Brussels, 01/10/2008 (Agence Europe) - At the end of the meeting, on Wednesday 1 October in Brussels, between members of the European Commission and African Union, José Manuel Barroso declared to the press that although the media's attention was currently focusing on baling out the financial system, “we must definitely not forget about rescuing human beings”.
Therefore, according to the president of the Commission, it is necessary to “step up our efforts towards developing countries, with a priority on Africa”. 925 million human beings are suffering from hunger in the world, most of them in Africa. Mr Barroso insisted that “international aid must not falter”. The Commission president again called on the Council and Parliament to support the proposal to create an aid package of €1bn to support agricultural production in the countries most affected by food price hikes, through the purchase of seed and fertiliser (EUROPE 9751).
In connection with the financial crisis, the president of the African Union, Jean Ping, said: “When America coughs, the rest of the world gets pneumonia”. He added that “our countries have to take into account the market's need for assistance, the market needs regulating and we approve of what the EU is doing to rescue the financial system”. (H.B./transl.rh)