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On 17th and 18th of April, CCI representatives Marina Gjorgjioska Kitanoska – Deputy Director for Programmes and Daniela Barabanova – Financial Manager, participated on the conference, "Civil Society Development in Southeast Europe: Building Europe Together" in Brussels hosted by the Commission's Directorate-General for Enlargement.
The conference's main objectives were to offer civil society organisations (CSOs) from the EU and the enlargement countries a platform for networking, exchanging best practices and building partnerships, and to disseminate information among civil society actors about financial support to civil society development under IPA and other EU programmes.
In order to best support the priorities of the new facility, the focus was made on civil society organizations working in four broad areas:
- Good governance and democratization
- Human rights
- Social inclusion/development, including education
- Environment protection and sustainable development.
On the event participated around 450 participants from European Countries, from the Western Balkans, representatives from the European Commission including Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik, and Mr George Soros, founder of the Open Society Institute, as well as many high-level representatives of civil society organisations and the European institutions.
Some of the conclusions from the conference were:
Reforms during the accession process bring considerable advantages for people's quality of life. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) can play a more important role in the transformation of the candidate and potential candidate countries into European participatory democracies, with the rule of law more firmly rooted in the practice of democracy and governance at all levels.
Widened participation of CSOs in the reforms undertaken in the enlargement countries can be a key factor in determining the pace and quality of the accession process overall, as well as in attaining public support for accession.
Responsibility for strengthening the role and influence of civil society in the enlargement countries lies primarily within the countries themselves. Among the actions to be undertaken:
- Increase CSO professionalism and capacity through active exchange of knowledge and better training.
- Actively seek technical expertise and information about EU policies, funding possibilities, and project management.
- Increase transparency and communication with their own immediate social environment, thus gaining support for their actions from citizens and reaching increased membership and legitimacy.
- Become part of the solution and contribute to achieving reforms in their own societies.
- Increase their funding, and secure more permanent and diverse sources of funding, while maintaining their independence as the "third sector".
- Work on sustainability of their actions and projects.
The European Commission, on its part, will undertake the following measures to continue promoting the development of civil society in the CCs and PCCs.
www.ec.europa.eu/enlargement/civil-society-development/index_en.htm - 32k
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