Policy Forum on Development (PFD)

Policy Forum on Development 

Middle East and Neighbourhood South Multi-stakeholder Meeting 

"The changing nature of partnerships: impacts in the region and in EU development policy"

Dead Sea, Jordan, 3-4 October 2017

Movenpick Hotel

Tuesday, October 3

Day 1: Setting the scene

08:45 - 10:00

1. Welcome

Welcome speeches from

• H.E. Thikra Alwash, Mayor of Baghdad
• Ms. Amneh Falah, Former President, Jordanian Women's Union
• Loic Lallemand Zeller, Deputy Head of Unit, Civil Society, Foundations, DG International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), European Commission 

Objective: Present the main aspects of the EU Global Strategy, the European Neighbourhood Policy and the EU development policy, including the recently adopted European Consensus on Development. The Consensus is the long-term vision and framework for action for development cooperation agreed between the European Union (EU) and its Member States. It aligns the Union's development policy with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This session will give the opportunity to have both an informative and frank exchange about this policy framework and how it will be implemented in the region. Specific mention will be made of how these policy frameworks incorporate the advancement of gender equality, rights based approach, environment and climate change, resilience, etc.

Moderator:

Nabila Hamza, Civil Society Forum South Expert

Speakers:

Ambassador Andrea Fontana, Head of Delegation, Delegation of the European Union to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (speech)

Irène Mingasson, Head of Unit, Regional Programmes, Neighbourhood South, DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR), European Commission

Loic Lallemand Zeller, Deputy Head of Unit, Civil Society, Foundations, DG International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), European Commission

11:00-11:30

Coffee Break

11:30-12:30

11:30-12:30

Objective: Promote a common understanding of the objectives and expected results of the PFD and open a space of dialogue with the members in the region, to listen to their concerns, ideas, and questions. Show how the PFD fits within ongoing EC processes, specifically synergies with Civil Society Forum Neighbourhood South.

Moderator: Antonio Fernandez de Velasco,  Civil Society, Foundations, DG International Cooperation and Development (DEVCO), European Commission

Speakers: PFD Task Team members and Irène Mingasson, Head of Unit, Regional Programmes, Neighbourhood South, DG Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR), European Commission

Presentation of the PFD 

Background Information on PFD: Rationale, Objectives, Milestones so far (Joint paper and Multi-stakeholder partnership survey)

Membership in the PFD: Composition, Terms of Reference, Task Team

Discussion with participants and Task Team members of the region on PFD relevance and regional engagement

14:00-15:00

Objective: Hear how the 2030 Agenda is being adopted in the regional context (including national level planning of regional participants), and lead a discussion to better understand the regional factors that must be prioritized to implement the SDGs.

A. Regional and National progress in adopting the 2030 Agenda

Regional update by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and national presentations, followed by reactions from participants to kick off discussion of regional implementation. This could include a focus on national and regional multi-stakeholder platforms and how they are or could be working to support policy implementation (i.e., respondents from the region, who have also produced reports on the implementation of the SDGs)

Proposed Moderator: Ziad Abdul Samad, Executive Director, Arab NGO Network for Development, Lebanon

Proposed speakers:

Karima El Korri, Head of Unit, Agenda 2030, UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)

Ahmad Awad, Phenix Center

H.E. Adli Yaish, Mayor of Nablus

Coffee Break

B. Working group discussions with pre-identified participants reacting to the above plenary from a group or thematic perspectives

Discussion will focus on two elements:

1. Identify the key factors that encourage (positive) or prevent (negative) the implementation of the 2030 Agenda?
2. Elaborate concrete and realistic proposals to promote the role of CSOs and LAs in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda?

Four working groups

Proposed moderators :

1. Magdy Belal, Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement
2. Amjad Shawa : PNGO Gaza/Dua’a Qurie Ramallah ED PNGO
3. Meriem Benkhouya, Espace Associatif, Morocco (FR)
4. Salah Alghazali, Chairman, Kuwait Transparency Society

C. Plenary feedback from working groups and key conclusions

Moderator : Ziad Abdul Samad

Proposed presenters in Plenary :

1. Salim Korkmaz, UCLG MEWA
2. Kinda Hattar, Transparency International, MENA
3. Jihan Mrad, Secretary General, Businessmed (FR)
4. Mustafa Tilli, Secrétaire exécutif,  Confédération arabe des syndicats, ATUC

Side meeting for CSOs working with and in the Neighbourhood South: A regional hub for structured dialogue, with an intervention by Irène Mingasson

Wednesday, October 4

Day 2: Linking to EU policy support

9:00-13:00

5.  Regional Specific Challenges: Resilience at Stake 

8:45-9:15

coffee and recap

Welcome: Recap of first day (5-10 minutes; PFD TT member)

Objective: Look more in detail at region-specific challenges and allow for more in-depth discussions in smaller groups. Proposed topics and resource persons include:

1) Enabling Environment for the LAs and CSOs (Yousri Moustafa, independent expert, and Wadih Al Asmar, Centre Libanais des Droits Humains)

2) Crises, Post Crisis and Fragile States and Migration: Refugees and IDPs (Mohamed Saadieh, President, Union of Dannieh Municipalities and Rabie Nasser, Co-founder and researcher, Syrian Center for Policy Research)

3) Inequalities and Social exclusion, including gender inequality, youth unemployment & underemployment (Sylvana Lakkis, Arab Forum for the Rights of People with Disabilities)

4) Democracy and Human Rights (Salaheddine Jourchi, independent expert/journalist and Aref Jaffal, Director, Arab World Democracy and Electoral Monitor)

5) Environmental Challenges: Natural resources scarcity & waste; environment-blind policies & implementation (Habib Maalouf, President, Platforum Euromed Liban and Rehbi Baker, Treasurer, Palestinian Agricultural Cooperative Union)

9:30-10:45

Roundtable discussions

First round: Topics introduced by resource persons and facilitators focus on two questions:

1. Are there positive local examples and initiatives that could inspire the work of others in the region?
2. Are there ways to improve dialogue, action and partnerships (including with the governments) to encourage the achievement of collective goals? 

10:45-11:15

Coffee Break

11:15-12:30

Second round: Facilitator moves into the second set of questions:

1. How could EU policies support this concrete work going forward?
2. How the PFD could support the work of CSOs and LAs in the region?

12:30-13:00

Developing shared conclusions for plenary presentation: The rapporteur presents the main findings and works with the Facilitator and participants to agree and finalize the messages for the plenary.

13:00-14.15

Lunch

Roundtable facilitators or resource persons will feed back on key conclusions from each table and recommendations. Plenary discussion regarding the outcomes will follow.

Moderator from the PFD task team

Objective: Elicit regional specific conclusions and recommendations about where EU policy can support regional-specific challenges going forward