DOCUMENTS

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2023 certainly begins in a climate of uncertainty due to the economic and geopolitical situation in Europe and in the World. On another note, 2023 also marks an important anniversary for ALDA, the LDAs and the whole network.

It was exactly 30 years ago when it all started, with the establishment of the first LDAs in the Balkans.

Even though ALDA was born at the end of the 90s, our work and commitment started back in 1993, when the first LDAs were created at the initiative of the Council of Europe, with the mission to support civil society and peaceful co-existence in the states of former Yugoslavia in the aftermath of the conflict.

The very first LDA was founded in 1993 in Subotica, in Serbia, with the title of Local Democracy Embassy* (LDE) Subotica, shortly followed by the LDE Osijek, in Croatia, in the same year.

30 years later, the situation has profoundly changed. Year by year, the Local Democracy Agencies proved to be a successful tool and are now a network of 16 LDAs spread in the European Neighbourhood, with 3 Operational Partners (OPs) in Croatia.

It was exactly 30 years ago when it all started, with the establishment of the first LDAs in the Balkans

Thus, together with their mission, also the geographical scope of the LDAs has progressed. Today, LDAs can be found in other countries than the Balkans, but that is where we have preserved, in our everyday activities, the memory and the essence of the long journey we went through.

2023 will thus be marked by a series of events aimed at celebrating the everyday activity of the LDAs and their delegates, the achievements of ALDA and the LDAs through the years.

Public events will be organised throughout the Balkans, where it all started – thus setting a path recalling the milestones of the development of our activity in the Balkans and beyond;

A publication will be released which, in the form of a collection of anecdotes, pictures and testimonies, will recall the history of our first 30 years.

A video-documentary will be produced to revive the most important moments through images of places and people that have marked our history.

The anniversary will then culminate during the ALDA General Assembly, which will likely take place in June 2023 (more information coming in the following months!) with colleagues, members and delegates together to celebrate and reflect on the future development of the LDAs network.

Then, we will approach the end of the year with a crucial event in Strasbourg, in October 2023, where ALDA and LDAs will be hopefully present at the Congress’ premises.

These are just the milestone of an eventful 2023, with many more initiatives to de disclosed in the following weeks and months, aimed to celebrate our first 30 years of local democracy in the Balkans, from where it all started to the present day… and who knows how many more evolutions lie ahead!

Let the Anniversary begin!

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*Only in 1998 the LDAs has started being called as we know them today, switching from Local Democracy Embassies to Local Democracy Agencies.

Link to the LDAs report of activities of all the years

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DOCUMENTS

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For several years now, ALDA has been one of the beneficiaries of the operating grant of the “Europe for Citizens” programme of the EACEA – Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Union.

Thus, we are thrilled to announce that, again this year, ALDA has been confirmed beneficiary of the operating grant of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV) of the European Union!

The CERV stems from the fusion of the previous programmes “Europe for Citizens” and “Rights, Equality and Citizens Programme”, and aims to protect and promote rights and values as layed down in the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights in particular by supporting civil society organisations active at local, regional, national and transnational level.

This grant proves the effectiveness of ALDA’s actions for the promotion of democracy and citizens participation in Europe and beyond

The recently awarded operating grant is specifically designated for networks, organisations, or think tanks that contribute to achieving programme objectives. This includes activities such as training, capacity building, conferences, mutual learning, cooperation, awareness-raising, communication, and dissemination efforts.

The entire ALDA community is proud to once again be among the select recipients, underscoring the effectiveness of ALDA’s endeavors in advancing democracy and citizen participation throughout Europe.

This presents both a significant opportunity and a profound responsibility. ALDA is prepared to step up as a catalyst for participation, democracy, and European values more than ever before, making a substantial contribution to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2030.

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

The project PAL aims to improve the situation of Roma in Belgium, Czech Republic, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, Romania, Spain, Hungary and France. It addresses primarily promotion of Roma integration, supporting the implementation of national Roma inclusion strategies or integrated sets of policy measures and the Council Recommendation on Roma integration. The concept of the project was developed by the four universities involved in the PAL project, based on their research on the current situation of the exclusion of the vulnerable social groups and especially Roma people. The PAL project contribution will be realised through promoting common democratic values, strengthening fundamental rights, consolidating the rule of law in the selected countries with special attention to combat discrimination and racism, and promoting tolerance and multi-cultural awareness. The sectors of Education and Employment will be specifically targeted by the project activities.

