Advancing further and quicker together!

For Anne-Marie CHAVANON,  delegate from the International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP), reelected as Chair of the Committee on Democracy, Social Cohesion and Global Challenges, last June 26th by the Conference of International NGOs of the Council of Europe, the results of the recent national and European elections in several member states should give us pause for thought: the confidence of Europe’s peoples in their democracies and their futures must be restored! This is all the truer since, at the same time, men, women and children are risking their lives to come and join Europe.

Clearly, she believes that tolerance, good governance and peace have to be promoted on the shores of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, as well as in all our countries which have been so badly shaken by the economic crisis. "We must have the courage to take up the new challenges of public health, rising poverty and inadequate housing. We must unite the public and governments in countering the effects of climate change and natural and technological hazards. But we must also convince our fellow citizens of the potential of their regions and their cultures, which should be open to the world", she said..

She strongly believes that in each of these fields, the Council of Europe can interact effectively if it harnesses the efforts of all the members of its quadrilogue, in line with their respective areas of responsibility.

Having experienced that over the past three years, the committee has been able to measure its power of influence, both internally, through the Conference of INGOs, and nationally and internationally, she relies on the extraordinary strength of the INGOs, their high level of expertise, the exemplary nature of their work on the ground and their influence in Europe and throughout the world.

"We must now have the courage to stimulate the action of the Council of Europe, in conjunction with the Human Rights Committee and the Education and Culture Committee. That is our task and I want most strongly to drive it forward with you. I urge you all to advance together quicker and further! " she said

Karl DONERT, President of EUROGEO, is strongly committed to the principles of democracy, social cohesion and global challenges. He believes in sustainable actions and investments that unlock new growth potential, such as the shift towards a low-carbon economy. He wishes to encourage innovation and research, as  a significant opportunity to change the future of our world.

"Our environment is changing in many ways and at unprecedented rates: climate change, biodiversity loss and loss of ecosystems, increase in the frequency and severity of extreme events, desertification and soil degradation, overfishing and deforestation are just some of the many environmental challenges we are faced with". He believes the role of INGOs is critical in helping develop relevant policies to help tackle these areas.

"Europe is today in a process of adapting its structures and models in order to find and to give answers to the paradigm shift in all societal domains (multiple crises, ageing society, migration flows, globalisation, knowledge-based society and economy, digital agenda etc.). We must be concerned with developing an accountable, dynamic society that recognises its place in the world and focuses on the active responsibility we must all take in living together peacefully, in harmony and respect for one another and the environment".

Thierry MATHIEU, Secretary General of the International Association for Research in Hospital Hygiene (IARHH)  is a Public health doctor and has been involved for many years in a wide range of humanitarian, medical, sporting and other associations.

He considers, the range of global challenges will continue to expand in the coming years with new climate, health, social and other issues. He believes NGOs will have to be vigilant and responsive in order to deal with them. The contribution of each INGO in its area of expertise is a necessity.

In his view, in the current difficult social and economic environment, the values of democracy have been undermined. Social cohesion is under threat. Civil society must be a key driving force to promote a hope that must be constantly renewed: for a fairer and more human society that is open to other people.  This will always be his goal and road map.

The Chair of the Committee was invited by the Moroccan government in an event dedicated to participatory democracy , in the city of Rabat. 21 and 22 March 2014. The Morocco organized on that date , the final Assembly of the National Dialogue on civil society under the leadership of its Minister for Relations with Parliament and civil society, Habib CHOUBANI.

It is for Morocco to ask the legislative basis for the activation of articles of the Constitution of 2011, dedicated to civil society and its new roles. It is also to deepen the debate on community life, freedoms, rights, responsibilities , relationships and governance.

Having welcomed the initiative of Morocco , and the high quality of the work presented , the President of the Committee , Anne -Marie CHAVANON , recalled the objectives of the Code of Good Practice for the participation of civil society in decision making. She stressed " the need for all stakeholders to sit around the table at the beginning of the implementation of policies or projects , with the same legitimacy. As we all know , has she added , if we want people to join , they must be co -responsible . Both women and men. Both those recognized in society and those who are excluded , irrespective of their origin or  convictions "

  These meetings resulted in the presentation of a philosophical approach , methodology and deliverables "historic" for Morocco but that could, if not weakened, be models for other countries.

