Месяц: 1ТП1Ц

On 17-18 March 2016, the CSO Forum 2016 will take place in Brussels and ALDA’s Secretary General, Antonella Valmorbida, is going to be a speaker in a panel addressing the Territorial Approach to Local Development.

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This year the CSO Forum main topic regards the “EU Engagement with Civil Society and Support for Human Rights: Turning big pledges into local changes”. This event brings together CSOs and Human Rights organisations with European Institutions and Member States, opening an interactive platform, with the aim of enhancing dialogue and gather feedback on best practices, to help the EU institutions further develop adequate operational responses to complex and evolving challenges in the field.

On Thursday 17 March, Antonella Valmorbida will be a participating in the panel entitled “Territorial Approach to Local Development: An Effective Way to Implement Agenda 2030?”. With experiences from Ecuador, The Philippines and Europe, this session will present the key features of a territorial approach to local development and how it can help implement the 2030 Agenda, specifically addressing the role of CSOs and community-based organisations.

This Forum is part of the “Civil Society Week” and it is organised together with events like the Policy Forum for Development, the dialogue with Private Sector representatives and the Development Education and Awareness Raising multi-stakeholder meeting.

ALDA – the European Association for Local Democracy, in cooperation with a consortium of 15 universities across Europe, launched in May 2015 the Horizon 2020 funded project “RE.CRI.RE – Between the Representation of the Crisis and the Crisis of Representation“.

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The objective of the project is to verify whether the symbolic universes grounding in social identities has undergone a major change within European societies as a consequence of economic crisis and to draw strategic and methodological implications for policy-making from previous stage analysis.

For the purpose of implementation of the project Balkan Regional Platform for Youth Participation and Dialogue, we are looking for an Expert for the development and implementation of the Comparative Analysis and Practice.

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The project is financed by the European Commission, DG Enlargement, Regional Co-operation and Programmes, through the program Civil Society Facility, Operating grants to IPA CSO Associations, Support to regional thematic associations, we are looking for an Expert for the development and implementation of the Comparative Analysis and Practice.
The objective of the Consultancy is to provide support to the lead applicant European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA) and co-applicants (Local Democracy Agencies: Central and Southern Serbia, Subotica, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Mostar, Prijedor, Zavidovici in Bosnia and Herzegovina and ALDA Skopje) in the implementation of regional comparative research on the topic of youth mobility in the Western Balkans as an integral component of the project.
The duration of the consultancy is starting from March until September 2016.
For more details, methodology and deadlines, please consult the official document.

Полезные ссылки:
Official document – Call for expert

The International conference “Civil Society & Beyond: A Joint Dialogue on the European Path” assembled around 150 representatives from civil society and European and national institutions from the Western Balkans and Turkey in Belgrade, from 25th to 26th February 2016. The Conference was organized by the European Movement International and European Movement in Serbia, in partnership with TACSO and the Serbian European Integration Office. Stanka Parac, the Regional coordinator and Ivana Dimitrovska, Director of ALDA Branch office in Skopje represented ALDA at the conference.

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The Serbian Prime Minister – Mr. Aleksandar Vučić and Ms. Maja Gojković – Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia greeted the participants highlighting the importance of CSO involvement in the EU integration process. The opening remarks were also delivered by H.E. Michael Davenport, Head of the European Union Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Jo Leinen MEP, President of the European Movement International and Prof. Dr. Mihailo Crnobrnja, President of the European Movement in Serbia.

The two-day plenary sessions and workshops focused on various questions concerning the EU integration process and the involvement of Civil Society in the programming of EU assistance. The sessions ended with a World café activity which served as an occasion for the participants to share opinions and experiences, and to discuss joint actions and activities concerning the issues arising from the previous conference sessions. The conference was excellent possibility for networking between the CSO from the Balkan region and Turkey.

The related information for the conference are available ЗДЕСЬ.

• повестку дня of the event;
• Description of sessions;

Interesting debate was held on twitter under #CSBeyond and #EurMove.

The Good Practice Guide on the professionalization of personal and household services is now available for all ALDA’s members and partners.

The photographs of Yanaki and Milton Manaki, the most famous photographers of the Balkans, most active in the period from 1905 through 1964, are being presented for the first time in France, in Caen.

