Letter to the Euromed Platform members Date: 01-04-2008
Author: Euromed Platform
Dear friends,
 
I have the pleasure to inform you about the latest developments and actions of the Euromed Non-Governmental Platform. Since my previous communication, right after the first Board meeting of 12 & 13 January, 2008 in Casablanca, we have moved on with a number of actions and initiatives that have given us some results that I would like to share with you.
We asked for an urgent round of contacts with our main institutional partners in order to present the new leadership, structure and priorities of the Platform. Our objective was to renew their political and financial support after the difficulties we faced during the last year. I can advance you some information resulting from these contacts:
  • The European Commission was glad to hear that the Platform started a new beginning, and after an exchange of points of view with the External Relations Units (Euromed  and Aidco) they announced the allocation of 700.000€ for the period 2008-2010 for the organization of the Euromed Civil Forum upon presentation of a clear and coherent action plan. The Commission has also announced the immediate publication of a Tender of a regional Programme for the development of civil society in the south of the Mediterranean of an amount of 1.8 M€.
  • The French Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accepted to increase the structural support to the Platform for 2008 up to 100.000€ upon presentation of the application dossier with the 2008 budget. They also promised us the amount of 189.000€ for the organization of the Euromed Civil Forum under the French Presidency (second semester of 2008).
  • The Spanish State Secretary for Cooperation accepted to support the Platform during 2008 through the active support and aid of the European Institute for the Mediterranean (IEMed) to guarantee the post of General Coordinator, as well as the financial support to organize two activities (a training course and a thematic seminar) in cooperation with the Spanish Platform, upon presentation of the application from to the Spanish Agency for Cooperation and Development (AECI).
All these contacts have given us renewed instruments to re-launch again the Platform, and I would like to thank our institutional partners for their support and commitment, as well as for the respect of the Platform’s independence and critical approach.
With all these new elements the Platform’s Bureau and Board took a number of decisions. The Board met on the 14th & 15th March in Paris, and you will receive detailed information of the different initiatives in the coming weeks, but I would like already to announce you some of them:
  • The Board discussed and adopted a budget for 2008 that will guarantee the finance of a minimum necessary structure (secretariat and elected bodies) as well as the organization of the Euromed Civil Forum and a training seminar in 2008.
 
  • We formally decided to organize a Euromed Civil Forum during the 31st October, 1st and 2nd November, 2008 in France. We are in negotiations with different partners to guarantee the funding for a qualitative Forum that ensures a good preparatory process and a political impact.
 
  • The Board decided to appoint Pau Solanilla as Executive Director of the Platform until the end of 2008. He will be in charge of setting up the basis for efficient and coherent administrative and financial governance of the Platform and guarantee the implementation of the decisions taken by the Board, under the political coordination of the Bureau.
 
  • The Board also took the initiative to explore the possibilities of setting up a Consortium of member organisations that might be eligible to run for the tender, be shortlisted and receive the European Commission’s invitation to present applications for the Programme of development and support of Civil Society in the South of the Mediterranean.
 
We are working on different fronts at the same time and we are trying to catch up the delay that we have accumulated due to the difficulties faced during 2007, even though we did not guarantee all necessary working conditions yet. As I mentioned before, during the coming weeks you will received detailed information on the different initiatives. On the other hand, the web page will be progressively updated to provide you with all relevant information.
 
Once again I would like to thank you for your commitment and support that we put in value. Thanks to both networks and individuals that are helping us with contacts, experience and financial facilities to overcome the actual situation. It will take some time to reach certain stability, we have already taken some decisions and initiatives that are giving results and leading us in the right direction, but we will need to continue to work hard to reach our goal.
 
In this context, we continue working to enlarge the partners that we are cooperating with, in particular with those foundations that actively support civil society in the region. 
 
Dear friends, all your comments and suggestions will be welcomed and useful in order to improve our work and we will make our best to involve you as much as possible in the daily work of the Platform.
 
 
Sincerely yours,
 
Abdelmaksoud Rachdi
Chairman
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