EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project Talking about the Neighbourhood
Cooperation is all about people Working closely with civil society and cooperation in the areas of human rights, culture, media, youth and gender are at the heart of the EU’s partnership with its Southern Mediterranean Neighbours. “We try to go beyond the one-size-fits-all approach,” says Raffaella Iodice, Head of Unit, Regional Programmes Neighbourhood South at EuropeAid, in an interview with the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre.
Interview with Raffaella Iodice What is the people-to-people approach? The people-to-people approach focuses on defining development strategies that involve the people in our partner countries, on the implementation of projects that benefit local communities, and on monitoring reforms adopted by governments. Establishing a strong partnership with the people, and especially supporting civil society and enhancing exchange, are at the heart of the EU's key neighbourhood strategy documents released in 2011, "A partnership for democracy and shared prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean" and "A new response to a changing Neighbourhood". We have several regional programmes where, for example, journalists, civil society organisations or trade unions gather to discuss democratic reforms, or where grassroots NGOs implement local development initiatives benefiting sections of the population such as youth and women. We try to go beyond the one-size-fits-all approach. This publication does not represent the official view of the EC or the EU institutions. The EC accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to its content.
Development of capacities and transfer of knowledge are key elements of EU cooperation, what do they achieve? Development of human capital remains a priority. We believe that by strengthening people's capacities, we can help them become actors of development, leaders of change and owners of their future. This in turn can maximize the impact of our cooperation in countries that are better prepared to face social, This is a series of interviews economic or political challenges. Providing support to the right with people involved in the people is a catalyst for a more actively involved population, laying Neighbourhood, prepared by the foundations for inclusive societies. the EU Neighbourhood Info This is all the more important in the Southern Mediterranean, a Centre © 2013 region marked by growing demographic pressure, with more
Interview with Raffaella Iodice EU Neighbourhood Info Centre - An ENPI project
“We try to go beyond the one-size-fitsall approach”
“We believe that by strengthening people's capacities, we can help them become actors of development, leaders of change and owners of their future.”
than 60% of the population under 30. These young people want to take part in shaping the future of their countries. One of the main sparks of the Arab Spring was the violation of human rights: what is the EU doing to encourage partner countries to strengthen and respect fundamental freedoms? Human rights and democracy are key elements for good governance and for sustainable development. They are guiding principles for all the EU’s actions, a fundamental pillar of the renewed European Neighbourhood Policy. The Arab Spring demonstrated once more that freedom cannot be suppressed and that the EU needs to support people in their call for those same freedoms that we in Europe take for granted. In this respect the EU has a proud tradition of support for countries in transition, which has been channelled mainly through the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR). We also recently joined up with the Council of Europe, the human rights watchdog, and launched an ambitious programme to support democratic transition in the Southern Mediterranean, especially in the field of independence of judiciary and the fight against corruption. But as we can see, each country is evolving in a different way, and the tensions between calls for change and forces of resistance remain largely unresolved. The narrative of the Arab Spring is not yet written. It is not enough to overthrow a despotic regime; progress in democracy and human rights takes time, and is closely linked to each country's particular situation. In the end the process of democratisation can only be driven by internal forces. The EU has significantly increased its support to civil society: in which ways are these projects achieving results? Civil society has emerged as an important driver for change. Vibrant civil societies are vital to democratic states. And in some countries where there is little prospect of engaging with national or local authorities, as in Syria where cooperation with the government has been suspended since May 2011, civil society organisations become the only possible channel for cooperation. It's all the more important then for the EU to engage with civil society organisations so that they participate in the decision-making process and the implementation of development programmes. A practical example of our commitment is the Neighbourhood Civil Society Facility set up in 2011. Its main goal is to reinforce civil society organisations, to allow them to be real actors of democratisation by boosting their contribution to policy-making and developing their advocacy, networking and monitoring capacities. The first phase focused on gathering more information on the needs of these organisations, and enhancing their capacities to promote