OBJECTIVES

The project PAL is aiming to develop a comprehensive approach and endorse a number of goals in education and employment in order to speed up Roma integration and support the implementation of national Roma inclusion strategies and the Council Recommendation of Roma integration.
The project aims to support Roma youth participation on different levels, by gathering qualitative data about approaches and practices of Roma youth and supporting initiatives where Roma participation is key to long-term change.

Specific objectives:

  • Fighting discrimination and anti-Gypsyism;
  • Enhancing multi-stakeholder cooperation;
  • Promoting common democratic values, strengthening fundamental rights and consolidating the rule of law are horizontal concerns for the participant countries;
  • Debating the way forward for the European network for Roma social Incusion;
  • To develop capacities for Roma participation at regional and local level;
  • To develop data and information on forms, approaches, challenges of Roma participation;
  • To raise awareness among relevant stakeholders concerning the need to assure access to education and employment;
  • To train and transfer skills on desegregation to trainers and other stakeholders at grassroots levels in order to achieve Roma children and youth integration in education and employment process.

ACTIVITIES

Activities related to education:

  • Integrated approach for the current situation and the possibilities of specific and adapted educational programme for second chance education;
  • Awareness Raising International Roma Integration Campaign “It’s not late” for popularisation of the benefits of education;
  • Online training Courses for teachers (320 trained);
  • Push education Training consisted of Children Socialisation exercises and Group Building days with 1220 participants.

Activities related to employment:

  • Integrated approach for the current situation and the possibilities of specific and adapted employment for Roma people in EU;
  • Awareness Raising International Roma Integration Campaign “Employ Me!” for popularisation of the equal opportunities in employment services in EU;
  • Training of trainers online with 360 trained people;
  • Push Employment Opportunities Events about the employment rights and possibilities with 1800 participants.

Common activities:

  • Promotion activities at local level (Info days), newsletters, press release, posters, brochures;
  • Preparation and presentation of anti-discrimination model based on best practices and community prevention policy for Roma in EU.

DOCUMENTS

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AT A GLANCE

Re. Cri. Re: Between the representation of crisis and the crisis of representation. How crisis changed the symbolic background of European societies and identities. Implication for policies and policy making.

The project aims to understand what kind of social identity change is going on within European societies. For policy-making, the analysis of social identity is highly valuable because the social identity moderates the impact of policies. And this is particularly true in the time of crisis.

OBJECTIVES

The project aims at:

  • verifying whether the symbolic universes grounding in social identities has undergone a major change within European societies as a consequence of economic crisis;
  • drawing strategic and methodological implications for policy-making from previous stage analysis.

ACTIVITIES

To reach this goal the project will be organised in 4 scientific packages with tasks shared among the partners
Flagship outcomes:

  • Creation of web-portal as a tool for internal and external communication and as interoperable and open database;
  • Final Publication (White book) with detailed summaries, including scientific methodology , analysis of EU context in time of crisis and the results;
  • Policy guidelines for local and national policy-makers and other stakeholders;
  • Local conferences referring to 5 macro-Regions involved
  • International conference providing opportunities to present to an international and expert audience the results of the project;
  • Reports on the case studies
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DOCUMENTS

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Innovative projects and initiatives made Barcelona becoming the very first European Capital of Democracy (ECoD), standing on the highest step of the podium before Brussels and Braga.

“Decidim”, the digital citizen participation platform, developed already in 2016; and “Superblock” which aims at transforming daily city life, decreasing the usage of cars caught the attention of the jury, allowing the city to be nominated, in 18 January 2023,  the first winner of this initiative.

“Participation is part of their DNA” – Ms. Valmorbida at the award ceremony in Barcelona

“We loved the projects and were excited to discuss about them all: They aim to include the general population, minority groups, and disadvantaged citizens. It sometimes seems that participation is even part of their DNA. Co-creation, co-production, and inclusion of other sectors are embedded and welcomed by all stakeholders we spoke to” stated Ms. Valmorbida – ALDA Secretary General and ECoD Chair of the Jury.

Barcelona will now deliver a full year programme, from September 2023 to September 2014, to further strengthen democracy in Europe; while other cities can apply to become the next Capital of Democracy

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Read Ms. Valmorbida full speech here

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

TIE aims at creating the grounds for collaboration between the public institutions, judges, civil society and the academic world in identifying and promoting the best ways to undermine the profitability of crime by means of the aggression to criminal assets.

