Information provided by Anita Bister, TRIALOG Information Officer
With this first issue of the TRIALOG Information Service (TIS) being available as a blog, TRIALOG enters into the world of the web 2.0. tools which are freely available on the internet and offer a lot of new possibilities for sharing and exchanging information and open up new communication spaces. In future, you will not only receive the TIS every 1-2 months electronically as pdf file, but you can access our newsletter regularly on http://www.trialog.or.at/tis. Refer to the content on the left hand side to read all entries related to a certain topic. You can also display the latest TIS headings on your own webpage or subscribe to receive an email alert whenever there is a new entry on the site (use the links at the bottom of the left hand side). After a trial phase, we will explore further possibilities for our readers to contribute to the TIS newsletter and make the TIS more interactive. If you would like to post an article on development cooperation in the context of EU Enlargement in the TIS, please write to Anita Bister, TRIALOG Information Officer: a.bister@trialog.or.at. Feel free to also email any comments on the new TIS format.
During the last months, CONCORD together with EUFORIC (Europe’s Forum on International Cooperation) have been offering training and promoting the use of new webtools. The new TIS format is a result of these efforts. CONCORD recently became member of EUFORIC and collaboration has been established based on operational needs and synergies related to communication and information management. In June (5-6), CONCORD and EUFORIC joined forces by holding the first CONCORD Communication network meeting together with the EUFORIC Annual General Meeting. As CONCORD Director Olivier Consolo mentioned in his opening words, the aim was not only to reinforce communication within the CONCORD network but to build alliances with other actors and to increase the visibility and impact of CONCORD's work as a whole. The central theme of the event was on how to use better new techniques to increase one's impact when campaigning, advocating, raising funds or dealing with the media. In a number of parallel workshops the participants were offered trainings and had the possibility for peer-to-peer exchanges of experience and knowledge. Most of the workshops and discussions were immediately documented on the established conference blog which is available at: http://euforicagm2007.blogspot.com/
TRIALOG has circulated a questionnaire to explore the usage of new webtools in the new EU member states. If you are a development NGO from a new member state and interested in training on these topics, please reply to the questionnaire at http://www.trialog.or.at/docs/webtools_questionnaire.doc and email it to a.bister@trialog.or.at.
For more information on the CONCORD Communication Network please contact Agnes Philippart, CONCORD Communication Officer: Agnes.PHILIPPART@concordeurope.org
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
New member state representative in new CONCORD board
Information provided by Christine Bedoya, TRIALOG Director
During the recent CONCORD General Assembly which took place in Brussels on June 7-8, the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development elected four new board members. All active CONCORD members had the possibility to nominate candidates for these positions. After a period without a board member from the new EU member states, now again the CONCORD board is "enlarged" and enriched by a person coming from a new member state: We congratulate Annamaria Kekesi, President of the Hungarian Platform HAND and Director of the Hungarian NGO Foundation for Development of Democratic Rights (DEMNET), who was elected into the CONCORD board. CONCORD has become an important name in Europe in the world of development. With an increasing political reputation and impact on European development policies, these are exciting times for CONCORD. An effective and active Board to govern CONCORD's activities and to represent CONCORD at the most senior levels contributes to the continued strengthening of the quality and impact of the confederation’s actions.
For more information see: http://www.concordeurope.org/
During the recent CONCORD General Assembly which took place in Brussels on June 7-8, the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development elected four new board members. All active CONCORD members had the possibility to nominate candidates for these positions. After a period without a board member from the new EU member states, now again the CONCORD board is "enlarged" and enriched by a person coming from a new member state: We congratulate Annamaria Kekesi, President of the Hungarian Platform HAND and Director of the Hungarian NGO Foundation for Development of Democratic Rights (DEMNET), who was elected into the CONCORD board. CONCORD has become an important name in Europe in the world of development. With an increasing political reputation and impact on European development policies, these are exciting times for CONCORD. An effective and active Board to govern CONCORD's activities and to represent CONCORD at the most senior levels contributes to the continued strengthening of the quality and impact of the confederation’s actions.
For more information see: http://www.concordeurope.org/
New aid, expanding trade - what do feminists have to say?
Information sent by Barbara Specht, WIDE
WIDE – Network Women In Development Europe PRESS RELEASE:
Brussels, 22.06.2007: The WIDE 2007 Annual Conference (14-17 June 2007) took stock of the changes in international trade policies, regulation of financial flows and investment together with international development policies and their impact on women’s realities, rights and gender equality. The discussions also focused on strategies on how to tackle the new aid and trade architecture from feminist perspectives. Entitled "New aid, expanding trade - what do women have to say?" the conference, hosted by the Spanish WIDE national platform CONGDE (Gender and Development Working Group of the Spanish Platform of Development NGOs) in Madrid, brought together more than 150 women activists from over 40 countries.
