Author Archives: cosv

INTERVIEW TO…Adam, logistician and administrator in Sudan

When did you start working with COSV? And how?

I started in 2007. I read the vacancy for the position of logistician published by COSV in Kulbus, and I introduced myself. Three expatriates were doing the selection: Jennifer Oko, Kenyan, Trunji Mohamed, of Somali origin and Virna Bolognesi, coordinator of the health program from Italy. They were looking for someone local who could coordinate the logistics of the projects launched two years earlier in Kulbus and to replace the former logistics officer who had been moved to Geneina. I did all the tests, both written and oral, but the results were not communicated immediately; the three expatriates, after carrying out various tests to all candidates, came back to Khartoum and returned to Kulbus after a week to announce the results of the selection: I was hired as logistician, and another in charge of the pharmacy of the PHCC (primary health care center) of Kulbus.

What does it mean for you working for an NGO?

Working with an NGO gave me the opportunity to enhance my skills and acquire new skills, allowed me to open my eyes to new technologies, new people, new cultures, new faces, to meet people from Kenya, Italy, from many places in the world … sometimes I feel like I can fly from happiness to work in such an environment and the changes that this work has brought into my life… without the collaboration with an NGO, all this would never have happened.Working with all these people from different places, it makes me imagine myself find out of Kulbus and Sudan, in Italy …

How is your involvement in an international NGOs perceived within your social context?

The community, family, friends are happy, proud that some of them work with an international NGO;  it is perceived as a big change.

The only problem is that people sometimes think that, just because I work with an international NGO, I have large sums of money, so they comes to me for help and support, as if I could take charge and solve everyone’s problems … some are also jealous because they want to be in my position.

What do you think is the main impact of the job you are doing?

I followed and supervised the construction of the various health centers and the people are very grateful to me… it is a tangible sign that the program COSV is carrying out is very good … before this intervention, there was no health service except the central hospital of Kulbus.

Which are the main challenges, frustration or changes that you have experienced in these years?

In recent years, various managers, many expatriates have gone to work in Kulbus, each with its own methodology…it has not always been easy to adapt to each of them, but I always tried to accept and cooperate.

One of the most negative experiences dates back to 2011: as an administrator, I used to receive funds from Khartoum and Geneina, and I had full confidence in colleagues. In Kulbus there are no banks or money transfer, then the funds are transferred in cash, and I usually were delivered by the health coordinator, who at the time was Dr. Ahmed Garib .

The night before sending money, I had a dream that I was handed the envelope that was empty.

The next morning, when Dr. Garib arrived in Kulbus and handed me the envelope and the usual receipt to sign, I refused to put my signature until a Committee could control with me the content of the envelope.

The Doctor agreed, so we called a few trusted people and we opened the envelope and counted the money: there were 6000 Sudanese pound less!

Luckily I  listened to my dream, otherwise I do not know how I could justify that difference.

I was very annoyed and I reported the incident to Khartoum…since then I always check very carefully the contents of the envelopes in the presence of another staff person.

Which have been the most meaningful experiences?

A good memory: I remember with pleasure working with the Italian coordinator, Chiara Lizzi, who had also recognized our commitment increasing our wages.

Another good memory is the inauguration of the center of Adawi, in the Dar Mokutar, an area still under rebel control…it was very brave to challenge the presence of the rebels and decide to cross their territory and to build there a health center that would provide the necessary services to the population.

Music Bridges: october 2013 in Vanuatu!

“The song that we brought is called One Nation, and is a tribute to humanity. Whether our origin is in the North, South, East or West, we are all part of this world and we care what is happening in every corner of the world, “said Petra – her origins are in West Papua, but she was born in Vanuatu and then grown up in Australia, where the family has obtained a residence permit as political refugees. “For this song we have created a flag with a circle that encompasses all directions.”

She hung the banner over a flip chart, where she wrote the lyrics. Around her sixty musicians – surrounded by the forest on the island of Espiritu Santo (Vanuatu) – followed her in the chorus of One Nation at a rate of Jambe, violins, ‘mbira, guitars, ukuleles, flutes, dijiridu. They are the participants of the Singaot Musik Kamp, the first residential camp for musicians in the Pacific, organized within the project Music Bridges with funding from ACP-EU Culture program.

They are from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, West Papua, Tonga, Australia, Austria, La Reunion, Mozambique and Vanuatu, they are all artists who are trying to keep alive the traditions and culture of their homeland through music, bringing them on stage and making them travelling in the sounds of other musicians. This is this Music Bridges, a project to promote the meeting between cultures through the fusion of sounds and contribute to the development of the music industry in Vanuatu and Mozambique.

