The new Local Democracy Agency Armenia will open on 28th of October in Gyumri. It is the second LDA in the South Caucasus area and the thirteenth LDA opened by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) with the support of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.
“Decentralisation of power and the development of administrative capacities at the local level, together with a capable and vivid civil society, represent a fundamental step in the process of democratisation, stability and development of Armenia”, says ALDA President, Per Vinther.
On occasion of the official opening ceremony, ALDA organises a conference to gather Local Authorities, NGOs, citizens, and international representatives that are actively involved in local governance issues to discuss and learn about best practices of involving citizens in public life. The opening conference will take place in the City Hall of Gyumri and will be also be part of the European Week of Local Democracy.

In an effort to support the process of democratisation, stability and development of Armenia ALDA and the Congress decided to establish the Local Democracy Agency in the country. The opening plan has been developing since 2008.
It is a long term project and it will utilise the expertise of ALDA and the other LDAs and the network, which gather about 160 members, including Local Authorities, Associations of Local Authorities and non-governmental organisations, coming from more than 30 countries.
Partners of LDA Armenia will come from three countries: the Rhône-Alpes Region (France), the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (Italy), the International Committee For The Development of Peoples CISP (Italy), the Union of Communities of Armenia, the Urban Foundation for Sustainable Development (Armenia), the Journalists’ Club Asparez (Armenia), and the Armenian Municipalities of Gyumri, the host city, and Ijevan. The role of the international partners will be to provide core financial support, participate in activities where they have the skills and capacities, to encourage their own partners to participate in the work of the LDA and to promote the work of the LDA in their own community and encourage wider participation.
Gyumri is the second largest city in Armenia, situated in the North of the country and has been selected as host since it will provide a good basis to allow the LDA to work on a national level.
The Municipality of Gyumri provides an office and rooms for the LDA in a building which already hosts other public associations and NGOs in Gyumri. “Furthermore the vibrant civil society in Gyumri and the possibilities to improve the situation for cooperation between civil society and local authorities are also very important factors”, stresses President Per Vinther. “In addition”, says Mr Vinther, “Gyumri is also twinned with the Georgian city Kutaisi which provides a strong basis for developing the cooperation between both cities”.
The first LDA in the Caucasus is based in Kutaisi, Georgia since the year 2006.
The LDA will facilitate the participation of civil society in the decision-making process at the local level, increase the interest, awareness and capacities of citizens to take part in the decision-making process at the local level and increase the awareness and skills of the local communities and local authorities to address the needs of their citizens. So a practical exercise of policy sharing between citizens and local authorities should also be facilitated. The LDA will support capacity building of civil society and local authorities and it will implement its activities at the local level with trainings, study visits and other participative methods.
Acting as a promoter of democracy and local self-government, the Local Democracy Agency will also promote human rights and sustainable development. The realisation of all objectives will be reached by implementing projects with local authorities and NGOs using the international partners support. The LDA will aim to serve as a bridge between Europe and Armenia and will bring Armenian practice to Europe and European experience to Armenia.
Finally the LDA will also work to ensure cross border cooperation in South Caucasus and will work to promote peace and understanding in the South Caucasus region. “There are plans to set up an LDA in Azerbaijan in the near future as well. So the LDA in Armenia will also become part of a network of LDAs in South Caucasus that can promote cooperation and mutual understanding between the countries in South Caucasus” announces Per Vinther.

During the past 2 weeks, 4 trainings on use of wiki sites were held as part of the project for decentralised cooperation between North Macedonia and Lower Normandy. The first 3 trainings were focused on editing contents for the wiki sites (September 23, 28 and 30) and the fourth training was intended for administrators (October 1).
These trainings are an extension of the training cycle held in April this year in Debar, Veles and Skopje.

