SNV takes up Co-presidency of EU Practitioners Network with FIIAPP
SNV, Stichting SNV Nederlandse Ontwikkelings Organisatie, today announced that it has assumed the Co-Presidency of the Practitioners' Network of European Development Cooperation (PN), together with the Spanish organisation FIIAPP (Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas).
The one-year co-presidency will see both organisations work in partnership towards developing and promoting the role of the PN as a key driver for strengthening better European development cooperation and coordination through shared competencies.
‘I am both pleased and extremely humbled to be taking up the Co-Presidency on behalf of SNV, and to be doing that in partnership with FIIAPP who have played a robust role in the PN over a number of years.’ said SNV CEO, Simon O’Connell.
A key focus of this joint effort will be on bringing greater attention to the practical aspects at the core of being a development practitioner. This will see the Co-Presidency focus on a number of key areas including: contributing to and promoting a joint learning and knowledge sharing agenda including feedback loops on joint implementation in partner countries and linkages with the EC and policy making; sharing expertise from implementing projects and development interventions; strengthening the principle of inclusiveness by actively involving smaller PN members and partner countries teams in PN events, and identifying and exploring opportunities to deepen collaborations in line with the PN prioritised thematic areas.
‘The PN is not only a space for learning and knowledge sharing. It is also a platform that has a good – and growing – track record of enabling deepened collaborations across European development actors’, SNV’s CEO continued. Noting the Network’s role in the sharing of best practices for improved development effectiveness, he added, ‘At this time of global turmoil, polarization and widespread development challenges, what we would like to focus on in the coming 12 months is bringing the “how to” to the fore – those practical aspects around how we can better collaborate as European development actors, inclusively with other partners and stakeholders, in furtherance of larger scale impact’.
From left to right, Tanja Gönner (GIZ) and Lidija Kašubienė (CPMA), PN's outgoing Co-presidents, together with incoming Co-presidents Simon O'Connell (SNV) and Anna Terrón (FIIAPP).
Connecting and delivering
The PN is the only informal strategic platform where Team Europe Initiatives and EU joint programming and joint implementation are currently being discussed with a range of bodies including some of the European Commission’s Directorates General including International Partnerships (DG INTPA). The strengthening of Team Europe collaborations within and amongst PN members, and with wider initiatives in relevant regions is just one of several areas in which the Co-Presidency seeks to contribute to larger scale, positive outcomes.
SNV and FIIAPP will be succeeding Germany’s GIZ (the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH), and Lithuania’s CPMA (the Central Project Management Agency), who have held the PN Co-Presidency since May 2021.
About the Practitioners Network
We are the leading network of European Development Cooperation experts, composed of 22 Members from 17 countries spanning across the continent. Our work focuses on building knowledge through exchanges, coordination and harmonisation and by providing feedback on policies from a practitioners’ perspective. As practitioners, our Members have vast knowledge of implementing joint projects worldwide. We share information and discuss experiences and synergies, addressing operational issues and making recommendations. Members and Associates are pillar-assessed – or in the process of being pillar-assessed – by the European Commission.
About FIIAPP
FIIAPP (Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas) is a public sector foundation, part of the Spanish and European public cooperation systems. FIIAPP is specialised in promoting and managing the participation of institutions, public administrations and their associated bodies in international cooperation programmes and projects in more than 100 countries within the framework of the 2030 Agenda. By accompanying the reform and the improvement of public policies, FIIAPP directs these actions towards institutional strengthening and sustainable and inclusive development results for the benefit of the people and the planet.
For further information, please contact our [Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs department](mailto: coms@snv.org).