The stories of the musicians have become intertwined in the incredible environment of the forest near the village of Mon Exil, in intensive creative workshops to work on a common track that opened the festival Lukaotem Gud Santo and went on the stage of the famous Fest Napuan, the biggest musical event of Vanuatu, which annually attracts about 40,000 visitors.

“Being part of this project is a unique opportunity. The creative exchange, growth as a musician, the chance to play at two festivals with other musicians from the Pacific and Africa … this is an experience that I will remember for a lifetime,” said Willie Tekatoha, keyboard player of the group Kaumaakonga – from Solomon Islands. “I admit that before leaving I thought about it several times, I did not know exactly what to expect …I do not live on music and in order to participate I got a period of leave to work. And it was the best choice I could do. “

There are few musicians in the Singaot Musik Kamp who live on music: the music industry in the Pacific and Southern Africa have in common a structural weakness, they are not able to protect the rights of artists and lack adequate opportunities for artistic promotion. For musicians of the Pacific, in particular, lack of performance opportunities, to meet and exchange with international artists. To support the musicians in the access to musical circuits and personal paths of professionalization, the project therefore provided for the organization of three workshops on the themes of the music industry and self-management, copyright and free licenses.

“Vanuatu is a very young country, from the point of view of the music industry,” said Marcel Meltherorong, songwriter and guitarist of Vanuatu, at the workshop on music industry and self management. “The first concert on stage there was in 1996, there are no music labels, recording studios are present only in Port Vila and Luganville, the copyright law is not implemented and there does not exist a collective management society.”

In a context so fragile, it is essential for musicians to understand the mechanisms of self-management: how to propose, to try to build a career, to exit from the stereotype that the musician is just an entertainer. Rufus Maculuve of Music Crossroads of Mozambique, led the workshop, with the help of some musicians of the camp, such as Ofa Fainaka – from the island of Tonga. “Being a musician is not just about playing and singing,” said Ofa. “To be a professionist you must also know how to manage to whole business of musician: contacts, relations, performances. There may be a manager who is responsible for managing the group or the musician, but there is also the possibility of a self-management that works. I do not have a manager, and I can manage my musician life autonomously. “

The presence of trainers from Mozambique has strengthened the connection between intra-ACP contexts, especially in the field of copyright, and sensitive topic of great interest. Jaime Joel Guambe and Benjamim Batista Nandja of Somas (collective management societies of Mozambique), with the contribution of Seru Serevi, of the collective management society in Fiji, presented their experiences and opened the way for the creation of the first collective management company of Vanuatu. The musicians who took part in the workshop managed to identify a representative for each island, with the intention to maintain active contacts with trainers and structuring a society in Vanuatu.

Free licenses and Creative Commons licenses have closed the workshop sessions in Port Vila, with the presence of Cristina Perillo of Lettera 27 and Soohuyn Pae, regional coordinator of the Creative Commons Asia-Pacific network. Music Bridges is the first event in Vanuatu that opens to Creative Commons, with the view to continue in the next year of the project a path to greater understanding and use of free licenses for the promotion of musicians.

Closed the first major event of Music Bridges, the team composed by the associations Music Crossroads Mozambique, Further Arts and COSV prepares for the next round .. 2014 in Maputo!

COSV adheres to LINK2007 Accountability Charter

Accuracy and transparency in resources management and presentation of results achieved in development cooperation projects: these are the fundamental elements that Italian NGO adhering to LINK2007 network have taken on as their identity, culture and strategic vision.

To conform its activity and systems to international standards, European and South civil societies requests and main donors requirements, since several years LINK2007 has undertaken this path towards full accountability.

In June 2013, a conference was held in Rome to confront with representatives of political institutions and media on the best processes to convert the commitment into behaviors and documented and comparable practices. In October 14th, Link2007 Council met in Milan and unanimously approved the adoption of the Accountability Chart that commits all NGOs adhering to the network to conform to accountability principles, values and commitments therein expressed.

Among the general principles, the document states that accountability should be understood as a path to be achieved daily and not as a one-off quality certificate to acquire; that LINK2007 NGOs take on the legislative decree on the administrative liability of legal entities, companies and associations (231/2001) and on the legislative decree on the protection of health and safety in the workplaces (81/2008).

LINK2007 NGOs adopt organizational, legal and administrative criteria and models, with internal and external control and verification, effectiveness and impact of interventions assessment, results publication and activity information, and budgets and financial data systems.

This is a very central step in the actual process, where NGOs push to ensure international cooperation at the core of Italian and international political agenda.

For LINK2007 NGOs, this is a commitment to be taken first toward their organizations and operators, as well as donors, institutions, public opinion, governments and partners. LINK2007 Accountability Charter