Documentation of the TRIALOG Central Training online

The Central Training is the annual TRIALOG seminar for NGDO platforms from new EU member states (NMS) and accession/ candidate countries (AC). This year, the Central Training took place in Brno (Czech Republic) on February 19 and 20, 2008.

More than 60 participants from all 12 NMS and from Macedonia gathered together to exchange expertise and to learn more about Public Awareness Raising, Development Education and Campaigning - the main focus of this year's event.

The event started with country presentations from all participating NMS platforms. This first information sharing session laid the ground for a lot of bilateral talks and further discussions during the training and in the coffee breaks. For the frist time, three Macedonian NGOs participated in the TRIALOG Central Training, the presentation on the situation in Macedonia and its NGO sector was met with particular interest.

A presentation of the GCAP campaign - the Global Call to Action against Poverty - presented by Julien Vaissier, was followed by theoretical input on Public Awareness Raising, Development Education and Campaigning provided by Tobias Troll from DEEEP (Development Education Exchange in Europe Project). An update on the European Consensus on Development was given by the Chair of the CONCORD Development Education Forum and Director of the Finish NGDO platform KEHYS, Rilli Lappalainen.

In 4 working groups, the participants had the opportunity to discuss campaigning topics and to eleborate possible development education campaigns.

Also on the agenda was a presentation by Nathalie Ewing about the most important news from the European NGO confederation for Relief and Development CONCORD and the priorities for 2008. Last but not least, Nicoletta Pusterla and Martine van Wassenhove from EuropeAid informed the audience about development education and awareness raising activities supported by the European Commission (EC). They presented the statistical results of the Calls for Proposals in 2006 and 2007 as well as the challenges related to the 2008 call.

The accompanying programme gave participants the possiblity to watch some short development education films, to look at development education material from various countries and campaigns and/or to visit the Brno Fair Trade Shop.

The Central Training was two days full of deepening knowledge on the training topics, improving campaigning skills and using the many possibilities for networking.

Find further information incl. all presentations and photos from the event at: http://www.trialog.or.at/start.asp?ID=145

Joint UNDP-EC call for media on development

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with the European Commission announces a call for media to organize a study visit to a developing country and prepare a reportage from it covering development cooperation projects and the Millennium Development Goals.

Only nationwide media from the European Union 12 new Member States are eligible, however partnerships with other media and organizations (incl. NGOs) are possible. UNDP and EC will choose at least five best projects to be awarded out of all applications from all 12 EU new Member States.

Within this call UNDP and EC will cover up to 75 % of the media project, the rest could be in-kind contribution of the media company. This is an opportunity to involve national media from these 12 countries in covering development cooperation and to further raise public awareness on reasons and results of development work.

The deadline for applications is 19 March 2008.

All details/call documents are available at: http://europeandcis.undp.org/public/tenders/ (go to: “RFP: organization of media projects on MDGs and development cooperation” or http://europeandcis.undp.org/public/?event=public.tenderShow&height=550&width=800&tid=211).

Information provided by Jan Szczycinski, UNDP in Poland, jan.szczycinski@undp.org.pl, www.undp.org.pl

Joint Finnish-Swedish-Estonian seminar on Policy Coherence for Development

An international seminar regarding policy coherence on development (PCD) with the participation of Finnish, Swedish and Estonian delegations took place 14-15 February 2008 in Finland. It was organized by the FEST project (find more information at: http://www.fest-project.org/) that aims at strengthening in the three above-mentioned countries the development NGOs awareness raising, advocacy work and international networking in the context of EU development policy. The goal of this concrete seminar was to raise the participants’ awareness of policy coherence for development and to share with each other PCD related experience.

The seminar gave a good overview about the essence of PCD and why it is an issue of utmost importance. Detailed presentations were made on the PCD situation at the EU level, as well as in the three countries under consideration.

Most of the work took place in three working groups analyzing PCD in the field of arms trade, biofuels and migration respectively. Participants noted that in addition to more profound knowledge in policy coherence, they gained further insights regarding disastrous side effects of biofuels, need to completely ban cluster munitions and how sending and receiving countries could benefit from migration. The group work resulted in formulating a short campaign plan on how these policy objectives could be achieved through campaigning and lobby actions.

At the end of the seminar, the Estonian participants took a decision to form the Estonian Task Force for PCD. First, an e-mail list of participants is created where the discussions and debates are expected to take place. All Estonian representatives were asked to analyze how in their everyday work they can use the knowledge of the PCD and what could be the activities to carry out in the Estonian context. Second, in the upcoming weeks, a meeting will be organized where already more concretely Estonian PCD strategy will be discussed.

