EC invites to comment on Issues Paper on Agriculture and Food Security

Food Security and Agriculture are very much back on the agenda. Building on its Food Security Thematic Strategy Paper 2007-2010, the European Commission is currently developing a new Policy Framework to assist developing countries addressing agriculture and food security challenges. On 9 december 2009, at the CTA organized Brussels Briefing “From Global Food Crisis to Local Food Insecurity”, the Directorate General for Development elaborated on its Issues Paper on food security.




The new policy framework will build on central elements of the past framework:

• The aim remains not simply to deliver food aid but to achieve Food Security for all
• Maintain a link between relief and protecting sustainable livelihoods and crisis prevention
• Address four pillars: availability (1), access (2), quality and utilization (3), and crisis management and prevention (4)

The Issues Paper was published 16 november 2009 and is part of the consultation and policy development process which has to lead to Council Conclusions – an official statement of the ministers of EU members states – on a Policy Framework on Agriculture and Food Security in May 2010.

Until 9 January 2010 you can voice you opinion about the Issues Paper at www.ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/consultations


Several participants at the Brussels Briefing organised by CTA commented on the presentation by the DG-Development representative. ActionAid welcomes the EC initiative but feels the Commission has no long term approach to investment in agriculture and food security. Also, according to ActionAid, the EC approach lacks attention for women’s access to credit, land and services. For example, compared to an earlier version, the chapter on agriculture has been removed from the current version of the EC Gender Action plan, a document stakeholders may comment on next week. ActionAid also warns about the so-called “whole of union approach” that the Commision wishes to explore in connection with issues of Food Security. This approach suggests that members states – besides official development cooperation - use all kinds of other resources to achieve development objectives. However, ActionAid and Concord are concerned that the "whole of the union" approach is more about “counting all resources” as opposed to really “using all resources”.

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EU strategy on tackling the crisis in poor countries offers no new money

Concord press release

CONCORD, the European Confederation of Development NGOs welcomes the release of the European Commission’s Spring Package on supporting developing countries to tackle the impact of the financial crisis, but has expressed deep concerns about the genuine levels of commitment being shown by European governments to keep their promises to the poor.

Today’s announcement reveals that there is no fresh money available for developing countries. The Commission has acknowledged in its communication today that US$20 billion more in aid is needed to meet the commitments. Meanwhile, it signals that Italy has abandoned its aid commitments and Germany and France are off-track on meeting theirs.

The strategy details how Europe will provide money upfront from its aid budget, but offers no new funds to tackle the crisis. This comes in the face of a raft of recent aid cuts to European governments’ 2009 aid budgets (Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Estonia). CONCORD warns that these cuts, combined with insufficient rises show that EU member states are not taking seriously the needs of developing countries mired in a crisis not of their own making.

Recent figures have suggested that the impact of the crisis will affect developing countries to the tune of $300bn in 2009, meaning that despite a small rise in aid volumes from Europe in 2008, developing countries will essentially lose out even more than before.

“Less than one week after the G20, the EU has produced a strategy that fails to address the underlying flaws in the system that we know fuel poverty in developing countries.” says Ester Asin-Martinez of CONCORD “Whilst we welcome the EU’s efforts to be the first to act on international development after the G20, this falls far short of what is needed.”

CONCORD calls on European governments to:

• Step up their efforts to deal with the impact of the crisis on developing countries by providing new money without the harmful economic strings attached that have played such a prominent role in leading to the current financial crisis
• Use their leadership role to take steps to reform the flaws in the international financial and economic system
• Provide timetables to show how they will actually deliver the aid they have promised
• Halt any further cuts to 2009 aid budgets
• Implement commitments on aid effectiveness agreed last year at the OECD DAC High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness

In May, CONCORD will release its fourth annual AidWatch report, looking at the genuine aid provided by European governments. For more information on this report, please contact jasmine.burnley@concordeurope.org


See Euforic's newsfeeds on Concord

President Barroso talks NGOs top representatives of Europe

On 26 March, CONCORD is bringing together about 100 senior leaders of European Development NGOs to debate on Europe and Development during a one day High Level Leadership Forum. The President of the European Commission, Mr. José Manuel Barroso has accepted to open the morning session on “How can Europe mitigate the impact of the economic crisis and climate change on developing countries?."