OBJECTIVES

The general objectives of the project are:

  • to gather and share information on the best methods to fight financial and economic crime;
  • to identify and diffuse the best practices in the investigation, confiscation and recovery of criminal assets.

Its specific objectives are:

  • to promote the best practices on the re-use of confiscated assets;
  • to develop partnerships and collaboration between the civil society, the academic world and the institutions; to transfer civil society’s experience to public actors, in order to assist them in the re-use of confiscated assets.
  • The best practices in the field will be analysed and implemented by experts in the form of a Document of Recommendations, assessed against real-world scenarios.
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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

ALDA  Secretary General, Antonella Valmorbida, was in Brussels with colleagues to meet the Municipality of Etterbeek, in order to relaunch the strategic partnership that was established in 2017 and aiming at strengthening the links between the association and the municipality, notably in the field of citizens participation.

This meeting occurred in a very timely moment as ALDA just received the news that we won an Erasmus+ project in partnership with Etterbeek, called MEDIUM (Municipalities Experimenting Digital Innovation, Upskilling and the Metaverse). 

The goal is to support the public sector digital transition educating on the uses of virtual reality and the metaverse to improve accessibility to public services.

ALDA is supporting the digital transition at local level, through EU guidelines. 

At the meeting David Dubois, the head of cabinet of the mayor, Marie-Charlotte Heldenbergh, in charge of citizens participation, and Jean-François Maljean, head of projects were present. 

Together with Ms. Valmorbida, they  discussed possible cooperation around ALDA 2023 priorities, including the collaboration with LDAs in Ukraine, which are locally registered associations, gathering local authorities and CSOs, to promote sustainable development projects and good governance.

At the local level, they have been instrumental in addressing the challenges of the war and in the cooperation between civil society and municipalities, providing strengthened resilience.

At the same time, recalling the successful APProach project, Ms. Heldenbergh pointed out at the commitment of Etterbeek in terms of citizens participation. Implemented hand in hand with ALDA and the consortium partners, APProach increased  participation of foreigners in local life, ensuring that all citizens have a say in the local decision making process. Hence, considering that 49% of Etterbeek residents were non-Belgian this initiatives was a key actions   for the inclusion of EU Mobile Citizens, 

The team was also very happy to discover the new building of the municipality, for which Etterbeek received architectural success awards; it’s a natural building, and part of it is dedicated to social housing. 

Finally, to conclude on a positive note the meeting agenda, other points discussed were ALDA General Assembly, which will take place in June 2023 in Brussels, and possible future activities to raise awareness about EP elections. 

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DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

The general objective of the Project is to identify and exchange good practices regarding the policies and actions in the sector of personal and household services as a way to define a Policies and Actions Proposal to encourage the efficiency of these services and to contribute through the creation of new jobs to the objectives of European 2020 Strategy. The good practices identified will deal specially with productivity gains, the introduction of new technologies and the development of new work organisations. The project will define a Policies and Actions Proposal to be carried out by governments in order to improve the efficiency of the PHS Sector. The results of the research and analysis will be gathered in the publication PHS Research and Proposals Guide.

OBJECTIVES

  • identify and exchange Good Practices regarding the policies and actions in the sector of Personal and Household Services
  • encourage new forms of collaboration through partnerships between public and private actors in the labour market
  • identify relevant actor working in the field of PHS to involve in the project
  • create a partnership that includes public actors, non-profit organisations, private employment services and SMEs
  • identity effective implementation measures, good practices and innovative approaches of policies and actions
  • design a Good Practices Guide to be used by policy makers, experts and stakeholders
  • design a PHS Research and Proposals Guide to be adopted to promote efficiency in the PHS sector
  • transfer the results at European level, through formal and informal national and international networks.

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

The main goal of TYEC is to concretely guide and indicate to the institutional, social and political actors and major associations in the 27 EU member States involved in the fight against unemployment, which measures and approaches can be taken to ensure a better coordination between the various stakeholders and levels (local, regional, national and European one) and a greater involvement of young people in the search for and implementation of sustainable solutions.