Information provided by Veronika Talviste, Estonian Roundtable for Development Cooperation, AKÜ, veronika@terveilm.net

March 15-20, 2008: NGDO seminar during ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

The Slovenian NGDO platform SLOGA has the pleasure to invite to the NGDO International seminar and experts meeting which will be organised in the framework of the 15th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly session, from 15th to 20th of March 2008 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Find more information in the following documents:
Invitation NGDO platforms: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/invitation-ngdo-platforms.doc
Draft agenda ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/draft_agenda_jpa_slovenia.pdf
Registration/Travel Expense Claim Form: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/registration-travel-expense-claim-form.doc

SLOGA will cover the travel and accommodation costs for one participants per NMS NGDO platform. NGDO platforms from New Member States are kindly asked to nominate one representative per platform to attend the events and send the Registration and Travel Expense Claim Form as soon as possible to the SLOGA office at the following fax number: +386.1.542.14.24 or by email to: anja.mesic@sloga-platform.org; by 5th of March 2008 the latest.

Information provided by Marjan Huc, SLOGA coordinator

New SLOGA website for the Slovenian presidency

SLOGA – the Slovenian NGO platform for international cooperation and humanitarian aid - has set up a new website for the NGO presidency project “YOU TOO! are part of this world”. Visit it at http://www.tuditi.si/.

On the website you will soon find the Manifesto which has been officially released on February 5, 2008 in both English and Slovenian and regular information on the SLOGA activities and events during the Slovenian presidency.

Source: SLOGA e-novice 2008/06 from 12.2.2008

For more information, see also the main SLOGA site: http://www.sloga-platforma.org/ or the article from last TIS http://trialog-information-service.blogspot.com/2008/01/slovenian-eu-presidency-sloga-project.html

The governmental presidency website can be found at: http://www.eu2008.si/en/
The general Slovenian NGO portal for the presidency period: http://www.predsedovanje.si/

New TRIALOG study on development cooperation in Latvia

After the two recently published reports on Estonia and Lithuania, now the TRIALOG country study on the state of development cooperation in Latvia is available.

It was written by Annika Kool and covers the Official Development Assistance (ODA) as well as NGO activity in international development. The study gives a good insight into the state of development cooperation in Latvia.

Download the Latvian country study from:
http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/lv_countrystudy_final_jan2008.pdf

April 2, 2008: Giving a stronger voice to civil society in the EU neighbourhood, Slovenia

The international conference "Giving a stronger voice to civil society in the EU neighbourhood: Development of civil dialogue and partnership relations between civil society, national governments and EU institutions" takes place in Brdo, Slovenia, on 2 April 2008.

The Conference on the role of civil society in the European neighbourhood - particularly the Eastern European partners of the European Neighbourhood Policy and countries which are part of the accession process - is well placed into the context of the Slovenian Presidency and its priorities: Western Balkans, European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement policy.

Both the European Neighbourhood Policy and enlargement policy underline the role of civil society in the process of democratization and further integration into the EU. Organised under the auspices of the Slovenian EU Council Presidency, this conference provides an excellent opportunity for civil society to send a political message to the EU regarding the need to develop a coherent and coordinated strategy for the sustainable civil society development beyond EU borders.

This Conference is expected to result in Declaration in the form of policy recommendations on building civil dialogue and partnership relations between civil society, national governments and EU institutions as well as on enhancing the role of civil society organizations as development actors by engaging them into the dialogue on aid effectiveness.

The Conference is organized by CNVOS - Centre for Information Service, Co-operation and Development of NGOs and ECAS - European Citizen Action Service under the auspices of the Slovenian Presidency and in cooperation with the Government Communication Office and the Representation of the European Commission in Slovenia in the framework of the Management Partnership.

The registration is open until 15 March 2008.

To see the detailed programme, practical arrangements and application form please go to the ECAS website: http://www.ecas.org/ More information and background documentation is also available on the Slovenian EU Council Presidency's website http://www.eu2008.si/ and the Slovenian NGO portal for the presidency period: http://www.predsedovanje.si/

For registration and further information about the conference, please contact CNVOS at: eu@cnvos.si.

