The Project has been submitted within the European Union's program:
SUPPORT TO CIVIL SOCIETY DIALOGUE – "PEOPLE TO PEOPLE ACTIONS"-CONSOLIDATING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS AND PUBLIC AUTHORITIES FOR RAISING MINORITY RIGHTS IN THE REGION.
CARDS Regional Action Program , 2006
OPENING CONFERENCE: 6/7 JULY 2009, BRUSSELS
The People 2 People Program is one of the three strands of the Civil Society Facility of the Directorate-General for Enlargement of the European Commission which organised the opening conference for projects selected following the call for proposals "Support to civil society dialogue: Consolidating partnerships between civil society organisations and public authorities for raising minority rights in the region", financed under the CARDS Regional Action Programme 2006 (EuropeAid/126361/C/ACT/Multi). Besides providing a space for the beneficiaries to meet and network (among themselves and with the Commission), the opening conference will create the opportunity for the participants to get acquainted with relevant stakeholders at European level. This project which was conceived to consolidate partnership between civil society organisations and public authorities for raising minority rights in the region has been officially approved by the European Commission in May 2009 and will last on for two years. The City of Subotica (the lead applicant), ALDA, Wolverhampton Light House Center, the LDAs of Subotica, Osijek and Mostar applied for this project jointly.
The projects locations are: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia respectively in the host cities of Subotica, Mostar and Osijek. The Proposal is designed to enforce the role of local civil society in strengthening the local self-government in two areas relevant for further EU integration of Serbia and the countries involved in the action. More in particular the project points at:
- an effective implementation of minority rights;
- citizen participation in public life at local level;
- the promotion and the raise of awareness on the impact of respective local policies, the importance of diversity-related policies, as well as the mechanisms and institutions of co-operation with other local actors involved (above all, local civil society organisations and minority communities’ organisations and/or councils).
This last objective is closely related with positioning of the City of Subotica as it has been active in promoting good intercultural governance both at Serbian and at a Regional/European level.
The activities consist of three components which are strictly correlated:
Component 1 regards basically promotion and /or visibility actions, including an interactive webpage, the publication of a regular newsletter in several languages and a shoot of a documentary film on participating town and regions.
Component 2 concerns the so called domain of capacity building, consisting of three thematic Schools of Local Democracy. The first will take place in Subotica as a Training Seminar on Intercultural Governance for local government officials and civil society organisations, the second in Osijek as a Youth Training seminar on intercultural understanding and tolerance and the third in Mostar as an International conference on good local practice on participation of minorities.
Component 3 is designed as an Intercultural Exchange and BE-ME Perspective, consisting of three days of Study visit including one day of thematic Round Tables in each Partners' city, which will take place during the traditional annual ethnic minorities’ cultural events.
