Workshops on Effectivenss and Humanitarian Action in Slovenia

In light of the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4), which will be held in Busan, South Korea, between 29th of November and 1st of December, Ekvilib Institute in cooperation with Sloga, Slovenian NGDOs Platform for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, organized on 20th October a workshop "The effectiveness of civil society in development cooperation - the 8 principles of effective development cooperation", part of a project financed by European Social Fund and Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration. At the workshop, participants learned about the eight principles (the Istanbul Principles) of the effectiveness of civil society in development cooperation, which were adopted in the context of a global process of consultation between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations, Open Forum, and so they represent a global consensus on the key elements that determine the effectiveness of civil society in development cooperation. Furthermore, the Slovenian non-governmental and governmental actors discussed how the Slovenian NGOs and other development actors should contribute to the development and implementation of the principles highlighted, with particular emphasis on advocacy and dialogue, and in conjunction with key concepts, such as policy coherence for development.

Between 12th and 14th of October a training »Introduction to Humanitarian Action« was organized by Humanitarian Response Centre, which is operating under Sloga, Slovenian NGDOs Platform for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The training was led by Mr. Iain Logan, the representative of an internationally recognized organization for humanitarian response, Global Emergency Group, and advisor for the international humanitarian aid, Jasna Djordjevic. The three-day program included lectures, discussions, video presentations, intensive case studies and exercises. The aim of the training was to acquaint participants with the basic humanitarian actions, topics and principles and to create a place, where participants exchanged experiences, gained new knowledge and developed practical skills.

Information provided by Nina Perovic, Sloga

DE Workshop in Lithuania

On the 11th of November the Lithuanian Kolping Society LITDEA held a workshop for the LITDEA member organisations, board members and staff members on Development Education. The workshop was held by Matthias Fiedler director of Irish Development Education Association (IDEA). IDEA is the national platform for organizations and individuals engaged in the provision, promotion and advancement of development education throughout the island of Ireland. The workshop objectives for participants were to become familiar with relevant current European trends in Development Education/ Global Education (DE/GE). Besides, they engaged in a reflection on how their own DE/GE work locally and nationally is situated within the European landscape and dynamics and received “European” inspirations for their own work in DE/ GE.

Mr. Fiedler presented concepts and conceptual issues of Development Education in Ireland, gave reasonable arguments why DE is needed and provided the information what DE explored. During the workshop members did group exercises and had plenary discussions on concepts of DE: informing on development co-operation; campaigning; quality in DE as well as discussions to clarify the concept for the Lithuanian situation, needs analysis for LITDEA, entry points for DE in Lithuania. All members were able to share their points of view and examples of good practise.

The results showed that in Lithuania we need stronger interest in Development Education, more communication and work with society members to promote and enhance DE throughout Lithuania. It is important to involve the ministry of science and education of Lithuania better in promoting DE through the schools.

Information provided by Ruta Ulkyte, Lithuanian Kolping Society

Prepare to Respond – Training Programme (Austrian Red Cross & RedR UK)

In 2012, the Austrian Red Cross and RedR UK are running a unique training programme for relief workers, offering a broad range of courses targeting humanitarian organizations from the new EU countries and Croatia. All training resources, accommodation and meals are covered. This has been made possible through the support of the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO). Participants have to pay a small registration fee only (for target organizations: 10 EUR per training day) and are responsible for their own travel arrangements and expenses.

The programme caters for all knowledge levels with training appropriate for individuals beginning a career within the sector to experienced relief workers looking to develop specialist skills. Diverse programmes and methodologies, skilled facilitators and international groups of 20 participants, each with different skills and experiences, will provide the ideal training environment. Held in various central and eastern European countries, the following courses will be available:

General Humanitarian Skills
- Disaster Risk Reduction
- Field Logistics in Emergencies
- Managing People and Projects in Emergencies
- Needs Assessment in Emergencies
- Training of Trainers

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
- Hand Pump Training
- Household Water Treatment
- Hygiene Promotion
- Sanitation

A limited number of NGO-participants from new EU member states will be able to get their travel costs refunded by TRIALOG. Given you are accepted for a training happening until 30 August 2012 you can apply for reimbursement of travel costs. Please send the application form at least three weeks prior the event. Please do read the TRIALOG travel reimbursement scheme. Send your application to f.elnagashi@trialog.or.at.

Find more information: http://www.redcross.at/preparetorespond

Should All Development NGOs be “Green” NGOs?

On 27 – 28 October 2011, the Baltic-Nordic NGO capacity building programme was launched in Vilnius. The programme entitled “Development Cooperation in the Nordic and the Baltic Countries: NGO-to-NGO Training and Networking”, supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania and the Association of the Local Authorities in Lithuania, aims at strengthening Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, Danish, Finnish and Swedish NGOs working in the field of development cooperation. The first training focusing of the relationship between development cooperation and sustainable development covered such important questions as
What’s the relationship between the development co-operation and sustainable development? How to make sustainable development an integral part of the development co-operation strategy? What is the role of the NGOs in this? Shouldn’t all development NGOs be “green” NGOs? Climate change prevention, mitigation and environmental awareness – is it an integral part of the development co-operation policies? If not, how to make that happen? Project/campaign/tools ideas – how to integrate the outcomes of the discussion above into our daily work? Exchange of practices and tools.

