e-zine nEUws, 70th edition

E-zine nEUws, 70th edition
04 August 2006

• Call for Proposals
• EU News
• Upcoming Events
• Resources

Calls for Proposals

The Calls on the following budget lines are usually open for organizations and projects interested in SRHR. For further details on any of these Calls or corrigenda see the EuropeAid website, http://ec.europa.eu/comm/europeaid/cgi/frame12.pl.

Programme of Aid for Policies and Actions on SRHR in Developing Countries.
The principal objectives of this programme are to secure the right of women, men and adolescents to good reproductive and sexual health, to enable women, men and adolescents to have access to a comprehensive range of safe and reliable reproductive and sexual health care services and products, and to improve access of women to basic and comprehensive essential/emergency obstetric care, including skilled birth attendants, and thereby, in the long run, contribute to a reduction of maternal mortality rates in countries and populations where these are highest. The main focus in 2006 is support for activities aimed at meeting the needs of uprooted people (e.g. IDPs, refugees, migrants) for sexual and reproductive health services and commodities in conflict and post-conflict settings.
Budget: 18.496 million; Deadline: September 19, 2006

EIDHR projects
These Calls for Proposals aim at maximizing the effectiveness, impact and visibility of actions undertaken in support of the protection and promotion of human rights and democratization in:
- Angola - Deadline: September 20, 2006; Budget: € 918,362
- Burundi - Deadline: August 21, 2006; Budget: € 490,000
- Vietnam – Deadline: September 07, 2006; Budget: € 150,000

Decentralized Co-operation
These Calls for Proposals support actions creating an environment for the diversification and reinforcement of civil society and grassroots democracy in:
- Burma/Myanmar – Deadline: August 21, 2006; Budget: € 200,000

Corrigendum
The eligibility criteria for the Call for Proposals for Kyrgyzstan on fostering a human rights centre (Reference: EuropeAid/123668/M/ACT/ KG), published on 23 June, 2006 and mentioned in the latest nEUws issue no.69, has been reworded.

EU News

General Affairs and External Relation Council (GAERC) Meeting
17 – 18 July, 2006
The GAERC approved EUR 22,682 million for implementation of the 10th European Development Fund (EDF), of which 21,966 million will be allocated to the ACP group of states. Importantly, the GAERC also agreed that the European Parliament (EP) can have the right to reject measures implementing codecision-based instruments if the measure is judged incompatible with its agreed upon aim. This means, for example, that if the new Development Cooperation Instrument and Investing in People Thematic Programme is approved under the proposed 2007-2013 financial framework, the EP can reject major implementing actions (to be defined later, but possibly including, e.g., the thematic strategy or a scope for a major Call for Proposals) proposed by the EC if they are deemed significantly insufficient. In addition, GAERC conclusions highlighted the importance of SRHR, the Cairo agenda, and HIV/Aids in the EU strategy for the Pacific. 

EC consultation on Investing in People
03 August, 2006
DSW participated in an EC civil society consultation on the implementation of the Investing in People thematic strategy proposed for 2007-2013. The thematic programme includes six priority areas: good health for all, knowledge and skills, employment and social cohesion, gender equality, children and youth and culture. The draft strategy, which is not available online, surprised Brussels based advocates by placing much more emphasis on SRHR than was expected. The IIP communication can be found here.

EC consultation on the EC Action plan on Children and Development
02 August, 2006
DSW participated in an EC civil society consultation on the proposed EC Action plan on Children and Development. The Action Plan shall specify the EU's development efforts according to the communication “Towards an EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child”. The consultation invited civil society to comment on the Action Plan, which will serve as a working guideline. Find the communication here.

World Population Day 2006
11 July 2006
This year's World Population Day focused on young people. A joint statement by the European Commission and UNFPA recognizes that investments in young people promote social and economic growth and better prospects in life. Key to these efforts is keeping girls in school, building life skills, delaying marriage and pregnancy until adulthood, and preventing HIV infection. Find more here: www.unfpa.org/wpd/index.htm.

Upcoming Events

Public Consultation, Non-State Actors
The EC has scheduled a public consultation for its proposed Thematic Strategy Paper to operationalise the “Non-state actors and Local Authorities in development” Thematic Programme. The NSA Thematic Programme will support initiatives to promote participatory approaches to development from local authorities and civil society organisations active in development. The NSA Thematic Programme will intervene when neither the geographical programmes nor the other thematic programmes are appropriate.

World Development Report
The World Bank will launch the “World Development Report 2007: Development and the Next Generation” on 12 September, 2006. The focus of this year's report is on youth — young people between the ages of 12 to 24. As this population group seeks identity and independence, they make decisions that affect not only their own well-being, but that of others, and they do this in a rapidly changing demographic and socio-economic environment.

Resources

Website on the EU strategy for Africa
The EC launched a new website on the EU Strategy for Africa, where it provides documents and statements on recent developments on the EU Strategy for Africa. Find the website under the following link: http://www.europe-cares.org/africa/.