"The WIDE AC is a great opportunity for activists to exchange views and a good space for feminist exchange on trade and development issues.
Globalisation and development issues are themes that need to be analysed within a feminist framework. The Capacity -Building day helps to build more public-awareness raising and sharper policy analysis. Presentations from trade experts such as Mariama Williams and Zo Randriamaro provide us with tools that can inspire future debates." commented Mabel Au from Hong Kong.
In lively debates and interactive panels participants confirmed even so new international development architecture has developed on the basis of shared commitments of the international donor community in the areas of trade, debt, investment and financing for development, the structural causes of gender inequality persist all over the world. Various speakers highlighted that the current mainstream development agenda is embedded in an ideological framework that promotes trade liberalisation and economic growth at the expenses of women and men’s rights and livelihoods. Indeed, the feminisation of poverty is a global problem. Participants engaged in analyses of the causes of these structural problems and discussed the implications these developments for women in the South, the East and also in the West.
"The conference was a success in bringing together so many women from such different places and it was a great opportunity to meet activists who agreed on the same ideal of social justice, even if their own conditions varied from one locality to another." remarked Venna Dholah from Mauritius.
In various workshops and presentations, participants further developed feminist proposals and alternative visions to the policy mainstream in the area of trade and development and discussed concrete strategies for change at different levels. Women activists not only identified opportunities for ensuring the implementation of political commitments and legal obligations regarding gender equality, democracy and human rights, the quality of aid, and policy coherence. They also highlighted the importance of building up a common alternative strategy to "attack patriarchal structures on a global scale, as women’s emancipation can not be achieved in isolation" as Rosa Cobo Bedia from Spain explained.
The three-day conference also provided an important space for joint learning, sharing experiences and building alliances among women’s organisations from all over the world to find feminist alternatives. As Pam Rajput from India commented "I like the policy from WIDE to invite women from the south and provide a platform for sharing and learning and working out global strategies for issues of common concerns."
All contributions and presentations of the conference will soon be available on WIDE’s web-site: http://www.wide-network.org/. For more information, please contact Barbara Specht, WIDE Information and Advocacy Officer: barbara@wide-network.org
WIDE – Network Women In Development Europe PRESS RELEASE:
Brussels, 22.06.2007: The WIDE 2007 Annual Conference (14-17 June 2007) took stock of the changes in international trade policies, regulation of financial flows and investment together with international development policies and their impact on women’s realities, rights and gender equality. The discussions also focused on strategies on how to tackle the new aid and trade architecture from feminist perspectives. Entitled "New aid, expanding trade - what do women have to say?" the conference, hosted by the Spanish WIDE national platform CONGDE (Gender and Development Working Group of the Spanish Platform of Development NGOs) in Madrid, brought together more than 150 women activists from over 40 countries.
"The WIDE AC is a great opportunity for activists to exchange views and a good space for feminist exchange on trade and development issues.
Globalisation and development issues are themes that need to be analysed within a feminist framework. The Capacity -Building day helps to build more public-awareness raising and sharper policy analysis. Presentations from trade experts such as Mariama Williams and Zo Randriamaro provide us with tools that can inspire future debates." commented Mabel Au from Hong Kong.
In lively debates and interactive panels participants confirmed even so new international development architecture has developed on the basis of shared commitments of the international donor community in the areas of trade, debt, investment and financing for development, the structural causes of gender inequality persist all over the world. Various speakers highlighted that the current mainstream development agenda is embedded in an ideological framework that promotes trade liberalisation and economic growth at the expenses of women and men’s rights and livelihoods. Indeed, the feminisation of poverty is a global problem. Participants engaged in analyses of the causes of these structural problems and discussed the implications these developments for women in the South, the East and also in the West.
"The conference was a success in bringing together so many women from such different places and it was a great opportunity to meet activists who agreed on the same ideal of social justice, even if their own conditions varied from one locality to another." remarked Venna Dholah from Mauritius.
In various workshops and presentations, participants further developed feminist proposals and alternative visions to the policy mainstream in the area of trade and development and discussed concrete strategies for change at different levels. Women activists not only identified opportunities for ensuring the implementation of political commitments and legal obligations regarding gender equality, democracy and human rights, the quality of aid, and policy coherence. They also highlighted the importance of building up a common alternative strategy to "attack patriarchal structures on a global scale, as women’s emancipation can not be achieved in isolation" as Rosa Cobo Bedia from Spain explained.