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The exhibition contains the photographs from the Front of the WWI on the Balkan territory, shot from 1914 to 1918. It is open to public at the Caen Memorial, one of the most visited museums in France. The display was inaugurated on 7 March 2016, by the Mayor of Caen, the French Ambassador in Macedonia and the representative of the Macedonian Embassy in France. The photographs will be open to the public from 8 March to 4 September 2016.
During World War I, the Manaki Brothers continued their photographic and cinematographic works. Through their work, we now have a photographic and cinematographic visual material that reflects this tumultuous period. The exhibition features photographs of French, Bulgarian, German and Serbian soldiers who visited their studio and were shot portrait. There are also pictures of the local people, their customs and daily routines. The display is composed of 101 photographs showing all the sides of the World War I on the territory of Macedonia, taken by the Manaki Brothers.
This exhibition is also an opportunity to promote the shared history of France and Macedonia, as well as to strengthen thecooperation between Normandy and Macedonia in the field of “Peace and reconciliation through collective memory WWI “. In addition, a monograph on the works of Manaki Brothers containing 200 photographs will be published soon.
The Caen Memorial is one of the most visited museums in France and receives an average of 500,000 visitors per year. The exhibition of Caen is the largest presentation of works of Manaki Brothers far. It is organized by the Macedonian Center of Photography in collaboration with the Caen Memorial, the French Institute in Skopje, the Cinematheque of Macedonia and the State Archives in Bitola. It is supported by cooperation Normandy / Macedonia and the Agency of the film of the Republic of Macedonia.

From 2 to 5 March, a field visit took place on the island of Chios, in Greece. With a total of 53.000 inhabitants and having received more than 120.000 refugees since January 2015, Chios belongs to the islands of the Aegean Sea affected by the refugee crisis.

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A delegation of representatives of ALDA, Council of Mallorca и Fons Mallorqui of Solidaritat i cooperacio, had the opportunity to visit the island and meet the stakeholders, institutions, NGOs, volunteers groups and local population, active in the management of the refugee crisis.

The level of cooperation and coordination among all the actors on the island of Chios proved to be very high, working jointly and managing successfully the refugee crisis until now, adapting constantly to the situation. Providing shelter, medical care, food, guidance and many more, the Local Authority and the actors on the island have adopted a proactive and nclusive approach to address the situation. The involvement and support from the local population is remarkably high as well. “We are doing our best to help the refugees and we are also thankful to all the international and national stakeholders active in Chios, as well as the local population, who despite the difficult times the country is going through, demonstrate a great sense of solidarity and support to the refugees fleeing war. We are ‘victims’ of the successful management of the refugees’ crisis in Chios. Only few people hear about the island with regards to the refugees”, said a representative of the Municipality of Chios.

There are still numerous challenges, needs and gaps on the island that require ongoing efforts. The Municipality is also facing the challenge to meet the needs of its inhabitants as well as manage the refugee crisis on the island, which has become an overwhelming challenge. The Municipality counts mainly on its own financial resources and the presence and upport of international organizations, NGOs and the local population.

In cooperation with the Municipality of Chios and ALDA, the Conseil de Mallorca and the Fons Mallorqui have confirmed their willingness to support the island’s local authority, inaugurating a new link of decentralized cooperation. The areas of support will be in:

• Emergency help and interventions (medical assistance to the refugees, etc.)
• Waste management (e.g.: more than 120.000 lifejackets are present on the island – the poor quality of the materials makes it difficult to recycle)
• Support to the local authority in the daily management of the ensuring a balance between the needs of citizens and refugees issue needs

Watch the video of the interview with Mr Manolis Vournous, Mayor of Chios (GR), and Mr Miquel Ensenyat, President of the Council of Mallorca (ES). Find more information and pictures regarding this activity on the LADDER website.

Press coverage 
I. Article on ALITHIA 
II. Article on ULTIMAHORA
III. Article on CONSELL DE MALLORCA 1
IV. Article on CONSELL DE MALLORCA 2
V. Article on MAJORCA DAILY BULLETIN

For more information or interests in supporting the crisis, please contact nikos.gamouras@aldaintranet.org

(Special thanks to Gemma Puri for the interviews)