2009 is a key year for Europe with the elections of the European Parliament and the new Commission appointed. At a moment Development aid is under threat as a result of the global economic crisis, CONCORD believes it is utmost important to keep it at the top of the European agenda.

See Euforic's newsfeeds on Concord

”Great projects might get funded!”

Concord press release, 13 March 2009

CONCORD, the Confederation of more than 1600 European Development NGOs, welcomes the innovative initiative of the European Commission (EC) which organised today an “Auction floor” to help environmental projects for developing countries get financed by public or private donors.

This initiative is supporting new kinds of partnerships and leveraging additional funding which are urgently needed to address issues such as climate change, desertification, biodiversity, forests and sustainable energy. This Auction Floor demonstrates the positive recognition by the European Commission of the high quality of proposals submitted by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

This event also highlights the fundamental problem of insufficiency of funds from the EC thematic programmes in general. Only a small fraction of proposals can be funded by the EC, ranging from 5 to 15% of all proposals received. Elaborating a project proposal represents a significant investment on the side of CSOs and NGOs (both in terms of human and financial resources) and raises expectations with Southern partners and beneficiary groups. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase funding available to civil society actors in thematic programmes and in the overall EU development cooperation instrument.

CONCORD members are keen to engage in working together with the EC to expand the innovative practices of mobilising alternative funding to rejected proposals in the context of the current financial framework. In addition to that, CONCORD will engage with the EU Institutions in the preparation of the next financial framework beyond 2013, to secure that adequate funding will match the needs.

The auction floor has launched a strong signal towards the recognition of the relevance and quality of the CSO development activities. “This is a positive evolution and shows the European Commission’s willingness to move from a ‘competitive lottery funding’ system towards a strategic partnership with CSOs,” says Olivier Consolo, Director of CONCORD.

The Confederation also calls for due attention to be paid to the equal access of Southern civil society to mechanisms such as the Auction Floor, as well as to EC funding in general.

Contact: An Van Goey, 02/743.87.93 or 0476/39.25.58 (an.vangoey@concordeurope.org)

Check out Euforic's newsfeed on Concord

European InternetWorking for Development: EC-funded Euforic project starts in 2009

In 2009, Euforic starts a new project co-financed with the European Commission (EuropeAid), ICCO and other partners. The action is funded for three years in response to a call for proposals on actions supporting 'Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development - Coordination, Cooperation and Networking Activities in Europe.'

The project particularly focuses on the use of social media (see recent projects) by Euforic and its members - particularly in opening up the reporting of meetings and helping information to travel.

The project is led by Euforic and ICCO, with close involvement of other members and partners of Euforic.

The project intends that:

• Euforic members successfully use the Internet to enhance the impact of face to face events they organize to exchange information and experience to advocate and influence policies, or to communicate with wider publics;
• European non-state actors in development commonly and effectively use low cost online social networking tools to collaborate and communicate and that they are supported by a virtual community of specialist-users within their networks.

The project has four components:

1. F2F+ (Face to Face plus) – Through the project, we will help ensure that at least nine significant face-to-face multi-stakeholder events on issues relevant to EU development policies reach virtual audiences at least 10 times the actual number of face-to-face participants.

2. Web2ToT (Web 2 Training of Trainers) – Through the project, at least 50 organizations (both Non-State Actors and Local Authorities) particularly in New Member States will be enabled to actively use free or low cost Internet tools and services to enhance how they create, exchange and communicate knowledge and how they engage in intra-network and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

3. KnowHow2Share – Through the project, Euforic and its ‘network’ members will use social networking tools strategically, having developed new, cross-sectoral network relations.

4. REACT - Through the project, we will compile and disseminate action research findings on the use of Internet and web2 in networking for development among actors in Europe.

The project will be formally launched in April 2009.