OBJECTIVES

TYEC aims to achieve the following objectives:

  • To test innovative solutions to foster youth employment in Europe
  • To strengthen the identification and exchange of good practices in Europe
  • To carry out, as main final product, a comparative study analysing the main social and political dimensions of the young Europeans’ living conditions

ACTIVITIES

The activities of the project aims to produce a Final Comparative Study Publication structured in three different pillars:

  • Young generations and labour market: a compared overview of changes in youth employment protection legislation, 2008–2012 in Partner Countries.
  • Youth social inclusion: the promotion of self employment, including effective business development support for young people.
  • Counting the costs: the social impacts of youth unemployment in the National and local contests into the partner Countries.
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DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

The aim of this project is to help enhance CSOs participation in policy design and in monitoring the process of EU integration in the Western Balkans and to engage youth to participate more actively in this process. This project addresses the main issues which represent key challenges for WB countries: the issues of rule of law, fundamental rights and economic and social issues where employment is priority concern for the citizens

ACTIVITIES

The project is consisted of 6 work packages: Project Management, Capacity Building, Monitoring and Advocacy, Regional Networking and Exchange programme, Sub-granting programme and Public Campaign.

The first meeting of the team will be organised in Montenegro (Podgorica), as a two-day event in the first year. The aim is to make the Project Management Team fully operational and to determine procedures.

Afterwards the Regional Thematic Network Forum will be organised in order to plan, monitor and evaluate local and regional activities and it will be held three times along the implementation period. The Forum will meet as an introductory or follow-up event of the annual conference, which will be organizìsed in Tirana, Novi Sad and Belgrade from the first till the third year so as to contribute to the content of the conference on the basis of up to date evaluation of activities on regional and local level.

In the project, as a part of the packages there is an activity, a sub-granting programme in order to support the young people and their ideas. The main objective of the fund for Local Youth initiatives is the improvement and development of participatory youth policies and local democracy in communities of Western Balkans through support to youth initiatives fostering active citizenship and participation of young people at the local level.
As a part of the project trainings and study visits will be organised, as well as workshops and summer schools. This project is focused on involving the young people in the decision making process and raising awareness about their necessity and importance for the society.

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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

“EU LIVES” project is out! If you are a young enthusiast about Europe, want to do an experience abroad and interested in the work of ALDA, do not miss out: this is your chance to apply for the call and become a civil service volunteer for one year. 

The project objective is to involve young people in mobility paths that favor their personal growth:  on the one hand in view of their professional future, on the other in relation to their role of citizens of local communities and of a wider European community. This is the reason why it develops in Italy, but also in other ALDA offices in European countries, namely in France (Strasbourg), Belgium (Brussels) and North Macedonia (Skopje).

Apply by 10th February and make the most out of your civil service volunteer experience!

There are plenty of benefits for becoming a volunteer in ALDA: you will become an active citizen through actions for the community and for the territory, acquire new skills, put yourself to the test and enter the world of work. 

Activities of the volunteer: 

  • Funding research;
  • Research and monitoring of European and international calls for proposals
  • Project design, development and writing
  • Project management support
  • Drawing up reports, articles, social media posts 
  • Strengthening of local networks and networking
  • Dialogue and relationship with European institutions

You can apply for one of these ALDA offices: 

  • Brussels: 4 people
  • Strasbourg: 3 people
  • Skopje: 2 people 

What do you need to apply? You have to be between 18 and 28 years old, reside in Italy and possess a SPID account activated. Make sure to meet the deadline that is on 10th February 2023.

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Useful links: 

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DOCUMENTS

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AT A GLANCE

The aim of this project is to strengthen the capacities for internal management of ALDA Skopje in accordance with the democratic principles of good governance, transparency and accountability. The way to accomplish this goal is through the development of the strategic practices of ALDA Skopje in cooperation with ALDA Europe and by adopting of ALDA Europe’s documents and systems for internal management and adjust them for the needs of ALDA Skopje.

Also, one of the benefits of this project is strengthening the capacities of local civil society organisations through the transfer of knowledge, practices and mentorship on behalf of ALDA Skopje towards two smaller organisations.

OBJECTIVES

  • Improving the structures for good internal management of ALDA Skopje through the adoption of ALDA Europe’s documents and systems for internal management and adapting them to the needs of ALDA Skopje;
  • Strengthening the capacities of ALDA Skopje through the development of the strategic practices of ALDA Skopje in cooperation with ALDA Europe;
  • Strengthening the capacities of local civil society organisations through the transfer of knowledge, practices and mentorship on behalf of ALDA Skopje towards two smaller CSOs.

