The European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity of the Council of Europe – more commonly known as the “North-South Centre” – was set up in Lisbon with the purpose to spread the universal values upheld by the Council of Europe – human rights, democracy and the rule of law - beyond the European continent.
The NSC will contribute to address new challenges having in mind principles, values, conventions, standards and soft power tools of the CoE, by Ambassador António Gamito, Executive Director of the NSC
This first 2017 North-South Centre (NSC) of the Council of Europe (CoE) newsletter focuses on its activities as well as on its beneficiaries. I am very confident that we will continue to contribute to fulfil the mission that we have been entrusted to our founding fathers since its inception more than 27 years ago. We will continue to give to our activities a multilateral nature, putting stakeholders of the North and the South together to find common ground and project common perspectives in a fruitful dialogue, leading to a better understanding of each other cultures and views. More
PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES 2017
"Strongest bonds between peoples and nations are those which are developed from the bottom up", by Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe – Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni
“For more than two and a half decades the North-South Centre has helped deepen ties between Europe and its neighbourhood. This mission could not be more important today. (…)We live in a time of increased fragmentation, resurgent nationalism and growing xenophobia and the Council of Europe’s values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law cannot be taken for granted.”
"Malta's priority is to shift the focus of the EU away from the institutions and back on to the public" by Ambassador Joseph Filletti, Permanent Representative of Malta to the Council of Europe
In January 2017, Malta took on the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. This comes at a time when the EU is facing very tough challenges as it reaches its 60th anniversary since the signing of the Treaty of Rome. Despite this, Malta stands confident and firmly committed to build upon the sterling work carried out this far by the Netherlands and Slovakia, our Trio Partners, in line with the Strategic Agenda agreed by the European Commission in June 2014. More
Cypriot Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers focuses on strengthening of democratic security in Europe , by Ambassador Theodora Constantinidou, Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the Council of Europe
In November 2016, Cyprus assumed the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers for the fifth time during its membership. (…) The assumption of the Chairmanship comes at a time when Europe is faced with economic hardship, migratory flows, terrorism, the dangerous rise of populism, xenophobic rhetoric and extremism, and other phenomena, which test our democracies and shake public trust in state and international institutions. More
ADYNE: empowering youth-led responses to global issues - by Secretary General- African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe, Ayo Wallace
In 2009, North-South Centre of the Council of Europe held its first training course for African Youth Leaders. This five day residential seminar gathered 25 youth leaders from various countries who were part of the declaration to create a platform known as the African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe-ADYNE. Nearly a decade later and we are still proud to call ourselves The Face and Voice of African Youth living in Europe. More
XXIII LISBON FORUM
Managing Migration, Avoiding Populism, Building Inclusive Societies and Reinforcing the Dialogue with the South
Ms Guisepina Nicolini, Mayor of the City of Lampedusa, and Ms Mbarka Brahmi, member of the Tunisian parliament are the laureates of the North-South Prize of the Council of Europe 2016. The award ceremony will take place next 31 May, in Lisbon.
Call for Nominations for the North-South Prize of the CoE 2017 - deadline 15th of September 2017
We invite you to propose nominees for the North-South Prize 2017 in the following areas: defence and promotion of human rights and pluralist democracy, development of intercultural dialogue and reinforcement of the North-South partnership and solidarity. The North-South Prize distinguishes each year two personalities, one from the north, the other from the south, who have excelled in their commitment to human rights, democracy and rule of law, contributing to the north-south dialogue and interdependence. More
New cycle of regional seminars on Global Development Education
In the framework of the Joint Programme between the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE) to promote GDE in new EU member States and candidate countries, the NSC continues to develop regional seminars to monitor the recognition and implementation of GDE in the Balkan, Baltic, South-East Europe and Mediterranean, and Visegrad countries. This annual GDE monitoring process covering the period 2016-19, is in line with the CoE Action Plan on Building Inclusive Societies (2016-2019)and with the CoE Standing Conference of Ministers of Education held in April 2016 under the theme “Securing democracy through education”. More
New cycle of the Network of Universities on Youth and Global Citizenship
We invite youth-led and youth-serving organisations to join us for the two main events of this year’s cycle under the topic “Developing Global Identities”:
5th Mediterranean University on Youth and Global Citizenship (MedUni) to be held in the Centre de Loisirs et Vacances pour les Enfants in Tunisia (Hammamet) from the 3rd to the 9th July 2017;
18th University on Youth and Development (UYD) to be held in the CEULAJ in Spain (Mollina) from the 17th to the 23rd September 2017.
Propose an activity to the North-South Centre by email, before 24th March 2017. More
Empowerment of Women in MENA region through entrepreneurship
On the 3rd March the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe (NSC) participated in the debate “Joint action, Women Empowerment in the Middle East and Northern African (MENA) region: a celebration of Union”. The conference was organised by the Womenpreneur Initiative and MC Academy for International legal Studies in Brussels (Belgium). The event gathered 50 participants from governments, local authorities and civil society. More
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