Conclusions and outcomes of Anna Lindh Forum 2013

From 4 to 7 April in Marseille, France  Anna Lindh Mediterranean Forum brought together more than 1500 civil society organisations from 44 countries of the Euro-Mediterranean region. Held under the slogan "Citizens for the Mediterranean", the Forum opened a space for interaction, exchange and debate of the top issues facing the Euro-Med region today, with concrete plans for a better partnership across the region. Among its key conclusions, partners proposed to launch an Annual Week of the Mediterranean, where voices and joint actions of citizens, parliaments, local authorities and civil society will be shared.
In the framework of Anna Lindh Forum the French region PACA and Anna Lindh Foundation also organised 3-4 April 2013 a youth meeting "Youth and Change" where we had an opportunity to discuss how to empower youth of Euro-Mediterranean region actively participate in the present processes and speak up in their own societies.
SSCW was involved in the several activities during the Forum; one of them was MEDINA a presentation of best practices (projects like Peace Child Alpha Omega or Young Active Citizens in Action) and the conception of Estonian Civil Society. Also SSCW took active part in AGORA Strategic debates where among the speakers where Mr. Stefan Füle European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Mr. Stavros Lambrinidis EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Mr. Martin Schulz, President of European Parliament and many others. One of the working areas where all participants were involved were workshops on different topics like Civil Society, Youth, Development etc. Also, there were places for cooperation and networking like the Intercultural Fair, where SSCW was also presented. 

In summarising Anna Lindh Forum concluded with announcing actions for renewed Euro-Med Partnership. Among them are:

• A sustainable action for Syria will be launched by the ALF, its Networks and partners: The Forum underlines that ‘we cannot be citizens for the Mediterranean without being citizens for Syria’ and action is required to prepare civil society for after the conflict.
• Mobility as a key point in the re-launch of the Mediterranean partnership: ALF and its Networks across the region will increase advocacy with partners about the need for ad-hoc visas for cultural leaders involved in trans-Mediterranean projects.
• Initial results of the 2013 Anna Lindh Report on Intercultural Trends were presented in Marseille, with a focus on the increase in North/South mutual interest following the Arab Awakening.
• Citizenship learning will be central to action in the education field, including the region-wide launch of the very first Euro-Med handbook on teaching intercultural citizenship in schools.
• Citizens for Dialogue (www.dawrak.org), funded by the European Commission and focused on civic capacity-building across the Arab societies, was officially launched at the region-wide level and will be an integral part of the Anna Lindh Foundation’s activities over the next two years.

The next Forum will take place in 2016. The location will be announced nearer that date.

Mr. Vassili Golikov
Programme Director, SSCW