ACTIVITIES

This project consists of five types of activities: Management and coordination, communication and visibility, improvement and adaption of the existing documents for internal management, strengthening the capacities of the ALDA Skopje office for internal management and mentorship and strengthening capacities of other CSOs.

The first activity consists of coordination of the activities for administrative and financial management as well as implementation, monitoring, visibility and communication of the overall activities. This activity will be implemented by ALDA Skopje in coordination with ALDA Europe and in consultation with MCIC.

Afterwards, a communication strategy will be elaborated in order to provide through visibility and efficient communication on the implementation of the activities and results of the project also through website and social networks.

For the needs of the forth activity, a study visit in ALDA Europe office in Vicenza, Italy will be organised; as well as a training for strategic planning in the framework of the study visit in ALDA Europe office and a training for accounting and administrative management in the ALDA Skopje office.

In the end, during the fifth activity ALDA Skopje will share the expertise gained during this project with two smaller organisations in North Macedonia.

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DOCUMENTS

  • No documents available

AT A GLANCE

The project consists of implementing a research about the participation of civil society organisations in cross-border cooperation.

The research gives general overview of the participation of civil society organisations in cross-border cooperation with focus on the possibilities for involvement of civil society in programming and decision-making in cross-border cooperation as well as their cooperation with municipalities and other stakeholders.

OBJECTIVES

The main goal is to improve the participation of civil society organisations in programmes for cross-border cooperation.
The specific objectives include:

  • Implementing research for the participation of civil society organisations in cross-border cooperation;
  • Analyse the capacities of civil society organisations regarding their participation in cross-border projects;
  • Presenting good practices for participation of civil society organisations and their cooperation with local authorities in realisation of projects for regional development;
  • Awareness raising for the opportunities for participation of civil society in cross-border cooperation.

ACTIVITIES

This project consists of the following activities:

  • Research for the participation of civil society organisations in the implementation of the projects within IPA programmes for cross-border cooperation;
  • Publication of research for participation of civil society organisations in the implementation of the projects within IPA programmes for cross-border cooperation;
  • Promotion of research for participation of civil society organisations in the implementation of the projects within IPA programmes for –cross-border cooperation.
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DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

The project “CSOs for Making Local Democracy Work” is designed as a set of measures to empower civil society to be credible, accountable and independent stakeholder in the EU accession processes. The three-year project is expected to develop actions to encourage networking and exchange of best practices between civil society organisations and local authorities. It is designed to strength the impact of the civil society organisations in public policies on local level in Macedonia. The activities contribute to the establishment of cooperation between the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Local Authorities (LAs) as well as to the creation of enabling financial environment for small and grass-root organisations.
This project is financially supported by the European Union through the IPA Civil Society Facility and Media Programme 2015 – Support to Civil Society Organisations under the Civil Society Facility Action 2015.

OBJECTIVES

The overall goal of the initiative is to strengthen the role of local civil society organisations to effectively contribute to public policy making on local level.

Other objectives are:

  • To create conditions for civil society organisations more enabling legal and financial environment on local level;
  • To establish and develop sustainable mechanism for partnership building and cooperation between the civil society and the local public authorities;
  • To develop local capacities of civil society organisations in order to become relevant stakeholder in civil dialogue and public policy making on local level;
  • To encourage best practice exchange, networking and partnership at national, regional and European level.

ACTIVITIES

The project activities are organised in 5 work packages (WPs):

  • WP1: Project management, coordination and visibility;
  • WP2: Policy making and advocacy (research, forums and advocacy activities)
  • WP3: Capacity building (trainings and mentoring)
  • WP4: Sub-granting (grants for more than 10 CSOs)
  • WP5: Networking and awareness raising (conferences, forums and publications)
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DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

In September 2012 ALDA, in cooperation with LDA Zavidovici, started the realisation of this project, funded by the European Union, as a part of IPA 2011 – Information and Communication Programme.

OBJECTIVES

  • To help raise awareness on EU enlargement process and pre-accession assistance aimed to support the reform process at local level in Bosnia and Herzegovina;
  • To help improve public understanding of the benefits of EU integration;
  • To help promote tangible results of EU pre-accession assistance;
  • To help reinforce the role of civil society in the public dialogue on EU accession agenda;
  • To help strengthen the local ownership over the reform and EU integration process.