The three trainings were attended by a total of 17 candidates from different cities from North Macedonia, who had the opportunity to be familiarised with the wiki software and its use, to learn how to edit text, create links and add sources, edit photos, multimedia, tables, categories and discussion pages. After these 3 basic trainings, training was also held for wiki-site administrators, covering the editing of portals and user and content administration. This training was attended by 10 participants who had previously undergone the basic training. Trainings were attended by participants from the following cities: Skopje, Veles, Strumica, Kumanovo, Kavadarci, Gevgelija, Makedonski Brod, Kicevo.
The 4-hour trainings were conducted by trainers-representatives from the Metamorphosis Foundation, whereas the administration training was held by a representative of the NGO Wikimedia Macedonia, the partner in this project of the Metamorphosis Foundation. Participation in the trainings was free and they were held in the premises of Metamorphosis, and all participants received a copy of the Wiki Guide. The purpose of the trainings and the internship is to motivate young people to contribute to the enrichment of local content and to the improvement of its quality through cooperation enabled by the wiki-platform, and do strengthen the active citizen participation through the use of new technologies.
The purpose of these activities, in particular, is to encourage the enrichment of content on the local wiki-portals, which would lead to the creation of regional wiki-portals, connections of municipalities, and most of all, promotion of regional opportunities and values, which will stimulate business development, increase awareness of employment opportunities for people from other regions and will promote the local artistic, cultural and other events. So far, 3 portals have been created on wiki.mk, Skopje, Debar and Veles, but by increasing the contents of local importance it is expected to create portals for other cities as well, and connect them in regional wiki-portals in the future.
This activity is part of the Programme for decentralised cooperation between the Region Lower Normandy and Republic of North Macedonia, coordinated by ALDA.
For further information please consult the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/

The participants of the Eastern Partnership Conference, that took place in Warsaw (29 Semptember 2011) adopted a declaration in which they express their continuing concern about the ongoing human rights violations and the existence of political prisoners in some of the EaP countries.
In the document they also call for more consistency of the EU policy towards the political developments in all countries of the Eastern Partnership.

Moreover, the participants of the Conference call for an increased assistance for the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum.
The international conference entitled “The Eastern Partnership Conference: Towards a European Community of Democracy, Prosperity and a Stronger Civil Society” took place as an event accompanying the Eastern Partnership summit, which is one of the most important events of the Polish presidency.
The conference was attended by a number of important guests, including: Radosław Sikorski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland; Štefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy; Nick Clegg, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament. ALDA was represented by its Director, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida.

ALDA will take part in the International conference for the European Year of Volunteers on “Italy – Central and South Eastern Europe: Volunteerism and Institutions in comparison”, 7-9 October 2011 – Gorizia (I).
Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Director, will take the floor on the last day, after the presentation of the results of the working groups, together with Anica Mikus Kos, Slovenska Filantropija President, Andrea Waxenegger, University of Graz, President EUCEN (European Network of University Centers for Long Life Learning), and Luca Jahier, the Economic and Social Committee, President Group III.

The conference is promoted by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and organised by the regional CSV in collaboration with CSVnet – National Coordination Centres for Voluntary Service; it has also received the patronage of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, European Commission Representation in Italy CEV – European Volunteer Centre, Brussels.
The conference will be an opportunity to continue the comparison between volunteerism and institutions in Italy and in Central and South Eastern Europe, focusing on issues such as diversity and social inclusion, young people and participation. The aim is to draw a roadmap for future advocacy activities and common planning.
The event represents an important moment to engage and support existing realities of volunteering of those countries which are not members of the European Union yet.
The conference will be attended by over 100 Italian and foreign volunteers, institutional representatives and leaders of voluntary organisations, the Centers for Voluntary Service and Volunteer Centers, coming both from Italy and other countries such as Albania, Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey.
The Conference will be opened, the first day, by a plenary session titled: “Which role for volunteering in the Europe of the future”.
The second day will be dedicated to working groups, accompanied by the interventions of Italian and foreign associations introduced by the relations of Joachim Ott, Acting Head of Unit, Directorate General Communication, Unit Policy for Citizens of the European Commission, and Martijn Pakker, Director CEV – European Centre for Volunteering.

