Development cooperation has been a cornerstone of the EU’s relations with the outside world, contributing to the objectives of EU external action, alongside foreign, security and trade policies. Continue reading
Written by Eric Pichon, From 22 to 25 May, the United Nations headquarters in New York will host the second Forum on Financing for Development (FfD forum). This event will gather a variety of stakeholders: governments, local authorities, civil society organisations and international institutions. FfD forums are part of the follow-up process agreed in 2015 … Continue reading
Written by Nera Kuljanic and Sarah McCormack, Good health and adequate healthcare systems contribute to the eradication of poverty and help achieve sustainable growth and development. Many countries in the developing world are unable to provide even basic health services for their citizens. On 19 April 2016 the EP’s Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA) … Continue reading
Written by Ionel Zamfir Over the past 15 years, most countries in Africa experienced sustained economic growth, with growth rates often exceeding 5% per year. This has inspired much optimism about the region’s prospects to finally leave poverty and under-development behind. However, the general economic context is now turning less favourable, with growth slowing down, … Continue reading
Written by Marta Latek Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) has become an EU legal obligation, after years of slow progress. PCD aims to incorporate development concerns in non-aid policies in order to minimise contradictions, and if possible, create synergies between policies. However, despite a reiterated political commitment and reinforcement of the institutional framework to follow … Continue reading
Written by Marta Latek Fruit of two different but increasingly converging processes, the post-2015 sustainable development agenda is set to become the universal framework guiding global and national efforts to support human development in conjunction with environmental durability, from 2016. As the final stage in negotiations approaches, the post-2015 agenda is taking shape in a … Continue reading
Written by Marta Latek Le poids que représente pour les pays en développement la gestion d’un nombre croissant de (petits) projets, combiné avec un nombre grandissant de donateurs de plus en plus divers – “la fragmentation de l’aide” – est largement reconnu comme nuisible à l’efficacité de l’aide voire à sa légitimité. Les instances internationales … Continue reading
Written by Marta Latek In this time of economic crisis, when Europeans are increasingly tempted to focus on overcoming their own problems, the EU invites us to look to the developing world, keeping the EP’s motto ‘Our world, our future, our dignity’ in mind. 2015 EYD – how it all started Since 1983, the EU … Continue reading
Written by Jacques Lecarte 6 language versions available in PDF format Unterernährung von Kindern in Entwicklungsländern Desnutrición infantil en los países en desarrollo Sous-alimentation infantile dans les pays en développement La denutrizione infantile nei paesi in via di sviluppo Niedożywienie dzieci w krajach rozwijających się Child under-nutrition in developing countries With 3.1 million child deaths … Continue reading
Written by Alessandro D’Alfonso As a major international actor in development cooperation, the EU has in the European Development Fund (EDF) its largest geographic instrument in this policy area, with €30.5 billion allocated to the 11th EDF for 2014-20. In recent years, around 30% of total EU spending on external assistance, including spending on both development and other categories, … Continue reading
How are science and technology used outside research, and how can research foster innovation in Europe? These questions are particularly relevant in the light of the Europe 2020 strategy seeking to bring Europe out of the economic crisis, which aims to increase the proportion of Europe’s GDP spent on research and development from 2% to … Continue reading
Fruit of two different but increasingly converging processes, the post-2015 sustainable development agenda is set to become the universal framework guiding global and national efforts to support human development in conjunction with environmental durability, from 2016. As the final stage in negotiations approaches, the post-2015 agenda is taking shape in a novel institutional setting, characterised … Continue reading
The European Council’s role – to ‘provide the Union with the necessary impetus for its development’ and to define its ‘general political directions and priorities’ – has developed rapidly over the past five years. Since June 2014, the European Council Oversight Unit within the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), the EP’s in-house research service and … Continue reading
Que ce soit par l’intermédiaire d’entreprises dans le cadre des partenariats public-privé mis en oeuvre au niveau local ou de grandes fondations philanthropiques au sein de fonds multidonateurs, le secteur privé a investi la scène de la coopération au développement, longtemps réservée aux acteurs publics (gouvernements et institutions internationales). Cette mutation, reflétée par une croissance … Continue reading
In December 2013, the European Parliament (EP) approved the compromise text agreed in trilogue on a new Regulation on the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI), the EU’s major financial instrument for development cooperation in the 2014-20 period. The Council is expected shortly to approve the text in its turn, ensuring adoption of the legislative act at … Continue reading
With the number of under-nourished people on the African continent still rising, the G8’s recent New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition (NAFSN) initiative is attracting more and more African states. Bringing together governments from both the North and the South, multinational firms and international agencies, it aims to boost investment in African agriculture so … Continue reading
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are a set of indicators for development cooperation in the period up to 2015. Their review, which may redefine development cooperation, has started. Future of the MDGs The United Nations (UN) is planning an event in autumn 2013 to assess progress in achieving the MDGs and look towards the post-2015 … Continue reading
Three voices were heard at the high level conference on 16 May, entitled “Securing the industrial future with steel in Europe“: The Industry The industry, which stressed that, compared with its competitors, the EU steel industry is facing specific difficulties due to policies that are weakening it: the price of energy is higher in the … Continue reading
China’s two-way “win-win” partnerships with African countries contrast sharply with the traditional asymmetric, one-way donor-recipient relationships between the EU and its African partners. China’s approach to Africa is primarily guided by the quest for natural resources for manufacturing, energy security, and export markets to sustain the burgeoning Chinese economy. Trade, investment and aid are inextricably … Continue reading
Our recent focus on China was just the first in a series. This week we put Africa in the centre of attention, to share with you our latest work on African development. But even when the spotlight is on Africa, it is hard to ignore China, a key player in recent years on the black … Continue reading