The three-day conference also provided an important space for joint learning, sharing experiences and building alliances among women’s organisations from all over the world to find feminist alternatives. As Pam Rajput from India commented "I like the policy from WIDE to invite women from the south and provide a platform for sharing and learning and working out global strategies for issues of common concerns."
All contributions and presentations of the conference will soon be available on WIDE’s web-site: http://www.wide-network.org/. For more information, please contact Barbara Specht, WIDE Information and Advocacy Officer: barbara@wide-network.org
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
CONCORD Working Group EPAN met in Brussels
Information provided by Annika Kool, TRIALOG Policy Officer
On May 15-16, the CONCORD working group on Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighbourhood (EPAN), formerly known as WG Enlargement, gathered in Brussels for the first time after its restructuring. The meeting attracted about 20 participants, mostly from new member states’ NGDO platforms but also from several networks.
The first day started with a short session on Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) in which participants heard of relevant cooperation opportunities within the framework of the EU Coherence Programme and Vince Caruana (Maltese platform) presented his recent paper on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and PCD within the EU. The rest of the day focused on the EU Neighbourhood Policy: Florent Sebban (Eurostep) and Colombe de Mercey (Aprodev) highlighted problematic matters related to the framework covering the EU neighbourhood countries, participants exchanged information on what NGOs in their respective countries (or through their networks) are doing regarding the EU Neighbourhood and finally, Vince Caruana and Mateja Krasevec (Humanitas, Slovenia) draw
attention to the Southern Mediterranean by sharing issues arising from the ongoing Maltese-Slovenian-Cypriot project supported by the Presidency Fund (http://www.presidencyfund.org/).
The second day was kicked off by a session on the Western-Balkans where Marjan Huc (Slovenian platform) gave a thorough presentation on the current challenges and needs of the Western Balkans based on the conference held in February in Ljubljana (see also TRIALOG Information Service 02/04/2007, article 4.2.). Subsequently, Mara Simane (Latvian platform) and Valentin Burada (Romanian platform) provided food for thought for reflecting on the working group’s future activities in the area of transitions, enlargement and lessons learned. Additionally, the WG members gave feedback on the Czech EU Presidency project plans and were introduced to EuroNGOs.
Most importantly, the meeting spared time for shaping the working group’s next steps. Thus, the “ENPI sub-group” decided to direct its energy on ensuring the E
C aid is being distributed in a participatory manner and the “Pre-accession sub-group” will in the forthcoming months centre on building contacts with relevant actors in Western Balkans and sharing with them new member states’ NGOs’ experience regarding relations with the governments, particularly with the MFAs. During the next meeting, the group will devote more time on deciding upon activities regarding EPAN’s “enlargement and lessons learned” objectives.
Last but not least, the group elected a new chair: the "old-new" chair is Vince Caruana.
The presentations held at the EPAN meeting are available at: http://www.trialog.or.at/start.asp?m=4,32,232 The Minutes of the meeting will become available at the same link.
On May 15-16, the CONCORD working group on Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighbourhood (EPAN), formerly known as WG Enlargement, gathered in Brussels for the first time after its restructuring. The meeting attracted about 20 participants, mostly from new member states’ NGDO platforms but also from several networks.
The first day started with a short session on Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) in which participants heard of relevant cooperation opportunities within the framework of the EU Coherence Programme and Vince Caruana (Maltese platform) presented his recent paper on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and PCD within the EU. The rest of the day focused on the EU Neighbourhood Policy: Florent Sebban (Eurostep) and Colombe de Mercey (Aprodev) highlighted problematic matters related to the framework covering the EU neighbourhood countries, participants exchanged information on what NGOs in their respective countries (or through their networks) are doing regarding the EU Neighbourhood and finally, Vince Caruana and Mateja Krasevec (Humanitas, Slovenia) draw
attention to the Southern Mediterranean by sharing issues arising from the ongoing Maltese-Slovenian-Cypriot project supported by the Presidency Fund (http://www.presidencyfund.org/).The second day was kicked off by a session on the Western-Balkans where Marjan Huc (Slovenian platform) gave a thorough presentation on the current challenges and needs of the Western Balkans based on the conference held in February in Ljubljana (see also TRIALOG Information Service 02/04/2007, article 4.2.). Subsequently, Mara Simane (Latvian platform) and Valentin Burada (Romanian platform) provided food for thought for reflecting on the working group’s future activities in the area of transitions, enlargement and lessons learned. Additionally, the WG members gave feedback on the Czech EU Presidency project plans and were introduced to EuroNGOs.
