First Regional Meeting Europe in Ghent

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The Policy Forum on Development started off the New Year with the first Regional Meeting Europe which was held in Ghent (Belgium) on 15 and 16 January 2018. More than 100 representatives from local authorities (LAs), civil society organisations (CSOs) and European institutions came together to discuss current EU development policies, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the New European Consensus on Development. During the two intensive days many topics were raised such as the challenge of guaranteeing policy coherence for development; the shrinking space of CSOs and LAs and how to create an enabling working environment for them; the role of cities; decentralised cooperation; how to involve private sector actors and how to make sure they comply with international human rights, social and environmental conventions as well as questions of security, migration, peacebuilding, fragility and resilience.

All the background documents as well as communication materials related to the event can be found here.

The results of the debates will be the basis for the upcoming Global PFD in Brussels scheduled for 20 - 22 March 2018.