1. Grup Seminer Programı 27. Eylül. 04 09. 30-11. 00 Proje uygulama,izleme değerlendirme

III. NGOs platforms and networks structure and mission

3.1. National platforms

Information and technical advice for their member organizations (i.e. on national or European financing lines)

Development education: activities undertaken to raise awareness in their countries about the situation in developing countries (some platforms)

Activities in the South (some of them)

The platforms vary in size: some count over 100 members organizations (the Finish platform KEPA, the Swedish Forum Syd), some only 33 -the Irish platform Dochas - or 29 as the Austrian platform AGEZ.

Membership fees and governmental funding

• 
  Legal Status
  
• 
  Based in the country
  
• 
  Non-profit making
  
• 
  Employing a majority of Europeans
  
• 
  Have a certain number of national directors
  
• 
  Have a minimum number of years of existence
  
• 
  Have development as main focus
  
• 
  Raise private funds in some cases
  
• 
  Have the typical statutory organs: general assembly, the board and the executive director
  

3.2. European networks

To collect information about their field of work in the different European countries

To provide support to its member in project identification, planning, submission, programming and implementation
The balance between those objectives varies according to the different networks. Those mainly dedicated to lobbying have usually more staff and are located in Brussels.

Structure

A Board: usually the President, the Chairperson and the Treasurer.
A General assemblies of the member’s representative: strategic decision, major orientations. They usually meet every year and some of them are open to observers such as the European Commission and CONCORD.
A Steering Committee: generally about 15 persons elected by the General assembly. It is in charge of the implementation and the follow-up of the General Assembly decisions and meets 3 or 4 times a year. There is usually one administrator per country.
Some networks have an Executive committee, elected by the steering committee, in charge of running the staff.
Some networks have working groups on specific issues.
A Secretariat: generally from 3 to 6 persons in Brussels.
Network Categories

Professional networks exist in order to protect the interests of their members.

• 
  Networks based on churches (Protestant APRODEV, Catholic CIDSE)
  
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  Networks of Voluntary Organizations concerned with development (EUROSTEP)
  
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  Networks of Voluntary Organizations in Relief and Humanitarian Aid (EuronAid)
  
• 
  Political Groupings (Socialist international Women)
  
• 
  Women’s Networks (WIDE)
  
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  Consumer Networks
  
• 
  Networks concerned with specific issues such as:
  

Family issues

Social Services (Caritas)

Social policy

Child welfare

Human Rights

Health

Refugees, Immigrants and Migrants

Environmental protection etc.

Several networks receive Commission funding for specific projects.

Many rely partly on membership fees and some on grants from foundations or research bodies.

A small number are 100% funded by the Commission: mainly networks in the anti-poverty field.

Membership is open to European non-profit organizations with legal status wishing to help promote the goals and objectives of the networks.

Some networks have an affiliate membership status which is open to non-European organizations.

Some networks insist that only one organization represents each country.

3.3. European NGO confederation for relief and development (CONCORD)

CONCORD aims to achieve the following objectives:

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  To co-ordinate co-operation among NGOs in order to influence political debate and policy formulation on development and humanitarian issues at European level.
  
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  To improve legitimacy and to firmly promote the political interests of European NGOs as strategic partners of the EU and its Members states.
  
• 
  To ensure stable and quality access to the EU institutions.
  
• 
  To promote the quality of NGOs work, particularly regarding the relationship with civil society in the South.
  
• 
  To contribute to capacity building at NGOs level by stimulating new synergies based on sharing, co-operation and consultation.
  

The General Assembly (all member organizations) gathers once a year to take formal decisions such as the vote of the annual budget, new member admissions etc.

• 
  Core Groups: They correspond to the priority areas:
  

• 
  Funding for Development and Relief
  

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  Presidency Group
  

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  Development and Education Forum
  

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  Thematic Groups:
  

Enlargement Group

Food Security Group

Cotonou Group

Trade Group

Financing for development Group

Humanitarian Aid Group

• 
  Ad hoc Groups
  

Non State Actors Group

EC budget and rationalisation Group
Convenors Forum: Each Concord Working Group is represented by one person at least. The forum meets 3 times per year up to facilitate the co-ordination and communication between the working groups and with the other CONCORD bodies.
The Secretariat follows up the activities of working groups and keeps the members informed about these activities and the European affairs. It is also in charge of the administrative and financial aspects of the Confederation(Staff: 8, Brussels based).
The Board and the working groups are directly involved in the dialogue with the EU institutions.
Current principal activities and priorities:

• 
  Active monitoring of Member States to ensure that they respect their commitment to spend 0,7% of GNP on Development Aid
  
• 
  To reformulate the role of Northern development NGOs with respect to their Southern partners in order to reinforce the capabilities of the Southern partners and meet their needs
  
• 
  To establish a serious partnership with the European Institutions and ensure systematic and qualitative exchanges processes on different development co-operation issues
  
• 
  To elaborate a mechanism to improve the legitimacy and representation of development NGOs
  
• 
  To monitor European responsibility towards the South in the context of the enlargement process and the reform of governance
  

CONCORD is financed by the European Commission for 75 % (EC Grants) and by its members for 25%. CONCORD submits a request for funding to the European Commission every year. It is planned to reduce the share of the contribution of the European Commission by 5% annually.

All members must fulfil the overall following criteria:

1. 
   Be legally registered as a non profit organization with separate legal personality established in a Member State of the European Union or of EFTA (European Free Trade Association) or an accession country or being in the process of being registered.
   
2. 
   Have a purpose and activity that focus on EU development cooperation and / or humanitarian aid in development countries
   
3. 
   Agree with the objectives of the association
   
4. 
   Represent the NGO civil society sector
   
5. 
   have a clear and democratic governance structure
   
6. 
   have a transparent accountability
   

5 categories of members have been created according to 3 criteria: number of members, subscriptions received and staff. The membership fee and voting rights vary according to the category.