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The Mediterranean Action Day/Weekend is a joint NGO
activity aiming to reach with the support of national and local NGOs the
individual Mediterranean and invite him/her to take action along with many
others against waste (litter, etc.) in the Mediterranean.
8 Member NGOs responded to MIO-ECSDE's call for
participation in the activity for the year 1999:
Albania: PPNEA
Egypt: AOYE
Greece: HAEEE and Elliniki Etairia
Malta: Eco-Malta
Slovenia: DVVP
Spain: Itaca and Mediterrania
Each participating NGO submitted a report describing
their event and was accompanied by photos, newspaper clippings and
videotapes. The activities were also poster-presented at the International
Conference and Exhibition on Municipal Solid Waste Management in the
Mediterranean and Arab Regions.
The relatively low rate of participation was due to
the following factors: the lateness of approval of the 1999 Activity Grant
by the EC resulted in a very late call for proposals on the part of the
MIO-ECSDE Secretariat (mid-summer). For most organisations the summer is a
slow season for "action" oriented activities and by autumn it is
frequently too late to fit the activity in their schedule. This is
particularly so for the larger NGOs, which have a heavy schedule anyway
and cannot fit such small-scale field actions into their programme easily.
It is no wonder that among the NGOs that did respond several were small
NGOs. Furthermore, it must be made clear that many NGOs responded to the
call but as there were many from within the same country only one was
selected in order to remain true to the contract which foresaw that only
one NGO from each country be funded for the activity.
During the 4th AGM the smaller member NGOs stressed
the fact that they need such activities also in the future as they give
them the opportunity and some funds to reach the individual directly. It
should be noted that for year 2000, the Secretariat plans to send out the
call for participation in a similar joint project even before the approval
of the 2000 Activity Grant, however, at the same time stipulating very
clearly that the member organisations should reserve a provisional time
slot in their schedule and wait till further notice to proceed. |
