The Slovak platform of development organizations – Ambrela responds to current global challenges in the world with a one-day international conference ‘Ambrela Development Forum (ADF) – Building Bridges, Building Solutions – on October 10 in Bratislava. Over 200 international development experts from two dozen countries will discuss the impacts of ongoing crises on regions of Europe and beyond in four panel discussions, four roundtables, and five workshops, while also seeking common solutions and recommendations for the humanitarian aid, development cooperation, and global citizenship education sectors.
The world faces unprecedented challenges. Russian aggression in neighboring Ukraine has triggered a serious humanitarian crisis, internally displaced millions of people or completely displaced them beyond their homeland's borders, destroyed basic infrastructure, and demands a global response. That is why the international conference Ambrela Development Forum (ADF) 2024, organized by the Slovak platform Ambrela, offers in its program three expert discussion panels dedicated to supporting Ukraine and its post-war reconstruction (‘Ukraine: Winter is coming 3.0’; ‘Reconstruction of Ukraine – where do we stand?’; ‘Rebuilding Ukraine Together: Business & Civil Society’).
“Alongside the unending war in Ukraine, we do not forget the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the difficulties of providing aid to those who need it most. At the same time, there is the climate crisis and its impact on food insecurity in the East Africa region. We also need to talk about the shrinking space for the free operation of civil society in Europe. Our conference Ambrela Development Forum will offer perspectives on these urgent global challenges through the eyes of people in the field, as well as those who make decisions in centers of power, in an effort to find common solutions,” notes the Executive Secretary of the Slovak platform Ambrela, Daniel Kaba.
ADF brings together a diverse range of stakeholders – including government officials, civil society leaders, international organizations, universities, and private sector representatives – with the aim of fostering mutual cooperation, proposing solutions to current world crises, and identifying new ways to support development and humanitarian organizations.
The current 3rd edition of Ambrela Development Forum, subtitled ‘Building Bridges, Building Solutions’, will take place on Thursday, October 10, at Moyzesova Hall in Bratislava and will respond to the above-mentioned challenges with four panel discussions, four deep talk roundtables, five workshops, and two exhibitions as responses to current global crises for nearly two hundred participants from twenty countries around the world. It will be a space for connecting communities of experts in humanitarian aid, development cooperation, and global citizenship education not only from Central and Eastern Europe.
Among the expert speakers at the ADF 2024 conference in Bratislava are prominent figures such as: EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Katarína Mathernová; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Jan Marian; State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Rastislav Chovanec; John F. Wain from Ukraine Shelter Cluster; Robert-Jan Uhl from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA); founder of TripleMinds Lisa Ringhofer; Director of VOICE, Maria Groenewald; a delegation from the Norwegian platform ForUM, and many others. More information about the program and invited speakers at ADF can be found on the website: https://developmentforum.ambrela.org.
The Platform of Development Organizations – Ambrela brings together 30 mostly non-governmental organizations in Slovakia that focus on humanitarian aid, development cooperation, global citizenship education, and sustainable development at home and abroad. In October 2023, Ambrela, together with its members, observers, donors, and partners, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the existence and significance of this platform in the region. The October conference Ambrela Development Forum (ADF) is Ambrela's flagship event. It is a unique concept that builds cooperation between development and humanitarian actors from the public administration, civil society, and international organizations in the Central and Eastern Europe region. More information about Ambrela's activities can be found on the website: www.ambrela.org.
Text: Ambrela (www.ambrela.org), Photo: Ambrela archive
Note: The conference Ambrela Development Forum #ADF2024 is funded from Slovak sources under the SlovakAid brand, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, EEA and Norway Grants, the European Commission and GENE, and co-financed by the EU under the Stronger Roots program. The Ambrela platform is solely responsible for the content of the conference and does not necessarily reflect the views of the donors, the Slovak Republic, or the EU.