Information provided by ECAS

Conference on Challenges of EU 27 Development Policy

The conference "Challenges of EU 27 Development Policy with a Technical Seminar on the European Development Fund" took place on 18th February 2008 in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The aim of the conference was to discuss present and future challenges the EU development policy is facing. The technical seminar brought together relevant actors from EU member states with the purpose of exchanging information on the role, challenges and contributions of the new member states (NMS) in the European Development Fund (EDF). There has been participation of NGOs and business communities in EDF financed projects.

At the technical seminar, NGOs have pointed out that the EDF should give special attention to assuring:
- broader ownership (including civil society from the South) to Strategic development documents,
- democratic governance,
- broader civil society organisation's participation in the creation of Strategic documents.

Some members of NMS NGOs have pointed out the need of opening EDF more to NMS, which used to be the domain of old member states in the past.

Find further information on the event at:
http://www.eu2008.si/en/Meetings_Calendar/Dates/February/0217_GAERC.html

Information provided by Marjan Huc, Slovenian NGDO platform SLOGA, info@sloga-platform.org

TRIALOG in Council meeting

TRIALOG’s director, Christine Bedoya, was invited to speak during a Council Development Cooperation Working Party (CODEV) meeting in early February, chaired by the Slovenian Presidency.

The intervention, on old member state (OMS) and new member state (NMS) cooperation, followed an overview of development education and awareness-raising (DE/AR) given by Deepali Sood on behalf of CONCORD’s Development Education Forum.

Christine explained the purpose of TRIALOG and gave examples of activities that TRIALOG has played an active part in, to encourage cooperation between new and old EU member states.

In preparation for the Slovenian presidency, TRIALOG supported the NGDO platform through direct training and advising, but also joined them up with the presidency projects of Austria, Germany and Finland.

A second success was the additional 10 million euros allocated for DE/AR projects in NMS under the European Commission’s NGO co-financing budget line in 2006. This amount was absorbed by 22 projects involving more than 100 NGOs from NMS and in addition there were 35 NGO partners from NMS in projects presented by OMS outside the additional funds. The fantastic outcome was in great part thanks to the TRIALOG partnership fair, where many project ideas were first discussed by more than 200 participants from all Europe.

A third main area for activity encouraging cooperation between member states is CONCORD’s Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighbourhood (EPAN) working group, convened by TRIALOG. All NMS are represented in the group, many OMS are as well, and there is active participation from Croatian and Macedonian civil society networks. It is probably the only European working group on development issues where new member states have more expertise than older ones.

A final area Christine talked about was the existence of regional projects such as the Regional Partnership Programme between Austria and its four NMS neighbours – The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. This programme involves platforms and governments in the countries, and funds development cooperation and development education pilot projects.

Christine made concrete recommendations to the council working party:

• For future EU presidencies to include civil society organisations (CSO) in early discussions on priorities for presidencies;
• For EC and member states to support more modest criteria for new member state NGOs, not only in the development education budget line, but in others as well and to offer incentives for joint projects between new and old member states;
• For EC and member states to guarantee access to CSO in consultations on and implementation of IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) and ENPI (European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument) funds;
• For member states to promote regional and cross-border initiatives.

Find the full text of Christine's intervention at: http://www.trialog.or.at/images/doku/codev_feb08_trialog.pdf

Photo: © Slovenian NGDO platform SLOGA

April 8-13, 2008: Workshop on Rights Based Approach to Development, Budapest

The Minority Rights Group (MRG) International is inviting to the 5-day International Workshop on the Rights Based Approach to Development - Promoting Development in Europe: Towards a Critical Mass and Beyond - which will take place from 8 – 13 April 2008 in Budapest, Hungary.

The workshop is intended for individuals affiliated with development NGOs, teachers training institutes, teachers associations, coordinators of youth groups and other institutions working on a variety of development and human rights issues.

The overall goal of the workshop is to develop the understanding of the nature of rights based approaches among participants in order to build sustainable capacity of development NGOs and other stakeholders in the new EU member states to enable them effectively to:

• raise public awareness of development issues in developing countries and the benefit of adopting rights based approaches when targeting these issues
• incorporate rights based approaches into their development work

Eligible countries include Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia.

In the framework of MRG's development education programme, participants of the workshop will be provided with an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they have gained during the workshop through the implementation of specific in-country campaigns in their respective countries. Following the workshop, participants will be invited to submit proposals for follow-up 12 month long in-country campaigns.

