Brussels, 30/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - As well as adopting the preparatory conclusions for the Johannesburg Summit, the Development Council, chaired by Miguel Angel Cortes Martin, Spanish Secretary of State for International Co-operation adopted several resolutions and declarations on Thursday, related specifically to world-wide sustainable development as a guarantor of equality between rich and poor countries.
Water management in UDCs: The Council's resolution welcomed the general framework defined by the Commission communication for integrating sustainable water management into development strategies and processes. The Council has identified priority action areas (strengthening of institutions and capability for improving water governance, water sector service charges, allocation of economic value for all water use, use of experts and strengthening of knowledge and technology partnerships, regional co-operation etc.) and a recommendation that the initiative for a strategic partnership on water and purification, that the Union will be presenting at the World summit on Sustainable Development respects these priorities. The Council will be encouraging new means of international co-operation for managing and financing hydraulic resources as assets that belong to the world.
World Food Summit: The Council has declared that this event (Rome 10-13 June) represents a decisive stage towards the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 26 August - 4 September) and the first occasion on which to translate into practical terms the Monterrey Consensus on mobilising international and national financial resources for development and re-affirming the political will to fight against poverty and hunger throughout the world. The Council has also stressed the need to pay greater political attention and provide adequate resources for rural development and the agricultural sector in UDCs, particularly in the least advanced countries.
Health and the fight against poverty: The Council resolution welcomed the Commission communication that will for the first time, provide a framework for guiding Community investments in the health sector, fighting against AIDS and other transmissible diseases, demographic issues and prioritising the needs of the poorest countries. The Council also emphasises the importance of the Doha declaration on the access of poor countries to affordable medicines and exhorts the Community to urgently put into place an action programme on transmissible diseases, including medical product charges that are on a scale that makes them available at the lowest prices.
Education and training in a context of poverty reduction: The resolution adopted welcomes the Commission communication and stresses that universal and free primary education should constitute the absolute priority of the co-operation and development strategy pursued by the Union. The Council insists that the educational system be protected and re-established in conflicts and post-conflicts and considers that education is an essential element of policies adopted in crisis periods and reconstruction programmes. It is calling on developing countries, the Commission and Member States to pay greater attention to the incidence of HIV/AIDS in their educational systems and to the role that education could play in the fight against this disease.