Most importantly, the meeting spared time for shaping the working group’s next steps. Thus, the “ENPI sub-group” decided to direct its energy on ensuring the E
C aid is being distributed in a participatory manner and the “Pre-accession sub-group” will in the forthcoming months centre on building contacts with relevant actors in Western Balkans and sharing with them new member states’ NGOs’ experience regarding relations with the governments, particularly with the MFAs. During the next meeting, the group will devote more time on deciding upon activities regarding EPAN’s “enlargement and lessons learned” objectives.Last but not least, the group elected a new chair: the "old-new" chair is Vince Caruana.
The presentations held at the EPAN meeting are available at: http://www.trialog.or.at/start.asp?m=4,32,232 The Minutes of the meeting will become available at the same link.
The Fourth Call for Proposals of the Presidency Fund is now open
Source: http://www.presidencyfund.org/
The Fourth Call for Proposals of the Presidency Fund is now open! The Presidency Fund came into operation to stimulate the capacity of civil society in the ten (2004) New Member States (NMS) to engage effectively in dialogue over the EU Development Policy. Eligible are NGOs from the 10 New Member States that joined the EU in 2004. The application process is in two phases. The deadline of the Preliminary Phase is July 31, 2007. Main Applications will then be expected by 30 September 2007.
Download the Preliminary Application Form and details of the Call from:
http://www.presidencyfund.org/wcm/component/option,com_docman/task,cat_view/gid,36/Itemid,67/
Find more information on the Presidency Fund and the results of the previous calls at: http://www.presidencyfund.org/
The Fourth Call for Proposals of the Presidency Fund is now open! The Presidency Fund came into operation to stimulate the capacity of civil society in the ten (2004) New Member States (NMS) to engage effectively in dialogue over the EU Development Policy. Eligible are NGOs from the 10 New Member States that joined the EU in 2004. The application process is in two phases. The deadline of the Preliminary Phase is July 31, 2007. Main Applications will then be expected by 30 September 2007.
Download the Preliminary Application Form and details of the Call from:
http://www.presidencyfund.org/wcm/component/option,com_docman/task,cat_view/gid,36/Itemid,67/
Find more information on the Presidency Fund and the results of the previous calls at: http://www.presidencyfund.org/
Two national calls (SK, SLO) for remaining RPP funds
As not all financial means for pilot projects from Slovenia and Slovakia have been used within the final RPP (Regional Partnership Programme) call for proposals (see related article below) two small calls are launched to make access for pilot projects to the remaining funds.
Invited are NGOs from Slovenia and Slovakia together with Austrian NGOs. The lead agency has to come from the new member state. It is open for initiatives in the field of development awareness/education and development cooperation. Projects can start at the earliest mid of September and the maximal duration is until the end of August 2008.
For Slovenia, the Call will be open until July 31, 2007; for Slovakia until July 21, 2007.
For more information please turn to the "news"-section of the RPP website http://www.regionalpartnership.at/
Source: http://www.regionalpartnership.at
Invited are NGOs from Slovenia and Slovakia together with Austrian NGOs. The lead agency has to come from the new member state. It is open for initiatives in the field of development awareness/education and development cooperation. Projects can start at the earliest mid of September and the maximal duration is until the end of August 2008.
For Slovenia, the Call will be open until July 31, 2007; for Slovakia until July 21, 2007.
For more information please turn to the "news"-section of the RPP website http://www.regionalpartnership.at/
Source: http://www.regionalpartnership.at
VENRO EU Presidency Project „Prospects for Africa – Europe’s Policies”
Information provided by Marc Baxmann, VENRO (Association of German Development NGOs)
With a wide range of NGO events on the main topics of the EU Presidency Project “Prospects for Africa – Europe’s Policies”, VENRO, the Association of German Development NGOs, accompanied the official German EU Council Presidency in the last months. The main events were:
- Conference "Prospects for Africa – Europe’s Policies”, ahead of the Informal Development Ministers Meeting in March in Bonn
- Panel debate: Women – Agents of Change: Gender, Development and Millennium Goals in April in Hamburg
- International Forum: Civilian Conflict Transformation and Peace-Building – a Challenge for Africa-Europe’s Policies in late April in Berlin
- Conference on Civil Society and the Joint EU-Africa Strategy, organised by the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) in cooperation with VENRO in April
- International Conference in May on Responsibilities of Governments & Civil Society in the Fight Against HIV and AIDS in Africa – The Way Forward to 2015
- International Civil Society Workshop on Building a strategic partnership between Southern and Northern NGOs, organised by VENRO and Coordination Sud in early June in Bonn.
Given the rapidly changing economic, political and social processes in Africa and Europe, close co-operation between Southern and Northern NGOs is more urgent and necessary than ever. Also with a view to the common EU-Africa Strategy that is to be adopted at the planned EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon towards the end of this year, intensifying co-operation appears to be imperative to influence the political processes and follow the implementation of the strategy in the coming years. Leading up to the Summit, AU and EU institutions are organising a broad-based public debate (See: http://www.europafrica.org/ / http://www.europafrique.org/).
