| EU launches Civil Society Facility for North Africa and Middle East |
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“We are happy that our efforts have been rewarded and hope that this will contribute to real support for civil society organisations in the region”, said Rebecca Steel-Jasińska, Policy Officer at Trialog and member of the Concord working group on Enlargement, Pre-Accession and Neighbourhood (EPAN). “We hope the EC has learned lessons from the challenges faced by the similar fund in the Instrument for Pre-Accession and will involve local civil society closely in programme development”, she stressed. The CSF is to have a total budget of €22 million for the years 2011-2013 and will consist of three components: 1. Strengthening the capacity of CS to “promote national reform and increase public accountability”; 2. Support for non-state actors through additional funding to regional and country projects; and 3. Increasing the involvement of non-state actors on a policy level, including negotiations of bilateral programmes. Last week also saw the adoption of three other programmes under the flagship of the recently adopted EC Communication “A new response to a changing Neighbourhood”. With the SPRING programme (Support for Partnership, Reform and Inclusive Growth), the EC aims to provide support for democratic transition, institution building and economic growth in the Arab spring countries through country specific measures. The other two programmes are to support poorer areas in Tunisia, through job creation measures, as well as to facilitate the access of students and academic staff to European Universities (Erasmus Mundus programme). More information on the SPRING programme. More information on EU support for Tunisia. More information on Erasmus Mundus. Read the EC communication “A new response to a changing Neighbourhood” here: European Commission - European Neigbourhood Policy (pdf). Sources:  |
The European Commission (EC) last week adopted four new programmes in light of its European Neighbourhood policy, including the creation of a Civil Society Facility (CSF) for North Africa and the Middle East. The creation of the fund has been advocated by many development organisations, including the European NGO confederation for relief and development (CONCORD) that has welcomed the EC’s decision to further support civil society organisations (CSOs) in these regions.