A delegation from the Municipality of Sciacca, consisting of the Deputy-Mayor, Carmelo Brunetto, the manager of the Economic Development Sector, Nando Rapisardi, accompanied by Paolo La Bella, entrepreneur, Diego Santaliana, ALDA, Ferhat Emil and Oya Otman, United Nations, went to Turkey to strengthen the friendship relationship with the Municipalities of Kirşehir and Mustafakemalpaşa.
This was the third step of an initiative launched at the beginning of the year in Turkey, which has also provided an exploratory mission of the Turkish authorities in Sciacca in early summer 2011.

The spa tourism, the use of the thermal sources to produce geothermal energy, cultural exchanges and trade were the main points of interest identified by Sciacca, Kirşehir and Mustafakemalpaşa Municipalities.
“We have laid the foundation – said the Deputy-Mayor Carmelo Brunetto – to build a bridge between our city and a friendly country, growing, attracted by our land, which has became a model of development to which Europe looks with great interest” .
Specifically, the partnership with the Turkish cities was formalised with a memorandum of cooperation in four areas.
Local economic development, with the aim to transform the economies of the cities from agriculture to services sector; to exchange information and technical expertise in the area of geothermal energy including illness treatments, wellness treatments and heating systems; to develop trade relations to foster and to promote the Municipalities’ respective leading sectors including, but not limited, to the area of food (dairy products, frozen food), agro-technology; dairy products technologies; vineyard technologies; textile; furniture; automotive spare parts; to build projects concerning environment and nature conservation.
Culture and Tourism, with the aim of the touristic promotion in the areas such as sea, ski-resorts, thermal tourism and history in the respective towns; the preservation of historical sites; the development of festival organisation skills; the promotion of local gastronomy; the development of joint participations to festivals in Italy and Turkey including exchange of artists and folkloristic groups, the exchange of students and mutual school visits, activities to promote civil society dialogue; youth related activities through the EACEA’s programmes (Lifelong Learning Programme, Eurydice, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Media, Culture, Europe for Citizens andYouth in Action).
EU Funds and Project Management, with the ultimate aim of contributing to further developing cooperation between Italy and Turkey (even through specific future twinning programmes Italy-Turkey).
Other areas, as municipal services: exchange of staff and best practices.
The Municipality of Sciacca, Kirşehir and Mustafakemalpaşa have identified the Union of Municipalities of Turkey (UMT) and ALDA as supervising organisations of the cooperation actions.
This initiative was made possible thanks to the project LAR II (Support for the further implementation of the Local Government Reform Programme in Turkey – Phase II) run by the United Nations, the Union of Municipalities of Turkey and the Ministry of Interior Turkey.
In the coming weeks (7th-9th October and 24th-29th October) the project LAR II foresees new meetings in Turkey with the signing of a further partnership agreement between the municipalities of Brindisi, Monfalcone, Karadeniz Eregli and Zonguldak.

“Twinnings between Municipalities have paved the way to concept of decentralised cooperation and local government engagement at the international level. They need to become operational in a political and general framework”, stated Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Director, in her intervention at the general meeting on Twinning between municipalities.
The Congress was organised in Rybnik, Poland, (29 September – 1 October) by the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), in partnership with the Association of Polish Cities, a CEMR member association, and the City of Rybnik, with the financial support of the European Commission and under the patronage of the Polish EU presidency.

The event was attended by more than 300 participants from 31 countries all over Europe. It focused on the methods of Twinning in building the european citizenship and further enlargement.
The Association of the Local Democracy Agencies was associated to this event and participated in the workshop on Europe XXL. The workshop was moderated by M. Tansel Kaya, member of the Municipality Assembly of Istanbul.
In her speech the Director of ALDA, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida also stated that “there is no shared development and democratic processes without a process of decentralisation based on functioning local authorities and participative and strong civil society. It is a process sine qua non, because peace, stability and growth need this element. A centralised and monolithic state does not have a chance. Even in the centralised countries (China), forms of autonomy and decentralisation (called in a different way) are necessary”.

Twinning between Municipalities make it possible to obtain an improvement of the capacity of public services, the development of cross-border cooperation projects and new forms of territorial cooperation upon which are based the majority of European policies, including those on social cohesion and development, and support administrative reform in transitional countries.

