Driving stronger partnerships with the Practitioners’ Network

SNV's co-Presidency of the Practitioners' Network for European Development Cooperation (PN) in 2022/23 came to a close in May, after a year characterised by a practical focus on delivering closer collaborations between its Members.

PN is the leading network of European Development Cooperation experts, composed of 24 Members from 18 countries spanning the continent. Its work focuses on building knowledge through exchanges, coordination, peer-to-peer learning, and providing policy feedback from a practitioner's perspective.

Working together

The overall objective for the 2022/23 co-Presidency – with co-President, FIIAPP (Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas) – was to develop and promote the role of the PN as a key player within the European development cooperation system, with a particular focus on developing stronger partnerships between Members in practical terms.

After a successful year working towards this goal, SNV and FIIAPP handed over the PN Presidency to Expertise France at the Annual Meeting of the General Assembly in Madrid on 10-11 May – which notably had the highest Members' attendance in the PN's history.

SNV CEO Simon O'Connell said at the meeting: 'During this time of economic turmoil and polarisation, we, as a Network, have to find ways to work more efficiently and effectively together, trust one another, challenge one another with clarity on our purpose – which is to be key drivers for an even better European Development Cooperation system.'

SNV's ambition for 2030

The co-Presidency also built on SNV's ambition for 2030 and our mission to strengthen capacities and catalyse partnerships that transform the agri-food, energy, and water systems.

'Our world is changing with dramatic speed and is vulnerable to an increasing frequency of shocks and disruptions,' added Simon O'Connell. 'Hundreds of millions of people still lack access to energy, food, and water, and we know that collaboration and partnerships are key to seizing opportunities to build a better world together.'

'It has been a privilege to be co-Presidents of the Practitioners' Network for the last 12 months, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration over the coming months and years as we all work to achieve the transformative vision of the Sustainable Development Goals.'

Focusing on the 'how to'

Highlights from the co-Presidency included the annual Inclusiveness Event, run by the PN in conjunction with DG INTPA (Directorate-General for International Partnerships). This year's event focused on identifying barriers and obstacles to a closer collaboration between European implementers and Development Finance Institutions.

The co-Presidency also initiated the first-ever PN country visit to Kenya from 28 to 31 March 2023. 16 PN Members participated in this initiative. It featured ten projects jointly implemented by several PN Members in four thematic areas: green energy transition, climate change, digitalisation and youth employment, and water. The visit allowed PN Members to experience first-hand the advantages of joint implementation and the complementarities among their respective capabilities.

Strategic developments

Strategically, the creation of the Gender Task Force during the co-Presidency represented an essential step towards mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion as a cross-cutting theme in the work of the PN. Strategic discussions also focused on the role of technical cooperation in the emerging European Architecture for Development.

The co-Presidency also looked to improve the ways of working within the PN, for example, by introducing coordination meetings among the co-leads of the working groups, which has helped to enhance information sharing and allowed for a smoother execution of the PN work plan during the year.

Visibility and leadership

It has also been a year of increased visibility for the PN at high-level international events, with participation in the European Development Days in Brussels, the G4AW Space for Food Security in Utrecht, the Finance in Common Summit in Abidjan and COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh.

In another step forward, the co-Presidency represented the PN for the first time at the EU Development Directors-General (EUDGx) meetings, organised regularly by DG INTPA. This allowed the PN to share its practitioners' perspective with member state representatives around important EU policy developments such as implementing Team Europe Initiatives, Global Gateway flagship projects, and the closer involvement of private sector actors and financing institutions.

Following this path, during the last year, the three main networks that gather implementing agencies and technical cooperation – Practitioners Network, financial institutions EDFI, and Public Development Banks JEFIC – have enhanced the dialogue within the European cooperation system and endorsed a Statement of Intent on 17 March 2023.

'Europe has a unique cooperation proposition for the world, which can bring us closer to many of the goals of the 2030 Agenda without leaving anyone behind. As members of Team Europe, we have a clear purpose and a way to complement each other. The integration of the European development banks and development finance institution networks in this team has been a significant step in our co-chairing,' said Anna Terrón during the General Assembly.