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Negotiating a Contract with the Ballot Box: South Africa Edition! 🇿🇦 Ever thought voting (especially in South Africa) is a bit like negotiating a contract? 🤔 Let's break it down: Prepping the Terms Just like you should examine every clause in a contract, you should dive into party manifestos, debates, and promises, etc, etc. Yes, it’s tedious, but crucial. No one wants to sign up for “free internet” that’s dial-up speed. That being said, just because its written down, doesn’t mean that delivery is guaranteed.📜 The Negotiation On Election Day, it’s like the final round of negotiations. You walk into that booth armed with knowledge, ready to make your mark. Instead of redlining clauses, you're ticking boxes, confident (or is it hopeful 🤔 ) that it’s the right boxes. ✍️ The Fine Print Always read the fine print, people! Just like surprise clauses in contracts, some party policies need a magnifying glass. But hey, that’s what coffee and the courts are for, right? ☕🔍 Signing the Deal Casting your vote is sealing the deal. No going back now, well at least for the next 5 years! It’s like hitting "Send" on that email to circulate the executed version, except here, you’re defining the next chapter for our country. No pressure, Right! 📬 Living with the Outcome Just like any contract, you live with the consequences, good and bad! Sometimes it’s smooth sailing, sometimes you’re calling for amendments (impeachments, task teams, investigations and whatever else). Either way, you’ve played your part. 🚀 My fellow South Africans, Braai Masters and Commentators, let’s bring our A-Game to the polling stations. Who knew democracy could be this much like lawyering, or is it? 😂🗳️ #Vote2024 #SouthAfricaVotes #DemocracyInAction #ContractNegotiations #HumorInPolitics #SouthAfrica

We are looking back at 2️⃣ days of intense & in-depth discussions at the #WeimarPlus Roundtable “Enlarging the Union, consolidating democracy: which priorities, which tools?”, that gathered policy makers & key experts from 🇵🇱, 🇫🇷, 🇩🇪, 🇦🇹, the #EuropeanCommission and 🇪🇺 candidate countries at the Genshagen Castle.   In four panels, participants discussed ➡️ what lessons are to be learnt from the hitherto EU approach towards fostering democracy and the rule of law in candidate countries, ➡️ the differences and similarities that prospective member states in the #WesternBalkans and #EasternEurope are facing on their EU path, ➡️ how to think the promotion of democracy and the rule of law in candidate countries and member states together, ➡️ and which role the #WeimarTriangle and #WeimarPlus cooperation can play in this endeavour.   The Roundtable was jointly organised by the Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe and Stiftung Genshagen. A publication that will further explore the topic will follow…

Today, we kicked off our Workshop series on Standards for Equality Bodies 🎉   These workshops aim at supporting the correct and swift transposition of the EU Directives on Standards for Equality Bodies by providing a platform for peer exchange and sharing good practice examples, including the work already developed in this regard by Equinet.    👉 Directives only set minimum requirements, encouraging Member States to exceed these benchmarks for the best protection possible. Effective transposition is fundamental to ensure that Equality Bodies are well-equipped to foster equal and inclusive societies.   Today's first workshop focused on the independence of Equality Bodies. Participants gained insights on what full independence means, on the independence indicators developed by the Equinet Project on Standards and learned from the practical application of the indicators by Unia.   👏 Shout-out to our speakers: 🔹  Tena Simonovic Einwalter, Moderator of the Equinet Project on Standards for Equality Bodies and Ombudswoman of the Republic of Croatia (Pučka pravobraniteljica / Ombudswoman) 🔹Tamás Kádár, Equinet Co-Director 🔹Rik Reusen, Policy Advisor at Unia 🔹Jone Elizondo- Urrestarazu (PhD), Equinet Senior Legal and Policy Officer 🔗 Learn more on #StandardsForEqualityBodies: https://lnkd.in/dG8_zScJ

