Brussels, 28/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - The third European Development Day (EDD) jointly organised between the European Commission and the French presidency will taken place on 15-17 November in Strasbourg. The role of the national authorities in development and the media and development are two reflection themes at the meeting for the international level development and cooperation specialists meeting. Louis Michel, the European Commissioner for development, whose services are preparing a communication on this subject in an effort to help stimulate the EDD debate, stressed that, “local level action is essential for ensuring that our development action succeeds”.
Alain Joyandet, the French secretary of state for cooperation and French-speaking areas stated, “EDD will provide an opportunity for mobilising all the European actors around new development challenges and seek to provide concrete responses, particularly in the context of the food crisis”.
Upstream of the EDD, the European Commission and the Commission of the African Union will be organising a “Media and Development” forum at Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso on 11-13 September). This forum will be co-chaired by Jean Ping, president of the AU and Louis Michel. It is being sponsored by Blaise Compaoré, the president of Burkina Faso. (A.N./trans/rh)