March 19, 2024

Seminar: Building Resilience in the Black Sea NGO Community, 5th of December 2019, EESC Brussels

The Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND/ Black Sea NGO Forum team has organized on the 5th of December 2019, at the European Economic and Social Committee headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, the seminar with the title “Building Resilience in the Black Sea NGO Community“. The seminar was implemented in the context of the Black Sea NGO Forum project “Building CSO Capacity for Regional Cooperation within the Black Sea Region” and funded by the European Union.

The seminar aimed at highlighting the importance of the regional cooperation at the Black Sea and strengthening resilience both at the level of the society and at the level of NGOs from the region, in the context of the Black Sea Synergy policy. At the same time, the event aimed at presenting the results of this year’s edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum (23rd – 25th of October, Istanbul, Turkey).

The event gathered 28 participants from European institutions, Permanent Representations of EU member states, Brussels-based organisations, as well as NGOs from the Black Sea region.

The event started off with a speech from Mr. Călin Stoica, Permanent representative of Romania to the Political and Security Committee of the EU, followed by Ms. Indrė Vareikytė, President of the Eastern Neighbours Follow-up Committee, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Mr. Vassilis Maragos, Head of Unit, C.2. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus & Eastern Partnership, DG NEAR, European Commission and Ms. Diana Tase, Black Sea and OSCE Policy Officer, European External Action Service (EEAS). All speeches focused on ways in which the EU supports civil society resilience development in the region and methods of building and strengthening partnerships. The discussions were followed by a Q&A session moderated by Ms. Anca Ciucă, Vice-president, The Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND / President, Foundation for Democratic Changes.

In the second part of the event, the discussions, moderated by Ms. Natalia Budescu, Director, The Association for Cross-Border Cooperation “Lower Danube Euroregion”, focused on what opportunities and support mechanisms are available for regional cooperation and resilience for the civil society organisations in the region. Ms. Irina Boboc, Project Manager, The Romanian NGDO Platform – FOND, introduced the new Black Sea NGO Forum project, implemented with the support of the EU (2019-2021). Ms. Gayane Mkrtchyan, Program Director, Eurasia Partnership Foundation Armenia focused on the importance of strengthening civil society resilience in the region. Ms. Natia Aphkhazava, Batumi Branch Director, Civil Society Institute Georgia presented the main results of the Black Sea NGO Forum Civic Engagement Working Group at this year’s edition of the Forum. Last, but not least, Ms. Mariana Ianachevici, Board Member, ChildPact – The Regional Coalition for Child Protection / CEO, The Association for Child and Family Empowerment “AVE COPIII” Republic of Moldova presented the ChildPact initiative and activities, highlighting the importance of regional networks.

UPDATE: The final Report of the event is available here.

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