relationships and cooperation in the field of support for civil society in the south (Development Cooperation Instrument and programme on Non State Actors). Also on other policies discussions took place, such as the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights; -the Investing in People programme and other ad hoc initiatives. Today the following areas could have a special interest for further engagement: The Policy Forum on Development Democracy and Human Rights Investing in People, with emphasis on Social Dialogue and Social Protection in development Development Education Policy coordination issues Aid for UN +2015 (sustainable development) Global Partnership (Busan) Policy Forum on Development (PFD) MANDATE: The overarching goal of the Policy Forum on Development (PFD) is to offer CSOs and LAs from the EU and partner countries, as well as European institutions, a multi-stakeholder space for dialogue on development issues at EU Headquarters level…. The PFD will primarily on European development policies, as well as global development agendas, building on the momentum gained by current debates and discussions on the global architecture for international aid. STRUCTURE: The PFD is composed of the main society actors at European and global level and include an ample representation of the South. The trade unions are recognised as one of the main sectors and have an integrated representation through the TUDCN/ITUC: Africa: 2 seats (in cooperation with ITUC Africa) AL/C: 2 (in cooperation with TUCA) A-P 1 seat (in cooperation with ITUC A-P) ENR: 1 seat (in cooperation with PERC) EU: 2 seats (in cooperation with ETUC/ITUC) Global: 1 seat (TUDCN/ITUC). The PFD will meet twice a year A working group (15 selected persons) will facilitate the organisation of the meetings. 1 co-chair representing civil society organisations and local authorities. The next PFD meeting will take in Brussels on June 17-18. For more background see annex on Composition and working methods of the PFD. The GM should discuss the engagement in the PFD and the representation by the various continents and groups. Synergies should/could be envisaged with the CPDE General Council
public services, extractive industries, etc. …). Many of these have direct and very relevant impact on the development patterns of developing countries. These sector discussions tend also to pop up in the general policy debates or, in a number of recent cases, even steer the overall debates based on the sector experience (e.g. health; education …). With the generalisation of the “private sector in development debate”, it will be more than ever necessary that we have a close consultation and cooperation so as to allow experience and evidence based policy proposals to be represented, including by the directly affected trade unionists from the developing countries. The TUDCN has been able to get access to many of those debates and should support GUFs, when there is an interest and willingness to engage, by gathering intelligence, facilitating consultations and supporting representation and participation. In many other discussions, specialised knowledge and savoir faire is required, be it economical, legal, statistical or otherwise. We should therefore be able to call upon the existing expertise within the members of the TUDCN, confederations, SSOs and GUFs but we should also look into greater cooperation with existing trade union related think tanks or networks such as the African Labour Research Network and others at regional or international level. IN COOPERATION WITH THE ILO We should upon the synergies that can be developed with the ILO on many on these development policies’, given our matching advocacy objectives and the complementarity in the roles we can play within the international community. *******