“The role of local and regional authorities –said Mrs. Valmobrida- is fundamental in transitional (east and now south) countries (like all the former CIS countries) and the practice of twinning/city to city cooperation is an additional element for institutional building. Many countries and areas are trying to find figure out their way : we need to strongly support democratic process, local democracy and civil society. It is for the benefit for us all, not only for stabilising our borders but also for strengthening our values – in Europe – and what we believe in”.

ALDA will take part in the First World Forum of Local Development Agencies “Territory, Economy and Governance: New Glances in Changing Times” on 5-7 October 2011 in Seville, Spain. The event, organised by the Andalusian Employment Service (Junta de Andalucía), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-ART Initiative and the Andalusian Fund of Municipalities for International Solidarity, in co-operation with the Seville County Council and City of Seville, will bring together Local Development Agencies from around the world.

This Forum aims at creating a space for reflection for local development actors and facilitate new perspectives, with a view to promoting networking and strategies tailored to the current global context with a human solidarity and sustainable development approach. Particularly, ALDA will participate, in the person of Mr. Alfonso Aliberti, Project Manager of the Association, to the workshops “Public Policies for Territorial Development” and “Local Development, Decentralisation and Governance. The Role of International Co-operation”.

In this way, ALDA will contribute to prepare an agreed set of local development ideas and contents to be explored in a theoretical framework and will take part in producing training materials that shall be the basis for building the capacity of local development professionals. In this framework ALDA will promote the role and the experience of LDAs as Local Development Agencies active in the Balkans and in Caucasus.

For any further information visit
http://www.foromundialadel.org

On 29 and 30 September, the second Summit of Heads of States on Eastern Partnership takes place in Warsaw, under the auspices of the EU Presidency. The Partnership and its results and failures will be assessed by the States of the EU and by the Partners Countries.
The issues at stake will be both the composition and the common activity of the Partnership.

There are concerns about the future of Belarus in the present group after the dramatic democratic breakdown after the elections in December 2010. Other countries present strong democratic failures like Azerbaijan with the recent arrests of demonstrators as well as Ukraine with the recent events on internal political retaliation. The content of the Partnership will address the progress on different sectorial approaches (mainly in economic and environmental field).
The Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership is present at the Summit with a side event, co-organised with the Polish Institute of International Affairs.
A position paper reflecting a recent monitoring of the results achieved and to be reached, will be presented and debated. The Association of the Local Democracy Agencies will be present with the Director of ALDA, Mrs. Antonella Valmorbida, co Chair of the CSF opening the conference.

Read the Position paper in English here

Read the Position paper in Russian here

At its meeting in Brussels on 22 September 2011 the Board of the European Movement International (EMI) approved the application for full membership of ALDA.
The EUROPEAN MOVEMENT is an international organisation open to all political, economic, social and cultural trends in civil society. Its objective is to “contribute to the establishment of a united, federal Europe founded on the principles of peace, democracy, liberty, solidarity, and respect for basic human rights. It seeks to provide a structure to encourage and facilitate the active participation of citizens and civil society organisations in the development of a united Europe”.
Its 42 National Councils and 31 associated Member Organisations work towards bringing together representatives from European associations, political parties, enterprises, trade unions and individual lobbyists.
Born over half a century ago, the EUROPEAN MOVEMENT has played a crucial role in the construction of Europe. The EUROPEAN MOVEMENT’s main focus of attention centres on influencing political, social and cultural arenas within the framework of the European Civil Society.
The EUROPEAN MOVEMENT works as a study and information group, and also as a pressure group. It operates as a study and information group through the many projects and activities undertaken, and has been at the forefront in helping large segments of the public take part in the dissemination of information on European affairs and activities. It operates as a pressure group through the influence exerted by its members at all levels in each sector of activity. The European Parliament, Commission, national parliaments, authorities and governments, business-people, industry associations, NGOs and the many associations which make up the civil society in Europe have been influenced through the European Movement’s network of contacts.