Read a 2-page summary on the main VENRO activities at: http://www.trialog.or.at/docs/venro_presidency.pdf
Check out the website http://www.prospects-for-africa.de/ (Events/Archive) for the full documentation of the VENRO presidency events and for up-to-date information. Register online for the project newsletter.
Read the key demands that African and German NGOs have addressed to the German government in their Development Policy Manifesto: http://www.prospects-for-africa.de/publikationen.html?&L=1
For further information contact Anke Kurat, Coordinator of the VENRO EU Presidency Project: a.kurat@venro.org
Romanian platform FOND registered and online
Information provided by Claudia Iatan, FOND
On March 23 the process of legal registration of the Romanian NGDO platform FOND, initiated in October last year, was completed. The first General Assembly of FOND took place on March 29 in Bucharest. Three working groups got official recognition by the General Assembly: WG Development Education, WG Moldova-Georgia, WG MFA Roundtable. On this occasion the new Director of the Development Assistance Unit within the Romanian MFA, Mr. Cosmin Dobran, reaffirmed the Government’s openness towards cooperation with FOND.
FOND’s WG Moldova-Georgia and several member organizations will organize two seminars dedicated to building knowledge and making contacts with civil society organizations in Georgia (22 May, Bucharest) and Moldova (27-28 June, Iasi). The seminars aim to allow for sharing experiences in working on the field with other organizations from EU member states and local donors.
FOND’s WG MFA Roundtable aims to follow closely the latest developments leading to the establishment of a national mechanism of financing for development cooperation projects as well as to the budgetary revision for the enactment of the budget line for development cooperation in July 2007.
FOND’s WG Development Education decided to organize a training session on Awareness Raising and Advocacy Skills for Development EducationProgrammes on 27 - 28 September, in Cluj-Napoca, with support from DEEEP.
Starting with April 16, the Romanian platform FOND has a new coordinator (with financial support from TRIALOG). Her name is Claudia Iatan, she holds a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Studies from Padua University, Italy, worked as a journalist for a few years and was involved in projects of Development Education in Italy.
In June the platform established its own website – the new platform blog is online on http://www.fondromania.wordpress.com/. It is mostly in Romanian, but basic information on the platform and its activities is available also in English. For more details please email Claudia Iatan at claudia.iatan@fond-romania.ro
On March 23 the process of legal registration of the Romanian NGDO platform FOND, initiated in October last year, was completed. The first General Assembly of FOND took place on March 29 in Bucharest. Three working groups got official recognition by the General Assembly: WG Development Education, WG Moldova-Georgia, WG MFA Roundtable. On this occasion the new Director of the Development Assistance Unit within the Romanian MFA, Mr. Cosmin Dobran, reaffirmed the Government’s openness towards cooperation with FOND.
FOND’s WG Moldova-Georgia and several member organizations will organize two seminars dedicated to building knowledge and making contacts with civil society organizations in Georgia (22 May, Bucharest) and Moldova (27-28 June, Iasi). The seminars aim to allow for sharing experiences in working on the field with other organizations from EU member states and local donors.
FOND’s WG MFA Roundtable aims to follow closely the latest developments leading to the establishment of a national mechanism of financing for development cooperation projects as well as to the budgetary revision for the enactment of the budget line for development cooperation in July 2007.
FOND’s WG Development Education decided to organize a training session on Awareness Raising and Advocacy Skills for Development EducationProgrammes on 27 - 28 September, in Cluj-Napoca, with support from DEEEP.
Starting with April 16, the Romanian platform FOND has a new coordinator (with financial support from TRIALOG). Her name is Claudia Iatan, she holds a Master’s Degree in Intercultural Studies from Padua University, Italy, worked as a journalist for a few years and was involved in projects of Development Education in Italy.
In June the platform established its own website – the new platform blog is online on http://www.fondromania.wordpress.com/. It is mostly in Romanian, but basic information on the platform and its activities is available also in English. For more details please email Claudia Iatan at claudia.iatan@fond-romania.ro
Monday, 25 June 2007
The Bulgarian NGDO Platform in the making
Information provided by Asya Bocheva, former TRIALOG Policy Officer and Yvonne Kojuharova, C.E.G.A. Foundation
A year after the initial visit to Bulgaria, Christine Bedoya and Asya Bocheva from TRIALOG came back to Sofia in April 2007 in order to support local NGOs in their efforts to establish a national platform. After preliminary consultations, a general meeting was convened that gathered together the NGOs active in the work of the platform. In the discussion regarding the state of play in the platform, it was agreed to officially register and next steps were planned and undertaken soon after. A task force was designated to be in charge of the preparation of the Statute and the Memorandum of Understanding. It was agreed that the new co-ordinator will preferably not come from an existing NGO. Different options will be explored for an office space for the new platform. The participants set a date in May 2007 for the platform constituency meeting.
