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Description
This project aims to address the lack of expertise on EU-Africa relations among Baltic foreign policy stakeholders – diplomats, journalists, academics, and civil society – which prevents Baltic States from seizing the unique opportunity to build relations with African countries based on principles of equal partnership and sustainable development. Although the Baltic States have already expressed an interest in developing relations with African countries, there is a lack of in-depth expertise (especially in the identified priority themes of migration, security, digital and green transformation) and opportunities to access such knowledge locally. If Baltic countries do not invest in building and strengthening Baltic own expertise, there is a risk that foreign policymakers will follow the examples of traditional European actors in Africa, characterized by a paternalistic donor-recipient relationship, and/or will formulate Baltic policies in this field on the basis of rather superficial knowledge and stereotypes.
The proposed solution is an intensive thematic course (5 days) for Baltic African foreign policy stakeholders (15-20), which will result in a collection of policy briefs with recommendations prepared by participants of the course. This course will aim at strengthening the targeted empirical and methodological knowledge needed for Baltic engagement in EU-Africa relations and facilitating networks among Baltic actors.
The proposed solution directly contributes to creating conditions for a more inclusive and informed foreign policy making process, as the process itself is developed by the CSO and participants of the process are not only representatives of CSOs, but also other foreign policy actors, and strengthening the network among Baltic CSOs and other foreign policy actors through joint learning and policy briefs drafting activities.
Summary of project results
The project ‘Deepening the Expertise of the African Policy Stakeholders in the Baltic countries’ aims to address the lack of expertise on EU-Africa relations among Baltic African foreign policy actors - diplomats, civil servants, academics and civil society representatives - which hinders the Baltic countries from seizing the unique opportunity to start building a relationship with African countries based on equal partnership and the Sustainable Development Goals. While all the Baltic States have expressed their ambition to develop relations with African countries, there is a lack of in-depth expertise (especially in the priority themes identified - migration, security, digital and green transformation) and access to such knowledge. Without investing in strengthening their own (Baltic) expertise, the Baltic States risk following the example of traditional European actors in Africa, characterised by paternalistic donor-recipient relations, and/or formulating policies on the basis of superficial knowledge and stereotypes.
The project offered a three-day intensive training course for Baltic African foreign policy actors, led by international experts, which resulted in a set of expert knowledge-based recommendations for Baltic policy makers. The course was designed to strengthen the targeted empirical and methodological knowledge needed for the Baltic countries'' engagement in EU African foreign policy and to promote networking among Baltic actors. Based on an intensive learning model, the course provided participants with thematic knowledge (migration, security, digital and green transformation) and deepened their understanding of the EU''s African partnership based on equal partnership and the principles of the Sustainable Development Agenda.
The proposed solution has directly contributed to a more inclusive and informed foreign policy making, as the process is not only developed and participated in by CSOs, but also by other foreign policy actors, and the networking between CSOs in the Baltic States and other foreign policy actors has been strengthened through the joint activities.