Month: September 2012

Serbian Ministry of Youth and Sports will support the implementation of the LDA project ‘Welcome to Nis’. Official signing of the contract with the Minister of Youth and Sports took place in Belgrade on the 7th of September.

Project ‘Welcome to Nis’ will pilot the local voluntary service that will work on recruiting the first group of youngsters who will be trained and join the global network of Greeters. This project initiates the process of concrete institutional support to young people in their active involvement in the life of the local community through the practice of voluntary work and promotion of the local community, its culture and mentality, thus bringing it closer to the visitors of our city.

Partners of LDA in the implementation of this project are Tourist Organization of Nis and the Office for Youth of the City Municipality of Medijana, Nis.

The third co-ordination meeting of organisations partners on the “Promotion of the European Charter on Equality of Women and Men on Local Level” Project will take place in Niš (Serbia) on 21 and 22 September 2012. The meeting will serve for planning and organisation of the Final Conference, which will be held in Mostar in October this year, when the representatives of authorities of the City of Mostar will officially sign the Charter.

Local Action Plans for the Charter implementation, whose development is underway in all cities-partners (Kraljevo, Municipality of Medijana, Cities of Niš, Kotor and Mostar) will also be discussed.
Once developed, Local Action Plans will be proposed for adoption to local authorities of the mentioned cities/municipalities before the end of project implementation in November 2012.
LDAs Mostar and Central and Southern Serbia – Niš signed a partnership agreement with the Association of Fenomena from Kraljevo (Serbia) for the implementation of the project during the first project meeting that took place on 11-12 January 2012.
The Project is funded by the European Commission under the IPA Civil Society Facility: Partnership Actions-Empowerment of Women.
The Association Fenomenon, as the leading organization in the project, is implementng the activities in cooperation with other organizations: Centre for Local Democracy LDA from Nis, Serbia; ANIMA – Center for Women and Peace Education from Kotor, Montenegro, Association of Citizens for Local Democracy Agency Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina and The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden.
The overall project objective is to contribute to the development of policies, measures and budgeting to improve gender equality in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The specific objective is to create conditions for development of policies, measures and budgeting to improve gender equality, development of local action plans to implement the European Charter for equality in cities and municipalities participating in the project.

As a continuation of activities within the “Monitoring of public services on the local level – citizens and local authorities together to better services” Project, Local Democracy Agency Mostar is organising a Public tribune with candidates for the position of Jablanica Municipality Mayor.
Public tribune will be held in the cinema theatre of the Youth club “Pod istim suncem” on 18 September 2012 at 17:00 hrs.

The main objective of this activity is that the matter of volume and quality of public services becomes one of the central issues of the election campaign for the 2012 Municipal Elections.
“Monitoring of public services on the local level – citizens and local authorities together to better services” Project has been initiated and financially supported by the Open Society Fund BiH.
Local Democracy Agency Mostar, upon implementation of survey on citizen satisfaction with public services in Municipalities of Jablanica and Konjic and City of Mostar, presented the results of the survey to the Municipal Mayors and their closest associates, as well as candidates for the position of a Mayor at the 2012 Municipal Elections in Municipalities of Jablanica and Konjic.

AGENCIJA LOKALNE DEMOKRATIJE MOSTAR ORGANIZIRA JAVNU TRIBINU SA KANDIDATIMA ZA NAČELNIKA OPĆINE JABLANICA.

