In the context of the first day of this year’s edition of the Black Sea NGO Forum (12th – 14th of November 2018, Brussels, Belgium), a special interactive session was dedicated to the Black Sea Synergy, the main framework of action for the EU through which cooperation and regional development among the countries surrounding the Black Sea is being promoted.
Following a brief introductory intervention from Ms. Diana Tase, Black Sea Synergy and Eastern Partnership Policy Officer, Division for Eastern Partnership, regional cooperation and OSCE, European External Action Service (EEAS), Ms. Svitlana Kuts, Independent NGO Consultant has guided the participants throughout the entire interactive session.
Participants from all 10 countries covered by the Synergy (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine) were asked to discuss and then find common answers to questions such as: What are the main crosscutting thematic issues that can bring an added value to regional cooperation among CSOs within the framework of the Black Sea Synergy? or How can the Black Sea Synergy support mechanisms for fostering civil society regional cooperation and strengthening resilience?
Based on the input received during the 2018 Black Sea NGO Forum from our participants, on the internal feedback collected after, as a follow-up activity and on the findings of our 2017 Evaluation Report “The Black Sea NGO Forum a decade on. Evaluation, impact and perspectives (2012 – 2016)”, the Black Sea NGO Forum team has elaborated a Position Paper, which aims to highlight the importance of civil society cooperation in the Black Sea Region and put forward a series of recommendations for the Black Sea Synergy policy in terms of thematic priorities and regional mechanisms to enable civil society to cooperate more effectively and sustainably.
The Position Paper “Towards a Stronger & More Sustainable Civil Society Cooperation at the Black Sea – Position Paper on the Black Sea Synergy Review” is available for consultation here.
