At the invitation of Jean Van Wetter, CEO of Enabel, and Thorsten Schäfer Gümbel, Chairman of the Board of GIZ, an event organised jointly with the European Think Tanks Group (ETTG) entitled ‘Staying Engaged as Team Europe in Fragile Settings’ took place on 11 December 2024 at Enabel’s headquarters in Brussels.
Julian Bergmann, © tomix_pix
© tomix_pix
The event served to launch an ETTG Collective Report on the role of European implementing organisations in fragile contexts, which was commissioned by GIZ and Enabel and jointly prepared by IDOS and ECDPM. On part of IDOS, Dr Julian Bergmann and Dr Benedikt Erforth were part of the ETTG research team commissioned to produce the report.
Dr Julian Bergmann presented the key messages and recommendations of the ETTG Collective Report. The study emphasises the potential costs of moving away from the Sahel region, the importance of detailed context analysis and improved information sharing, as well as the need for clear political mandates for engagement in fragile settings. Following an intervention by Cecilia García Gasalla from the Spanish implementation agency AECID, a panel moderated by Sophie Desmidt (ECDPM) discussed the implications of the research findings for current EU policy processes such as the development of an EU fragility strategy. The role of cooperation between African and European partners in dealing with fragile contexts was also a key topic discussed by panellists Erica Gerretsen (DG INTPA, European Commission), Simon O’Connell (SNV), Pascal Yao Konan (African Union) and Lori-Anne Theroux-Benoni (Institute for Security Studies). Finally, the more than 110 participants had the opportunity to contribute further perspectives and questions to the debate in a question and answer session.
The ETTG Collective Report is available via the following link: https://ettg.eu/2024/12/04/team-europe-fragile-settings/