Nakon sprovedenog istraživanja zadovoljstva građana javnim uslugama u Općinama Jablanica i Konjic i Gradu Mostaru, Agencija lokalne demokratije Mostar je upriličila prezentaciju rezultata istraživanja Načelnicima i njihovim najbližim suradnicima, te svim kandidatima za Načelnika na Općinskim izborima 07.10.2012.godine u Općinama Konjic i Jablanica.
Kao nastavak aktivnosti,  Agencija lokalne demokratije Mostar,  u sklopu projekta „Monitoring javnih usluga na lokalnom nivou – građani i lokalna vlast zajedno do boljih usluga“, organizira Javnu tribinu sa kandidatima za Načelnika Općine Jablanica.
Javna tribina će se održati u kino sali Omladinskog kluba „Pod istim suncem“ dana 18. 09.2012. godine sa početkom u 17:00 sati.
Osnovni cilj ove aktivnosti je da pitanje obima i kvaliteta javnih usluga postane jedno od centralnih pitanja izborne kampanje za Općinske izbore 2012. godine.
Projekat  „Monitoring javnih usluga na lokalnom nivou – građani i vlast zajedno do boljih usluga“ je iniciran i finansijski podržan od strane Fonda otvoreno društvo BiH.

The training titled „Partnership building for EU integrations – project cycle management“, within the project „The European and Our Affairs“, was held on January 24th 2013 in the Municipality Hall Žepče.

This training represented the continuation of the one held in Zavidovići on December 12th 2012, and it is the second in line of pieces of training for capacity building of CSO’s that are foreseen in the project „The European and Our Affairs“, which is financed by the EU, from IPA 2011 „Information and communication“ programme.
The training was attended by 20 representatives of NGO’s and public institutions from Žepče and Zavidovići, and it was held by Stanka Parać from Subotica.
The people present expressed their satisfaction with the fact that they were given the opportunity to know more about the basics of Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), writing of project proposals, and the whole process of applying to the European Union calls for project proposals.
Project “The European and our Affairs” is implemented by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA), in cooperation with the LDA Zavidovici, in Zenica region and local communities Zavidovici and Zepce. The goal of the project activities is to increase awareness about the EU enlargement and pre-accession aid, with special emphasis on the role of local governments and civil society in the reform process. Our activities include strengthening of local capacity, public promotion, and knowledge exchange involving various aspects of local society.  Priority target groups are local governments, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, local  media and youth. The proposed activities and included knowledge exchange will serve as a learning opportunity for stakeholders, but also as a way to dispel the myths and stereotypes related to EU integration.

At the World Assembly, more 600 civil society organisations from all over World are exchanging views on their role and participation at the local and national level. It is here time for networking, exchanging ideas and innovative approach to participative democracy and active citizenship. The topics of the World Assembly this year is the possible new social contract between citizens and the political decision makers.
In the picture, from the left: Antonella Valmorbida, Director of ALDA, David Bonbright, Chair of the Civicus Board, Oriano Otočan, President of ALDA, Katsuji Imata, Acting Secretary General Civicus, at the Civicus World Assembly, 6th of September 2012 Montréal – Canada

Civil Society and human right defenders are still very much in danger in many countries of the world and they are fighting for their place and role in the community.
The Association of the Local Democracy Agencies is participating actively in the World Assembly. The Director of ALDA, Antonella VALMORBIDA, took part in a workshop on local governance, bringing examples of the LDAs and projects implemented in Europe and neighboring areas. Mrs. Valmorbida has been recently included in the Board of Civicus in particular for bringing an added value with her experience and the knowledge of ALDA in the European policies and projects but also for bringing the experience of local authorities engagement.
The President of ALDA, Mr. Oriano Otočan, participated also to some of the activities, and a specific meeting with the President of Civicus, David Bonbright, and the Acting Secretary General of Civicus, Katsuji Imata took place. Common grounds of mutual cooperation were identified like a support to Civicus in Europe and in the local governance aspect.

Oriano Otocan, ALDA President, and Antonella Valmorbida, ALDA Director and member of CIVICUS International Board, will be participating in the 2012 CIVICUS World Assembly (3 – 7 September 2012) in Montreal, Canada.
In particular Mrs. Valmorbida will present ALDAs experiences on participatory governance at the workshop on “Good governance through citizen action” that will take place on 5 September (11.00-13.00), after the opening ceremony of the Assembly (9.00-9.30) and the fisrt plenary session (9.30 – 10.45).
In the panel also Mrs. Carmen Malena, Canada, Mehr Latif, Programme Manager, Asia Foundation, Pakistan and Mrs. Paola Margarita Q. Deles, Coordinator, People Power Volunteers for Reform, Philippines.
Watch the World Assembly on CIVICUS Live.