RESULTS

  • Improved public awareness and knowledge of actual benefits of EU integration;
  • Increased information provision about the effects of EU funded projects;
  • Improved outreach and information dissemination on EU integration issues;
  • Increased number of cross-sectoral partnerships and issue based networking for underpinning reform process;
  • Improved public dialogue for common understanding of EU values.

ACTIVITIES

  • Conference „EU integration – a dialogue for the future“ in Zavidovići;
  • Training seminars for CSO-s and local authorities on EU integration and pre-accession assistance;
  • Training seminar for local media titled „EU Integration: prejudices and myth-buster“
  • Youth for EU campaign: EU quiz in secondary schools and EU Ambassadors’ visits.

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OBJECTIVES

  • Contribute to the Turkish government’s efforts for the protection of women’s human rights and affirmation of gender policies.
  • Support capacity building for local and national Turkish NGOs on combating violence against women (VAW) and gender violence.
  • Foster networking among NGOs and institutions.
  • Promote / support partnerships with local authorities that offers services to women.
  • Create general awareness.

TARGET GROUPS

  1. Partners themselves;
  2. Members of the Women Committees of the involved Municipal areas and neighbouring Municipalities (Governorships, Municipalities Departments for Social Issues and Planning, SocialSecurity Organisations, Provincial Health Directorates, Jandarma-Gendarmerie, Provincial Directorates of Police, NGO’s related to women and gender issues, Provincial Directorates of Familyand Social Policies, local NGOs coordinators of the UN programs on gender issues and VAW).

ACTIVITIES

  1. Kick-off meeting of the partners in Nevşehir (Turkey) to start the project and visit the local stakeholders to learn about their policies and practices, their needs and their objectives.
  2. EU Municipalities and NGOs will conduct a research on the best practices in their territories and develop training (and informational) materials (and website) to support the development of Turkish actors.
  3. First session of theoretical training in gender and VAW related issues in Cappadocia. Some time will be spent by EU partners in visiting and studying the Black Sea regions’ stakeholders.
  4. Universities of Koper and Nevşehir will start and address a research, aimed at preparing analyses and strategies on how governmental organisations, authorities, and NGOs can collaborate on combating gender-based violence and VAW, and on adapting educational and counselling packages to be utilised in counselling centres and/or women’s shelters.
  5. Second session of practical training in Cappadocia (presenting best practices, educationals, methodologies and experiences).
  6. The Turkish partners will be hosted in Europe by the EU partners to visit the Provincial and Municipal offices, NGOs, women’s shelters and counselling centres, the University Department and Research centre.
  7. Drafting and translating in Turkish and English languages of: the contents of a guide containing EU and national guidelines, the results of the research conducted by the University of Koper and Nevşehir, the best practices from the EU partners, an Action Plan for the next years. The guide will be printed in Turkey and disseminated to citizens and Institutions through Turkish stakeholders.
  8. Final conference in Nevşehir. Objectives: present the results of the project, its path, and the guide, before distributing it; coordinate the reporting documentations’ predisposition for the last months.
  9. Presentation of the guide to the EU Council in Strasbourg, where ALDA will support the Turkish partner.

RESULTS

1. Establishment of new local-international networks/partnerships.
2. Improvement of services for victims of gender based violence and VAW.
3. Awareness-raising on gender based violence and VAW.

DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

IPA 2009 Support to issue based NGO networks
Supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Implementation period: June 2011/June 2013

OBJECTIVES

The two year action is designed as a comprehensive set of capacity building and awareness raising activities which will be implemented through combined support measures intended for local NGO-s and local authorities to enhance citizen participation in policy and decision making process. Issue based and sectoral NGO networking represent a core of the action as the main prerequisite for their effective participation in creating a more supportive local environment for civic engagement.