More:

• list of Euforic members
• newsfeed on civil society in development
• newsfeed on information, communication and networking in development
• newsfeed on Europe's international cooperation
• European Communicators on Cooperation, Relief and Development blog

Gender Budgeting: An instrument for good governance

Source: Concord Flash, nr. 57, January 2009

More then 25 participants from NGOs, the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee participated in the lunch debate on Gender Budgeting as an instrument for good governance. It was organised by the EU Civil Society Contact Group, which CONCORD is a member of alongside seven other NGO sectors. This mid-January debate was timely, as 2009 will see the European Commission proposal for the EU budget reform and its discussion in the Council. The meeting addressed the following questions:

• What is gender budgeting?
• What are practical examples of gender budgeting?
• How can gender budgeting be implemented in a European setting?

Five academic and NGO speakers gave an encompassing presentation of gender budgeting as a tool for good governance. "Gender Budgeting" is the process through which public budgets are examined in order to assess whether they do or they do not contribute to more equality between women and men, and then to introduce changes that promote gender equality accordingly.

In all societies, access to resources, rights and power are still unequally distributed between women and men. All public policies play a role in contributing to achieving the goal of equality between women and men. In particular, a government's decision about how money is raised and spent can either widen or diminish the gap between the situation of women and men. Budgets transform political priorities and commitments into practical measures. In working to achieve a more equal society it is therefore important to question if a commitment to gender equality is taken into account when budgetary decisions are made.

For further information: (coordinator@act4europe.org)

See also Euforic's newsfeeds on EU cooperation, and on Concord

What's next for the Policy Coherence for Development?

Source: Concord Flash, nr. 57, January 2009

The European Commission (DG Development) organised a meeting on 19 January with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to present the methodology and content of the next European report on Policy Coherence for Development (PCD). The report will be covering not just European Commission (EC) but also the Member States policies. The report will be launched in September in Brussels, followed by a presentation and the European Development Days in Sweden in October.

CONCORD welcomes the launch of this process, but believes that not only DG Development should be involved in this report, but also the other key EC services and the Member States to implement the commitments and move forward the debate on PCD. CONCORD has also asked the European Commission to keep a high degree of openness and willingness to engage with CSOs and take CONCORD’s suggestions on board throughout the process. The EC agreed to invite CSOs to an intermediary meeting in the drafting of the report in April 2009 and to let them participating in the launch events of the report.

CONCORD intends to contribute to the "PCD report" process by bringing our own perspectives, critical analysis and views and facilitating the engagement with other CSOs. Furthermore, EU's Global Responsibility/ Policy Coherence will be the key priority for the Swedish Presidency in the second half 2009, and CONCORD will mobilise its constituency on this issue.

For further information: Ester Asín Martínez (ester.asin@concordeurope.org)

See also Euforic's newsfeeds on EU cooperation, and on Concord

When the European Commission reviews its budget

Source: Concord Flash, nr. 56, November/December 2008

The European Commission’s budget review was one of the hot topics in 2008. Development NGOs were particularly interested
in this review, which will set the future amounts and headings in the budget for the long term, because the current structure of the European budget conceals the EU’s significant contribution to the volume of resources which are available for development.

In December 2007, the European Civil Society Contact Group (CSCG), of which CONCORD is a member, organised a conference on the European budget for the future and submitted its contribution to the consultation of the European Commission. Following that, the European Commission held a conference to present the results of the consultation. However, the CSCG was not entirely happy with the outcomes and wrote a letter to the Commissioner for Financial programming and Budget, Ms Grybauskaite, pointing out:

♦ the too high a level of abstraction in the summary of the consultation responses both in the written form and in the way they were presented in the conference;

♦ the lack of reference to solidarity as a driver in EU policy and EU budgetary planning in the consultation summary;

♦ the question of legitimacy of the budget and engagement of European citizens with the EU through transparency of the income side is not reflected in the summary;

♦ in terms of the choice of speakers and panel members for the conference sessions (plenary and workshop sessions), the CSCG felt that a ratio of 3 women among a total of 38 speakers displayed a clear lack of gender balance and a lack of gender awareness.

The CSCG was also concerned that voices which diverged from the views presented would not be reflected in the summary. For example, the summary of the consultation contained almost no reference to solidarity as a driver in EU policy and EU budgetary planning, although it was mentioned by many representatives of the civil society. Another example: the workshop on
financing did discuss the question of legitimacy of the budget and engagement of European citizens with the EU. Some participants mentioned the connection between transparency, legitimacy, and a visible EU tax. But these did not find their way into the summary of the consultation. Click here and read the letter.

