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FOND participated at the European Development Days

15-16 December 2011, Warsaw - Poland

The event was organised by the European Commission and the Polish Presidency of the Council of EU.

This year, the European Development Days was focused on development and democracy in the wake of the recent Arab Spring events and the proposals of the European Commission for a new EU development policy.

Amond the topics discussed were: aid effectiveness and accountability, agenda for change, democratic ownership after Busan, modernising European development policy.

More information are available on the official website of the events - www.eudevdays.eu.

4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness,

29 November - 1 December 2011, Busan, South Korea

Leaders from across the globe, representatives of Governments, Parliaments, civil society organisations and private sector meet in Busan for the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.The EU member states have stated their support for reducing poverty and inequality and accelerate the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (the Paris Declaration - 2005 and Accra Agenda for Action - 2008).

However, millions of people worldwide suffer from poverty and live on less than a dollar per day.

CONCORD - the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development urges EU member states to maximise the development impact of their aid.

CONCORD launched the Report "Spotlight on EU Policy Coherence for Development", 7th of November, 2011

Stop EU policies violating the rights of poor people, say NGOs

EU policies are continuing to seriously undermine rights in developing countries, says a new report by CONCORD - the Confederation of European development NGOs.

"Spotlight on EU Policy Coherence for Development" shows incoherencies between EU development objectives and other policies, coming at an important time as the EU reforms its agricultural, trade and development policies.

The report shows that the EU is failing to meet its obligations under the Lisbon Treaty to make its policies coherent so that they do not undermine development objectives.

925 million people went hungry last year- that's almost 1 out of every 7 people on the planet. At the same time one third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted.

CONCORD calls on the EU to walk the talk of the Lisbon Treaty and demonstrate greater political will to make Policy Coherence for Development a reality, for the benefit of poor children, women and men in developing countries, and in the EU's long-term interest.

Read the report from here.

The Black Sea NGO Forum 2011,

6th-8th of October, Bucharest, Caro Hotel

 The 4th edition of the Black Sea Forum took place in Bucharest, on 6th-8th of October and focused on vision, strategy and policy in the region.

The Black Sea Forum was launched in 2008 by FOND with the support of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation in the framework of the Black Sea Synergy. The Forum aims at increasing the level of dialoge and cooperation among NGOs in the Black Sea Region as a means of strengthening NGOs and their capacity to influence regional and national policies.

The Representation of the European Commission in Romania awarded this year, within the framework of Black Sea Forum, the Black Sea NGO Award for Excellency. The aim of this award is to enhance the profile of the Black Sea Synergy and its role in proposing a regional, cooperative approach in the region, as well as the multilateral dimension of EU external policies.

More information about this event are available on the website www.blackseango.org.

Romanian Development Camp, 4th Edition, 6th-8th of July 2011

What is the role of the new donors in the future European development architecture?

This was the main question addressed during the three days of the fourth edition of the Romanian Development Camp. The event was organised by the  Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in partnershio with the Romanian NGDO Platform - FOND during the 6th-8th of July, in Cluj- Napoca.

This edition has brought together almost 100 participants from various countries and different backgrounds: foreign ministries, development practitioners, members of Parliament, civil society, private sectors, local authorities, media, academia.

Representatives from CONCORD and other European NGDOs Platforms from Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic have had an important input in the discussions and presented their experiences in development cooperation, including priorities and challenges, as well as their position on relevant European documents such the Green Paper, Multi-annual Financial Framework 2013-2020, European Transition Compendium. This was a great opportunity for Romanian NGOs and Government to open up an interesting on the role of Romania as a new donor and its added value alongside the other 11 "new Member States".

The Romanian Development Camp provides a platform for national ODA stakeholders to reflect on current global development issues, European trends and development commitments, while familiarizing themselves with the tools and instruments for ODA effectiveness. 

