Swedish NGO Network outlines development challenges for EU Presidency

CONCORD Sweden is a joint platform of 38 Swedish NGOs with the task of monitoring and influencing the EU development policy. In the light of the beginning Swedish EU Presidency the network outlines the development program for the second half of 2009.

Policy coherence

According to Concord Sweden trade agreements should meet the requirements as laid down in the document EU Policy Coherence for Development. Negotiations should be flexible enough to allow developing countries to protect local food production and small-scale farmers. Furthermore regulations for foreign investments should consider human rights demands and the need of the poor. Also, Europe should take stringent measures to fight capital flight and tax havens.

Poverty eradication

Sweden should use its good reputation in the development aid context to convince member states to uphold their pledges of increased aid budgets and better quality. Aid should be demand-driven and owned by national governments with broad participation of parliaments, civil society and the media. Furthermore the network demands better coordinated, un-tied, climate-proofed and sustainable aid with a stronger emphasis on rural development and agriculture. Special attention should also be given to the rights of children including issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Climate negotiations

Sweden should lead the way in bringing a just and development-friendly climate agreement that greatly reduces greenhouse gases and secures resources for the development of poor countries. Additional to the aid budgets European member states should take concrete steps to finance climate adaptation, support technology transfer to developing countries and take measures for forest protection. Also, they should commit themselves to reduce their emissions to at least 40% by 2020.

Human rights

Sweden stands for a rights-based approach in development cooperation and should therefore pursue the integration of human rights into all policy areas. Besides the support for democratization Concord Sweden demands a holistic human rights perspective, including economic, social and cultural, civil and political rights.

In a Calender on their website Concord Sweden lists information about seminars, events and meetings during the Swedish EU Presidency 2009, organised by CONCORD Sweden and its member organisations.

by Martin Behrens

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Almost 100 national NGO platforms gather in Paris

Source: Concord Flash, nr. 55, October 2008

During the French presidency of the European Union, in Paris on Thursday 30 October 2008 Coordination SUD, in partnership with CONCORD, organised an international conference entitled “World Views on Europe”. Here, for the first time in history, representatives of national NGO platforms from almost 100 countries came together. The conference, which was open to the press and the public, was an opportunity – at this time of world crisis – to compare the visions of NGOs from all over the world with those of the French, EU and international institutions on four major challenges for the future of humankind: globalisation, sustainable development, building a peaceful world and human rights.

The participants took the opportunity to give Mr Joyandet, French State Secretary for Cooperation with responsibility for the French-speaking World, a road map entitled "Messages from the World to the European Union". This asks the EU for a reform of world governance that would be in the service of the most vulnerable and calls on it to review all its trade, farming, environmental and economic policies, to make them contribute to genuinely sustainable development, north and south, and to the fight against inequality.

According to Bakary Doumbia, President of FECONG (Malian NGO Platform), "European development cooperation focuses on the fight against illegal immigration, promoting the interests of European companies and fighting terrorism, instead of strengthening the policies on education, health and equality between men and women".

Mike Mathias, Chairman of CONCORD’s Policy Forum, explained that "the European model of development must be reexamined from scratch. The planet cannot bear the consumption by the economically privileged populations of the world. The current model, based on economic growth alone, does not allow for a better distribution of wealth".

Click here to see some videos made at "World Views on Europe".

"World Views on Europe" briefing

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InfoResources - Information on natural resources and development

During the Euforic/EADI workshop ‘Showcasing Knowledge and Information Services’ Fani Kakridi presented InfoResources, an information service for development practitioners interested in natural resources and the related discussion in international development. The special demand of the target group is to get hand on the most important information in a short and elaborated format.

We asked Ms. Kakridi to give us a summary of the main features:





Under the mandate of the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency (SDC) the service selects and comments on innovative resources which are published in free publications available in print and electronically. The publications are offered in English, Spain and French. As main challenge Ms. Fani mentioned the diverse target group interests with a hunger for information in the South and too much information in the North.

See her presentation below:

| View | Upload your own

Read more stories from the workshop

See the Euforic dossier and the feed on Information, Knowledge and Communication.

Slovak Aid Report 2008

Slovak Aid just released its National Programme of Official Development Assistance for 2008. The report takes stock of accomplishments in 2007 and looks ahead to plans for this year.

According to the authors, 2007 was a milestone for the institutionalisation of Slovak Development Assistance with the incorporation of the Slovak Agency for International Cooperation (Slovak Aid) and the Slovakian Act on ODA, which became effective in 2008.

The report acknowledges a shortfall in the long-term commitment to achieve the ODA target of 0,33% by 2015. Currently the volume is stagnating, which is explained by low allocations to bilateral ODA and a rapid GDP growth.

Programme assistance is provided to Serbia and Montenegro. Sectoral aid goes to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Belarus, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Kenya. Priority areas are the development of democratic institutions and market environments, infrastructure, landscaping, environmental protection, agriculture and food security.

For 2008, Slovak Aid will concentrate on cooperation with other donors (mainly the Austrian Development Agency, European Commission, UNDP) and the application for EC funds with an emphasis on development education and awareness raising. Additionally, Slovak Aid committed itself to continue strengthening its institutional framework as well as improving the coherence, aid effectiveness and monitoring of Slovak ODA.

by Martin Behrens

Check the Euforic newsfeed on Slovak cooperation.

Visit the Slovak NGDO Platform to learn more about civil society contributions to Slovak development cooperation.

Social security in German development cooperation

Social security grows in importance as a development issues. Secure access to social services, especially for the poor, is seen as a basic condition for sustainable economic development.

The argument that only rich countries can effort social security was disproved by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). It claims that systems which offer minimal levels of social security for everybody can be financed by national resources with support of international donors.

While the costs would be manageable, the effects on poverty reduction could be enormous. An ILO simulation for Senegal and Tanzania showed a reduction by 40 percent with the introduction of an universal pension system for the old and orphans. The ILO estimates this will cost 3% of GDP.

The development and support of social security programs is an important part of Germany's development cooperation. The development agencies GTZ (technical cooperation) and KfW (financial activities) support various projects in this field and plan to extend their activities.

A recent resolution of the German parliament calls on the German government to make social security a priority of development policy. The German experience and success in the development and maintenance of social security systems should be seen as an asset to help developing countries. The resolution, which is supported by the main parties of the German Bundestag, criticises the long focus on economic development which lead to the neglect of the social dimension.

Story by Martin Behrens


See also the UN debate on social security

Visit the Euforic dossier on German development cooperation.

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