reform and increase accountability. Now, with a two-year budget of €22 million for the south, the Civil Society Facility is tackling broader objectives, aiming to enhance the involvement of civil society organisations in the policy-making process, and to strengthen their role as watchdogs. Finally, it's important to mention our support to the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), which aims to help those actors of change facing obstacles in access to EU funding. It will offer a rapid and flexible funding mechanism, in particular for those who operate in a very uncertain political context. This will be the added value of the EED: to encourage “deep and sustainable democracy” in transition countries and societies struggling for democratisation complementing the on-going support through already existing instruments such as the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), Instrument for Stability (IFS), non-State Actors and Local Authorities (NSA-LA) and the Civil Society Facility. The role of media is evolving fast in the Southern Mediterranean: what does the EU do to support press freedom and quality journalism? 2011 saw radical changes in the way the media functions in the region, at the same time as a growing role for 'citizen journalists' disseminating online news. With our current regional project Media Neighbourhood, we support media through training and networking among journalists, editors and owners. Our goal is to strengthen professional journalistic capacity across the Neighbourhood, more specifically in the areas of media independence and online media, but also to increase awareness of media ethics, and impartial investigative reporting. Over three years, the project will hold 108 events, involving 1260 journalists and 500 journalism students. At the same time, we need to address the institutional framework. To support the process of media transformation we are launching a new regional programme, "Media and Culture for Development
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Interview with Raffaella Iodice EU Neighbourhood Info Centre - An ENPI project
“These young people want to take part in shaping the future of their countries.”
in the Mediterranean region", which will work to reinforce the capacities and networking of media regulators, while supporting a gradual shift of public media from State-controlled propaganda tool to a reliable source of balanced information. What are the challenges in your support to gender equality in the region? The changes sweeping the region present real opportunities for women to push for their rights. Yet there is also a risk of regression. Recent history painfully reminds us that the massive occupation of public space by women during revolutions in no way guarantees their role in the political bodies of the regimes that follow. Although the situation of women varies across the region, threats to their human rights converge. Women are confronting attempts to exclude them from public life, as well as acts of discrimination and violence perpetrated with impunity by extremist groups and security forces. At a time when conservative forces appear to be growing in strength, it is vital that steps are taken to establish equal rights between men and women as the very foundation of democratic societies. The EU has made commitments to promote gender equality across all actions taken in response to the Arab awakening. Indeed, beyond its direct support, the European Commission has mainstreamed gender issues in all its programmes, notably in programmes dealing with topics such as human rights, education, youth or justice. Total EU support to gender issues for the southern Mediterranean currently amounts to €75 million, of which €63 million in bilateral support and €12 million at regional level. Indeed, the EU recently adopted a €7 million regional programme focused on political and economic empowerment of women in the region, which aims at helping marginalized women gain greater access to economic and public life. Why is the cultural sector important for the region and what are the perspectives for the future in this sector? We have been supporting the cultural sector for many years through two main programmes: Euromed Audiovisual and Euromed Heritage. Besides its role in intercultural dialogue, culture is also an important vector of economic development, and contributes to freedom of all kinds of expression. The support we have been providing over the past 15 years is widely acknowledged by civil society organisations as having encouraged them to make their voices heard, even under autocratic regimes. We see heritage in the region as not only limited to pyramids. Euromed Heritage has been encouraging the protection of tangible heritage (from hammams to audiovisual archives) and intangible heritage. This creates not only new potential for tourism and a clear impact on job creation and income generation but also helps local populations appropriate their culture.
In Focus
DG EuropeAid Southern Neighbourhood – Bringing people together EU Neighbourhood Info Centre thematic pages: Audiovisual and Media
Culture
Civil Society and Local Authorities
Gender
Youth
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project The EU Neighbourhood Info Centre is an EU-funded Regional Information and Communication project highlighting the partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. The project is managed by Action Global Communications.
www.enpi-info.eu
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