The objective is to institutionalize participation while avoiding too formal (rigidity and bureaucracy seem contradictory to the authors with  the principle of participation ) .

The level of participation sought is the joint responsibility

A steering committee composed of 66 people (parliamentarians, representatives of national and local governments, and 36 representatives of civil society including 30 % women ) clarified the concepts (600 words long struggled to reach a common terminology from debate and consultation ) , garnered the widest experience (analysis of the international literature, interviews , visits, scrutiny of foreign examples ) leads an extensive consultation ( 18 meetings in Morocco and the countries of the diaspora , which allowed to reach about 10 000 people and as many associations).

The Code of Good Practice developed by the Conference of INGOs has been a major element of reference cited repeatedly by the rapporteurs

Among the deliverables :

1.  a draft charter of participatory democracy being finalized , ambitious, focused on co- responsibility
2.  several draft laws including two on the right of parliamentary initiative ( from civil society) and the right to petition

 The President of the Conference of INGOs , Jean -Marie Heydt once again expressed its solidarity with Ukrainian civil society at this difficult moment and calls for an inclusive dialogue and a peaceful and democratic solution to the current crisis.

On 30 January 2014 the Conference of INGOs adopted a resolution urging  the Council of Europe to monitor the situation in Ukraine and to facilitate political dialogue with a view to resolving the crisis. The Conference of INGOs offered its platform for involving national and international civil society actors, including its member organisations in these efforts".

European ambitions of the CEMAT ( European Conference of Ministers responsible for Spatial Planning ) , those of the Strategy for Innovation and Good Governance at Local Level and the new European Committee on Democracy and Governance were presented to the Commission by Alfonso ZARDI , head of democratic Institutions and Governance . A charter of territorial democracy will be submitted to Ministers in Charge of Planning at the  2014 CEMAT meeting , announced Alfonso ZARDI, calling for the mobilization of NGOs

The intervention by Jo SPIEGEL , General Councillor of the Upper Rhine, Mayor of Kingersheim, co- author of "Giving (re) birth to democracy" has attracted intensive exchange with international NGOs members of the Committee . His enlightened vision of democratic practices , his uncompromising ethics, his analysis of the weaknesses of the democracies and required responses to it, the example of the Etats Généraux permanents de la démocratie established in Kingersheim and the co-production of public space, services and policy given to  empowered inhabitants of the town has been a major contribution to the work of the committee to the council of Europe.

Giulia MACI, IFHP   (International Federation for Housing and Planning)  project leader provided the testimony of a young person, architect and planner engaged globally in active participatory procedures on territorial democracy, among which URBEGO

The committee on Democracy, Social Cohesion and Global Challenges contributed to this second edition of the World Forum for Democracy in proposing the framework of the City of Porto Alegre Wikicity - lab 13
The Chair of the Committee, Anne-Marie Chavanon was one of the discussants in this lab in which intervened many NGO members
See the defferred transmission

In the framework of the upcoming  Warsaw Climate Change Conference  to be held in Warsaw (11-22 November 2013), the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe (382 international NGOs) adopted  a declaration by the  Committee on Democracy, Social Cohesion and Global Challenges and the committee on Human Rights, a statement claiming an indissoluble link between climate Change and Human Rights.

We assert of the utmost importance to put climate change at the top of the priorities for action to ensure the future of humanity ;

We are convinced that urgent and necessary solutions can only be found by involving civil society at all levels of commitment and decision-making ;

We call for international negotiations beyond the strict framework of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, integrating the protection of human rights, and taking into account the involvement of all phenomena related to climate change on the enjoyment of those rights

We call for the respect to the right to life, dignity and mobility to include the establishment of international rules and urge States and regional institutions such as the EU, to take immediate consideration of :

•  the threat on habitat, water and food supply of extreme weather events
• regular assessment of natural and industrial risks exacerbated by climate change
• the prevention of political and social conflicts related to resource sharing
• hosting populations forced away from their place of residence by rising waters, the scarcity of vital goods and esources or deprivation of essential services
• assistance to the populations deprived of their land and property
  

We request the Heads of States and Governments  to integrate the human rights  into the treaty to be adopted in Paris in 2015 and to officially recognize the right to a healthy environment as a fundamental human right.

