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The Presidency Fund was created in 2005 to promote the engagement of NGOs and other civil society actors from the 10 New Member States in the European Union’s Development Policy Debates. The membership of the ten presents a unique opportunity to strengthen debate about the European Union’s role in the world and its co-operation with developing countries. Established for a limited period following the accession of the 10 New Member States in 2004 and Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, the Fund has now finalised its activities. The content of this website provides information on the implementation of the Fund, the initiatives that were supported, and assessments of what were achieved. The projects included establishing a Gender Watch network focusing on the EU’s co-operation with countries in the CEE/CIS regions, supporting the active involvement of NGOs from Malta, Cyprus and Slovenia around the EU’s co-operation with countries in the Mediterranean basin within the Barcelona process, promoting the involvement of Visegrad country NGOs in debates on development/trade policy coherence, and strengthening the capacity of organizations in Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Malta to engage in development policy dialogue nationally and in Europe. The Presidency Fund strongly supported the activities of National NGDO Platforms across the New Member States. The Presidency Fund was established with the support of the Irish and Dutch Governments, both of which held the Presidency of the European Union in 2004 at the time of the accession of the ten New Member States. The German government contributed an additional 250.000 euros to the Fund in 2007. The actions supported by the Presidency Fund all focused on promoting more effective engagements by NGOs in policy dialogue. “We are pleased that with the support of the Dutch and Irish governments we were able to strengthen civil society involvement from the most recently joined countries of the EU. Civil society has a critical role to play; not only in pressing governments to meet their commitments, but also to ensure that development policy remains focused on eradicating poverty and promoting social inclusion” said Simon Stocker, Managing Director of the Fund, and Director of Eurostep. "While the initial activities of the Presidency Fund have been completed, there is still an objective need to continue providing support for the capacity of civil society organisations within the EU's newest members. Most of these countries have important perspectives that they can bring to the debate on the future approaches to making development policies effective. These are rooted in their own recent history and struggles. We are therefore working towards the possible establishment of a successor initiaitive to the Presidency Fund."
Reports on the Fund Annual Report 2006
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Sunday, 29 January