For further information: Regula Heggli from the CSCG

See also Euforic's newsfeeds on EU cooperation, and on Concord

Discover the 2009 DG Development consultations

Source: Concord Flash, nr. 56, November/December 2008

Remember the SAG? The Stakeholders Advisory Group (SAG) is a group gathering representatives from civil society, including
CONCORD, to discuss and advise the European Commission (EC) on the processes of dialogue and consultation in the European Union (EU), but also in the South through the EC Delegations. The last December SAG provided interesting information about the forthcoming EC consultations and meetings. Several documents (the calendar of consultations, the list of
consulted organisations in the 10 th European Development Fund programming, and the DG RELEX "non paper" on the involvement of Non-State actors in the programming process in Asia and Latin-America) were handed out by the Commission.

Till now, the SAG meetings have been chaired by Bernard Petit, deputy Director general of DG Development, who is about to retire. The group will now be chaired by Stefano Manservisi, Director General of DG Development, and the next meeting will be a timely moment to reflect on the added-value of the SAG for all the participants.

For DG Development, the SAG has changed the relationships between the Commission and CSOs. Some participants highlighted, as a positive and indirect effect, the fact that CSOs are working more closely and coordinating better, including among themselves.

Timetable of upcoming civil society consultations in DG Development in 2009

♦ The EC agreed to organise a specific meeting on the mid- term review in January.

♦ Another specific meeting on budget support/ MDG contracts will be organised at the end of January.

♦ Regarding the so-called “April Package” (Communication on EU Financing for Development and the Aid Effectiveness Agenda – towards achieving the MDGs) the Commission would like to advance its approval. They intend to present a first “Issues paper” to the Informal Development Council meeting at the end of January. Consultation with CSOs would take place in February and the “package” should be approved at the end of March.

♦ On the Communication on cross-cutting issues, two staff working papers on environment and gender are being prepared. The gender one is expected to be approved in the second semester of 2009, during the Swedish presidency.

♦ On the next Policy Coherence for Development Report (PCD) – A meeting will be organised in January.

♦ On Climate Change, DG Development will prepare a staff working paper on Global Climate Financing Mechanism (GCFM) which is expected to be approved by March 2009. They intend to organize a consultation meeting with CSOs by February 2009.

♦ Implementation of the Governance initiative – a staff working paper should be adopted in January 2009 and a meeting with CSOs organised during the summer.

For further information: Ester Asin (easin@concordeurope.org)

See also Euforic's newsfeeds on EU cooperation, and on Concord

EC support to research for development

Paolo Sarfati of DG Development in the European Commission recently met with Euforic to explain the Commission's current approach to research for development, and to agricultural research in particular.



The Commission has a particular focus on agriculture and Africa because these are seen as key to addressing poverty. The Commission supports research at the international level through the CGIAR; at the regional level through FARA, and at subregional levels through ASARECA, CORAF and SADC/FARN.

Sarfati outline a four point approach to research for development:



First, the intention is to focus in Europe on research serving the MDGs, for example research on health, agriculture, climate change, and energy. Second, is a focus on strengthening infrastructure and the capacity of Southern research organisations. Third is to address the issue of brain drain of southern researchers to the north by ensuring "brain circulation" as has proved so successful in emerging nations. The fourth area is coherence.

More:

• Euforic development research dossier
  
• Euforic research feedfinder
• Research for development portal
• CIMRC consortium
• DFID's new research strategy

by Chris Addison

Directory of EuropeAid's expert network

PADOR is an online registration service of EuropeAid, the co-operation office of the European Union. The objective is to set up a reliable database of organisations which are eligible to work with EuropeAid in the context of its call for proposals, to collect the necessary data to better get to know EuropeAid's partners, as well as the online registration of the organisation itself.

The launch is planned for the second quarter of this year as a pilot project. PADOR will contain administrative data, a profile of the organisation as actor in development, sectoral and regional experiences, and downloadable background documents.

For more information, see these presentations:

PADOR: Potential Applicant Data On-Line Registration Service
New external cooperation instruments: 2007-2013