The second training focusing on environmental awareness in development cooperation and fight against climate change is scheduled for January 2012. This is the first joint project by the Danish, Finnish, Swedish, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian (both the National Platform and LITDEA) NDGO platforms, organised by the Eastern Europe Studies Centre (EESC) in Vilnius.

Materials & info about the event on http://www.eesc.lt/en/news/new?id=527 More information at ringaile.trakymaite@eesc.lt.

Information provided by Ringaile Trakymaite, EESC

DESS 2012 confirmed!

The Development Education Summer School DESS 2012 will take place in the Czech Republic and will be organised by the Czech NGOs platform FoRs - Czech Forum for Development Co-operation - DEEEP and CONCORD. The upcoming DESS 2012, 'CHANGE LAB – Engaging Local Society in Sustainable Development', will combine issues related to sustainable development, i.e. developing and sharing concrete tools and methods to engage various target groups in the field of sustainable development at the local level. Among the objectives of DESS 2012, there is an aim to clarify particular issues on sustainable development to be used in DE/AR in order to build locally engaged society – with Human Rights Based Approach and local governance as cross-cutting issues.

During that week, participants will be able to discuss how to adopt and develop existing approaches in DE/AR and to reflect critically new global and local challenges for sustainable development in synergy with other streams of non-formal education relevant to sustainable development, e.g. the Education for sustainable development, environmental education, human rights education etc. DESS 2012 will also stimulate networking, partnerships and the exchange of best practices between participants across regions and sectors. More information will soon be uploaded on DEEEP's site.

Information provided by Ana Biurrun, DEEEP

DEEEP intern position

DEEEP is recruiting for an internship position based in Brussels and offers a contract according to the Belgian law from February 2012 – 31st July 2012.

The intern will work 4 days per week, including holidays (to be agreed together with the DEEEP Co-ordinator according to the Belgian law).

The gross salary is 722 Euro per month according to the Belgian Convention d’immersion professionnelle contract.

The intern will play a key role in the organisation of the upcoming DESS 2012, which will take place in Czech Republic and will have the chance of attending this event.

Please, send your CV and motivation letter (in English) to vacancies@deeep.org by December 16th 2011 at the latest.

Only short listed candidates will be contacted for an interview. You can find the full job description here (pdf).

IRIN: The Rise of the "New" Donors

IRINNEWS, humanitarian news and anaylsis, a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, features an article series on the "new" donors, the so-called BRICSS - Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and South Korea - in the field of humanitarian assistance. Read more

Partnersearch: Local Authorities in DE Call

EuropeAid has published the NSA-LA call for proposals for local authorities, covering objective 1b (multi-country development projects) and 2 (development education and awareness raising in Europe). Deadine for concept notes is 1 February.
KADE, Kerry Action for Development Education, is looking for a project under this call with a second level schools focus in order for their LA schools network in Ireland to participate in. For more information follow the link.

Online Discussion on Development and Migration

KOPIN, Malta, would like to invite you to participate in an online discussion on the question "Do you think that the national and EU development policies put sufficient emphasis on the link between development and migration?" The idea of the forum is to exchange our views, knowledge and information on the topic. The gathered knowledge will also help our organisations to formulate policy recommendations to decision-makers in Malta and Europe. Your opinions count, and we will be glad to read from you! Please enter this link, register and contribute your opinion: http://forums.developmenteducation.org/discussion/10/eu-development-policies-development-migration-kopin-malta

Information provided by Dominik Kalweit, KOPIN

Silver Rose Awards - Call for Applications

SOLIDAR’s Silver Rose Awards were launched in 2000 to help raise the profile of individuals and organisations whose struggles contribute greatly to social justice and equality throughout the world. Winners are sometimes well-known; others are simply ordinary people leading extraordinary lives, reaching out to the most vulnerable groups in their societies, advocating their rights, campaigning for their needs, and providing essential services such as soup kitchens, housing, children’s holidays and literacy classes. As SOLIDAR’s member organisations work on numerous projects with local partners both in Europe and around the world, examples of worthy recipients are not difficult to identify.

The winners are always powerful advocates of change, united by their passion, commitment and vision for bringing about a fairer and more just society. Among the winners from previous years is Morgan Tsvangirai, President of the Zimbabwean Movement for Democratic Change and a key figure in the fight for human rights in Zimbabwe, the National League for Democracy of Burma which helped turn the spotlight on their struggle against Burma’s military junta and organisations providing social support such as Filo D’Argento (Italy) a helpline set up for the elderly, offering support, conversation, and acting as a watchdog against abuse.

The Awards are presented each year at a prestigious awards ceremony held at the European Parliament in Brussels. The next edition will be held in the Members Dining Room on 6 March 2012. The call for nominations are open until 23 November 2012.

