Remarks of Ambassador Biesebroek at Ceremony to Announce New Grant Funding to CSOs
Remarks by the EU Ambassador, Arend BIESEBROEK, at the CSO Grant Award Ceremony
Wednesday 21st February, 2018.
Ms Joanne Deoraj Permanent Secretary and National Authorising Officer, Ministry of Planning and Development
Colleagues of the EU Member States
Representatives of Civil Society Organisations
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
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It is indeed my pleasure to welcome you here today as we announce the award of two Civil Society grants that were signed just before Christmas. It was around this time last year that we held a similar activity, celebrating three groups that were awarded grants under our Human Rights and Governance Calls for Proposals. Today's event is for groups who were successful under our most recent Call for Proposals for projects in the area of the Environment/Climate Change and Business and the Economy.
I really treasure these occasions since it gives me the opportunity on behalf of this Delegation and the European Union by extension, to highlight our ongoing support to civil society organisations and to showcase their work in the community. Before going further, let me take a moment to define what the EU considers as civil society organisations and explain why we continue to support this sector.
The EU considers civil society organisations to include all those non-State, not-for-profit structures, non-partisan and non–violent, through which people organise themselves to pursue shared objectives and ideals, whether political, cultural, social or economic. Not for profit structures include membership-based, cause-based and service-oriented CSOs. Among them are community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations, foundations, research institutions, gender and LGBTI organisations, cooperatives, professional and business associations, and the not-for-profit media. Trade unions and employers' organisations, the so-called social partners, constitute a specific category of CSOs.
The European Union 's engagement with and support to Civil Society as outlined in our CSO Support Strategy is built on a premise that recognises CSOs as actors and partners. We therefore open spaces for CSOs to redefine their roles, functions and structures; we support institutional capacity building and organisational development; we strengthen existing partnerships and dialogue spaces; and we also reinforce linkages and interactions among non- state actors at the local, national and international levels.,
Now, let me turn your attention to the recently signed grants: For these projects it was important to identify areas which are in line with both the EU's and the Government's development agenda – hence the focus on business and the economy and environment and climate change. We also requested that interested organisations form consortiums to implement the projects activities. These consortiums are important given the challenges civil society organisations face, which often cross sectoral divides. We believe that these consortiums provide an opportunity to involve CSOs through the identification of common and shared interests and create opportunities for deeper collaboration and sharing of resources.
I am now pleased to announce that the Delegation has awarded two grants to two consortiums comprising 8 organisations for a total amount of 870,134 Euros (equivalent to almost 7 million Trinidad and Tobago dollars). Note that these groups are expected to contribute at least 10% of the cost of these projects. You will hear more details about these projects from the successful organisations later on in our programme.
Since we started these Calls for Proposals in 2015, which gave civil society organisations the chance to access EU funding for their activities, we have awarded over 1.6 million Euros, to 27 groups who are direct beneficiaries. Project activities have been in areas such as governance, LGBTI issues, gender based violence, death penalty, capacity building and institutional strengthening of groups.
While we have seen some progress so far (all the projects are still being implemented) what we have noticed is that while groups were successful in cooperating with each other to secure funding, more work is needed to manage the issues associated with the requirements and challenges of collectively working together to achieve the desired impacts of these projects.
We want all beneficiaries to get involved in all aspects of the projects. While for contractual issues, a lead organisation is identified from the consortium, we encourage all groups to take time to understand your contract and your role in the project.
We want to also encourage groups to find ways to monitor progress, during implementation, while enhancing your negotiation and mediation skills, as part of your overall organisational development. For our part, the EU Delegation is willing to support you along the way, so please don’t hesitate to contact us. Keep in mind that these projects are a team affair, and the success or failure of these projects ultimately reflects not only on your respective organisations, but also on us as the responsible Delegation.
Let me take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to the successful grant awardees and to ensure you of my Delegation's commitment to working with the respective project teams to guarantee that these projects are successfully implemented.
Thank You