“Municipal co-operation agreements: challenges and perspectives of democratic participation at local level in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, will be the main focus of the conference that will be held in Tuzla (BiH) on 7th and 8th of October 2011.
This conference is organised as the opening event to present the activities envisaged within the two-year regional co-operation project: Civil society in action for dialogue and partnerships (IPA 2009 Bosnia), leaded by ALDA, with the support of the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina provided within the wider Programme: Support to issue-based NGO networks.
Lead partner of the project is ALDA, while the partners are its network members in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia – Local Democracy Agencies Mostar, Zavidovici, Osijek, Subotica, as well as the Forum of Tuzla Citizens, Centre for Local Development Breza, DON Prijedor and Novenade Bihac, local NGOs contributing effectively to local democracy development and implementing municipal co-operation agreements.
The conference thematic workshops will give an insight into the present challenges of implementing EU standards of democratic governance at local level, the role of local self-governments in EU integration process as well as an overview of local practice in implementing municipal co-operation agreements in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Some 50 representatives of NGO-s, local government experts and practitioners, representatives of local self-governments and their associations, government representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia are expected to participate in the opening conference.

For any further information please contact:
Vehid Šehić
Forum of Tuzla Citizens
Tel/Fax: +387 (0)35 258 075
E-mail: fgt-urbana@forumtz.com

Dženana Dedić
LDA Mostar
Tel/Fax: +387 (0)36333 830
E-mail: ldamostar@aldaintranet.org
Download the conference agenda (not final) here
Download the project’s leaflet here

The Director of ALDA, Mrs Antonella Valmorbida, will attend the 4th edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum, on 6-8 October, 2011 in Bucharest, Romania.
ALDA was invited by The Romanian Federation of Development NGOs (FOND), that is organising the Forum.
Mrs Antonella Valmorbida will take the floor as speakers on the 6th October, at 14.00 – 15.30 during the session titled ”The European Neighborhood Policy, its Eastern dimension and regional cooperation at the Black Sea. What impact does civil society have in the programming process?”.
The Black Sea NGO Forum was launched in 2008 by the Romanian Federation of Development NGOs (FOND) and its partners throughout the region, and it has been supported by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Representation of the European Commission and the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation.
Recent developments in the EU neighbourhood have revealed once more the essential role of civil society and its potential as a positive force for change.
The 4th edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum will explore the role and needs of civil society in the region, its vision(s) and solutions to the current local and regional problems.

For any further information:
www.fondromania.org
www.blackseango.org
www.fiicetateanglobal.wordpress.com
Download the Forum agenda here

ALDA and its Belarusian partners Lev Sapieha Foundation and the Belarusian Organisation Working Women (BOWW) are now officially starting the TANDEM project. The project starts with a call for mini grants and partnership projects for promoting sustainable development in Belarus.
The mini grants are open for Belarusian NGOs and municipalities – Guidelines and applications forms can be downloaded on the link below on this site. The mini grants for the civic initiatives are up to 4,000 Euro and for partnership projects up to 8,000 Euro. These grants will support concrete activities in the year 2012 and 2013 focussing on building sustainable relations and cooperation between civil society organisations and local authorities. The deadline for applications is November 17.
As part of the partnership projects the TANDEM steering committee will identify international partners (NGOs or local authorities) from other European countries who are interested in developing their contacts and support the democratic development in Belarus. These international partners will participate in a partnership project to share their experience and support the implementation of the project.
ALDA is therefore calling interested NGOs and local authorities who are interested in sharing their experience and support civil society activities in Belarus to contact ALDA to be included in the pool of possible international partners for the partnership projects.
A conference for the groups that have been awarded grants will take place in Mid December and will also include the international partners of the partnership projects. This conference will discuss and share experience and ideas between the projects that will be supported as part of the TANDEM project.
If you are interested in becoming a partner for partnership or want to have more information about the project, please contact Peter Sondergaard at peter.sondergaard@aldaintranet.org or +32 274 201 61.
TANDEM is supported by the European Union’s Non-State Actors and Local
Authorities in Development programme.