It took place on May 16 and the following decisions have been taken:- The statute was discussed and accepted in a vote.
- The structure was set: General Assembly, Executive Board, coordinator. It is foreseen to have regular and associated members.
- The Executive Board (EB) can create working groups on concrete issues and areas of activities. It will also suggest detailed criteria for platform membership. The question who will be eligible to be a platform member was discussed deeply in the meeting. The number of the members of the EB will be 7, with a rotation rule for EB members.
The next meeting was held on May 28 to finalize all documents which are needed for the legal registration which is about to happen in June.
A year after the initial visit to Bulgaria, Christine Bedoya and Asya Bocheva from TRIALOG came back to Sofia in April 2007 in order to support local NGOs in their efforts to establish a national platform. After preliminary consultations, a general meeting was convened that gathered together the NGOs active in the work of the platform. In the discussion regarding the state of play in the platform, it was agreed to officially register and next steps were planned and undertaken soon after. A task force was designated to be in charge of the preparation of the Statute and the Memorandum of Understanding. It was agreed that the new co-ordinator will preferably not come from an existing NGO. Different options will be explored for an office space for the new platform. The participants set a date in May 2007 for the platform constituency meeting.
It took place on May 16 and the following decisions have been taken:- The statute was discussed and accepted in a vote.
- The structure was set: General Assembly, Executive Board, coordinator. It is foreseen to have regular and associated members.
- The Executive Board (EB) can create working groups on concrete issues and areas of activities. It will also suggest detailed criteria for platform membership. The question who will be eligible to be a platform member was discussed deeply in the meeting. The number of the members of the EB will be 7, with a rotation rule for EB members.
The next meeting was held on May 28 to finalize all documents which are needed for the legal registration which is about to happen in June.
European Commission Internships for Young Roma Graduates
Source: CONCORD EU Monitoring Newsletter, June 13, 2007
The Open Society Institute, in association with the European Commission, offers internships for young Roma university graduates. Objective: To give Roma interns a general idea of the objectives and challenges of European integration; To provide practical knowledge of the working of Commission departments; To enable interns to acquire personal experience by means of the contacts made in the course of everyday work; To enable them to further and put into practice the knowledge they have acquired during their studies or professional careers. Financed actions: Five-month internship starting the 1st October 2007 (Travel, Accommodation, subsistence, and health and accident insurance). Eligibile are nationals from all new EU member states (excluding Cyprus and Malta), Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, including Kosovo, and Montenegro, who are of Roma origin may apply. Applications from women are encouraged. The deadline for submission is July 15, 2007.
Find documents and more information on the following website: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/roma/news/romaintern_20070605
Contact: Open Society Institute Budapest, Brussels Internship Program. Roma Participation Program. Email: rpp@osi.huu
For more Calls of the Soros Foundation check out http://www.soros.org/
The Open Society Institute, in association with the European Commission, offers internships for young Roma university graduates. Objective: To give Roma interns a general idea of the objectives and challenges of European integration; To provide practical knowledge of the working of Commission departments; To enable interns to acquire personal experience by means of the contacts made in the course of everyday work; To enable them to further and put into practice the knowledge they have acquired during their studies or professional careers. Financed actions: Five-month internship starting the 1st October 2007 (Travel, Accommodation, subsistence, and health and accident insurance). Eligibile are nationals from all new EU member states (excluding Cyprus and Malta), Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, including Kosovo, and Montenegro, who are of Roma origin may apply. Applications from women are encouraged. The deadline for submission is July 15, 2007.
Find documents and more information on the following website: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/roma/news/romaintern_20070605
Contact: Open Society Institute Budapest, Brussels Internship Program. Roma Participation Program. Email: rpp@osi.huu
For more Calls of the Soros Foundation check out http://www.soros.org/
Bulgarian NGO seeking partner NGO in Turkey
The Bulgarian NGO "Alliance for civil and regional initiatives" is seeking a partner NGO in Turkey for a common youth project. Interested Turkish NGOs are asked to get in contact with the Bulgarian NGO by end of June 2007. For more information please go to: http://www.trialog.or.at/docs/partner_search_ngo_turkey.pdf
Post your Partner Search for Joint Projects on the TRIALOG website! Find more information on: http://www.trialog.or.at/main.asp?m=4,142,156
Post your Partner Search for Joint Projects on the TRIALOG website! Find more information on: http://www.trialog.or.at/main.asp?m=4,142,156
Report 2007 on Development aid: Europe fails to live up to its promises
Source: http://www.concordeurope.org
For the second year in a row, an unprecedented number of European development NGOs have come together from all the major networks, national NGOs and NGO platforms from 27 EU countries to produce this report under the umbrella of CONCORD, the European NGO confederation for relief and development.
