Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris has met with young people at Queen’s University Belfast as he discussed plans to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in 2023.

Mr Heaton-Harris was welcomed today (Wednesday 26 October) by Queen’s University Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Greer, who discussed the university’s upcoming programme of events to mark the anniversary. This includes a major international conference organised jointly with the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, at Queen’s.

Speaking with students as he visited One Elmwood, Queen’s University’s new Student Centre and Students’ Union, the Secretary of State highlighted the vital role which education plays in improving understanding and recognition of the transformative role that the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement has played, and continues to play,  in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

He stated: “The 25th anniversary of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement marks an extraordinary achievement for Northern Ireland, with the Agreement helping to lay the foundation of a more peaceful and prosperous Northern Ireland that we see today.

“I’m delighted to hear about Queen’s University Belfast’s programme, and to discuss with young people what the anniversary means to them – they are key to safeguarding the benefits of the Agreement for the next generation.

“This anniversary moment provides us with a great opportunity to ensure that young people in Northern Ireland, and across the entirety of the UK, are well informed and can fully engage with the progress that has been made since the signing of the Agreement.

Queen’s University’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Greer, said:

“Queen’s University Belfast is honoured to be the host the signature event to mark the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.

“With current world leaders, as well as architects of the original Agreement, coming to Belfast to mark the anniversary it is fitting that it takes place in an institution which places social and civic responsibility at the heart of what it does.

“In partnership with the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace,Security and Justice, the three day conference will offer a unique opportunity to both reflect on the achievements of the Agreement and to discuss the challenges and solutions needed to drive forward a peaceful and prosperous future for the region.”

ENDS

For media queries, contact communications@nio.gov.uk

Thank you President, and I thank Special Envoy Xia for his briefing today, and welcome the participation of countries of the region in this meeting.

President, the United Kingdom remains deeply concerned by the security situation in the Great Lakes region, in particular the resurgence of violence by M23 in the last week. We call for immediate cessation of violence and the withdrawal of M23 from their current positions. All parties must respect national sovereignty and uphold the principle of territorial integrity.

We call upon countries in the region, with the support of the Special Envoy, to continue to work in close coordination with the Government of the DRC and MONUSCO to bring lasting peace to the country.

President, we have said many times that political and diplomatic efforts should have primacy over a military solution. Humanitarian considerations should also have equal priority. Military action alone will not bring peace to the Great Lakes. So we encourage the resumption of the Nairobi and Luanda processes. The UN, including through the offices of the Special Envoy, should actively support these efforts and ensure coordination with existing efforts, such as the DRC’s P-DDRCS process.

President, any military action in Eastern DRC requires careful planning, coordination with MONUSCO, adherence with international law and a clear exit plan. The EAC Force and DRC Armed Forces must substantively engage with MONUSCO on de-confliction of forces, to ensure, primarily, the protection of civilians. We trust Special Envoy Xia will support this coordination.

The United Kingdom remains concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Great Lakes region. The DRC is suffering from the world’s largest food security emergency, with 26 million people in crisis levels of food insecurity.  Recent violence is adding to the 5.9 million people already displaced in the DRC. Access to those that need relief is severely limited. Coordination between military and humanitarian operations is vital and we call on all parties to facilitate humanitarian access.

In conclusion, President, we call upon countries in the region to intensify efforts to improve their regional cooperation, address shared security challenges via political and diplomatic means, improve humanitarian access, and bring an end to the violence. Thank you.

Background

British Embassy Bucharest invites project proposals to promote education on consent and related issues for Romanian young people. This is part of a wider British Embassy portfolio of projects seeking to support efforts to improve the rights of women and girls in Romania, alongside a multi-year programme of projects on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking.

In the first 6 months of 2021, 10,643 Romanian women and young girls reported battery and other violence, in 65% of the cases the perpetrator was their partner or ex-partner. 84% of the incidents occurred in their residence. The Police intervened in 28,486 cases of domestic violence, out of which 7,659 were of high risk. 22 women were killed. In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that the cases of sexual harassment among students has gone up, in a country where one third of the women report some type of sexual harassment. Romania is also the EU country with the highest number of trafficked victims to the UK.

Understanding of consent is an important part of preventing sexual assault and violence against women. It also promotes better social attitudes towards women and a broader understanding of respecting individual autonomy. It would also contribute to education on healthy relationships and address violence within relationships.