The new perspectives of cooperation between Friuli Venezia Giulia Region (I) and Montenegro were discussed at a forum held in Cattaro (MNE) on 16th of September. The event was promoted by Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Municipality of Monfalcone, Association of the Italian community in Montenegro and LDA of Niksic.
The meeting was attended by Mr Alessandro Perelli (Friuli Venezia Giulia) and Mr Lucio Gregoretti (Municipality of Monfalcone), both members of the governing board of ALDA, and by Mr Kerim Medjedovic, Delegate of the ALD of Niksic.
Attended the Forum also Mrs Silvia Altran, Mayor of Monfalcone, Elio De Anna, Friuli Venezia Giulia Councillor, Mr Paolo Perugini, President of the Italian Community of Montenegro, Mr Sergio Brabanti, Italian Ambassador in Montenegro, Mr Ettore Romoli, Mayor of Gorizia, Mrs Silvia Acerbi, Vice President of Informest, Mr Antonio Paoletti, Regional President of Chamber of Commerce, Mr Fausto Biroslavo, journalist and the responsible of some cooperation project in the area.
In September 2008, with the presentation, of the demand for EU membership, the Republic of Montenegro has started an important process of European integration which has as prerequisites the gradual adjustment to European standards of democratic participation and modernisation of social institutions and economic system.
In this framework, and for its population size and its characteristics socio-economic, Montenegro is one of the areas of strategic interest for the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, also in consideration of the added value of being connected to the Local Democracy Agency of the Council of Europe, for the interest already expressed by major regional production companies, and the presence of a big community of Italians.
Among the objectives that emerged from the Forum, there is the support to programs and actions to facilitate the achievement of the criteria of the acquis communautaire, in particular of active citizenship projects and those projects that encourage democratic participation and the development of civil society. Therefore, now is time to consolidate the experience of activation, within the Local Democracy Agency, of a center devoted to the development of Institutional capacity-building initiatives.

The steering committee regarding the cooperation between Normandy and the Republic of North Macedonia was held from September 12 to 15 in Ohrid. During this annual meeting of Macedonian and French partners all participants had an opportunity to participate in the workshops, meetings and discussions regarding the past four years of the project and consider future activities.
The components’ tandems analysed their activities separately and shared their impressions with all stakeholders. The possibilities and opportunities for participation and responding to calls for European projects were also studied, such as networking for lobbying in order to represent the interests of the cooperation at the European institutions. The priorities of the cooperation are support of the regional development and municipalities, development of the cooperation in relation to the Balkans and Caucasus, but also, for the first time, economic development.
The Programme for decentralised cooperation between the Region Lower Normandy and Republic of North Macedonia is coordinated by ALDA, the Association of Local Democracy Agencies. For further information please consult the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/

On September 13, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives held the Conference “Strengthening cooperation between the Authorities and the public at the local level: experience of the regions” in Kyiv.
The Conference was the closing event of the Project “Strengthening Cooperation Between the Authorities and the Public at the Local Level for Community Development” implemented by the Agency for Legislative Initiatives.
During the conference participants presented the results of their activities in the project and their experience in cooperating with local and regional authorities in Ukraine. ALDA presented its work to the participants and told about the way ALDA works and ALDA’s experience in facilitating cooperation between local authorities and citizens especially in the Eastern Partnership countries. Furthermore ALDA also told about its project in Belarus which shares a lot of features with the project Agency for Legislative Initiatives implemented in Ukraine and ALDA’s work to raise the attention in EU institutions to the question of local democracy development in Eastern Partnership countries.
During the conference participants also discussed problems and perspectives for cooperation between the authorities and the public at the local level in Ukraine and possibilities for adoption of progressive models of participatory democracy at the local level in Ukraine.
Agency for Legislative Initiatives recently became member of ALDA and after the conference ideas and possibilities to further strengthen the cooperation with ALDA and ALDA’s work in Ukraine was discussed.