Following the release of OECD aid figures for 2006, NGOs from across Europe are calculating how much European governments and Commission have effectively given. First figures show that they are over inflating their aid figures and failing to live up to their promises. The European Union has only spent 0.30% of its Gross National Income (GNI) on genuine aid in 2006 missing their collective target for 2006 of 0.39% of GNI. Close to one third of EU development assistance in 2006 did not deliver any fresh resources for poor countries. Of this:
- Nearly EUR 11 billion reported as ODA was in fact debt cancellation - primarily for Iraq and Nigeria.
- EUR 1.6 billion went on educating foreign students in Europe and
- EUR 1 billion was spent on housing refugees in Europe.
For the new member states, the report shows that ODA expenditures are still low, ranging between 0,06 and 0,15% of GNI.
NGOs want European governments to:
- Provide genuine increases in European aid
- Agree clear and binding year-on-year timetables to reach, at a minimum, the 2010 and 2015 targets with genuine aid resources
- Stop including refugee, student costs and debt relief in official aid reporting
- Improve transparency in aid reporting
- End all tied aid
- Ensure aid is focused on helping the world’s poor
- Take further steps to make aid more effective
Apart from analysis and comparison of data, the report includes an NGO assessment of each EU country's ODA performance. Download the 2007 NGO Aid Watch Report "Hold the Applause! EU governments risk breaking aid promises" from: http://www.concordeurope.org/Files/media/internetdocumentsENG/Aid%20watch/1-Hold_the_Applause.FINAL.pdf
Find more about the background and activities around the launch of the report at:
http://www.concordeurope.org/Public/Page.php?ID=3042
For the second year in a row, an unprecedented number of European development NGOs have come together from all the major networks, national NGOs and NGO platforms from 27 EU countries to produce this report under the umbrella of CONCORD, the European NGO confederation for relief and development.
Following the release of OECD aid figures for 2006, NGOs from across Europe are calculating how much European governments and Commission have effectively given. First figures show that they are over inflating their aid figures and failing to live up to their promises. The European Union has only spent 0.30% of its Gross National Income (GNI) on genuine aid in 2006 missing their collective target for 2006 of 0.39% of GNI. Close to one third of EU development assistance in 2006 did not deliver any fresh resources for poor countries. Of this:
- Nearly EUR 11 billion reported as ODA was in fact debt cancellation - primarily for Iraq and Nigeria.
- EUR 1.6 billion went on educating foreign students in Europe and
- EUR 1 billion was spent on housing refugees in Europe.
For the new member states, the report shows that ODA expenditures are still low, ranging between 0,06 and 0,15% of GNI.
NGOs want European governments to:
- Provide genuine increases in European aid
- Agree clear and binding year-on-year timetables to reach, at a minimum, the 2010 and 2015 targets with genuine aid resources
- Stop including refugee, student costs and debt relief in official aid reporting
- Improve transparency in aid reporting
- End all tied aid
- Ensure aid is focused on helping the world’s poor
- Take further steps to make aid more effective
Apart from analysis and comparison of data, the report includes an NGO assessment of each EU country's ODA performance. Download the 2007 NGO Aid Watch Report "Hold the Applause! EU governments risk breaking aid promises" from: http://www.concordeurope.org/Files/media/internetdocumentsENG/Aid%20watch/1-Hold_the_Applause.FINAL.pdf
Find more about the background and activities around the launch of the report at:
http://www.concordeurope.org/Public/Page.php?ID=3042
Sunday, 24 June 2007
SLOGA study papers influence Slovenia's ODA strategy
Information provided by Anja Mesic, Slovenian NGDO platform SLOGA
In the recent years, the New Member States have put strengths into the development cooperation field mainly through the design of appropriate policies and strategies. So is the case of Slovenia. Despite the initial lack of confidence between government and civil society (a feature of most post-communist societies) the platform of development NGOs SLOGA (SLOvenian Global Action) and other associate organisations have managed to exert influence on the content of the document. The inclusion of external experts, the issuance of studies, a strong interest of NGDOs to contribute, and a strong interest from the MFA and the authors' side to cooperate with the civil society, shall be alleged as reasons.
