Programme

Eastern Neighbours' Platforms Civil Society Day

11 September 2023

Draft programme

10:30 – 12:00   High-level opening session

Welcome words by Mr Dimitris DIMITRIADIS, President of the Section for External Relations

  • Oliver Röpke, EESC President
  • Dirk Schuebel, EU Special Envoy for the Eastern Partnership, European External Action Service
  • Wolfgang Nozar, Head of Unit, Ukraine Service - Fundamentals, rule of law, anti-fraud and financial management, DG NEAR, European Commission
  • Amanda Paul, Senior Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre

Statements by authorities

  • H.E. Daniela Morari, Head of the Mission of the Republic of Moldova to the EU
  • Ara Margaryan, Head of the Europe Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
  • Serhii Tereshko, Deputy Head of Mission of Ukraine to the EU
  • Bidzina Javakhishvili, Deputy Head of Mission of Georgia to the EU

12:00 – 13:00   Enhanced impact and visibility of the work of CSPs

Moderator:Kakha Gogolashvili, Co-chair, EU-Georgia Civil Society Platform

  • Dorota Dlouchy-Suliga, Head of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova Division, European External Action Service
  • Oleksandr Yavorskyi, Federation of Employers of Ukraine, Co-chair, EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform
  • Liliana Palihovici, Institutum Virtutes Civilis, Co-chair, EU-Moldova Civil Society Platform

13:00 – 14:30   Lunch break

14:30 – 15:30   Civil society can defeat disinformation

How can civil society contribute to facing malicious and fake narratives whose aim is to destabilise democracy and rule of law and weakening the resilience of a society?

Moderator: Marcin Nowacki, Co-chair, EU-Ukraine Civil Society Platform

  • Jan Latal, East Stratcom Task Force, European External Action Service
  • Olga Yurkova, Stopfake, Ukraine
  • Nino Macharashvili, ForSet, Georgia
  • Andris Gobiņš, European Economic and Social Committee

15:30 – 15:45   Coffee Break

15:45 – 16:45   European Year of Skills 

What should be the content of a skills' toolkit for companies, workers and society at large leading to an effective twin transition?

Moderator: Dumitru Fornea, Co-chair, EU-Moldova Civil Society Platform

  • Margareta Nikolovska, European Training Foundation
  • Daryna Onyshko, President, European Democracy Youth Network
  • Tatjana Babrauskienė, European Economic and Social Committee

16:45 – 17:45   Civil society health-check

Can civil society in the four countries fulfil its role of a watchdog of democracy, rule of law and respect of fundamental rights in a meaningful way? Do civil society organisations operate in a favourable environment?

Moderator: Lousineh Hakobyan, Co-chair, EU-Armenia Civil Society Platform

  • Andris Kesteris, Principal Adviser - Civil Society and Inter-institutional Relations, DG NEAR, European Commission (tbc)
  • Sofia Bournou, BusinessEurope
  • Anna Barikyan, Confederation of Trade Unions of Armenia
  • Sintija Bernava, Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

17:45 – 18:00   Closing remarks and adoption of main findings

Gintaras Morkis, Chair, EESC's Eastern Neighbours Follow-up Committee