BACKGROUND

III Baltic Sea NGO Forum is a part of a process of annual forums. NGO meetings started in 2001 when the Copenhagen NGO initiative arranged the NGO Conference in Copenhagen on 24 - 25 March with 110 participants representing 61 non-governmental organisations in 9 Baltic Sea countries. Half of the participants came from the following countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia (St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad), the other half from the Nordic countries and Germany. At the end of the Conference the Copenhagen Declaration of the Copenhagen NGO initiative was unanimously passed.

Documents of the Copenhagen Conference - Click here!

After the Copenhagen Conference the I Baltic Sea NGO Forum was organised 28 - 29 May 2001 in Lubeck during the German presidency in the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS). The I Baltic Sea NGO Forum not only served as a meeting point for NGOs but also offered an opportunity for a dialogue between NGOs and public authorities from the area on future perspectives of co-operation between NGOs and governmental and local authorities. The Forum appreciated the input from the NGO Conference in Copenhagen. The Copenhagen declaration served as a starting point for discussions in several forum workshops.

Conclusions of the I Baltic Sea NGO Forum - Click here!

The importance of regular opportunities for NGOs in the region to meet was stressed in Lubeck. The II Baltic Sea NGO Forum was held in St. Petersburg 19 - 20 April 2002 as a direct follow-up to the first Forum in Lubeck and the NGO Conference in Copenhagen. Over 340 NGO representatives from CBSS Member States took part in the forum. Discussions during the forum were divided into four thematic conferences dedicated to some of the most important fields of Baltic Sea co-operation where NGOs are able to make a substantial contribution - Social care, Environment, Human rights, and Cross-sector co-operation. Participating NGOs confirmed the intention to hold Baltic Sea NGO Forums on an annual basis, under the auspices of rotating Presidencies of the CBSS.

The conclusions of the forum were delivered to the Council of Baltic Sea States ministerial meeting on 10 June 2002.