This session will share good practices and lessons in participatory governance from around the world and challenge participants to think beyond traditional forms of protest and activism to less familiar but potentially more impactful practices of ‘critical collaboration’ and participatory governance.
As citizens, publicly denouncing injustices in society is an important first step towards seeking change, but it is not enough. Real change comes when citizens not only cry out in the streets, but claim their rightful place as active participants in processes of public governance and decision-making. In recent years, a wide and exciting array of ‘participatory governance’ approaches have been tried and tested around the world. From citizens’ juries, multi-stakeholder dialogues and integrity pacts to participatory budgeting, social audits and community scorecards, citizens and CSOs are creating a multitude of innovative ways to engage in ‘critical collaboration’ with government counterparts.
The 2012 CIVICUS World Assembly will focus on defining a new social contract, through discussions on three key themes: changing nations through citizens, building partnerships for social innovation and redefining global governance.
The 2012 Assembly will see the launch of a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder process, led by CIVICUS, on defining a new social contract, that will culminate in the presentation of recommendations to the United Nations in 2015. The World Assembly comes at a pivotal moment for citizens to redefine the relationships and conditions we want for a sustainable future in a changing world.
Having a role in CIVICUS International Board, for ALDA means taking a further step to bring internationally the cause of its work: to improve citizens’ and civil society’s participation at the local level, working closely with local authorities, for development, democracy and respect of human rights.

The Mayor of Mostar, Mr. Ljubo Beslic, presented the experience of the City of Mostar on reconciliation and post conflict situation management and the role of the Local Democracy Agency of Mostar in this process still continuing.
His speech, at the seminar on “Local Authorities in the prevention of conflict, peace building and reconciliation” organised in Geneva, Switzerland, on 30th and 31st August, by the International association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), was very appreciated by all participants, who see in Mostar a very good example of reconciliation. Ms Marine Henry, project manager in ALDA, was also attending this meeting.

The 2 days seminar in Geneva gathered around 50 Mayors and Representative of Association of Local Authorities coming from France, Belgium, Switzerland, African countries, Lebanon, Bosnia Herzegovina, etc.
The first part was dedicated to a dialogue between European Commission and Local Authorities Representatives concerning the future communication of the European Commission on Local Authorities. This text will define the future strategy of intervention of the European Commission towards Local Authorities. Simon Compaoré, Mayor of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and General Secretary of AIMF started by reminding the context of the progressive recognition by EU of the role of Local Authorities in cooperation and development. Then Mrs Elena ASCUITTI from Europaid Department presented the new guidelines for the partnership between European Commission and Local Authorities. She invited all Local Authorities Representatives to participate to the consultation by answering to 27 questions dealing with 8 main issues. The deadline for submitting comments and suggestions is November 2012.
The second part consisted on the seminar on “Local Authorities in the prevention of conflict, peace building and reconciliation”.
The event was concluded by the presentation of a first version of a toolkit designed on the initiative of AIMF on the role of local elected people in the prevention of conflicts and diversity management on their territories. This tool divided in 5 pillars aims at giving tips on the ways for local authorities to prevent conflict in the prism of the integration of all part of population living on their territories. A more final version will be presented in the General Assembly of AIMF, which will be held in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) next November.
For more information, please contact Marine Henry, ALDA’ project manager, marine.henry@aldaintranet.org.

On 3rd September will be officially opened the 6th Session of the World Urban Forum, organized in Naples (ITALY) by UN-Habitat, the Government of Italy, the Campania Region and the City of Naples. The theme for this year’s meeting is The Urban Future. Over 10,000 participants from 150 countries have already registered to the event.
ALDA will be present there taking part in the discussions on cities’ inclusiveness and on the active participation of their citizens in the urban policies.

The Forum is one of the most open and inclusive gatherings of its kind on the international stage. It brings together participants from all over the world representing governments, academia, civil society and the private sector as partners working for better cities.