CISVers centrestage at Council of Europe

In late January 2007, three CISVers travelled to Strasbourg for the three day annual INGO (Independent Non Government Organizations) Conference in the Council of Europe (CoE). They included Bastian Küntzel (Germany), outgoing CISV representative to the CoE and team leader of the NGO sub-committee (ERC), Anna Widegren (Italy), incoming CISV representative to the CoE and Francesca Verna (Italy).

The conference provided a great opportunity to network and discuss issues and opportunities for NGOs in the European context, with government officials and representatives from other NGOs, including many youth organisations. It also provided valuable opportunities to raise the profile of CISV in this key arena.

An important opportunity was for Bastian to present a report on the Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, the outcomes of which will influence a white paper on the subject currently being drafted by the Council of Europe. It was clear that intercultural dialogue, a subject at the very core of CISV’s aims, was a key issue at the conference and is an ongoing focus for NGOs in Europe. Later in the proceedings the Secretary General of the CoE, Terry Davis, addressed the conference and highlighted the central importance of intercultural conference. In closing, he was presented with a report of the Forum on intercultural dialogue.

At the conference the new web-based database of INGOs was demonstrated. This will be very beneficial because it will make it easier to obtain information about other organizations, particularly those which are similar to CISV.  CISV is one of the first entries into the database, ensuring we have a profile in this important tool.

The attendees also enjoyed a visit to the European Youth Centre where they were able to meet with promoters of the youth campaign “All Different, All Equal”. This could be easily incorporated into JB and Mosaic programmes.

To see the full report visit the NGO Relations reports website.