FA!R PROCURA 2010: Fair Trade Public Procurement, a tool for sustainable development

Join the conference at the Dortmund Westfalenhalle, Germany, on 24th September 2010. The conference aims at presenting the key outputs of a research and successful initiatives about the existing experiences of Fair Trade Public Procurement (FTPP) in Europe. The conference will also set the state of play of FTPP in the continent and explain how to continue using FTPP as a tool to support sustainable development and in particular marginalized producers from developing countries. Many high level speakers from all over the EU are expected to discuss key topics of FTPP such as legal do and don’ts in FTPP, textile and clothing, as well as food and catering sector issues. A specific session about FTPP in NMSs is foreseen. For more information about the conference and the registration procedures, please visit http://www.european-fair-trade-association.org/observatory/

TRIALOG Study Visit to Brussels

The study visit is a new activity in the current phase of TRIALOG, which foresees annual study visits for a group of CSO representatives from selected NMS platforms.

This year, the two neighbouring platforms, the Bulgarian Platform for International Development (BPID) and the Romanian NGDO Platform (FOND) took part in a study visit to the European Union institutions in Brussels, organised by TRIALOG during the 12th and 16th July 2010.

The study visit’s goal was to help the participants get better understanding about main EU institutions and how to better interact with them in fulfilling the platforms’ tasks. The programme included meetings with representatives of the European Economic and Social Committee, the Development Committee of the European Parliament, DG Dev and DG EuropeAid of the European Commission and the Bulgarian and Romanian Permanent Representations in Brussels, which increased the knowledge of the participants on the European development policy and on the advocacy role of NGDOs. There were free hours provided so each of the groups had separate meetings with their country representatives based in Brussels.

As one of the main highlights of the visit, the participants were able to observe a meeting of the Development Committee, which was also attended by the EU Commissioner, Mr. Andris Piebalgs, providing a very useful insight on the dynamics and interaction between the representatives of the two institutions.

Overall the study visit increased the participants’ understanding of the EU development policies, with focus on current important issues (such as the European Transition Compendium, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, the DEAR Study…) and provided useful contacts for them. Also, it emphasized the need for further strengthening of the policy/ advocacy capacity of the two platforms to engage more actively in development cooperation at the European level. The visit gave additional and practical information on the activity of TRIALOG, CONCORD and DEEEP.

As for concrete follow-up activities, the participants of the two platforms will disseminate the report of the study visit among the platform members, elaborate thematic dossiers for the member NGOs (on the ETC, European institutions in development cooperation, EDF, ENPI…), follow-up with the people met during the study visit and encourage platform members to become more active at the European level.

The report of the study visit will be available shortly on the TRIALOG website.

Information provided by Adela Rusu, FOND, and Dimitar Sotirov, BPID

DE Watch released

The report, initiated by the European Multi Stakeholder Steering Group on Development Education, provides a detailed overview of development education (DE) policies, practices and funding in the 27 EU Member States and Norway. It analyses DE concepts, policies and practices of national development ministries and related agencies, the formal education sector as well as the approaches of civil society organisations and local or regional authorities.

As a first systematic attempt to assess the DE performance of state and non-state actors in 28 European countries, the DE Watch report develops draft indices and aggregates them into a mapping of the DE commitments and practices of national Non-Governmental Development Organisations and the Ministries/agencies responsible for development.

Furthermore, the report calls for conceptual clarity in the discourse about DE, and suggests a typology which distinguishes between four different understandings of DE that occur in the concepts and practice of the different actors.

In times of decreasing aid budgets and of a more and more interlinked world, the report calls both state and non-state actors to strategically strengthen DE in their organisations and institutions, in order to provide European citizens with the values, knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of an increasingly globalised citizenship.

The European Multi-stakeholder Steering Group on Development Education was established in Helsinki, in 2006. Its members are experts from National Governments, European Institutions, international organisations, and civil society. In 2007, the group drafted the European Consensus on Development: the contribution of Development Education and Awareness Raising, which provides the first strategy framework on European development education and awareness raising at local, regional, national and European levels.Download the DE Watch report

Comments can be made at http://www.deeep.org/dewatch.html. For more information, contact Tobias Troll t.troll@deeep.org

Information provided by Tobias Troll, DEEEP and MSH Secretariat

Schools as key actors in promoting Global Education

The 12th edition of the Development Education Summer School (DESS), co-organised by DEEEP together with Artemisszio and the Hungarian Inter Church Aid (HIA) focused on the theme of NGOs and schools cooperation. The 61 participants, together with the facilitators, the experts and the candidates met in Balatonzsemes, Hungary, from June 6 to June 13, 2010.

The structure of the DESS allowed participants to meet everyday in specific working groups, focusing on environmental sustainability, trade and consumption, poverty, diversity, as well as to attend thematic sessions (quality and impact, teachers training, school curricula and whole school approach, NGOs/schools cooperation), aiming at providing them with a more theoretical information, to feed their reflection.

One of the aims of the week was for participants to prepare a “local action day”, which took place in an art and sport school, nearby the venue. The idea was to bring DE to a local school, and raise pupils’ awareness on topics which for the time being are not yet included in their school curricula. Participants met pupils (aged 6-13) and implemented development education activities for a couple of hours. Both school kids and DESS participants were satisfied with the outcomes of these sessions.

