EU Council: destination unknown for 2019 - CONCORD Bimonthly 18 December 2018

18 December 2018 EU Council: destination unknown for 2019 Dear readers, This newsletter is the last edition of the year and we want to send you all our best wishes for the end of the year and a merry little Christmas to all! We thank you for this amazing year 2018 which marked our 15th year of collective action and we look forward to working together with you again from January. On a whole different (and more political) subject, the European Council met last week to discuss several important issues for the future of Europe: Brexit, the EU budget, migration... Unfortunately, when it comes to the MFF, no major decisions were taken. This leaves the future of the development aid quite unclear and it will have huge consequences on the ground, as mentioned Alva Finn in our recent press reaction: We know from experience in 2013 that if the MFF isn't concluded in time, we will have a gap in funding that will mean development and humanitarian actors, like civil society, won't be able to give vital, and often lifesaving, support to those most in need in partner countries. From January onwards, we will keep on monitoring the development of the different scenarios before the elections as well as identifying the key advocacy milestones. We keep you posted of course. In solidarity, CONCORD Secretariat CONCORD's NEWS OF THE MONTH CONCORD's new director After five years as Director, Seamus Jeffreson is moving on from CONCORD. From January 2019, Tanya Cox will take over and become the new Director of the Confederation. Tanya Cox brings to the position over 22 years of experience, 14 of which are in international cooperation and human rights.Tanya has been an active member of CONCORD since 2008, most particularly leading the work on sustainable development for many years. The blogpost Future EU Budget delay? Ahead of the European Council during which the external relations part of the future EU budget was discussed, CONCORD sent a letter and a press statement pressing EU leaders to safeguard the amount dedicated to Heading VI (external relations) and agree on the political timeline. Read the letter Read the statement The Future of EU-ACP relations Yesterday, CONCORD organised an event on the future of the Cotonou Agreement. More than 40 participants gathered to listen to EU and ACP stakeholders, both from institutions and civil society. The role of civil society was highlighted as crucial to feed into the debate by both parties. The importance of mainstreaming people and planet and the 4 dimensions of the SDGs into the future agreement were also underlined. If you could not assist, have a look at the pictures and follow #PostCotonou on Twitter. The pictures Share Tweet Forward to Friend UPDATES FROM OUR NETWORK Bond Annual Conference The Bond Annual Conference attracts over 1,000 people from across the international development and humanitarian sectors. NGOs, civil society leaders, funders, researchers, government and private sector from Europe and around the world come together to debate crucial current issues, share ideas and interrogate emerging trends. Our conference comes at a crucial time as civil society faces an increasingly complicated political environment and growing funding pressures. Earlybird rates until 31 December. Get a further 15% discount with the code Marnp15. Registration Good Lobby Awards ceremony The Good Lobby Awards, an annual celebration of projects, initiatives and campaigns led by citizens committed to lobby for change, took place last Wednesday 12 December. It brought together individuals from different walks of life and organisations that have been successfully championing for social change. Do you want to know which were the several categories and who are the finalists of this edition? Have a look!  The finalists Adoption of the Global Compact on Migration The Initiative on the Rights of the Child in the Global Compacts welcomed the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). For children, the adoption of the GCM means that States commit to prioritising better cooperation to uphold children's best interests. With 38 paragraphs referring to children, this historical document establishes a solid platform for collaboration in protecting the rights of migrant children. Read more 7 facts about the migration compact The European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) has been working on the UN global compact for migration (GCM). With the aim of debunking myths around the GCM, they have created a short video that should help individuals distinguish between facts and fiction. Watch the video Radi-Aid Research  The Radi-Aid is an annual campaign created by the Norwegian Students' & Academics' International Assistance Fund (SAIH) with the aim of challenging the perceptions around issues of poverty and development to change the way fundraising campaigns communicate, and to break down dominating stereotypes. Two weeks ago, Radi-Aid published a report that reveals how aid communication is perceived in six African countries. The Report Development Education is More Relevant than Ever Four decades ago, the European Commission decided to support Development Education and awareness raising (DEAR) projects promoted by civil society actors seeking to engage European citizens in global development efforts. Now, the DEAR support team has created a video that summarises the views of some of the protagonists of the pioneering actions in those years. Both staff from the Commission and NGOs, explain why "Development Education is more relevant today than ever". Watch the video EVENTS Bond Conference 2019 Organiser: Bond When: 18 & 19 March 2019 Where: London Civicus' International Civil Society Week Organiser: Civicus When: 8-12 April 2019 Where: Belgrade JOB OPPORTUNITIES Advocacy Trainee Organisation: Humanity & Inclusion Deadline: 30 December Climate Justice Policy Officer Organisation: ACT Alliance EU Deadline: 7 January Development Manager Organisation: Forus Deadline: 10 January Advocacy Coordinator Organisation: EU-CORD Deadline: 31 January CALLS FOR PROPOSALS The latest open calls for proposals from DEVCO From 4 December to 18 December 2018 Call for tenders from Humanity & Inclusion [FR] Add your news concordeurope.org