Launch of 2011 Human Development Report and State of the Population

The 2011 Human Development Report argues that the urgent global challenges of sustainability and equity must be addressed together – and identifies policies on the national and global level that could spur mutually reinforcing progress towards these interlinked goals. Read more

This year's State of World Population report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), People and Possibilities in a World of 7 Billion, looks at the the dynamics behind the numbers. It explains the trends that are defining our world of 7 billion and documents actions that people in vastly different countries and circumstances are taking in their own communities to make the most of their--and our--world. The report makes the case for sound planning and investing in people. Read more

Updates from the Policy Officer in Brussels

Since returning from maternity leave a couple of weeks ago, TRIALOG Policy Officer Rebecca Steel-Jasińska has been getting back into the swing of things with some new developments requiring particular attention.

First, the European Transition Compendium is about to be relaunched as an interactive database, with the aim of making all the information gathered over the past years available to whoever is interested. During a meeting with Antonio Lopez-Pena from DevCo, who is in charge of the ETC database, the policy officer got a sneak preview. The launch should take place later this month and a real test will be spreading information about its existence and encouraging its use.

At the end of September, the European Commission adopted four decisions that affect the neighbourhood, including the launch of the Neighbourhood Civil Society Facility. This is something we have been advocating for a number of years and the EPAN working group, which TRIALOG convenes, is currently working on a joint statement with the CONCORD FDR working group to respond to these measures.

CONCORD has a busy time ahead of it and the coming weeks see a period of intense work within working groups including the policy forum, CONCORD’s main space for debating policy direction and advocacy work.

Information provided by Rebecca Steel-Jasińska, TRIALOG

Fostering Successful Partnerships

Between the 19th and 21st of September TRIALOG held for the third time a Partnership Fair in Vienna. This event hosted about 120 participant coming from 84 development NGOs of 24 countries of Europe. The main objectives of the event were to deepen the dialogue and mutual exchange between Old Member States (OMS) and New Member States (NMS), to enable NMS platforms and organisations to access European Commission (EC) funds for Development Cooperation (DC) and to facilitate partnerships, cooperation, learning and exchange at an international level for joint projects for development.

During the conferences programme the participants attended lectures and discussions about EC funding schemes about the 2011 calls for proposals for Development Education and Awareness Raising and other relevant calls for proposals for NGOs. Input was also given about guidelines on how to write a successful co-financing application. Another significant focus of the Partnership Fair was the upcoming call for proposal 2011-2012, which has now been published by the European Commission. Deadline for submission of a concept note will be 21st of November 2011.

The main element of the Partnership Fair was the intensive and fruitful work in groups, in order to develop projects together for the EC calls and to share experience and knowledge. At the end of the event, 19 project proposals have been concretised with topics varying from women empowerment, migration issues, school partnerships, land grabbing, climate change, or local authorities, food sustainability and others.

For the TRIALOG team as well as according to the feedback of the NGO representatives the Partnership Fair was a great event. Participants evaluated that the Partnership Fair was “a very useful event to find potential partners for future projects, to establish contact with other European NGOs as well as to share visions and exchange ideas.” We want to thank the participants for their engaged work which was important for the genuinely atmosphere and the great results and wish success for their project proposals.

The full documentation is available at the TRIALOG website.

Information provided by Emilia Nunnari and Hannah Angerbauer, TRIALOG

Effectiveness Matters! Zagranica Group’s Conference “See People Behind Politics”

Over 60 people from all around Europe and global South met in Warsaw, to discuss solutions for improving aid effectiveness. There are two months left to the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4). The Joint Position of the European Union for Busan is developed under the Polish Presidency. The conference “Why effectiveness matters? Perspectives from the global South” on 10th October 2011 was supposed to show that political decisions and declarations that will be made, affect millions of people in countries of the global South. In the conference representatives of development Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), academics and representatives of Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs took part.

The first part of the conference was dedicated to the Human Rights Based Approach. Roberto Pinauin from IBON Foundation (Philippines) and Zsofia Farkas from the Minority Rights Group (Hungary) discussed how the HRBA can improve aid effectiveness, based on practices from partner countries and in terms of the upcoming HLF4 decision. During the second part of the conference, panelists discussed if solutions concerning ownership and accountability can bring concrete changes in the current aid system. The discussion was supported by Vitalice Meja from the Reality of Aid Network and Franklin Oduro from the Ghana Center for Democratic Ownership.

The biggest success of the conference was a Role Play Game, in which participants simulated Busan negotiations. Delegations had to prepare own positions about including HRBA and democratic ownership principle in a Busan Outcome Document. The simulation showed in an innovative way how difficult and fervent the decision-making process is – especially if the issue is so significant.

Zagranica Group expects that the European position for Busan (which has not been finalised yet) will be an expression of solidarity and real co-responsibility and a re-establish progressive framework for poverty eradication focus instead of being led purely by economic interest.

More information on the conference and the Zagranica Group Presidency project. http://zagranica.org.pl/en/Presidency-2011/ and Watch the Presidency spot at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t5odvq8aPc

Information provided by Magdalena Trojanek, Zagranica Group