DEEEP is currently working on the evaluation of the summer school. It will be finalised in the coming days and will be posted on the summer school webpage, hosted on DEEEP website. http://www.deeep.org/summerschool2010.html. A Summer school 2010 facebook page was created to allow participants to stay in touch in an informal way after the DESS!

Looking forward to DESS 2011…
DEEEP together with its Finnish partners is already working on the next summer school! The Summer School 2011 will take place in June (12-18), nearby Helsinki. The focus will be on Quality and Evaluation.

The final proposal for DESS 2011 will be submitted to DARE members in October. More information will be made available in the next issues of the DE Times.

For more information, contact Chiara Tripepi c.tripepi@deeep.org

Information provided by Chiara Tripepi, DEEEP

Maternity cover for Policy Officer in Brussels office

Our Policy Officer Rebecca Steel-Jasińska will go on maternity leave in the beginning of September. Her replacement will be Monika Matus from Poland, based in our office in Brussels.
Monika brings not only a “new EU member state”-perspective into our policy work but also a broad range of experiences in development cooperation and education as well as in policy and advocacy. Since 2005 she has been engaged with GLEN (Global Education Network of Young Europeans) as trainer and tutor and contributed to the network development. For the Kibera Kids 4 Peace programme in Nairobi, Kenya, she established a comprehensive support programme for Kibera slum community children. At the KARAT coalition in Poland she coordinated the “MakeITFair” & “ProcureITfair” campaign and over the last year she has been involved in advocacy activities in Brussels for Friends of the Earth Europe & CEE Bankwatch.

We are happy to welcome Monika in our team.

Information provided by Christine Bedoya, TRIALOG

From Slovakia to Kenya: Following the inner voice

She has always strove for seeing the world from the perspective of the poorest and empower them to change their situation. Thus, after studying engineering and psychology and many years of work in the international field, she decided to follow her inner voice and first set off for East Africa in 2000. From February 2005 to April 2010, Daniela Petrasova from Slovakia worked as HORIZONT3000 Technical Advisor and Director of Dreikönigsaktion and eRko Support Office in Nairobi, Kenya. She was accompanying and supporting more than 15 projects in the Nairobi region and also developing future project ideas with local partners. In a short interview she shared her experience with us:

What is, from your experience, crucial for the success of a development project?
Development work starts with an in-depth understanding of the situation of the target group, beginning where people are with their needs, dreams and fears and respecting their dignity and right to self-determination. It should respond to the real needs of people and communities and build on their inner potential without making them dependent on long-term outside assistance. At the same time, in development work we have to accept that changes happen only slowly and gradually. Those that want to see results too quickly get often very frustrated. There is a need to persist and persevere and then, if we are lucky, we can see some fruits of the work. Development is a marathon rather than a quick run.

A good development project also needs a common realistic vision that can inspire others, and motivated competent people able to face challenges and move forward.

Does your experience of transition in Slovakia - from a former communist country to a recipient country of ODA and then to a EU member and donor country - help you in your development work in Kenya?
Before I came to Kenya, I worked with two large international programmes assisting Slovakia in the transition period. These programmes also provided some technical expertise in form of personnel. From this experience I was aware that the outside assistance is always limited and those wishing to make an impact need to listen a lot, be patient and work very closely with local people who understand much better how things work in their particular context. At the same time, realizing what was achieved in Slovakia during the last 20 years with all the challenges is also encouraging. Change is indeed possible.

Thank you, Daniela, and all the best for your future work!

Interview by Anita Bister and Ulrike Bey.

Third Edition of the Romanian Development Camp

The third edition of the Romanian Development Camp under the title "MDGs in Focus: Perspectives from the re-emerging donors" took place from 24th till 27th of June 2010 in Bucharest and Covasna (Romania) and it was organized by the Romanian NGDO Platform (FOND) in partnership and with the financial support of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event brought together more than 100 participants from different countries and aimed at presenting the contributions of the new EU member states as re-emerging donors. The theme was chosen in the context of the UN Summit which will be held this year in September and will review the progress and the main challenges in achieving the Millennium Development Goals

The opening session, held in Bucharest on the 24th of June, had as guest speakers: Mr. Teodor Baconschi (Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs), Mr. Viorel Micescu (FOND President), EU Commissioner for Development, Mr. Andris Piebalgs and Mr. Paul Hoebink, Professor in Development Cooperation (Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen). Mr. Piebalgs emphasized in his speech that development cooperation should be at the center of the foreign policy agenda and noted that NGOs are a driving force for development cooperation.

The working sessions of the camp took place in Covasna and consisted of plenary sessions, workshops and debates. The conclusions of this edition of the Romanian Development Camp reflected the need for an effective national development cooperation policy and an increased involvement of other relevant actors such as the national parliament, academia, local authorities and private sector.

The Romanian Development Camp is an annual event bringing together major stakeholders in development cooperation at national and European level: governmental actors, civil society, experts from European and international donors, partner countries, mass-media, academia and the private sector.

For more information about this event, please contact the FOND Secretariat: office@fondromania.org

Information provided by Adela Rusu, FOND