2015 is the European Year for Development. This is the year when you can share global poverty busting success stories, understand how poverty in developing countries concern Lithuania, where there are still more challenges and how each of us can contribute to the development cooperation.

Unfortunately, there is a clear lack of information about the development cooperation in public space. Therefore, EESC and national Non-governmental organizations in development cooperation platform (NGDO Platform) starts organizing series of discussions and trainings for Lithuanian journalists about the development cooperation.

Together with Eric Solheim, Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee manager, who visited Lithuania in May, we discussed about Lithuania’s membership of the OECD, especially the pending opportunities and challenges for development cooperation. Another debate with the morning cup of coffee between academics, NGOs, experts and journalists, focused on the Riga Eastern Partnership Summit, its results and development cooperation policy in the context of the Eastern Partnership policy.

In autumn EESC together with NGDO Platform will hold the training for journalists in order to expand journalists’ interest in development cooperation. During the training we will be looking at the links between poverty in developing countries and Lithuania, will share ideas on how to present this interesting topic, will touch ethical principles as well. The training will be led by Martin Atkin, former BBC journalist, program manager, he also served as communication manager for Greenpeace, the Fair Trade Movement (Fairtrade).

The events are organized in the framework of the project ‘2015 European Year for Development: the Role of the Media’. The project is funded by the European Union and Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Programme of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal of the Project is to raise the awareness and ability of Lithuanian journalists about the