Implementing Organisation: KOPIN

Project Title: Building an expertise on priority development issues in Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Total Costs: 40.780 euros

Request from Fund: 40.144 euros

Project Description and Expected Results:

Malta’s recently published Overseas Development Policy (December 2007) identifies five priority countries: Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Palestine.  However, the knowledge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kopin as well as SKOP – the National Platform of Maltese NGDOs – is presently insufficient in relation to the development scenarios of these countries.

This project will enable KOPIN to develop its expertise through the analysis of existing development cooperation agreements between the EU and four African countries. Furthermore,  in establishing contact with Southern CSOs and European organisations working directly in the region, Kopin will develop hands-on experience, allowing Kopin to engage:
-    nationally, through SKOP and its member organisations, and through informing and influencing the MFA’s Overseas Development Strategy;
-    regionally, as a member of MEDIATE and various other Mediterranean fora;  
-    at the EU level, within the structures of CONCORD and other European development networks.

As a result of this project, Kopin will submit recommendations to the Maltese Government on the best strategies that will deal with the priority development issues in the identified region, thus informing and influencing Government’s ODA policy, and share its expertise with the other member organisations of SKOP.

KOPIN was granted funding for a second project in call 5. The proposal differs significantly with the first project in that it focuses on building expertise on priority issues in Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, the priority countries in the Maltese Overseas Development policy (ODP). The Maltese government intended to develop an Action Plan for the implementation of the ODP and KOPIN needed to develop its capacity to influence the Action Plan after having consulted with relevant NGOs in the respective priority countries.

In its proposal KOPIN relied on the support from SKOP in its relations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Global Issues Department, but also hoped to engage SKOP’s member NGOs by organising individual workshops per NGO, i.e. organise 11 workshops over the one-year period. As stated above, this seems over-ambitious particularly in view of KOPIN’s small number of staff.

In order to establish contacts with relevant NGOs in the priority countries’ NGOs, KOPIN hoped it could rely on the cooperation of Concord and Eurostep members. As a complicating factor to the achievement of its objectives however, it identified the elections foreseen for the 8^th of March 2008. As neither a mid-term nor an end-of- term report has been produced so far it is not clear what KOPIN’s achievements have been to date in the context of this project.