ESFVON
European Social Fund Voluntary Organisations Northern
International Seminar - Gdansk
The Regional Information and Support Centre for NGOs in Gdansk held an
International Seminar on 17 January 2003 on "Modern Methods of Counteracting
Unemployment in Small Local Communities.
The seminar was hosted under the patronage of the British Embassy in Warsaw
and was attended by 300 representatives, with speakers from a number of
countries including Estonia, Lithuania, Kaliningrad, Spain and Northern
Ireland.
ESFVON's Director, Donald Dempsey, accepted an invitation to address the
Seminar.
Opportunities for employment - developing a new way forward
Thank you for your kind invitation to address you to-day I welcome the
opportunity to share with you the experiences of the European Structural
Funds Voluntary Organisations Northern (ESFVON), a specialist regional NGO
in the North East of England, of which I am Director. I wish to give you a
practical overview of how voluntary and community organisations can develop
to take advantage of European funding opportunities to address unemployment
in local communities. I also want to look at the needs of individuals and
how ESFVON has assisted organisations in meeting rheir needs.
The North East of England has shared many of the economic difficulties being
experienced by Poland and the countries represented at this conference, such
as the demise of coal mining, and the run down of shipbuilding. The region
is however, now benefiting from major developments including construction for
the offshore oil industry, it has a Nissan car plant and a growth market in
call centres. Over ten years ago it suffered very high levels of unemployment
such as that which you are also experiencing, but the level has been more
than halved since that time. The North East also has similar geographical
features, with a coastal strip, three major urban areas and large rural areas.
ESFVON was established in 1991 to support NGOs in accessing the European
Structural Funds. I recognised that there was a very significant contribution
which NGOs could contribute to the training of unemployed people, particularly
those who are socially excluded, and we developed services to encourage and
support organisations in obtaining funding to develop their services. These
were further expanded to include support for community economic development
and we now support a network of over 1000 voluntary and community
organisations. This has resulted in organisations achieving European funding
of c150 million euros from Objective 2 and Objective 3 Programmes, towards
project costs totalling over c300 million euros, and ESFVON only has a staff
of five people.
Our work follows the objectives of the EU Strategy To-wards Social Inclusion and the key principles to our success are Partnership, Consultation and Capacity Building. All are applicable to addressing unemployment and are not exclusive.
Partnerships should be fully representative, particularly of local communities and NGOs. They must be equal and it may mean new approaches to empowerment and ownership are needed.
Consultation should provide opportunities for communities to play a full and equal role, and consultation should be open and accessible. I have noted from research undertaken in Poland that 44% of organisations feel there is a lack of co-operation with public administration and all partners need to examine why this is the case. It may just be poor communications, but it may be that new ways of communication need to be considered. In addition, 76% of organisations consider representation to be a problem, and this could also be related to communications. It is possible for NGOs to lead partnerships although even in my region these are limited in number.
Capacity building may also be needed to ensure that people and NGOs have the skills, experience and confidence to fully participate in the economic regeneration of their communities.
It is also important to know in detail the difficulties and challenges facing communities and in the North East of England and we have undertaken local community appraisals. These have considered the geographical profile and key statistics of each community, the barriers to employment and the perception of local people to employment and training opportunities. The appraisals have also considered other initiatives in the area and undertaken an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
We found many constraints to employment ranging from lack of training or employment skills, long term unemployment, access to and cost of travel, a mismatch between training offered and the needs of the labour market and preconceptions of where you live, for example Information Technology can be utilised in rural areas.
We also identified the key needs of individuals and these range from vocational advice and guidance, individual needs assessments, pre-vocational and vocational training and job search assistance. Support which they require included childcare facilities, the care of dependents, travel costs and possible training allowances or subsistence.
NGOs can respond to these needs as I have demonstrated from our experience in the North East of England.
ESFVON provides a comprehensive service for organisations not just in seeking EU funding, but also help in developing projects ideas and in the operation of the projects. Our services include a telephone help-line to provide immediate help, advice and information whereby we put into simple language the many guidance notes and regulations you need to understand, and a bulletin service to our network informing them of latest information and developments. A key area of support is in the identification and development of project opportunities and individual surgeries are held with organisations to help them with their planning and to meet the requirements of the Structural Funds.
We also undertake training seminars on applying for EU funding and on project management and, once funded, will visit projects both to provide support and to advise them if they are experiencing any problems.
You will see from the examples of NGO provision in the North East of England the range of opportunities which NGOs can provide, from the establishment of small business units to work placements for people with disabilities, to the training of trainers This success will I hope demonstrate what you can achieve and the model which we have adopted at ESFVON is one which you may wish to consider.
You will be benefiting from the European Structural Funds, and significantly after 2006.
You have a difficult task ahead, but a excellent opportunity to utilise these funds for the benefit of both individuals and local communities. It will be a challenge for you - but one which you should accept.
I wish you well for the future.