Brussels, 15/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU's development and external aid policy is doing rather well. If one is to judge from the 2011 report by the European Commission on this policy in 2010, the EU has cause for pride. The report, published on Friday 15 July, confirms that the EU is one of the world's largest donors with aid commitments of €11.107 billion if one tallies up the sums allocated to development policy in the EU budget and those of the European Development Fund (EDF) and equivalent disbursements. This represents 8% of the EU budget, 1% less than in 2009. Thirty percent of funding (€3.23 billion) was allocated to African countries (24% for sub-Saharan Africa and 6% for North Africa), 21% to Eastern European and pre-accession countries (€2.23 billion), 19% to Asia (€2.06 billion), 9% to Latin America (€934 million) and €116 million to Oceania.
The top achievements of 2010 range from increasing efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to progress made in supporting the provision of basic social services and support for democracy and human rights.
MDGs: in September 2010, the EU pledged €1 billion to speed up achievement of the MDGs, and the Commission will continue along these lines when, in October, it presents its ideas for the future of development policy after 2013, a policy focused on inclusive growth, sustainable development, democracy and human rights.
Food security: the €1 billion allocated to the Food Facility which was set up in 2009 has been fully committed and more than 80% of the payments made The Facility has funded 222 projects, helping over 50 million people, including one million small farmers in Zimbabwe, whose production and market access were improved.
Thanks to the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, with its €1.1 billion budget for the period from 2007 to 2013, 434 contracts worth €69 million were signed in 2010. The Commission cites as an example the training of 5,500 people on physical and psychological torture prevention in Guatemala and Sudan.
Among the success stories in support for the provision of basic social services (€4.283 billion, or 40% of funding) the report highlights support for education in Bangladesh, access to drinking water in Samoa (Pacific) and aid for trade and agriculture in Nicaragua. (A.N./transl.rt)