The New Strategy for Denmark’s Engagement with African Countries is timely 🌍 Through our F2 platform, we're already supporting public institutions across Africa in enhancing governance, increasing transparency, and driving sustainable development in partnerships with local authorities, NGOs, and the private sector. By digitizing public sector processes, our projects support the building of strong institutions necessary for economic growth and improved living standards. As we continue to expand our efforts, we’re committed to forging strong partnerships with local governments and organizations while leveraging 20 years of experience in the gov tech space to bridge best practices. Niels Tanderup Kristensen, cBrain’s Director of New Markets & Partners, has shared his insights on this topic in a recent article. He discusses how Danish companies, including cBrain, can play a pivotal role in this strategy—strengthening both Danish exports and the Danish economy while boosting economic and social development in Africa. Read the full article in Danish here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dVw3mx8F #cBrain #F2 #DigitalTransformation #GovTech

So happy to speak about one of my favorite topics - independence of independent institutions. 👍 We now have standards for equality bodies, including regarding independence, as part of EU law. So, now the focus shifts to transposition in Member States. Much regarding independence will need to be discussed and reviewed having in mind each national context…. But great that #Equinet is continuing the work on standards in this new phase, facilitating discussions and a common understanding among equality bodies. It will definitely be interesting to follow the transposition and how much positive change actually happens, as well as to follow the development of EU indicators regarding independence.

Kicking-off the year with a bang, along with my SMEunited colleague Valentina Guerra, UCM colleague Matthieu Dewèvre and UNIZO colleague Philippe Van Walleghem, I had the honour to represent SMEunited at the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2024 informal meeting of Ministers of Employment and Social Affairs yesterday and today. In my introductory statement - which you can listen to below - I emphasise the importance of creating a positive economic spiral and room for SMEs to do business as a basis to deliver on social objectives. Curious to know which SMEunited positions we put forward concerning future priorities for a social Europe, social protection - in particular for self-employed, social justice globally and social elements in economic governance? You can discover those more in detail in this article: https://lnkd.in/e9hxiVQb

📣 Commission published the second edition of the report on the Performance of European #Partnerships under #HorizonEurope! 🔎 The report provides an overview of the European Partnership landscape by shedding light on: 🔹The effectiveness of the new policy approach for European Partnerships and the extent to which it leads to a better achievement of objectives and impacts compared to traditional calls under the Framework Programme. 🔹The progress of European Partnerships towards their objectives and targeted impacts – both individually and collectively, at the EU and national level. 🔹Early implementation drivers and barriers towards impacts – e.g. in terms of contributions, coherence, collaboration, openness or accessibility of partnerships. 🔹First results achieved, in view of their further demonstration, exploitation and valorisation, including for policymaking by Commission Services and national administrations. 👉 https://lnkd.in/evDGYxhf

Ahead of the European Summit, smartEn is one of the more than 500 businesses and organisations that call on EU leaders to confirm the #GreenDeal as a strategic priority in the next EU mandate. The EU Green Deal is the foundation of a competitive, secure, modern and efficient Europe, providing much-needed clarity and stability to Europe's businesses and citizens. Read the full joint statement here and get on board 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dwabKkTY #GreenDealforEU #EUCO #DemandSideFlexibility

This morning's session of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD)'s Trade and Development Board focused on the organization's support to African economies. I had the honor to update the Board on our recent work across the three pillar's of UNCTAD: research and analysis, technical cooperation and assistance, and inter-governmental consensus building. There was a rich dialogue among member States who thanked UNCTAD for our steadfast support to the continent. They recognized the importance of continuing and enhancing efforts to build productive capacity, diversify the goods and services produced and traded on the continent and support countries in advancing their structural transformation. The key role of digital technology, trade, entrepreneurship and investment was also highlighted. https://lnkd.in/e9H5CAjG.

🌍 Breaking Down Borders! Check out how the B-Solutions project is tackling obstacles at EU borders, making cross-border cooperation smoother and more efficient. Learn how this initiative is adding value to people's lives. #EUinmyRegion #CrossBorderCooperation #Interreg