In this context, we would welcome bids for projects, with a total budget of 48,500 RON, which would improve education on consent in Romania, targeted at both young men and women. These projects can provide education around consent directly, or produce materials and opportunities for teachers to use them.

Objective

• to improve young people’s understanding of consent, including, but not limited to consent in a relationship
• to improve young people’s understanding of how a lack of consent or manipulated consent can constitute abuse in different circumstances; including violence and sexual assault, but also other forms of coercive control and abuse

Scope of Work

The project should have a national reach, where possible, but we will consider targeted pilot projects.  It should also look to build long-lasting resources to be utilised beyond the immediate life of the project.

Activities

It is essential that the project implementer builds effective relationships to secure buy in at a policy and operational level for this project to be successful. Potential activities could include:

• training for teachers in high schools on consent education
• creating an online guide that explains the principles of consent and that can be easily accessed by students
• educational sessions for high school students on consent
• campaigns targeting young people, promoting consent
• pilot projects that can be used as an evidence base to promote further education on consent

Project approach

British Embassy Bucharest will approve project proposals. This proposal will form the basis for project planning. The proposal should set out how the implementing partner will deliver activities to support the objectives set out above with an implementation plan and supporting activity based budget. British Embassy Bucharest will oversee the project planning and provide the necessary contacts to the implementers, including as required with Romanian authorities.

The project implementer will manage project logistics and is expected to consider the pandemic context and its possible impact on the project implementation when submitting the bid.

The Embassy will provide contact persons and focal points for UK institutions or experts that might be needed in the process, including on UK policy on education on consent.

How to bid

Our process will consist of a one-stage full bid proposal.

Bids should be completed in English. You will need to complete and submit the following documents:

Email these documents to bucharest.projects@fcdo.gov.uk and andrada.petrache@fcdo.gov.uk. The subject of the email should be: name of implementing organisation and title of the project.

The project sponsors reserve the right to request additional information from bidders before making a decision.

Activity based budgets should list the activities needed to deliver the outcomes (results) of the project. All costs should be in Romanian New Lei (RON).

Reporting

The reports to be produced during the course of this project are to be delivered in English:

• an inception note detailing approach and proposed activities. This should also set out key stakeholders who will be engaged, a proposed schedule of activities, risks, safeguarding approach and any additional details, including a communications plan
• a draft report
• three monthly financial reports
• after a facilitated process of commenting, the final report

Composition of the project teams

The British Embassy Bucharest will nominate a Project Director, British Embassy Bucharest (Goran Mandic, 1st Secretary) and a Project Manager, (Andrada Petrache, Senior Political Officer) to oversee the project delivery.

Project proposals should demonstrate that the implementing partner’s staffing levels are appropriate to deliver the aims of the project and that the staff have relevant expertise and experience in working on prevention of sexual assault and gender based violence, and education on these topics in Romania, as well as detailed knowledge of the Romanian context. They should also have a demonstrable track record of working with young people and the education system in Romania.

Timing and scope of input

The bidding round is an open and competitive process, assessed by British Embassy Bucharest. The selected partner will be contacted by mid November. Once a bid is approved, a Grant Agreement will be signed with the successful bidders. In the documents section you will find an example of a Grant Agreement.

Your organisation will be expected to sign the contract within one week of the funds being awarded. Failure to do so may result in the funds being re-allocated. The implementing organisation will be required to submit report updates and a final evaluation of the project.

There are no pre-payments. Reimbursements will be completed once activities have taken place and all receipts submitted. Implementing organisations will request repayments using an invoice (including receipts and a financial report of spend) and the repayments will be carried out during those dates agreed upon in the respective contract.

The budget should be presented in Romanian New Lei (RON). All payments will be made in RON to a bank account held in Romania.

Please send any questions regarding the call for bids to andrada.petrache@fcdo.gov.uk.

It is expected that the project will be carried out from mid-November 2022 to end March 2023. The crucial milestones will be:

• the submission of the draft report: January 2023
• final report: March 2023

Budget

Grant applications must include an estimated budget of at least 48,500 RON.

Depending on the quality of the proposals, the British Embassy reserves the right not to grant all or part of the available funds. The Embassy also reserves the right to award a grant of less than the amount requested by the applicants. In such a case, applicants will be asked to increase the amount that they co-finance, to propose other co-financing means or to decrease the total costs without altering the substance of the proposal.