Invitation to the international conference Ambrela development forum (ADF)

The Slovak Platform for development organisations – Ambrela responds to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine with a two-day international conference – ‘Ambrela Development Forum’ (ADF). With more than 140 international development experts from twenty countries, it will analyse the effects of this crisis in five discussion panels and three interactive workshops, and seek solutions as well as recommendations for the entire humanitarian and development sector.

The international conference Ambrela Development Forum (ADF) will take place on 23–24 May 2022 in Bratislava and focus not only on the presentation of innovative ways of providing foreign aid, but also on emphasising the importance and role of civil society in today's world. The ADF is organised under the auspices of the President of the Slovak Republic, Zuzana Čaputová, and funded by the European Union and the Slovak Republic under the SlovakAid brand. It is divided into two parts – a less formal 'Civil society session' and a formal 'Policy and Advocacy Forum' for representatives of selected donors, government development agencies, the European Commission and the European Parliament, as well as national platforms, think tanks. More info about the program and guest speakers here: https://developmentforum.ambrela.org/

The role of civil society in today's world, as well as the unfavourable trend of shrinking space for the civic sector, will be discussed on the first day of the ADF as a part of the ‘Civil Society Session’ (May 23 in the afternoon). The implications of the enormous mobilisation of civil society on the functioning of the entire development and humanitarian aid system will be also analysed during this session. The first day of the ADF conference will be attended mainly by people from non-governmental organisations who have been carrying out demanding field work on our eastern border and also directly in Ukraine since the first days of the war. More than 140 participants from over 20 countries have already registered to the ADF.

The second day of the ADF conference entitled ‘Policy and Advocacy Forum‘ (May 24) will be opened by the Secretary of State of the MFEA Slovakia Ingrid Brocková. The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jiří Kozák, Director of CONCORD Europe Tanya Cox, Acting Director General of DG NEAR Katarína Mathernová, Acting Director General of DG ECHO Michael Köhler, and also the Ukrainian Ambassador to the Slovak Republic Yuri Jurijovič Muška will appear among more than 30 guest speakers (the full list of the ADF speakers and the program can be found here). This part of the ADF will be an opportunity for international development experts and civil society representatives to discuss their advocacy and policy plans with representatives from selected Ministries of Foreign Affairs, EU institutions (DG NEAR and DG ECHO), as well as international donor organisations and development agencies. The second day of the ADF consists of three panels and three parallel workshops focused on the current aid logistics and humanitarian approach in Ukraine, the future prospects of the European humanitarian system and the official development assistance architecture, the innovations and the adaptability of aid organisations, as well as on seeking new finance for development in post-conflict countries. The discussion panels will be streamed Live via Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/Ambrela.org

Note: Ambrela Development Forum (ADF) is funded by the Slovak Republic under the SlovakAid brand and the European Union thanks to the EURODAD (European Network on Debt and Development) via ‘Umbrella’ project and DEAR programme via the ‘SDGs and Migration’ project with its campaign ‘Faces of Migration’.