The g7+ European Hub: Deepening Partnership in Europe and the World
The g7+ hub in Lisbon: Expanding our impact and visibility in Europe
Since the g7+ was created, in 2010, it has become a platform for sharing experiences and advocating for country-owned transition from fragility to resilience. It has achieved tremendous progress in attaining global recognition as an organization that represents the voice of conflict-affected countries. As an example, without collective efforts of the g7+, it would have been extremely difficult if not impossible to have a stand-alone global goal on Peace, Justice and Effective Institutions in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Since 2019, the g7+ was granted the United Nations Observer Status, which will allow for greater visibility and impact of all the work being carried out in supporting the g7+ countries.
In 2016, as the g7+ was recognized as an increasingly influential constituency on the global stage, there was a natural need of strengthening its action, advocacy and partnerships in Europe and beyond. The main objective of creating a g7+ European Delegation was therefore to further consolidate the group as the platform for countries affected by conflict and fragility, and to contribute to the g7+ mission of giving a collective voice to these states.
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The creation of a g7+ European Delegation was a political decision by the g7+ member states and benefited from the political, institutional and moral support of the Portuguese authorities, particularly the Government of Portugal and the Lisbon City Council.
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In 2017, the choice of Lisbon for hosting the only g7+ hub in Europe was based both on strategic and operational reasons. With the geographical diversity of the g7+ member countries – from Africa to Asia and Pacific, and the Caribbean – and the headquarters in Dili, Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, the hub in Portugal facilitates the coordination and collaboration among member countries, particularly with those located in Africa.
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Lisbon is also a gateway between continents and therefore a privileged location for networking, meetings, and engaging in the peer learning initiatives called Fragile to Fragile Cooperation (F2F), which have been contributing to a better understanding of the g7+ collective perspective that has further helped in shaping reforms in the way Peacebuilding, Statebuilding and Development cooperation in conflict-affected countries is pursued.
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Considering that the g7+ promotes country-led planning mech- anisms and recommends changes in the way international partners engage in fragile contexts, the European Hub was also considered important to act as a gateway for engaging with European donors and international organizations, as well as to promote new partnerships in Portugal and the rest of Europe and the world.
The Lisbon hub is both the European Delegation of the g7+ Secretariat and the g7+ Permanent Representation in Portugal. It also hosts the g7+ Foundation, created in 2021 to support g7+ work and objectives.
The g7+ Delegation follows good management practices and meets all Portuguese accounting requirements and rules, with an adequate application of resources and being audited by Deloitte.