Role and potential of civil society organisations in disseminating learning and information about Th

1
Role and potential of civil society organisations
in disseminating learning and information
aboutThe Open Method of Coordination and the
NAP Inclusion
2
What is in this presentation?

• Problems identified as topic for this workshop
• Specific communication challenges with impact on
  the PR of the OMC and NAP process
• Challenges inherent to the OMC process itself
  with potential impact on its PR
• Caritas Europa and its involvement in the
  Community Action Programme
• Caritas tools for disseminating information and
  mutual learning
• Some general recommendations to address the
  problems identified

3
Problems with PR of OMC

• As central theme for this wave of 4 workshops,
  the following problems have been identified in
  the Conference program
• OMC process remains little known to general
  public in EU member states
• Knowledge confined to narrow circle of officials,
  NGOs, social partners and experts

4
Some quotes from the program logic

• The Community Action Programme should
• increase awareness of policy actors on the issues
• develop a common language
• develop shared set of understandings
• increase knowledge of possible approaches to
  action
• This implies
• Clear and understandable communications between
  political and grass roots level
• about the meaning, values and results of the Open
  Method of Coordination, of the National Action
  Plans and of the Community Action Program

5
Clear and understandable??
New Lisbon!
No, streamline!
Feed out, basta!
Mainstream!
Mais non, feed in!
??
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Specific communication challenges

• Language and jargon incomprehensible to social
  actors at the grass roots level ? lots of
  EU-speranto
• OMC concept is difficult to explain to
  non-specialists ? almost impossible to explain to
  man in the street
• Good results and good practices HAVE been
  produced by OMC process, but often hidden in
  bulky reports, not easy to access and not easy to
  digest
• Unclear expectations towards stakeholders in
  OMC process with regard to their role in the PR
  of OMC
• No effective EU communication strategy for OMC
  and NAP
• No effective national communication strategies
  for OMC and NAP

7
Challenges inherent to OMC process

• OMC appears to be very much about process,
  perhaps not enough about content. People in
  Europe are interested in content.
• Some governments see OMC as an obligatory
  bureaucratic exercise, rather than as a
  flagship EU program to jointly tackle poverty
  and exclusion in EU
• Social inclusion agenda was not first priority in
  EU-10. Legal and economic reforms were their
  first priority
• NAPs have produced few real innovations in
  tackling social exclusion and poverty ? more of
  the same measures
• Limited or no visibility of results of the NAPs
  on situation of people experiencing poverty or
  exclusion at local level
• The implementation gap ? Plans are fine, but
  concrete action and results are what really counts

8
Caritas Europa network who we are

• Caritas Europa umbrella organisation of 48
  national Caritas organisations in Europe ?
  European network
• Capillary network
• National Caritas between 1 (Iceland) and 220
  (Italy) dioceses, mostly with own Diocesan
  Caritas ? national network
• Diocesan Caritas between 1 and many parishes,
  often with own Parish Caritas ? regional network
• Each parish Caritas between 1 and many staff,
  social workers and volunteers ? local network
• Across Europe, millions of people experiencing
  poverty or exclusion benefit from social services
  provided by the Caritas network ? grass roots
  network
• Social inclusion programs also run at diocesan or
  national levels

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Our role in the Action Programme

• Newcomers to the Community Action Programme
  (since Dec. 2005), so still a lot to learn
• Not new to combating poverty and exclusion ? in
  many countries Caritas active in this field
  between 50 years and 100 years!
• Actions and policies based on Catholic Social
  Teaching and on the inalienable right of every
  person to human dignity
• Principle The real life stories of our clients
  and the daily practice of our field workers in
  the parishes are the elements that shape our
  policy development at local, national and
  European levels
• At all levels, Caritas interacts and cooperates
  with a wide range of stakeholders the poor, the
  Churches, local or national authorities, civil
  society and the media
• Because of our vast, capillary network, we
  believe we add value to the Action Programme, to
  the NAPs and to the OMC process

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Caritas Europas OMC CONCEPT

• 2005 Caritas Europa designed CONCEPT programme
  (Caritas Organisations Network to Challenge the
  Exclusion and Poverty Trap) ? programme
  co-financed by EC under CAP
• At the start of the program Staff from 13 MOs
  (partners in the program) trained and committed
  to engage in national NAP process
• Each partner twinned with Caritas in another EU
  member state ? jointly following up NAP process
  in the twin country
• Expected results of CONCEPT by Nov. 2006
• National Caritas organisations in 26 countries
  (EU MS Bulgaria) have actively engaged in, and
  contributed to, 26 NAPs
• Capacities have been built of a permanent network
  of key experts on Social Inclusion agenda of EU
  within Caritas organisations in 25 EU member
  states Bulgaria ? sustainability of future
  action

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The Caritas Europa toolbox

• Caritas Europa created Social inclusion toolbox
  (manual), written in non-jargon language,
  translated into 19 EU languages Bulgarian
• Toolbox contains chapters about
• EU Sustainable Development Strategy
• Poverty, social inclusion and social protection
  (in general terms)
• European Employment Strategy (EES)
• Lisbon strategy
• EU Social Inclusion strategy (including OMC and
  NAPs)
• New social agenda 2005-2010
• European Inclusion Strategy and revised Lisbon
  Strategy
• Important steps in the period 1997 2005
• Toolbox functions as on-screen lexicon?
  hyperlinked index

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(Potential) functions of the toolbox

• Accessible in PDF format to all relevant Caritas
  actors in the network through extranet access
• Hyperlinked index of keywords ? instant access to
  relevant info
• Hyperlinks to all relevant EU documents in most
  appropriate language
• Particularly useful as training resource for
  actors in the social field, both at practical and
  at political levels
• Dynamic document ? it will further develop as
  Caritas experience with OMC and with working on
  NAPs grows
• Source for dissemination of relevant info,
  learning and PR on OMC and NAPs through public
  media, Caritas media or Church media

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Other Caritas tools for sharing info

• Public websites of Caritas Europa and its MOs
  extranet ? info on OMC process and NAPs
• Trainings, seminars and conferences about social
  inclusion at national and European level
• Periodic national or European poverty and social
  exclusion reports ? links to OMC process and NAPs
• Press releases, press conferences and interviews
  at national and European levels ? links to OMC
  process and NAPs
• Direct access to Caritas media at national and
  European levels (magazines, newsletters,
  brochures)
• Use of the Church as a (powerful) communication
  channel Catholic radio stations, printed media,
  dialogue in parishes with people experiencing
  poverty and exclusion etc.

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Some general recommendations

• Engage a professional Communications PR firm to
  help design effective Europe-wide communication
  strategy, with emphasis on enhanced partnership
  in communications between EU, national
  governments, civil society and social partners
• Integrate and organise dissemination of
  information, good practices and learning as an
  integral element of the NAP
• Organise a system of peer review also on the
  way learning and information is being
  disseminated
• And perhaps A new name for the process (instead
  of Open Method of Coordination) that will appeal
  more and mean more to the general public (any
  bright ideas around the table today?)