Europese ontwikkelingsdagen: van diepgaande discussies over ontwikkelingsbeleid tot films en optredens (en)

European Development Days (EDD), an open forum on international issues and development policy, starts on Thursday. Over three days a large number of meetings, seminars and performances will take place in Stockholm. Here, two people talk about what their plans are.

More than 6 000 people have registered for EDD. The majority of the activities will take place at Stockholm International Fairs, with, for example, round table discussions, exhibitions and the three plenary sessions, large forums where around two thousand people can attend and listen to the discussions. In other locations in Stockholm there will be concerts, a film festival and exhibitions.

"You have to be there. Everybody who works with development policy will be there." So says Eva Ekelund, development strategist and Deputy Policy Director in the Church of Sweden.

An important reason for Eva Ekelund to attend EDD is to network.

Aid Relevance

"On the opening day, I am planning to attend Aid Relevance. I think that there will be an exciting discussion. Development assistance is constantly under review and follow-up is important", said Eva Ekelund.

Aid Relevance is a discussion forum where debates will be held on whether today's development assistance is effective or not and what alternatives there are. Representatives from the French and German development assistance bodies, the IMF, the World Bank, Transparency International and others will participate.  

Climate exhibition

The Church of Sweden will have a stand at the EDD, together with Diakonia, the common agency for development assistance for a number of Swedish free churches. The stand's theme will be climate issues.

"I will be manning the stand for a while. Then, as we are joint organisers of the seminar ‘The Copenhagen climate deal and the right to development’, I am planning to attend that seminar.

“I will also look in on the activities taking place at Stockholm Central Station as I will be travelling to Stockholm by train", Eva Ekelund continues.

The activities taking place at Stockholm Central Station will include a climate exhibition hosted by the Swedish EU Presidency together with the UN. On Wednesday, there will also be an opportunity to ask questions to an European Commissioner over a cup of coffee.

Ubuntu!

Prudence Woodford-Berger is a Senior Advisor at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and she works with gender equality issues in development work. If she can find the time, she is planning to go to Ubuntu!, the African film festival in central Stockholm.

"I am especially curious about the film ‘From a Whisper' which has received good reviews and is directed by a young female director", says Prudence Woodford-Berger. She continues:

"It is exciting that there are so many things going on, but unfortunately you cannot be everywhere. On the opening day, I will attend a round table discussion on 'Women and Security'. It is of both professional and personal interest to me."

Speakers that have been invited to the 'Women and Security' discussion include Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Gunilla Carlsson, European Commissioner Margot Wallström i and Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

Plenary session

Prudence Woodford-Berger is also going to attend the plenary session on the first day.

"It is important to hear the global discussions. It is important for us at the Government Offices to keep up-to-date.

“In the Development Village, there will be a seminar on sexual and reproductive health arranged by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs. I am planning to attend that one too. To me, it is particularly interesting when the issues that I work with are viewed from different perspectives."

To view all activities taking place during EDD, click on the link to the EDD website on the right.