Find more information in the following documents:
Call for application: http://www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=442
Application form - http://www.minorityrights.org/download.php?id=441

For any further inquiries, please contact: development.workshop@mrgmail.org

Information provided by Minority Rights Group International, Development.Workshop@mrgmail.org

Second FOND General Assembly in Bucharest

On the 23-24th January 2008 the second General Assembly of the Romanian development NGO platform FOND took place in Bucharest.

On the first day the assembly tackled issues related to the development of the platform, its achievements and its future plan of actions for 2008. Moreover, three more organizations adhered to the platform: the Institute of Public Policies, A.R.T.Fusion Association and The Youth for the Future 2006 Association.

On the second day three guests joined: Robin Barnett, Ambassador of the British Embassy in Romania, Ana Maria Almasan, Foreign Affaires and ODA Office within the MFA, and Jan Sorensen, Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative in Romania.

For a full list of FOND board members and member NGOs, visit the FOND website at:
http://fondromania.wordpress.com/organizatii-membre/

For more information on the General Assembly and FOND future plans, please contact Claudia Iatan, FOND coordinator at: claudia.iatan@fond-romania.ro


Source: http://fondromania.wordpress.com/

New Accession Partnerships for Candidate countries

The European Council has adopted a decision revising the accession partnerships with Croatia and Turkey.

The Council formally adopted the partnership with Croatia on 12 February and with Turkey on 18 February, both of which have updated principles, priorities and conditions.

Although the agreement with Croatia does not distinguish between objectives with different timeframes as in the partnership agreed with Turkey, there are key priorities that Zagreb must implement immediately. These include ensuring the proper implementation of the stabilisation and association agreement (SAA); updating and implementing the strategy and action plan for judicial reform and the anti-corruption programme; rapidly adopting and implementing a strategic framework for public administration; implementing the Constitutional Law on National Minorities; maintaining full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and pursuing efforts to bring reconciliation among citizens in the region, as well as enhancing efforts to find solutions to ongoing problems with Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Turkey’s commitments include short term priorities related to democracy and the rule of law; human rights (including civil, political, economic and social rights, minority rights and cultural rights); regional issues and international obligations and assuming the acquis. Longer-term commitments refer to economic criteria and the ability to assume the obligations of membership.


Links:
Press Release: Council adopts a revised accession partnership with Croatia: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/98712.pdf Press Release: Council adopts a revised accession partnership with Turkey: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/98784.pdf

Information provided by Rebecca Steel, TRIALOG Policy Officer

Dochas Consultants: New on-line service of the Irish platform

In February 2008, Dóchas, the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organisations, has launched a new service, Dóchas Consultants- an on-line register of consultants. The register is a response to a growing demand from Dochas member organizations – as well as from other organizations – for recommended consultants in a wide range of areas.

The website is online at: http://www.dochas.ie/consultants/Templates/consultants.htm

Dóchas Consultants will enable development organizations free access to trainers, facilitators, consultants, mentors or coaches with a specific background in international development and provide a cost-effective opportunity for consultants to reach a large number of potential clients in this sector.

To register as a Consultant, download the application form at: http://www.dochas.ie/consultants/documents/application_consultants.pdf

For further information, please contact: Anna Farrell, consultantregister@dochas.ie

Information provided Hans Zomer, Dochas, hans@Dochas.ie

Increased absorption rates of structural funds in new member states

Danuta Huebner, the European Commissioner for Regional Policy has announced that the absorption of payments made to new member states from the EU’s structural and cohesion funds in 2007 was excellent.

The new member states received a record 4.3 billion last year, which is the same amount as they spent over the three previous years – 2004, 2005 and 2006 – put together.

The rates of absorption for the ten member states that joined the EU in 2004 reached an average rate of 75%, not far behind the average 84% of the EU15. Rates between the states varied, ranging from 62% for Cyprus and 82% for Hungary. There is a similar variation between the older member states. Ireland has an absorption rate of 91%, but the Netherlands’ is much lower, at 65%.

These results come after a warning from Dalia Grybauskaite, the Budget Commissioner in September last year. She reported that in 2006, 43% of new member states’ structural funds and 78% of their cohesion funds had not been used. Grybauskaite warned then that absorption levels were not satisfactory and that time was running out.

The key aim now is to ensure not only that EU money is being spent, but that it is being well spent. The challenge, according to Huebner, is to ‘keep up that momentum so that economic modernisation, growth and job creation are achieved on the ground.’

Link: Danuta Hübner: Record payments for cohesion policy in 2007; http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/204&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

Information provided by Rebecca Steel, TRIALOG Policy Officer