SLOGA issued three comparative studies. The first one was a study of the Slovenian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Estonian, Irish and Finnish legal framework for Non-governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs). In the second study paper, the systems of inclusion of NGDOs into development cooperation and awareness raising projects were examined. A third study was about the role of NGDOs in development education which was part of a bigger project.
Following the studies, SLOGA gathered and discussed the proposals which were sent to the authors of the Slovenian ODA Strategy draft paper. Unofficially, much of them were incorporated into the text, based on a funding model which draws a distinction between international organisations, educational institutions and small NGDOs (modified Irish model). Most documents incl. the latest SLOGA comments submitted to the MFA on June 11 regarding the strategy paper are available in Slovenian language on the SLOGA website http://www.sloga-platform.org/.
For an English comparative study paper see:
- Maja Bucar / Eva Plibersek / Anja Mesic: Development policies of New Member States and their participation in European Union development co-operation; In: Maja Bucar / Maria Joao Marques / Anja Mesic / Eva Plibersek: Towards a Division of Labour in European Development Co-operation: Case Studies; Bonn : Dt. Inst. für Entwicklungspolitik, 2007. – (Discussion Paper / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik; 11)
ISBN 978-3-88985-347-9, Source: http://www.die-gdi.de/die_homepage.nsf/6f3fa777ba64bd9ec12569cb00547f1b/be803da30eaa92b8c12572670041d831/$FILE/DiscPaper%2011.2007%20Internetfassung.pdf
In the recent years, the New Member States have put strengths into the development cooperation field mainly through the design of appropriate policies and strategies. So is the case of Slovenia. Despite the initial lack of confidence between government and civil society (a feature of most post-communist societies) the platform of development NGOs SLOGA (SLOvenian Global Action) and other associate organisations have managed to exert influence on the content of the document. The inclusion of external experts, the issuance of studies, a strong interest of NGDOs to contribute, and a strong interest from the MFA and the authors' side to cooperate with the civil society, shall be alleged as reasons.
SLOGA issued three comparative studies. The first one was a study of the Slovenian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Estonian, Irish and Finnish legal framework for Non-governmental Development Organizations (NGDOs). In the second study paper, the systems of inclusion of NGDOs into development cooperation and awareness raising projects were examined. A third study was about the role of NGDOs in development education which was part of a bigger project.
Following the studies, SLOGA gathered and discussed the proposals which were sent to the authors of the Slovenian ODA Strategy draft paper. Unofficially, much of them were incorporated into the text, based on a funding model which draws a distinction between international organisations, educational institutions and small NGDOs (modified Irish model). Most documents incl. the latest SLOGA comments submitted to the MFA on June 11 regarding the strategy paper are available in Slovenian language on the SLOGA website http://www.sloga-platform.org/.
For an English comparative study paper see:
- Maja Bucar / Eva Plibersek / Anja Mesic: Development policies of New Member States and their participation in European Union development co-operation; In: Maja Bucar / Maria Joao Marques / Anja Mesic / Eva Plibersek: Towards a Division of Labour in European Development Co-operation: Case Studies; Bonn : Dt. Inst. für Entwicklungspolitik, 2007. – (Discussion Paper / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik; 11)
ISBN 978-3-88985-347-9, Source: http://www.die-gdi.de/die_homepage.nsf/6f3fa777ba64bd9ec12569cb00547f1b/be803da30eaa92b8c12572670041d831/$FILE/DiscPaper%2011.2007%20Internetfassung.pdf
Competition for the Most Innovative Development Project
Information sent by GDN Secretariat, awards@gdnet.org
Submissions are welcome for the Global Development Network’s (GDN) annual competition for the Most Innovative Development Project, which carries prizes in cash and travel of over USD 50,000! The finalists will present their proposals at GDN’s Annual Global Development Conference in Brisbane, Australia in January 2008. Submissions are accepted for an ongoing development project implemented in a developing or transition country. Criteria include the degree of innovation and the potential for broad application of the project in other countries. Applicants are requested to use the new application template available on the GND website. The deadline for submission is August 20, 2007. For more information on the competition visit the GND website at: http://www.gdnet.org/2007awards
Submissions are welcome for the Global Development Network’s (GDN) annual competition for the Most Innovative Development Project, which carries prizes in cash and travel of over USD 50,000! The finalists will present their proposals at GDN’s Annual Global Development Conference in Brisbane, Australia in January 2008. Submissions are accepted for an ongoing development project implemented in a developing or transition country. Criteria include the degree of innovation and the potential for broad application of the project in other countries. Applicants are requested to use the new application template available on the GND website. The deadline for submission is August 20, 2007. For more information on the competition visit the GND website at: http://www.gdnet.org/2007awards
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