Improving international development cooperation of NGOs in the Visegard countries

Mainstreaming gender into international development projects, and the social and economic development impact of international migration, were the themes covered by the two most recent raising awareness conferences.  Round Tables VI and VII hosted speakers and workshop leaders to engage participants in these essential development issues. 

On February 18-19 in Prague, participants engaged in practical and theoretical workshops addressing gender mainstreaming.  Jessica Espey, Research Officer at the Overseas Development Institute, introduced the audience to key concepts, explained how to integrate the approach into development programs, and highlighted success stories.  The event identified the need to kick-start movement to improve V4 development cooperation on gender. 

During the Raising Awareness Round Table held in Budapest, March 25-26, the thematic focus shifted to migration. The workshop provided an overview of the global patterns of migration and brought the issue into a more local context by exploring the migration phenomenon in the Visegrad countries.  The V4 countries remain the sources of emigration rather than recipients of immigrants and have kept their status as a transitory stage for migrants.  Although migration flows into the region have not increased drastically, one aspect which has changed is the profile of incoming migrants who now arrive from a much broader spectrum of countries. 

In total, the events trained close to 50 participants from local NGO platforms of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.  The round tables were organized under the project, Fostering Global Responsibility: Building a Development Policy Knowledge Network to enhance NGO Public Outreach Initiatives in EU New Member States.  The project aims to promote a greater understanding of the development challenges, facilitatie greater public support for poverty reduction efforts in new member states, and contribute to strategic policy dialogue and engagement on international development issues.  CASE and the Overseas Development Institute are leading the consortium which is implementing the Fostering Global Responsibility project. 

For reports, presentations and additional information, visit the Fostering Global Responsibility website.