DBN coordinator meets Middle East Council
NEWS

DBN coordinator meets Middle East Council
DATE: October 5, 2023 CATEGORY: News

On Sunday 1st October, Angel Gudiña met the whole Provincial Council of Middle East Province and Adele Amato, as Emergency Coordinator within the PDO, to evaluate the Emergency Response Mechanism after 9 months of coordination and to agree in the steps to be taken for the post-emergency phase in the coming months.

After these 9 months, over 2 million projects and 19 projects, the Salesians have supported thousands of victims in Syria and Lebanon, thanks to the solidarity of several Salesian NGOs and Mission Offices from all around the world.

As well, several challenges have been identified: how to sustain Syrian youth to remain in their country, supporting them in the access to work and housing, how to ensure electricity and energy supply to families in need in perspective to the coming winter.

Middle East Provincial Council remains extremely grateful to the support received as well as to the coordination provided by DBN and the several NGOs that have supported them.

Board Meeting in Madrid
DATE: September 22, 2023 CATEGORY: News

From 18 to 21 September, the Don Bosco Network Board team met at the Provincial House in Madrid to kick off the new school year. Among the most important topics discussed were the management of the emergencies in Ukraine and the earthquake in Syria, the criteria for the admission of new members, the capacity building programme for PDOs, the planning of the year, communication tools and the revision of the Strategic Plan. In addition to the meeting, the Management Team took the opportunity to meet with the Director of Salesian Missions, Fr Luis Manuel Moral, as a member of the network, and with the Provincial Economer, Fr José Luis Riesco, to thank the Salesian Province of Santiago el Mayor for the technical support provided in some bureaucratic matters.

DBN General Assembly in Valdocco
DATE: June 18, 2023 CATEGORY: News

From 12th to 15th June, 20 representatives of Don Bosco Network member organisations gathered at Valdocco, to celebrate their annual General Assembly and the meeting of Development Cooperation Working Group in order to monitor the progress of the network and increase their coordination in the initiatives that the network is developing.

On Tuesday 13th June, the General Assembly presided by Mr. Peter Annegarn, approved the activity and financial reports, gave feedback on communication tools, and analysed the progress of the Strategic Plan 2023 – 2026, affirming that the network was progressing successfully. Mr. Stefano di Maria from VIS, was elected as new treasurer replacing Mr. Alessandro Brescia who had served for more than 10 years.

Fr. Alfred Maravilla, General Councillor for the Missions, addressed the General Assembly with a key-note speech underlining the contribution of DBN members to the Salesian Congregation and also the need to continue fostering Salesian identity and Missionary animation within its members; while helping Salesian Provinces to manage the best possible their resources. In addition, Don Bosco Foundation Malta, Fondation Don Bosco Paris, and Don Bosco Mission Austria, joined the network as observer members.

In the afternoon, member organisations were able to share their progress and their main programmes during the previous year, as well, as the approval and discussion of the network services to its members. As well, an informal moment of sharing was prepared with the new provincials attending the training course, who in most cases have on-going programmes and projects with DBN member organisations.

On Wednesday 14th the participants could analyse the progress of the Emergency Response Mechanism, that is answering effectively to the Humanitarian relief efforts of many Salesian institutions in several countries, like Ukraine, Syria, Ethiopia, RD Congo, etc… New tools were studied and validated, and the coordination between Mission Offices coordinator, currently Fr. MC George and DBN coordinator, was revised and underlined the effectiveness of the work done together.

In the afternoon there was time to reflect upon the capacity building initiatives of PDO (Planning Development Offices) that many members of the network are carrying out, and finding a coordinated approach to support these crucial institutions of many Provinces of the World, focusing especially in the support to design and implement the OPP and SEPP of the respective provinces and keep the focus in the most vulnerable children and youth.

Emergency Meeting with Middle East PDO
DATE: April 15, 2023 CATEGORY: Emergency, News

From 11th to 13th April 2023, DBN Board gathered in Rome, at the Salesian University to prepare our General Assembly and Development Cooperation WG, that will be held in Torino in June. As well, we met Fr. Pietro Bianche and Adele Amato, Director and Coordinator, respectively of PDO in Middle East Province.

In the presence of the General Economer, Br. Jean Paul Muller, we could evaluate the first two months of Emergency response, and positively assess that the coordination mechanism had worked perfectly. However, several difficulties regarding the arrival of materials and funds, the capacity building of the new local staff of the PDO and the very changing situation, remain the main challenges to face in these “Emergency within the Emergency”, that represents the Earthquakes suffered in Turkey and Syria last February.

Evaluation of Ukraine War – Emergency Mechanism after one year
DATE: April 5, 2023 CATEGORY: Emergency, News

Warsaw, Poland – March 2023 – Fr. George Menamparampil, head of the Salesian Coordination for Emergency Response, Peter Annegarn, President of the “Don Bosco Network,” and Angel Gudiña, Coordinator of the “Don Bosco Network,” visited Poland from March 28-31. They began their visit in Krakow, where they met with the Provincial Economer, the head of the Salesian Volunteer Missionary Movement (SWM), and those responsible for aid to Ukraine. The second stop of the visit was the Mission Center in Warsaw. On March 29 a meeting was held at the Warsaw Provincial House; participants included representatives of the Salesian Family in Ukraine – the Greek-Catholic Salesians, the Salesians of the Krakow Province and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians working in Ukraine, as well as Alberto Livoni, Coordinator of Humanitarian Aid of the Salesian NGO “International Volunteering for Development” (VIS). The topic of the meeting was the evaluation of the projects implemented so far, especially the support to Ukrainian citizens during the last winter, and the analysis of future projects in the field of education, infrastructure and humanitarian aid. The next day, the meeting continued with the Warsaw team in charge of the Ukraine Aid Coordination, the goal being to maintain the current coordinating body and determining further activities directed at helping the victims of the war, both in Poland and Ukraine.

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