A very long-awaited Baltic CSOs’ exchange forum focusing on building a roadmap for cooperation in the development!

Date: 13th October, 2 PM Vilnius/Riga/Tallinn time
Zoom registration link

Program
14:00 – 14:10 Welcome and introduction
14:10 – 14:25 National DC Platforms: the situation updates in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia
14:25 – 15:20 Thematic exchange sessions – breakout rooms
Session 1 Migration and humanitarian action
Session 2 Financing for development: Bilateral ODA within MFA
Session 3 Innovative and needs-based development projects
15:20 – 15:50 Presentation from the sessions
15:50 – 16:00 Wrap up and next steps

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania initiated development cooperation as part of their European Union (EU) accession process. The pandemic, migration crisis, changes and challenges in main DC focus in The Eastern Partnership region, global inequality rise brought many experiences also for CSOs in development or humanitarian sectors. The three Baltic states are also in the process of forming a new development cooperation strategy, the fund and/or agencies. The situation today for us presents both an enormous challenge and extraordinary opportunity to build a roadmap for CSOs in development.

We invite all the Baltic CSOs in development and humanitarian action and other partners to join us in tackling and looking deeper into 3 thematic areas:

Session 1 Migration and humanitarian action

The Baltic states (especially Lithuania and Latvia) faced a challenging time as thousands of irregular migrants / asylum seekers came seeking support and asylum after the elections in Belarus in 2020 and the recent “channeling” of people via the Belarussian border. While the vulnerable people became an unacceptable instrument of politics, CSOs not only call for solidarity and support, but also have fastly adopted new knowledge, skills and competencies in assisting the people in need.

Key focus: migration, humanitarian assistance, integration, advocacy for human rights, research in migration and other related aspects we face daily.

Session 2 Financing for development: Bilateral ODA within MFA

A lot of Baltic CSOs apply and receive funding for development cooperation or global education projects from national MFA. The financing for development within the Bilateral ODA has its own challenges of transparency, thematic fields or regions, and the framework for implementation. We focus on Bilateral aid relocation via MFA funding for CSOs and other DC actors. Also we all are in various processes establishing new DC agencies in Estonia (called Estaid) and Latvia, DC Fund, new DC strategy  in Lithuania and there will be major systematic changes in the area of bilateral financing for DC in certain ways in all of the three countries.

Key focus: more CSO inclusive and transparent funding for CSOs and other DC actors within the MFA.

Session 3 Innovative and needs-based development projects

The DC actions could focus on many needs for a partner country’s society. CSOs with partners seek to design and build actions to meet civil society and other sectors demands and trigger changes in the ways

partners’ civil society can benefit from programs and tailored solutions. The build-up of capacities of implementing needs based development cooperation projects also comes from sharing and exchange.

Key focus: building a better focused programs, exchange the best innovative practices that address the needs. The session will also support and exchange views with new NGOs in development for setting up the programs.

Organized by Lithuanian NGDO Platform, Estonian Roundtable for Development Cooperation, Latvian Platform for Development Cooperation.

The forum is part of the projects #Agenda2030 funded by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Eurodad network capacity building funded by EC. The event and its contents are the sole responsibility of the organizers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the European Union.