Speech of Mrs Antonella Valmorbida, Co- Chair of the Steering Committee of Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership and Director of the Association of the Local Democracy Agencies at the first session of the CORLEAP conference in Poznan, on 8th September 2011

Dear President Bresso,
Dear Commissioner Fule,
Distinguished participants from Eastern Partnership Countries and from the EU
I would like to thank you on behalf of all my colleagues to have invited the Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership to be permanent observer of the just born CORLEAP. I will today take the floor as Co- chair of the Steering Committee of the Forum and Director of the Association of the Local Democracy Agencies. Together with me is. Mr. George Toklikishvili, from The Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia, who is leading the Sub Group on Administrative Reform of the WG 1 of the CSF for Eastern Partnership. The Sub group produced the document (please download here), which is included in your folders today. I seize opportunity to wish to this initiative all possible success, because that would mean that also for us, CSF, we would achieve part of our objectives.
The Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership – gathering 250 NGOs – was established in 2009 with the aim to involve civil society from Partnership Countries and from the EU in the Eastern Partnership. Our role is to make the Civil Society voice heard but and to produce a change for democracy and good governance in Partnership countries. Despite some – expected – difficulties, the very high commitments and the strength of the NGOs involved, through Working Groups and National Platforms, are now brining results and we prove to BE PRESENT, with a coordinated action in participation, definition of policies, monitoring and implementation.
Let me report now the main elements of the Paper presented to you today.
The CSF welcomes the inclusion of local and regional authorities in the implementation of Eastern Partnership. This initiative will enhance dialogue between all stakeholders participating in the reforms in the countries ensuring that more consistent and consensus-based steps are taken.
Development of the local democracy is both fundamental and difficult for the EaP Countries. The legacy from the past and elements of centralised governance remain dominant. Certainly, traditions of self-government exacerbate the problem, and the lack of public discussions hinders better understanding of the principles of self-governance in wider society.
Which are some of the Challenges and Needs

1. The administrative reforms at regional level are not on the policy agenda in most of the EaP countries and they do not have a strategy for the development of local self-government
2. despite the ratification of the European Charter on Local Self Government, the provisions are – even more the practice – often inconsistent with the Charter
3. in several countries, local executive authorities are not accountable to the elected councils
4. there is an evident issue as for the discrepancy between the competences and the resources of the local governments and a low independence of the local budget from the national level.
5. Underdeveloped property basis of self-government is also a matter o concern
6. Citizens’ participation at the local level, even if mentioned in the legal provisions, is rarely “effective” and “real”.
7. Qualification and continuity in civil servants service remain problematic
8. Often transborder cooperation has only a declarative character
9. in many countries, the actual power is concentrated in the hands of the executive branch which is mainly accountable to national countries
10. The lack of democratic participation and centralised decision making hinder efficient and transparent allocation of resources
11. The regional and local self-governments present overlapping competencies, with a consequent overspending of resources

Taking into consideration the recent study findings on the needs of public administration reform in EaP countries, conducted by the PAR subgroup the CSF considers it necessary to evoke recommendations delivered to the various stakeholders in 2009-2010 and present the following points

A) To the Committee of Regions:
Basically, to keep high the topics of the real existence and functioning of local and regional authorities in the agenda of the Eastern Partnership. and to make sure they are included among the criteria of conditionality to progress on the Partnership
To call for clear delineation of functions among various government levels and their provision with adequate resources as required by the principle of subsidiarity;
To ensure monitoring of the implementation of the relevant legislation of member countries through close cooperation with the Council of Europe and in particular the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities in accordance with principles and in the spirit of the European Charter; To encourage the self-governing units to join Innovations and Good Governance Strategy of the Council of Europe .

As for the CoR versus Civil Society:

• To ensure strong political support in the issues of decentralisation and the involvement of civil society in the process;
• To encourage launching of common projects for good local administration and active local citizens in support of CSF and its participant organisations;
• To consider civil society as one of its main partner in consultations while developing policy and opinions;
• To ensure the involvement of civil society organisations as constant CSF observers (and financial support of their participation) at CIVEX commission meetings;

AND :

• To call on Belarus to join the European Charter of Local Self-Government;
• To call on Azerbaijan to grant the status of municipality to the capital city of Baku

B) To Local Governments:

• To be actively engaged in the implementation of Eastern Partnership;
• To take active part in the implementation of public administration reforms going on in their respective countries at local and regional levels;
• To strengthen cooperation with civil organisations in order to ensure implementation of citizen-oriented policies and enhance their independence from national government;
• To join Innovations and Good Governance Strategy of the Council of Europe and the introduction of its principles;

Mrs Bresso, we are certainly – already from now – accepting the active cooperation that you earlier proposed to establish with the Civil Society Forum . We are also working hard to bring an added value in the objectives of the Eastern Partnership rather NOW than in a too long term perspective . Our experience says that it possible to have an immediate impact on the life of citizens through a joint action with local governments, which could be less entangled in national political dynamics and closer to the day to day needs of people.
Let me add another hint after hearing your contribution this morning. You correctly quote the important role of the CoR and the Congress of the Council of Europe as observers of the Local and Regional elections. Would it be possible to think that our role of observers in the Corleap could be extended to participate as well in these observatory missions, as CSF representatives ? Our view certainly would add to the understanding of the situation.
You also referred to the contribution of President Barroso in the Wihite Book on multilevel governance. Let’s remind us all as well that the multilevel governance – which is certainly a modern answer to many of the political, social, economic and environmental issues of these years – can only exist with a vivid, complex and strong civil society.

Thank you for your attention,
Antonella Valmorbida

Co- Chair of the Steering Committee of Civil Society Forum for Eastern Partnership
Director of the Association of the Local Democracy Agencies

Macedonian and French stakeholders will meet in Ohrid from 12 to 15 September in order to discuss the programme for decentralised cooperation between the Region Lower Normandy and Republic of North Macedonia. This annual meeting will be an opportunity for all participants to share their results and experiences regarding the year four of the cooperation and also to share their ideas about future activities.
During these three working days, the stakeholders and experts in different areas will analyse all activities per each component in order to identify the opportunities and challenges for the year 2012. Partners will state their experiences and give new ideas to enter in the fourth year of cooperation that will be more dynamic and progressive.
Stakeholders will also debate on the priorities of the cooperation such as: regional development and support for the municipal capacities, networking with other Balkan countries, but also, inclusion of minorities in the activities in order to encourage equality and promote the protection of human rights.
The Director of European Affairs and International Relations of the Lower Normandy Region, Mr. Alexandre FOLLOT, and the Head of Cultural Department and Cooperation of the Embassy of France in Macedonia, Mr. Jean-Yves LAVOIR, will open this Steering Committee and share their impressions with the participants.
The Programme for decentralised cooperation between the Region Lower Normandy and Republic of North Macedonia is coordinated by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA).

The Coalition of Youth Organizations SEGA in cooperation with House of Europe of Caen (France), in Strumica organised a seminar on “European priorities and local youth needs in the youth field” on August 19 and 20.
In this seminar the European youth priorities, national youth research needs in North Macedonia implemented by the Coalition SEGA, EU documents related to youth and European programs for funding youth projects were presented.
At the seminar representatives of the municipalities that had previously adopted local youth strategies (Project of SEGA): Tetovo, Prilep, Stip, Veles, Kavadarci, Strumica, Kisela Voda, Ilinden, representatives from the Agency for Youth and Sport, Councils of youth from Stip, Kavadarci, Strumica, Vardar planning region and representatives from Lower Normandy – France participated.
“At the seminar, participants shown great interest and they identified youth problems, and gave possible proposals for youth projects that can be financed by the European Programme for Youth (Youth in action).” – said the executive director of SEGA, Zoran Ilieski.
The seminar contributed towards good cooperation between the participants in exchanging experiences and acquiring knowledge in the European priorities in the youth field and the need of the developing youth policies.
This activity of the Coalition SEGA is part of the action “Youth, Education, Local and European citizenship” under the “Project for decentralised cooperation between North Macedonia and the region of Lower Normandy – France”, managed by the Association for Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) and implemented by the Coalition of youth organisations SEGA and the House of Europe of Caen – France. The project is coordinated by the Association of local democracy agencies (ALDA). For further information please consult the webpage of the Cooperation http://crbn-mk.courriers.info/