Author

Katarzyna Nowinska

Coordinator for the Development of Partner Relations
Caritas Poland

In October 2018 the delegation of Caritas Poland came to Brussels for four days to learn about the European Union’s humanitarian programmes, learn how to apply for EU funds and develop partnerships with the EU’s specialized institutions and agencies such DG DEVCO, DG ECHO, DG Home, DG Sante or EEAS.

During their stay in Brussels the delegates from Caritas Poland met a number of interlocutors from EU Commission Directorates as well as representatives of EU Parliament. During the visit at EU Commission Directorates and EEAS, Caritas Poland delegation learned about existing and future EU funding programmes, the accreditation mechanisms, Europe Aid Programmes and EU aid volunteering, external and internal migration programmes, climate change and food waste prevention.

Caritas Poland delegation also visited the Caritas Europa secretariat. The delegation was warmly welcomed by the Head of Caritas Europa, Jorge Nuño Mayer, who gave a presentation about ongoing and future activities of the secretariat and encouraged Caritas Poland to think about their active role in the European Caritas family.

The role of Caritas Poland is to understand the East and tell it to the West

Jorge Nuño Mayer, Secretary General of Caritas Europa

The Caritas Poland delegation had a great opportunity to meet their colleagues from Caritas Europa and discuss specific matters related to the shared area of work, including humanitarian, development, volunteering, migration and communication.

It was an extraordinary experience, a knowledge transfer that will stay in my memory. While the alleviation of suffering is often at the forefront of Caritas Poland efforts, this visit thought me that our vision must become broader, and focus on solutions that foresee collective efforts to enable those most disadvantaged to achieve self-resilience and build their own lives

A member of the Caritas Poland delegation

The study visit was part of Caritas Poland overall efforts to build further partnerships in order to help the most vulnerable around the world and develop more sustainable and effective institutional capacity.