How can we celebrate the European   Democracy Week opening  today,  while many of those who want to join our democracies die every day so close to our shores ? It took so many deaths till  finally  European peoples and governments are moved !
Driven by poverty, political, racial, tribal or religious persecution - thousands of men, women and children take the greatest  risks  to try to survive or live better.

Many of our NGOs are committed with migrants and survivors of disasters, in Lampedusa on other shores. The Council of Europe cannot  stand by and do nothing to prevent such tragedies which cannot be left under the sole responsibility of the gateway cities of Europe, as courageous as they are.

We demand respect for the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights so that the interceptions thrown by Frontex, the '' European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders", go along with measures of effective rescue, consistent with human rights and the rights of refugees. Physical strength, in case of shipwreck, must not be the only criterion of admission on our soil !

We call for a review of international treaties on the rights of refugees

We invite the European Union and the Council of Europe Member States to foster a common and effective cooperation and asylum policy, and to intensify the fight against the criminal activity of traffickers and smugglers.

We urge all colleagues to relay this call to parliamentarians and national and local governments of the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe.

Anne -Marie Chavanon             Israel Mensah              Vera John Mikolajewski
           President                         Vice-President                    Vice-President          

Above, Amnesty international campaign

EU background notes
Articles 77-80 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Council Directives 2009/50/EC , 2004/83/EC, 2003/9/EC and 2001/55/EC of July 20, 2001 ; Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003

Council of Europe recent texts
Asylum seekers and refugees: sharing responsibilities in Europe
 Doc. 12630, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population, rapporteur: Mr Chope). Text adopted by the Assembly on 21 June 2011 (22nd Sitting).
Resolution 1820 (2011)1
 Recommendation 1973 (2011).

 The Committee actively participated in the 13th Meeting of the Council of Europe Workshops for the implementation of the European Landscape Convention, which was held in Cetinje, Montenegro, on 2-3 October 2013.
The main theme of the meeting was: "Territories of the future: landscape identification and assessment, an exercise in democracy."

Anne-Marie CHAVANON, president of the Committee was pleased, on behalf of NGOs, that these workshops be held "in a country with multiple identities: cultural, religious, ethnic and certainly landscape identities crossing five borders, uniting Montenegro to its neighbours (Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania), a country of extreme complexity, which wanted to place in the wake but also the prospect of Europe "

Luc-Emile Bouche-Florin, Honorary President of the NGO, presented the landscape dimension and the role of civil society in the Charter of European urban planning of the European Council of Town Planners (CEU)

Dirk Gotzman, director of the NGO Civilscape presented the action taken by a group of NGO  named "Alliance " to associate the European Landscape Convention in the European Year of citizen

While the European Landscape Convention considers the landscape, "as perceived by the people," the Aarhus Convention calls understandable information at a time when the project is still reversible, most of the time, the presentation of highly technical projects does not allow this exercise in democracy. New technologies have to be promoted at all levels.

Governance of large metropolises:
The international NGOs of the Committee on Democracy gathered to discuss on governance in large metropolises at the Council of Europe, on June 26th.
They called on the President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan to "restore dialogue between the authorities and civil society and see to it that evreryone's fundamental right and freedoms are protected and that bodies for mediation and direct democracy, citizens' assemblies, neighbourhood councils, conciliation conferences or any other form of direct participation are set up. "

The round table moderated by  Anne-Marie Chavanon, chair of the Committee, included :
Rt Hon. Jeffrey Donaldson, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Rapporteur on "The Governance of Large Metropolises", among which Berlin, Istanbul and London
Kayhan Karaca, Europe correspondent of NTV Turkey, on the developments in Istanbul
Nicolas Detrie, director of "Yes we Camp", the challenge of a bottom up initiative in the metropolis of Marseille (France)
Antonella Valmorbida, director of Alda, coordinator of the Committee Working group on the promotion of the "Code of Good Practice for Civil Participation in the Decision Making Process"  translated into 19 languages