EU Support for Sustainable Change in Transition Societies

EU Support for Sustainable Change in Transition Societies • Why? • Aim and Focus? • Concrete Improvements proposed? http: //ec. europa. eu/europeaid /what/developmentpolicies/documents/communica tion_transition_en. pdf http: //ec. europa. eu/europeaid /what/developmentpolicies/documents/travail_ser vice_conjoint_part 1_v 7_en. pdf

Prague Technical Workshop Sharing Knowledge and Transition Experience for Development – the view of New European Donors Sharon Zarb – European Commission (DG Europe. Aid)

Structure of the Presentation • I. Introduction to Capacity Development and Knowledge Exchange • II. Knowledge-Sharing Platforms • III. Twinning, TAIEX, SIGMA • IV. Conclusion 3

What is Capacity Development ? Capacity Development (CD) is: - - a key driver of aid and development effectiveness - - an endogenous process that needs to be owned - - catalysed by incentives and the quality of the learning process Many ways of supporting CD : Budget Support Technical assistanc e Facilitation Capacity Development Knowledge Exchange If Capacity Development support is successful, it creates an exit opportunity from the traditional aid relationship speeding up institutional development

Knowledge exchange and Capacity Development relies on Knowledge Exchange at two levels: • Capacity Development is about change, and change is not linear. A more systematic approach to capture and share knowledge on Capacity Development should be promoted. • Sharing knowledge has a transformational effect, at various levels. For example, promoting citizen participation through IT technologies can be one of the most transformational forms of Capacity Development.

II. EU Knowledge-Sharing Platforms: a)Capacity 4 Dev http: //capacity 4 dev. ec. europa. eu b) The European Transition Compendium (ETC) www. eutransition. eu

capacity 4 dev. eu: EU’s Knowledge Sharing Platform on Development Capacity 4 dev. eu: CD through Knowledge Sharing! • Consolidate knowledge and build Institutional Memory • Support Thematic Expertise, break down the silos • Support good practice and innovation exchange / help identify specialists • Cross-learning among practitioners from EC, EEAS, MS, Donors, International Organisations, private sector, CSOs, Governments, Academia… Fast Facts 5900+ Professionals from all over the world 2200+ staff (EC/EEAS) 3700+ from Private Cos, CSOs, Government, Donors etc 280+ Knowledge pieces 9000+ Posts in 200+ Groups

Capacity 4 dev. eu What is offered: • Access to a large community of practitioners from across the world • Over 280 knowledge pieces (Voices and Views) on a great variety of themes backed with video and references updated weekly • Fully fledged free Groupware for the development community: Public or Private groups with: Group site, Blog, full document library, events, survey tool, project management tool, group chat, members rooster, powerful search • Peer support functionality: help from the community • Your profile page, mail notifications, personal recommendations • Secure hosting (EC Infrastructure) www. capacity 4 dev. eu/contact or capacity 4 dev@ec. europa. eu help and guidance www. capacity 4 dev. eu/help

'Millions of Europeans, including me, grew up not knowing how it felt to live in an open society, with freedoms and opportunities… So our readiness to help partner countries along the path towards better governance is no hollow sentiment. Sharing experiences and good practice can only be of benefit to all concerned. . . ' Quote from Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development at the Opening Ceremony of European Development Days 2011 9

www. eutransition. eu 10

ETC: Expertise by sector…and by country Contact: sharon. zarb @ec. europa. eu 11

III. Twinning, TAIEX, SIGMA

Twinning • Why? Initially designed to help EU-acceding countries to absorb aquis communautaire • Who? Public administrations of a Member State + Neighbourhood Beneficiary country • How? Commitment of two project leaders in respective administrations; full-time work for min. 12 months in corresponding public administration of partner country; twinning manual 13

One example of a Twinning Success Story • Support to Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan • Twinning Partner: Office of the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania 14

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Find out more on Twinning. . . • • Europe. Aid website – Boosting co-operation through Twinning: http: //ec. europa. eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/overview/twinning_en. htm • • • Europe. Aid Publication - Boosting Twinning Co-operation in the Neighbouring Countries: http: //ec. europa. eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/overview/documents/twinning_en. pdf http: //www. enpi-info. eu/files/publications/twinning_en. pdf Institution building in the framework of EU policies – Common Twinning Manual: English version: http: //ec. europa. eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/overview/documents/20121011 -twinningmanual-2012_en. pdf • • • Contact: European Commission DEVCO F 4: Europe. Aid-TWINNING-OPERATIONS@ec. europa. eu 18

Technical Assistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX) • Why? To rapidly mobilize public and tailor-made short-term technical assistance to support partner countries' public administrations • Who? Institutions and organisations that play a role in partner countries to help in the approximation/implementation/enforcement of EU legislation • How? Demand-driven – reaction upon request sent by a partner administration in neighbourhood region 19

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Find out more about TAIEX • Europe. Aid webpage TAIEX: http: //ec. europa. eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/over view/taiex_en. htm • Applications: http: //ec. europa. eu/enlargement/taiex/beneficiaries/warni ng_authorisation_en. htm • Contact: Europe. Aid-TAIEXOPERATIONS@ec. europa. eu • 22

Support for Improvement in Governance and Management (SIGMA) • Why? Joint initiative of OECD + EU – financed principally by EU; SIGMA = self-explanatory • Who? Central agencies responsible for horizontal management systems of government; active in 11 neighbourhood countries • How? Demand-driven – demand for activities being framed within European Neighbourhood ad Partnership action plans and national indicative programmes. 23

Find out more on SIGMA • Find out more. . . • Website: http: //www. oecd. org/site/sigma/ • Europe. Aid webpage: http: //ec. europa. eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/over view/index_en. htm • Contact: http: //www. oecd. org/site/sigma/contactus/ • 24

IV. Conclusion

Thank you! Europe. Aid website: http: //ec. europa. eu/europeaid/index_en. htm