This is the second date when FOND organised this event together with the Romanian MFA. During the las year's edition, EU Commissioner for Development, Mr. Andris Piebalgs stressed that development should be at the center of the foreign policy agenda and NGOs represents the driving force for development cooperation.

FOND will continue the dialogue with the Government and other relevant national actors (the private sector, academia, media), promoting a coherent and effective development cooperation policy.     

FOND becomes full member of CONCORD

During the last CONCORD General Assembly (21st-22nd of June, in Brussels), the Romanian NGDO Platform - FOND joined as full member the European NGO Confederation for Relief and Development. Thid decision reflected the common interest of FOND in the activities of CONCORD and its Working Groups, shared by the Platform members during the last FOND General Assembly (February 2011).

Over the past years, FOND members have already been actively engaged in various CONCORD Working Groups, such as Aid Watch, EPAN, DARE and Cotonou, with support from TRIALOG.

  "Together "- Romania - Republic of Moldova Civil Society Forum

27th-28th of May 2011, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova

The Romanian NGDO Platform (FOND) organized the second edition of the Civil Society Forum Romania - Republic of Moldova, during 27th-28th of May, in Chisinau. The event was held with the financial support of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The first edition was lauched in 2010 and it aimed at increasing the level of cooperation and dialogue among NGOs from Romania and R. Moldova, creating a common agenda for actions for the next 5 years.

Starting with the recommendations from the last edition, this year's edition aimed to focus on the bilateral transfer of experiences, good practices and knowledge between the two countries. Although there is an increasing dialogue between the two societies, there is still the need for a thorough involvement of both governments and NGOs to develop a common action plan. The Forum gathered representatives of civil society, government, mass-media, academic, both from Romania and the Republic of Moldova.

Find here more information about the Forum in 2010.

AidWatch Report 2011 - EU self interest inflates aid by over 5bn Euro, say NGOs

This year the report says that aid is becoming increasingly dictated by domestic political agendas and tied to security, immigration and commercial objectives. The EU is the world's biggest aid donor but in 2010 only 9 countries met their EU aid targets: Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, UK.

The critical issue for Romania's development policy remains its lack of focus and predictability, both in terms of budget allocation and prioritization of interventions. In the 3 years since joining the EU, Romania has not managed to position itself as a credible actor in the global development community.

The report is available here.

More information about Romania can be download by here.

FOND Seminar on Initiating a National Multi-Stakeholder Group on Developmet/ Global Education

13th of May 2011, Bucharest

FOND Development Education Working Group organized, with the financial support of DEEEP a National Seminar on Iniatiating a National Multi-Stakeholder Group on Development Education.

The event was held on the 13th of May 2011, in Bucharest and was attended by the main actors in Romania active in development/ global education - the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, NGOs, teachers, research institutes, international experts.

The main objective of the Seminar was to introduce the concept of multi-stakeholder group - good practices from other EU members in order to facilitate the creation of a national multi-stakeholder group in Romania.

In July 2010, FOND Development Education Working Group in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport organized the first national seminar on development/ global education in Romania, entitled "Setting the national framework for development education in Romania". The activity took place in cooperation with the North - South Center of the Council of Europe.

The main conclusions of the seminar emphasized the need for coordination and common vision at the national level between all the relevant actors and for a more active role of NGOs in policy and advocacy activities.

Aid Watch Briefing - between austerity and political will: EU Member States ODA budgets in 2011

In 2011 collective EU "genuine ODA" is likely to face a slight reduction in absolute terms from its 2011 level: significant genuine ODA increases in a few EU Members States will not be sufficient to balance cuts to 2011 "genuine ODA" budgets in most member states. Only Denmark, Sweden, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Finland and Ireland have delivered on their promoses for 2011. Thanks to general government budget increases, Swedish and Finnish ODA levels will increase by more than overall budget increases (more than 10%); some countries have decided to increase ODA in 2011 despite national budget reductions - Estonia, POland, UK (...).

ODA managed by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be cut in 2011 by more than a third.

Read the entire text from here.

Read the full archive from here.