British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group to coordinate civil society participation in the 2020 Afghanistan Conference
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland has allocated EUR 200,000 in discretionary government grants for the coordination of civil society participation in the 2020 Afghanistan Conference to be held in November. The grant was allocated to the work of the British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group (BAAG) done in cooperation with the Civil Society Working Committee (CSWC) to advance this objective.
The Government of Afghanistan, the UN and Finland will co-host the pledging Conference in Geneva in November. At the pledging Conference, which will be held at ministerial level, the international community and the Afghan Government are expected to commit themselves to common goals and plan future development cooperation in Afghanistan in 2021–2024.
It is important that when plans are made for the development of Afghanistan in the coming years, the voices of both rural and urban civil society will be heard both in Afghanistan and on international forums. Civil society participation in the pledging Conference will improve Afghan people’s opportunities to influence the development plans and programmes of their Government.
BAAG’s task will be to consult Afghan civil society representatives. BAAG will help civil society representatives to deliver a synthesis of their positions to the pledging Conference by organising provincial consultations and workshops and bringing civil society messages to the Conference through their Civil Society Delegates.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs organised an open call for applications for discretionary government grants, and two applications were received by the end of the application period.
The discretionary government grants are funded from Finland’s development cooperation appropriations allocated to Afghanistan. The funding covers the period from 1 September to 31 December 2020.
Inquiries:
Timo R. Stewart, Conference Coordinator, 2020 Afghanistan Conference Task Force, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, tel. +358 50 471 0547, firstname.lastname@formin.fi