EaP CSF Extra Mile Award recognises members who have allowed the Forum to go an extra mile in advocating on behalf of civil society in 2019 through their outstanding contribution to policy dialogue, consultations, and internal discussions.
Speech by Dumitru Alaiba, Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and former member of the EaP CSF, on the importance of civil society in politically turbulent times.
During the session, the key EaP CSF ideas on the post-2020 Eastern Partnership policy will be presented to and debated with stakeholders from the EU institutions, EU member states, think tanks and CSOs. The discussions will be held in a World Café style and divided into five broad topics: Boosting economic development and human capital; Good governance, rule of law and security; Enhancing regional cooperation - inclusiveness and differentiation; and Enhancing visibility of EaP policy and Civil Society.
The session will review where we stand in terms of good governance reforms in the EaP and identify technological solutions that can help increase the effectiveness of governance, raising transparency and accountability as well as making the service provision and communication between the state and the society easier and more effective. Several cases from both EU and EaP will be introduced addressing different thematic areas (anticorruption, environment protection, local self-government, pension reform, etc.), which will be followed by a discussion on both opportunities and achievements and major challenges and obstacles in developing and adapting IT solutions for increasing the quality of governance and public oversight.
The panel will respond to the following questions: How can the EaP region contribute to the solutions to the global challenges such as climate change, the rise of illiberal tendencies, increasing prevalence of disinformation, AI, migration. How do the EaP countries see the development of the EaP policy post-2020? Where are improvements needed and how to keep the EaP policy high on the political agenda of the EU?
The EaP CSF Pavel Sheremet Journalism Award recognises courage and outstanding achievement in the field of media freedom and freedom of expression will be presented to the Association of Investigative Reporters and Editorial Security RISE Moldova, by Ludmila Sheremet and Natia Kuprashvili, EaP CSF Steering Committee member.
The EaP CSF Civil Society Award recognises outstanding and courageous work of individuals and organisations from the Eastern Partnership region contributing to the political, economic and social development of their countries and defending the core democratic values will be presentedto Promo-Lex Moldovaby Rasul Jafarov, EaP CSF Steering Committee member.
EU-Armenia cooperation in the field of justice reform Delegates from each EaP country and the EU MS will participate in trilateral meetings with representatives of the national authorities and the EU institutions to discuss the most pertinent issues.
Current state of play: EU-Azerbaijan Partnership and Cooperation agreement Delegates from each EaP country and the EU MS will participate in trilateral meetings with representatives of the national authorities and the EU institutions to discuss the most pertinent issues.
Expanding options for civil society participation in policy-making Delegates from each EaP country and the EU MS will participate in trilateral meetings with representatives of the national authorities and the EU institutions to discuss the most pertinent issues.
Reform process in Georgia – current state and future perspectives Delegates from each EaP country and the EU MS will participate in trilateral meetings with representatives of the national authorities and the EU institutions to discuss the most pertinent issues.
CSOs impact and role in bilateral and multilateral policy dialogue Delegates from each EaP country and the EU MS will participate in trilateral meetings with representatives of the national authorities and the EU institutions to discuss the most pertinent issues.
Ukraine and Eastern Partnership countries on Europe’s migration map: experience, challenges and prospects Delegates from each EaP country and the EU MS will participate in trilateral meetings with representatives of the national authorities and the EU institutions to discuss the most pertinent issues.
The internal session with reporting, discussions on modalities of operation of WGs and structured-networking part that aims at facilitating exchange of WGs recommendations and members’ opinions with the stakeholders.
The hybrid tactics that include subversive activities like propaganda and disinformation, cyber-attacks on critical infrastructure, penetration of state institutions, influencing the elections, political parties or specific target groups within the population, are used against EU and its partner countries with an aim to weaken public support for democratic institutions and reform processes. The session aims to facilitate civil society dialogue with experts and decision makers on how to strengthen the multi-stakeholder approach to hybrid threats and how to involve the civil society effectively into the EaP policy planning, implementation and evaluation beyond 2020. EaP CSF policy paper will provide a starting point of the debate.
During the Plenary Session we will cover a number of agenda items related to internal matters of the EaP CSF: Annual reporting; Voting on the civil society declaration to the EaP Summit; Adoption of the new EaP CSF Statute.
