Although the circumstances brought by the pandemic were less than favorable for growth, we managed to increase our activities and their reach. As the former chair of the CEF’s Governing Board (his mandate ended on June 8, 2021), Mr. Mugur Isărescu, governor of the National Bank of Romania, states in his welcome address: “CEF exceeded all expectations, might I add against all odds in a time marked by some strict lockdown measures, reaching out to more than 2.500 participants from 40 countries, and the staff deserves the recognition and appreciation for such excellent work.”

After the beginning of lockdown on March 13, we changed the format of our learning activities from face-to-face to online. Out of 74 activities in 2020, 63 were carried out online. This swift adaptation supported by the innovative approaches of the entire CEF team resulted in a 50% increase in participation compared to 2019.

Taking on the challenge to see the pandemic as an opportunity, the CEF team led by the Director, Ms. Jana Repanšek, also continued drafting our strategy for 2022–2026 and the consultations with our governance stakeholders. The new CEF strategy was presented at the annual meeting of the Governing Board earlier this month. We also kept developing our program in cooperation with our partners, donors, affiliated and external experts, Coordinators, the Governing Board and the Advisory Board, and public officials working in institutions throughout the region. “We look forward to continuing this very productive dialogue with you. We are confident that together we will carry on promoting innovative ways in which knowledge is communicated, absorbed and shared.”, CEF’s director writes in the closing paragraphs of her welcome message.

We invite you to download the full report here and browse through CEF’s 2020 highlights.