Newsletter, N.6, May Newsletter North-South Cooperation. Dear friends and members of North-South Cooperation,

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1 Newsletter, N.6, May 2015 Newsletter North-South Cooperation Dear friends and members of North-South Cooperation, Here s our first newsletter of 2015 which contains the latest updates on the activities and projects of NSC. We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to our members and donors who have supported us over the years and who are assuring the implementation of our projects. In this newsletter you will find information about our future projects as well as on the progress of our current projects in Kenya, where we are currently preparing the launch of the library extension in Korogocho. In addition, we have included the latest events and activities of NSC in Luxembourg. Finally, we wish to inform you that NSC has received the agrément ministériel of the Directorate of Cooperation and Humanitarian Action of the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This partnership greatly increases our resources and opportunities as an NGO, as our projects can now be co-financed by the Ministry for an amount of 2/3 of the total budget (1/3 being financed by the funds of the association). Therefore, future donations for our projects will be multiplied by three with co-funding from the Ministry. As you will see in this newsletter, our efforts focus mainly on projects in the field of education in Africa. This is because we are convinced that this is one of the most effective strategies to fight poverty and violence. Thank you very much! Roberto Marta, Chairman, North-South Cooperation roberto.marta@cns-asbl.org

2 1. The agrément ministeriel On 10 th April, North-South Cooperation has received the agrément ministériel from the Directorate of Cooperation and Humanitarian Action of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is effective from 1 st January This is the official recognition of a development NGO by the Ministry. NGOs that hold this ministerial approval may submit requests for cofinancing of their projects of up to 2/3 of the total budget. In addition, private donations that reach these NGOs are tax deductible as special expenses for taxpayers in Luxembourg starting from an annual amount of 120. This is a great achievement for us in the sense that the approval opens up new opportunities and allows us to significantly increase the scale of our projects and to reach more people in the most disadvantaged communities. 2. Our projects in Korogocho In December, we funded the capacity increase of the IT centre at the Korogocho library by purchasing 4 desktop computers. In October, we launched an appeal to raise funds for the planned extension of the Korogocho library. Since then, we have collected 16, With this extension, the number of benefi-

3 ciaries could be doubled (now the library hosts 500 users per day) and there will be additional space for the IT center. For this project, we will apply for co-funding from the Ministry. If the project will be cofinanced, each we receive in donations will be multiplied by three. Therefore, we invite you to support us so that we can launch this vital project for the community of Korogocho as soon as possible. Moreover, our local partner, the St. Johns center in Korogocho is an organization with which we have been working successfully for several years. 3. Our future projects NSC has decided to launch an e-mentoring project in partnership with Finafrica, an NGO that works in Uganda. Finafrica, an incubator for small businesses, provides local entrepreneurs with a basic structure (office, computer, telephone, and voice mail service), and offers business management training courses and a mentoring program. The goal of our partnership with Finafrica is to create a database of volunteer tutors (reachable via Skype and ), which will help develop the skills of small entrepreneurs in Uganda for activities related to business management. We believe that giving local entrepreneurs a better opportunity to learn specific skills will contribute to the development of small businesses and therefore will promote local economic development. For this project, we are calling on volunteers who have skills in marketing, finance, accounting or other fields related to business management, and who are willing to participate in this e-mentoring project. We are looking for people who are available one hour a week for a trai-

4 ning and / or technical support session by Skype. If you are interested and would like to participate in this project, please contact us by mail: info@cns-asbl.org. You will find additional information about Finafrica projects on their website: 4. Our activities in Luxembourg We would like to thank the Clearstream Charity Committee which decided to finance the construction of the roof of the new Korogocho library building with a donation of 3,982! NSC has participated in the Festival des Migrations, des cultures et de la citoyenneté, organized by CLAE from 13 th to 15 th March. We had a stand with information on our projects and activities. Among those who visited our stand was the prime minister Xavier Bettel. On March 2 nd, we held the Annual General Meeting of NSC in Kopstal, where we have elected a new board of directors, which consists of the following members: Roberto Marta (Chairman) Coumba Fall, (Vice-chairman) Michele Bernardi, (Treasurer) Fabiola Begeja (Secretary) Fabrice Bernard Nicola Chiumarulo Jeff Gaudillat Katia Nicoletti On 13 th January, we attended the awards ceremony of the Rotary Club in Esch sur Alzette, where NSC has received a donation of 2,000 euros for the Korogocho library. A big thank you goes to our friend Fernand Rippinger who launched this great initiative.

5 On 18 th December 2014 we held our traditional year-end party at the Brasserie Colomb in Gasperich, where Roberto presented a summary of our activities in Additional updates July 17 th will be the library day in Korogocho, a major event organized by St. John s center in collaboration with NSC. Many of the beneficiaries of our projects will be participating: teachers, students, parents etc.

6 Our team gets further training Some members are taking courses to further specialize in development project management: - In March, Roberto followed a course on project cycle management offered by the Cercle de Coopération. This training proved to be very useful for improving efficiency in the implementation of our projects, and especially for preparing project financing applications with the Ministry. - This summer, Fabrice will follow summer school on "Management of International Development projects" as part of his Master s degree in International Studies. 6. Become a member or make a donation Finally, we would like to thank all our members and existing donors who have expressed their trust in our organization and who allow us to implement our development projects. We hope to see you reaffirm your trust in us for this year by renewing your membership. For membership renewals and donations, we accept payments through our website or by bank transfer. Account number: LU BIC: BCEELULL The annual membership fee is 25. Joining as a member will give you access to our Annual General Meeting held at the beginning of each year. Donations of 120 and higher are tax deductible in Luxembourg. For more information, you can contact us by mail at info@cns-asbl.org. Thank you!

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