„Good morning, everyone. Dear Excellencies, colleagues, partners, and friends. It’s a real pleasure to welcome you to the fourth Ambrela Development Forum – here in Bratislava.
It’s great to see so many of you — people who care, who act, and who keep hope alive in a world that sometimes feels short of hope.

A very warm welcome to all our international guests. Today we have approximately 220 people with us from 22 countries. A special warm welcome goes to our Ukrainian partners and future allies. Your strength continues to remind us of what resilience truly means.

Focused on actionable connections

This year, our theme is ‘A World in Transition: Reclaiming Global Partnerships through Dialogue’ – and that’s exactly what this forum is about. Not just rebuilding, but renewing – renewing trust, systems, and lives.

We know you’re all here ready to engage. And we’re particularly excited about that. Because we’ve changed the structure of our conference quite a bit this year. This year is designed to be more interactive, more focused, and more about actionable connections – turning conversations into cooperation. Why? Because talk alone is not enough anymore; we all know that.

In fact, the playwright Eugene Ionesco once said: ‘only words count and all the rest is idle chatter. Linguistic habits are often important symptoms of unspoken sentiments.’

Ionesco was right: words count. They are the symptom, the diagnosis, and the blueprint. But the ‘idle chatter’ begins when words – the big ideas, the strong sentiments, and the smart proposals we share – never move beyond the microphone. That’s the difference we’re trying to eliminate.

We are here to ensure the sentiments we hear are not unspoken but acted on. The new format of the Ambrela Development Forum – with its interactive workshops, focused breakouts, and deliberate networking – is our commitment to turning this conference into an engine of cooperation, not just a collection of great conversations. Let’s make our words count.

Living a change of era

We are meeting at a time of major global shifts. Pope Francis said it well: ‘We are not living an era of change, but a change of era.’ And you can feel that change everywhere – in our work and in the world around us.

Calls for a humanitarian reset, a new EU financial framework on the way, Global Gateway, the USAID funding freeze, and – most painfully – the ongoing crises after Russian full scale invasion of Ukraine and humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, the overlooked conflict in Sudan, etc. etc. where even an armistice brings only fragile relief.

At the same time, liberal democracy and civil society is under pressure – and yes, that unfortunately also includes Slovakia. That’s why it matters that we come together, as partners, to show that cooperation and solidarity are not just words – they are choices.

Ukraine will form quite a part of our discussions again this year. Reconstruction there is not only about roads and power plants – it’s about people. It’s about education, mental health, veterans, and human rights – the soft elements that make recovery real and lasting. But only, panels on development cooperation and humanitarian aid will also reflect on the situation in East Africa, Middle East or elsewhere.

And here, Central Europe has something valuable to offer – our experience of rebuilding, reforming, and integrating. We know how hard it is – and we know it’s possible.

Reclaiming Partnerships through Dialogue

Events of this scale are not possible without partners. Let me acknowledge the Strategic Partners without whom this event would not be possible: the Central European Initiative;  the United Nations Development Programme; the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic; the Program Slovensko – co-financed by the European Union; the Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia; the British Embassy to Slovakia; and the Embassy of Canada to Slovakia. I would like to say big thank you to my wonderful team. Without you it will not be possible.

Over the next two days, I hope you’ll take full advantage of ADF – to learn, to challenge, and to connect. Let me challenge you. Find one new idea, one new partner, and take things forward after you leave Bratislava.

Because reclaiming dialogue is not a slogan. It’s a daily act of courage — and you are the people who make it real. Thank you for being here. Welcome to Ambrela Development Forum 2025. We have a packed agenda ahead — let’s make our conversations count.“

– Daniel Kaba (Executive Secretary / CEO of Ambrela – Slovak NGDO Platform)