This Annual Report outlines the achievements of ACT Alliance EU and the challenges the organisation faced in 2020.
Our office and team underwent significant changes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to the implementation of safety measures. Lockdown altered advocacy methods, with virtual platforms enabling global participation but hindering traditional processes. While virtual communication enhanced access to officials, it also posed challenges in transparent democratic scrutiny and networking opportunities. Embracing virtual work proved a shared experience, fostering cooperation amid the difficulties of Covid-19.
Funding constraints meant we had to say goodbye to valued staff members and close down some projects, including our longstanding work on food security. Climate justice and migration have been incorporated into our work on development and humanitarian assistance.
Key achievements
Our Annual Report for 2020 looks at achievements in the following areas:
Development policy and practice:
- Integration of calls for preserving and broadening civic space, enhancing civil society participation, and promoting SRHRs in the post-Cotonou EU-OAPCS agreement.
- Inclusion of key priorities and spending targets in the NDICI regulation, along with preservation of civil society co-financing and increased transparency in private investments.
- Reflection of views in EC strategies to counter the shrinking of civic space, support gender action, and implement the European Green Deal in partner countries.
Humanitarian policy and practice:
- Support for national NGO forums in institutional discussions on the peace aspect of the triple nexus approach.
- Development of Toolkit for EU Country Offices facilitating country-level discussions and collaboration among consortia field teams and partners.
- Promotion of integration of survivor and community-led response approaches among ECHO and civil society HQs and in-country practitioners.
Climate justice:
- Publication of the Climate Finance Report.
- Exclusive coverage in Der Spiegel on key aspects of the report.
Food security:
- Recognition of land rights as essential for human rights realisation through years of advocacy.
- Strategic advocacy leading to an online Civil Society Workshop with 300 participants.
Middle East:
- Substantial parliamentary engagement across Europe in response to plans for West Bank annexation.
- Informed discussions on EU steps to prevent demolitions of EU-funded aid through engagement with European decision-makers.
Migration and displacement:
- Inclusion of wording in the EP report on climate-induced displacement.
- Success in reducing migration-related conditionality scope in the NDICI.
- Crucial work establishing active advocacy trends on the external dimensions of EU asylum and migration policy.
Finances
We extend our gratitude to our members for their continued generous and sustained financial support.