a more enabling environment for its development.

The debate “Norms over Forms: Empowering Civil Society in the Western Balkans and Turkey” was hosted by Ms. Ulrike Lunacek, Vice-President of the European Parliament (The Greens/EFA) and co-chaired by Ms. Venera Hajrullahu BCSDN’s Board Chair both speaking about the value and importance of the civil society for the reform and accession processes in the Enlargement countries. Following the presentation of the regional state of play, as presented in the Monitoring Matrix Regional Report for 2014, representatives of BCSDN member organizations discussed the specific challenges faced in each country.
The debate finished with a strong message delivered by Ms. Lunacek, who stated that governments should not see civil society as opponent, but rather as ally, whose criticism can improve their work, strengthen the democracy and support the accession process.

More information here.

Source: Balkan Civil Society Development Network, Email Alerts No. 319

Civil Society in the Balkans Calls for More Inclusion in the Accession Process

At the 5th Civil Society Western Balkans Forum of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 2nd and 3rd June, 2015, in Belgrade, participants acknowledged that despite some challenges, the perspective of EU accession will have significant impact on the Western Balkans.

This was underlined during four thematic sessions of discussions with representatives of CSOs from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia. Social partners and CSOs are essential partners in improving transparency and inclusiveness in the EU accession process. Participants therefore called on governments and EU institutions to strengthen the dialogue with CSOs and to improve access to information.
The Forum ended with the adoption of a final declaration which will be forwarded to the national authorities in the region, the European Parliament, the European Council and other institutions.

More information is available here.

Source: Balkan Civil Society Development Network, Email Alerts No 319

Training: EU Project Management

finep - forum for international development + planning – invites you to a training on EU Project Management. The training targets NGO staff members working in development who want to apply for EuropeAid funds and would like to acquire the necessary skills and know-how to make the application a success.

The training modules are tailor-made for the practical needs of NGO staff and held in English. Participants will understand funding principles, guidelines and contractual obligations of EuropeAid and will approach the following challenges step by step:
• Defining the characteristics of a coherent project logic and a good logframe
• Drafting a well-structured proposal and budget
• Understanding key aspects of a successful project implementation, in line with EuropeAid regulations.

Dates: 21-25 September and 16-18 November 2015
Venue: Berlin
Deadlines for application: 31st August 2015 for module 1-3 and 30th October for module 4.

Further information and application here.

Information provided by finep: www.finep-akademie.eu 

Transformative Communication: Seminar for the Development Sector

DEEEP/CONCORD DARE Forum is organising a two day seminar “Why justice matters?” - transformative communication for the development sector on 13 and 14 October 2015 in Brussels.

This seminar targets communication officers but not only. Two persons from the same organisation will be invited to discuss communication matters as a transversal issue of their strategy. Do you feel that your communication about development is loosing its juice and consistency? This seminar will guide you out of the dark communication tunnel full of old-fashioned images and stereotypes and show you transformative practices for effective communication in the development sector.

The “Why justice matters” seminar will be focused on
• Empowering participants to talk about transformative communication at their organisational and members’ level
• Introducing a toolkit to participants (theory, practices and resources) necessary to apply transformative communication back home
• Exploring the narrative landscape and creating a common mapping of the frames we know, experiencing and practicing.

If you are interested in taking part in this seminar, please register until 21st July via this form.

Before registering, we recommend you to read the concept note and follow the guidelines for participants here.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact Helene Debaisieux, DEEEP Communication Officer.

Global Humanitarian Assistance Report 2015

The Global Humanitarian Assistance (GHA) Report 2015 shows that poverty and vulnerability to crises are intrinsically linked and that international humanitarian assistance continues to go predominantly to long-term recipients. This emphasises the need to build resilience, address the underlying causes of crisis and meet the long-term needs of people affected by crisis. For this to happen, a shared responsibility between humanitarian, development, climate change and other actors is critical as is the mobilisation of other resources beyond humanitarian assistance.

More information here.

Source: Global Humanitarian Assistance

2015 EU Aid Transparency Review

The end of 2015 is also the deadline donors set themselves to fully implement the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) Standard, which allows for the publication of timely, comprehensive and comparable information on development finance. With just over six months to go until the deadline, the 2015 EU Aid Transparency Review shows that despite a critical mass of donors now publishing information to the IATI Standard, the EU as a whole is off track from meeting its aid transparency commitments and that the lack of transparency by major European donors is hindering development outcomes in some of the poorest countries in the world.

Download the report here.

Source: Publish What You Fund

CONCORD News

Introducing new CONCORD members and including recent activities as well as the new CONCORD Annual Report, that provides an overview of CONCORD activities and successes over 2014, financial information and membership updates.

Read the CONCORD newsletter online.

Information provided by TRIALOG.

APPEAR- Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education & Research for Development

Call for academic partnerships, preparatory funding, master’s and PhD scholarships APPEAR encourages professionals and higher education institutions in the addressed countries and in Austria to share their knowledge and experiences with each other, to design innovative projects targeting the objectives and expected results and to improve the general standards in higher education, research and management. Deadline for submissions: 31 July 2015.

More information here.

 Source: Newsletter of the Austrian development CSO Platform Global Responsibility