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Ensp Framework Project 2002/2003 EUROPEAN NETWORK FOR SMOKING PREVENTION RESEAU EUROPEEN POUR LA PREVENTION DU TABAGISME aisbl ENSP FRAMEWORK PROJECT 2002/2003 FINAL REPORT - Technical Operation of the European Network for Smoking Prevention (ENSP) Agreement Number SPC.2002411 Reporting Period: 15 Sept 2002 – 30 Nov 2003 [01/03/2004] 144 Chaussée d’Ixelles 1050 Bruxelles – Belgium Tel : + 32 2 230 65 15 Fax : + 32 2 230 75 07 e-mail: [email protected] internet: http://www.ensp.org 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - PROJECT OBJECTIVES - BACKGROUND - INTRODUCTION - IMPLEMENTATION - RESULTS - DISCUSSION - CONCLUSIONS / WAY FORWARD - EVALUATION - LIST OF PROJECT PARTNERS 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The operation of the European Network for Smoking Prevention (ENSP) was started on time and has followed the general work plan outlined in the grant agreement, though the first payment of funds (30%) only arrived more than 5 months after the start of the project. Additionally, an extension of 2.5 months was requested by ENSP from the Commission to ensure the quality of project results and to compensate for the late start of the next annual projects, due to late signature of contract and late payment by the European Commission. This means that the projects for 2002-2003 ran from 15 September 2002 until 30 November 2003. Activities that took place during this extra 2.5 month period are included in this final report. ENSP bid farewell to its first Secretary General, Sibylle Fleitmann in March 2003. Sibylle had been the Secretary General of ENSP since its creation in 1997. This was a great loss to the Secretariat and it also marked the beginning of a period of adjustment. In the second half of 2003, ENSP grew to include two new members of staff: a part time Project Coordinator took on the technical management of the ENSP Framework projects and project applications from March 2003 and a new Information Officer from October 2003, allowed ENSP to expand its information gathering and dissemination capabilities. The acquisition of these new members of staff not only increased capacity, but their new skills and experience also energised the activities of ENSP and resulted in the increased output and productivity. During this project period, ENSP increased its network membership from 383 member organizations in September 2002, to 511 member organizations by November 2003. Members of ENSP include organisations, health professionals and individuals active in tobacco control in Europe. This surge in membership can be attributed in part to ENSP’s gaining new contacts in the EU accession countries and welcoming two national coalitions from Poland and from Slovakia, as new members of ENSP. In view of the enlargement of the European Union, ENSP put much emphasis on building capacity and contacts in the accession countries, finding out about the tobacco control situation and promoting not only awareness of problems, but also of new tobacco control experience to Eastern activists and ENSP Members. In order to confirm and encourage this, the next ENSP Network Meeting and General Assembly is planned to take place in Krakow in Poland in May 2004. ENSP has therefore set May 2004, which is also the month that the 10 new accession countries will be entering the European Union, as a target deadline for encouraging as many accession countries as possible to form national coalitions and apply for membership of ENSP. During this project period ENSP had already begun to identify representatives from each of these countries who had formed or were capable of triggering the formation of a coalition, to attend. ENSP already includes 3 of the 10 countries (CZ, PL and SK) amongst its members and many strong ties were built with the other countries as a direct result of ENSP activities this year. 3 Information dissemination plays an important role in ENSP’s networking activities and this year saw the publication and dissemination of 41 copies of the ENSP’s electronic European News Bulletin (see later) which, in tandem with ENSP’s regularly updated website (www.ensp.org) is managed in a flexible and reactive way in order to continue to be relevant and also to deserve the praise that it often attracts from readers. We know that from January to November 2003 (inclusive) the website received almost 900,000 hits from about 30,000 visitors. ENSP was extremely active and visible during this project period through its contributions to conferences and through its information stands at two major conferences. These activities helped to grow ENSP’s contacts and raise awareness, as well as providing the opportunity for disseminating information and project results. Conferences to which ENSP contributed during the project period included: ‘Effective Advocacy and Health in Europe’ organised by the OSI foundation (Riga, Latvia); The European Society of Cardiology Congress (Vienna, Austria); The European Respiratory Society Congress (Vienna, Austria); The WHO Counterparts Meeting (Helsinki, Finland); and the 12th World Conference on Tobacco and Health (WCTOH) (Helsinki, Finland). The highlight of ENSP’s activities during the project period, was The 12th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in August 2003. This conference provided us with the opportunity for wide visibility in the tobacco control and health community, presenting results, promoting awareness, organising events, gaining knowledge and new insight into tobacco control experience at European and global level, acquiring new contacts and solidifying older ones. During the 6 days of the conference, ENSP’s activities included: manning an ‘ENSP’ stand, chairing sessions; making presentations; taking part in various workshops, including one organised by the European Commission; running a main session on EU Policy, at which a member of the European Commission gave a presentation; launching recommendations on smoke-free workplaces (see Annex); and organising a workshop focusing on NGOs in accession countries. Another highlight of 2004 for ENSP and for tobacco control globally, from a policy point of view was the adoption of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and ENSP was pleased to follow this every step of the way. ENSP attending the last sessions of Intergovernmental Meetings (INB5 and INB6), working closely in collaboration with the FCA and other colleagues working on tobacco control at European level, and also attending the historic 56th World Health Assembly, which saw the historic unanimous adoption of the FCTC, after 4 years of hard work and negotiations. This was a fantastic opportunity for ENSP to show its worth as a disseminator of relevant up-to-the-minute information to its members, build capacity, promote coordinate activities and interact with governmental, non- governmental and intergovernmental organisations, as well as the European press, on a treaty which we hope will have a positive and lasting effect on tobacco control and tobacco related deaths throughout the world, for future generations. 4 Specifically in European policy, ENSP was particularly active during this project period in coordinating action to support a firm legal base in the draft Constitution Treaty, during meetings of the EU Convention and on continuing to promote smoke free workplace legislation through meetings with the European Commission, through discussions with intergovernmental officials, with governmental representatives and advocates at national level, and through letter writing and promoting awareness of the firm evidence base for EU level legislation through project results and our smoke-free workplace recommendations (see previous Annex). It is interesting to note that these recommendations were of particular interest to sources from the European Commission and Parliament who were working towards implementing their own internal smoke free rules. Whilst national tobacco control legislation, EU level policy and even a global treaty adopted before and during this project period have been huge achievements on paper, the stark truth is that this is only ‘the end of the beginning’ and that implementation and monitoring is vital for policy to have any effect. To this end, ENSP has worked hard at promoting awareness of tobacco control legislation and the contents of Directives and of the FCTC by giving presentations, by attending and reporting back from expert meetings and workshops. Through this we have also gained further insight into the various issues encountered by governments and at European level that can stall positive changes in tobacco control. We have worked on strategies and developed ideas to provide support to our members and to the EU tobacco control struggle as a whole. One of the ways that we have done this has been through promoting coordination and collaboration in tobacco control activities in the EU and encouraging participation from other European countries too. We have used our information dissemination and conferences to do this, as well as our widening mailing list and network, its contacts with WHO Europe and with the FCA. ENSP strives to provide relevant information, contacts and guidance for coalitions or tobacco control advocates seeking working at national or at EU level both at conferences and events or personally, on a case-by-case basis. Moving forward it is vital that we are able to maintain this momentum and continue to provide the support and guidance, in terms of information communication, networking and project administration, that we have seen is so greatly needed, particularly in accession countries. ENSP produced two reports
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