An Open Door to a Fairer Future : CONCORD Newsletter February 2019

19 February 2019 An Open Door to a Fairer Future Dear Readers, 2019 is picking up speed, which becomes clear when going through this latest edition of our newsletter. Finally, we are happy to present our website for the EU Presidency Project, a joint effort by CONCORD, FOND, Fingo and CROSOL set to become a platform for sharing our visions and actions in advocating 'Towards an Open, Fair and Sustainable Europe in the World'. The European Commission's latest Reflection paper, which was launched at the end of January, made a similar promise: "Towards a Sustainable EU by 2030." This long-overdue paper inspired us to provide several recommendations on how the Commission can build upon the document's insights and really take a big leap towards sustainability. But let's not keep you from browsing our news any longer - enjoy your read! CONCORD Secretariat  PRESIDENCY PROJECT  It's been a long time coming, but here it is: FOND, Fingo, CROSOL and CONCORD are proud to announce the launch of  our website dedicated to the EU Presidency Project. This website will be a platform to showcase our advocacy work connected to the EU Presidencies both nationally and internationally. Follow us for regular updates on our path "Towards an Open, Fair and Sustainable Europe in the World!" Explore the website! CONCORD's NEWS OF THE MONTH CONCORD's vision for the future EU-ACP agreement Civil Society from ACP (African Caribbean Pacific) countries and the EU will actively monitor the new Cotonou Partnership Agreement. On the of 17th December, CONCORD organised a panel discussion on the ongoing ACP-EU negotiations where the relevant stakeholders of the process gathered and shared their views in this regard. Now we are glad to share with you the report from that panel discussion. The event's Report In addition to that, the paper "CONCORD's vision for the future EU-ACP partnership agreement: putting sustainable development and human rights at the centre" was created. It relates to the strategic priorities of the common foundation in the future EU-ACP agreement. The Paper EU's development work under the microscope How effective are development actions? To answer that question we need constant evaluation. Acknowledging this need, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), an OECD committee made up of 27 member countries (+ EU), has set up a peer review system to exchange experience and issue guidance among its members. Most recently, the European Union's development cooperation was reviewed by its DAC peers – which prompted CONCORD to comment on the review's main outcomes. The blogpost How to shape a Sustainable Europe 2030 Strategy  In the wake of the European Commission's newly launched Reflection Paper on Sustainable Development 'Towards a sustainable EU by 2030', we ask current and future EU leaders to adopt an overarching EU SDGs strategy to better take into account the impact of their policies on sustainable development in other parts of the world. There is still a lot to be done, and we welcome the Commission's recognition of this very fact. Let's take a look at the paper's promising elements, and CONCORD's ideas on how they could be pushed forward! The blogpost Share Tweet Forward to Friend UPDATES FROM OUR NETWORK Rights for people, rules for corporations The European-wide petition "Rights for people, rules for corporations" has been launched on January 2019 by many organisations, including CONCORD members such as ActionAid, CIDSE and the Belgian platform among others. The petition aims to stop the Investor-State-Dispute-Settlement (ISDS), a global private court system which enforces often unethical policies on behalf of multinational companies. This is the outcome of joint efforts by organisations working on trade justice and those working on human rights. In just a few days, the petition got more than 500,000 signatures. The objective is to reach 600,000 signatures - so do not hesitate to sign!  The petition Ensuring Policy Coherence in Sustainable Development Bond has published a toolkit for EU13 members of the EC-DEAR funded Coherent Europe for Sustainable Development (CE4SD). It includes information on policy coherence for sustainable development (PCSD) as well as resources, and tools to support these organisations to become PCSD watchdogs following evidence-based recommendations or meeting evidence-based specific practice standards. The toolkit It takes a world to end the use of child soldiers World's Vision has published the report 'No Choice: It takes a world to end the use of child soldiers', which proposes solutions to end child recruitment. It is based on research commissioned by World Vision to understand how to prevent child recruitment, especially for those children who are so surrounded by such hardship that there seems to be no alternative to joining armed forces or groups. The report European Civic Academy 2019 The 3rd European Civil Society Academy will take place on 28 and 29 March 2019 in Słubice at Collegium Polonicum in Poland, an Academic institution symbol of reconciliation between Germany and Poland. The European Civic Academy 2019 will focus on the impact of populism on civil society and the European elections and Brexit. Registration link The Agenda 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 gain new insights on crucial global development and humanitarian issues including alternative financing, innovative partnerships, SDGs, the future of large NGOs, leadership and much more. It is also an opportunity to hear the views of renowned speakers from around the world. CONCORD members get a 15% discount. Contact Bond for the code. Registration How to talk about the societies we want in Europe Friends of the Earth Europe, with support from CONCORD and other civil society and trade union groups, have created a guide committed to building better societies in Europe. It summarises the findings of a 6–month collaboration to find ways to talk about the sustainable, equitable, inclusive, democratic societies we want in Europe, and makes recommendations based on the findings. The guide Social Media for Change The Good Lobby has recently released its first informational toolkit on how to use social media responsibly and effectively. The how-to-guide covers a range of tools, resources and social media best practices to enable political candidates, campaigners, NGOs, social media managers, and citizens to engage more meaningfully in the lead up to the European Elections and beyond. The toolkit EVENTS Bond Conference 2019 Organiser: Bond When: 18 & 19 March Where: London Global Policy Forum on Development Organiser: European Commission When: 13-15 March Where: Brussels European Civic Academy Organiser: Civil Society Europe When: 28 & 29 March Where: Poland Civicus' International Civil Society Week Organiser: Civicus When: 8-12 April Where: Belgrade JOB OPPORTUNITIES Student Internship in Policy and Advocacy Organisation: CONCORD Deadline: 20 February Presidency Project Critical Friend Organisation: Fingo Deadline: 22 February Project Controller Organisation: CARE Austria Deadline: 24 February Finance and HR Coordinator Organisation: SOLIDAR Deadline: 24 February Business Development Adviser (Recruitment) Organisation: Bond Deadline: 24 February Deputy Director Finance & Treasury Organisation: Islamic Relief Deadline: 24 February Deputy Director People & Culture Organisation: Islamic Relief Deadline: 24 February Programme Officer – Focus Asia and the Caucasus Organisation: CARE Austria Deadline: 25 February Membership officer Organisation: ALDA Deadline: 28 February Consultant for mid-term review Organisation: Forus Deadline: 28 February Resource Mobilization Technician Organisation: Coordinadora de ONGD-España Deadline: 3 March Senior Policy & Advocacy Officer Organisation: Eurodad Deadline: 3 March Chief Operating Officer Organisation: Islamic Relief Deadline: 4 March UK Director Organisation: Islamic Relief Deadline: 5 March CALLS FOR PROPOSALS The latest open calls for proposals from DEVCO From 22 January to 19 February 2019 Call for tenders from Humanity & Inclusion [FR] Calls for applications for sub-grants 22 February & 29 March 2019 respectively Add your news concordeurope.org You are receiving this email because you are a CONCORD member or you subscribed to the list. 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