ACTIVITIES

Activities envisaged will support both horizontal and thematic, issue based co-operation between NGO-s operating within different local contexts and thus help harmonise and exchange local practices related with institutionalised (Agreement based) cooperation with local authorities and procedures for their financing. Awareness raising and training activities are designed to support the development and strengthening of local NGO-s resource centres, with particular emphasis on their improved participation in designing sectoral policies and local development strategies. The specific focus of the action is on CSO-s engaged in local democracy development, human/minority rights protection, intercultural dialogue, women’s and youth empowerment groups and environment protection.
Awareness raising component comprises local advocacy actions for signing the co-operation agreements in municipalities such as Zavidovici, Mostar, Bihac,Brcko, Trebinje, country based thematic conferences on the role of civil society and local self-governments in democratic transition of the country, a series of visibility activities involving media, publicising the local NGO address books, collection of good practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina on cross-sectoral partnerships.
Capacity building component includes four trainings for NGO-s and local governments on strategic planning skills, project cycle management, advocacy, PR and communication skills.
Exchange of good practice component comprises study visits by the EU counterparts to Bosnia and Herezegovina municipalities, filming the documentaries on civic engagement in local communities.
The main beneficiaries of the action are citizens and their local associations, members of diverse sections of local communities, women’s and youth groups, policy and decision makers at local level, local public at large, while the main expected results are focused around the need for improved awareness of local/regional policy and decision makers on institutional mechanisms of co-operation and dialogue with civil society actors engaged in sectoral policies development and implementation; the project will also help enhance issue based cooperation of CSO-s and local authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina with their counterparts in other IPA countries and EU member states.

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DOCUMENTS

AT A GLANCE

The project runs from December 2012 to December 2014, and it aims to promoting good practices in the cooperation between local authorities and civil society organisations, as well as fostering their active involvement in the process of EU integration of Montenegro.
Improving the capacity for efficient and transparent functioning of the local self-government, involvement of civil society in decision-making , building local partnerships in the development and implementation of the development priorities of the municipality – are areas of particular importance for the achievement of the objectives of this two-year project. The conference aims to encourage the exchange of experience and presentation of good practices in cross-sectorial co-operation, promote dialogue and partnership, thus contributing to the promotion of European standards of democratic governance at local level.

OBJECTIVES

This programme is designed for non-governmental organizations operating in the six municipalities involved in the activities of Kotor, Niksic, Bijelo Polje, Rozaje, Danilovgrad and Ulcinj to help strengthen the local organisational capacity for development and implementation of EU projects.
Its main objectives include:

  • Help strengthening the capacity of community based organisations for service provision to citizens;
  • Help improving capacity of CSO-s for participation in policy/decision making and raise awareness of CSO initiated actions;
  • Developping capacity of CSO-s for cross-sectoral partnership building and reinforce the role of CSO-s as a relevant stakeholder in public administration reform and EU approximation process;
  • Contributing to strengthening and sustaining of the role of CSO-s in community development through training and networking for policy reforms.

ACTIVITIES

Local coalitions for community development – Information campaign and networking activities
EU standards of good governance at local level – series training seminars for NGO-s and local authorities
Citizen participation in policy and decision making at local level – series of local public debates in six municipalities
Building local capacities for EU project development and implementation – series of trainings for local NGO-s
Local coalitions for community development – Sub-granting programme for local NGO-s
Sub-granting Programme for local registered NGO-s active in local democracy development, human/minority rights protection, social service provision, gender equality, youth empowerment, local sustainable development and environment protection.
Locations of the activities: Montenegro – in Niksic, Bijelo Polje, Kotor, Ulcinj, Rozaje, Danilovgrad.

RE-GRANTING SCHEME

Eight NGOs were selected by the committee as subgrantees.
The contracting procedure is now in progress with the following selected NGOs active in different areas whose common denominator is contributing to participation of citizens in policy/decision making and to more effective implementation of municipal development strategies:

  1. NGO Runolist, Rozaje – Project title: Promotion of sustainable tourism through involvement of youth in the Municipality of Rozaje
  2. Association of young volunteers, Bijelo Polje – Project title: The establishment of a Volunteer Center and strengthening volunteer movement in the Municipality Bijelo Polje
  3. NGO K-Club, Bijelo Polje – Project title: Culture of living – my building is my home
  4. NGO Democratic center of Bijelo Polje – Project title: Active civil participation in decision making at local level
  5. Association of young ecologists of Niksic – Project title:Increasing the level of protection of the river Bistrica
  6. Association of paraplegics Niksic – Project title: Ask us – it’s about us
  7. NGO Children of Montenegro, Podgorica – Project title: Building partnerships to support new social service provision in Ulcinj
  8. NGO – SOS telephone for women and children victims of violence, Ulcinj – Project title: Improving social protection and safety of victims of domestic violence.

NEWSLETTERS

Issue n. 1 – December 2013
Issue n. 2 – February 2014
Issue n. 3 – April 2014

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