FAO and FOCSIV organize the third Forum EU Members’ Meeting
Rome, June 07th – 09th 2017
FAO Headquarters, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and FOCSIV organize the third Forum EU Members’ Meeting. The event, that follows previous meetings held in Bonn in 2016 and Oslo in 2015, will take place from June 07th to June 09th 2017 at FAO Headquarters in Rome.
FORUM as a network of organizations involved in international development, including non-governmental and state organizations, has a collective voice and unified identity in the values and principles that underpin volunteering for development. It aims to share information, develop good practices, enhance cooperation and support between its members.
The meeting will offer European Forum members and other collaborating organizations the occasion to discuss on the main topics of migration and integration, related common challenges and opportunities faced by the volunteering organizations in Europe.
Furthermore, during the meeting it will take place the signing ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between FAO and FOCSIV aimed to strengthen their cooperation through Youth Volunteering in FAO run projects. FOCSIV – Volontari nel mondo, as the biggest Italian Federation of international voluntary service organizations and FAO, the UN Agency dedicated to the eradication of hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition, will take advantage of this new alliance to promote the value and role of international volunteering for development.
The meeting will be structured in three sessions. The first session, from 2:30 AM to 6:00 PM of June 07th, will focus on the situation concerning volunteering for development in specific countries and on the relevant changes within the organizations of FORUM . At the session opening, Mr. Daniel Gustafson, Deputy Director-General (Programmes) at FAO will introduce the meeting objectives and plans. It will be followed by the evidences from the field with the FORUM organizations active participation, plan of actions and follow up.
The second session will take place from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM of June 08th. The Round Table on Migration, Integration, “Us and Them”, will focus on the key elements linked to the new challenges arising from migration and on the related impact of volunteering projects. Mrs. Paola Alvarez, Project Development Officer at International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mr. Cesare Zucconi, General Secretary at Community of Sant’Egidio, Rev. Tom Smolic, Jesuit refugee service International Director and Mr. Gerasimos Kouvaras, General Director at Action Aid Hellas will attend the Round Table exploring innovative practices and researches on the issue of Migration and Integration.
Mr. Calogero Mauceri – Head of Department of Youth and Civil Service of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and his Excellency Pierfrancesco Sacco, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Italy to FAO, will be present at the signing ceremony of FAO and FOCSIV Memorandum of Understanding.
Finally, the session will offer volunteering organizations an opportunity to share views and experiences on insights of migration phenomenon and projects on migrant’s integration aimed to reduce social divisions.
The third session, from 9:00 AM to 13:00 PM of June 09th will focus on the new volunteering perspectives in the European Union. The new opportunities will be presented by Mrs. Silvia Costa, President of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament, Mrs. Giulia Bordin, Policy and Projects Officer of the European Volunteering Centre and Mr. Giovanni De Siervo, International Relations Officer of the Italian Civil Protection. During this session, the strengths and weaknesses of the new European Solidarity Corps will be underlined and discussed.