Brussels, 09/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - The kick-off for the European Year of Development that bears the theme Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future, was given in Riga on Friday 9 January by the highest representatives of the EU institutions and those of civil society. It is from a Latvian NGO that the idea of this initiative was born - an initiative that will aim to keep European citizens informed throughout the year of the EU's development cooperation policy, to increase the visibility of the results obtained, to boost citizens' involvement, and to develop among EU citizens and those of the countries receiving aid a sense of joint responsibility and solidarity, as well as of the opportunities offered by development (see EUROPE 11196).
2015 - the target date for achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs) - is a crucial year for negotiating the universal global objectives for sustainable development which will follow on from the MDGs. It is also a crucial year for the international negotiations on the climate (COP 21, Paris, December). Latvia's Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma, who is the current president of the European Council, recalled this at the opening ceremony to launch the European Year of Development (the ceremony was marked by a minute's silence in memory of the victims of the attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on 7 January).
“The world we live in is increasingly interdependent. We witness this every day. The challenges we face, be that climate change, migration, radicalism or viruses like Ebola, do not know any borders”, said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, stating that one of the Commission's priorities is to strengthen the role of the EU as a global actor. “Europe can only be a global actor if Europeans understand how the role of the European Union and its member states benefits us all in our interdependent world”, he said. The European Year for Development seeks “to foster the direct engagement of our citizens” in development. Mentioning a few key successes of the MDGs - the number of poor people has been reduced by over half, and nine children out of ten now have access to primary education - Juncker stated that the EU, the world's top donor, “has helped make a difference in the life of millions”. He added: “We have some fantastic stories to tell on our world, our dignity and our future. Let's tell them together.”
He said the Commission would support the world's poorest because much remains to be done when it comes to the respect of fundamental rights, for instance. Hence the twin-pronged objective for the post-2015 programme of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development to ensure a decent life for all while respecting the planet and guaranteeing peace and human rights (see EUROPE 11219 and 11217). Juncker said they were already committed to sustainable development and global solidarity, but had to do more and do better. He called on all citizens to help them in this work, adding that action would be seen throughout the EU, in all the member states.
Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that the European Year for Development was not just only a European institutions year, but a European year that involved everyone. She said that the following three challenges had to be dealt with this year: - emergency economies must accept greater responsibility for post-2015; - the EU must not only make external changes, but must also adjust its internal policies and attitudes; - all dimensions of sustainable development, gender equality, rule of law, and peaceful societies must be addressed.
She said that the MDG had taught people that it is helpful to set goals but they did not deal properly with the way development, human rights, peace and security interact with one another, and hoped there would be profound thought given to violence and security. Following the terrorist attack on the Charle Hebdo magazine in Paris, she said people needed to understand the extent to which the internal and external are interconnected. An approach based on the empowerment of women and the rights of women and girls is essential, she added.
Linda McAvan (S&D), chair of the European Parliament's development committee, said that European Year for Development provided an opportunity to generate a rise in awareness, a public debate, about development policies and to show that development policy works. She said that the reason the results in sub-Saharan Africa are insufficient is because wars and health crises like Ebola are standing in the way of progress. She stated that the focus should be on conflict prevention, and 2015 must be more than a showcase for what has been done so far. It should be a year of action, she said, adding that there are three priorities: - to get citizens to understand the importance of development policy; - to give them greater understanding and ownership of the aims of sustainable development; - and for a selection to be made of projects that are successful on the ground in order to illustrate success.
French national Henri Malosse, President of the European Economic and Social Committee, said it was necessary to fight for European values such as freedom of speech, equality between men and women, respect for the environment, and participatory democracy - and to fight together against radicalisation, which he described as the “new fascism”. He said 2015 could help boost awareness and build bridges among communities, adding that development policy was of crucial importance because the enemy was poverty and under-development, and lack of development and dialogue were the breeding-ground for terrorism. He said development policy needed to be revised because it had become bogged down in red tape and direct aid to governments, and that what was wanted for 2015 was to stop giving aid and instead to work together for shared development.
Michel Lebrun, President of the Committee of the Regions, welcomed the way local authorities had been involved, explaining that this was for three reasons: (1) the need to ensure in 2015 that the focus was on key needs of people in developing countries; (2) the legitimacy of the European cities and regions in contributing to ensure the EU remains the leading source of aid; and (3) global challenges like climate change and loss of biodiversity require multilevel action. The Committee of the Regions will be organising Assises de la Coopération Décentralisée with the European Commission, which will be held on 1 and 2 June 2015.
Seamus Jeffreson, Director of Concord, the biggest federation of European development NGOs, stressed the importance of reaching agreement on a global climate deal in Paris to avoid rising temperatures putting the lives of vulnerable people in developing countries at risk. He called for leadership from the EU and for a new way of thinking about inequality in order to fight for the rights of the poorest. He explained that development was not just aid, but was also EU policies, trade, agriculture and migration that affect the lives of others around the world. He said a new development scenario needed to be written with young people and NGOs that tackle poverty, defend the environment and promote human rights, and also with trade unions, academia and new member states that do not have a colonial past. He said that the success of 2015 would be measured in terms of the ability to demonstrate the universality of the common cause. (AN)