International donors yesterday (17 November) pledged $2.2 billion (€2 billion) in aid for strife-torn Central African Republic, one of the world's poorest countries, officials said.
For decades, the Central African Republic has suffered from enormous humanitarian needs and a perilous security situation. Europe needs to strengthen its support for this fragile and forgotten state, writes Friederike Röder.
The manager of the EU’s Trust Fund for Syria, Nadim Karkutli, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview at this year’s AidEx conference that the fund – helping the five million refugees in neighbouring countries – probably should have started in 2012.
Europe isn’t the only region facing a refugee crisis. Rising levels of violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras - the so-called ‘Northern Triangle’ – is causing displacement in Central and North America, said Renata Dubini, Director of the UN Refugee Agency’s Bureau for the Americas.
Unseen and unheard crises, such as in Yemen and in the Lake Chad basin in Africa, are probably as bad as in Syria - where the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has already lost 57 aid workers, Jemilah Mahmood says.
AidEx, the second-biggest event in the development calendar in Brussels, opens today (16 November), for 48 hours, in which the international aid community, NGOs, professionals come together to share experiences and expertise.
Concerns that Donald Trump will dramatically cut US aid spending and oversee a withdrawal from global development have sent shockwaves through NGOs and others who fear what the impact of his presidency will be on the world’s largest donor of international humanitarian and development funding.
Natural disasters plunge 26 million people into poverty every year, according to a new report by the World Bank. The organisation believes the efficiency of aid could be improved by targeting climate risk management efforts on the most vulnerable, Stéphane Hallegatte told EurActiv France.
Europe is pushing new legislation to fight tax avoidance and tax evasion. But these initiatives are not always helpful for developing countries, which are struggling to improve their tax systems, Tove Ryding told EurActiv.com
EXCLUSIVE/ Ethiopia – one of the EU’s largest recipients of development aid and a key partner in the new Emergency Trust Fund for Africa for halting the flow of migrants – garnered unwelcome headlines last summer, when Olympic athlete Feyisa Lilesa raised his arms in protest at the treatment of the Oromia and Amhara peoples.
The European Union is becoming a "superpower" that is indispensable to world peace, the bloc's foreign affairs chief said earlier today (10 November), as Europe continued to react to Donald Trump's US election victory.
The recent decision by South Africa, Burundi and Gambia to withdraw from the International Criminal Court has elicited mixed reactions while highlighting the relevance of the court in the wake of growing perceived marginalisation by African leaders. EurActiv Germany reports.
Europe’s efforts to promote more transparent and responsible mineral supply chains now risk being undermined by a series of loopholes carefully branded as "import thresholds", writes Michael Gibb.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) survivors, and women and girls at risk, are particularly vulnerable in the asylum system. They must receive support to help them navigate the process, writes Liuska Sanna.
Uganda's High Court has ordered the closure of a chain of low-cost private schools backed by Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, respectively the founders of Microsoft and Facebook.
Development suffered the second deepest cuts of any budget during François Hollande's term in office, just after spending on military veterans. The French government has promised to turn the ship around in 2017. EurActiv France reports.
Amnesty International has accused Sudan of using chemical weapons, but the German government has its doubts about the organisation’s report, labelling their claims as “implausible”. EurActiv’s partner Der Tagesspiegel reports.
Hundreds of thousands of women die during or after childbirth, and HIV often affects young women in poorer countries. Germany’s former Development Minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul told EurActiv Germany that the EU has to do more to empower women.
European parliamentarians yesterday (1 November) asked Sri Lanka to step up reforms and abolish draconian anti-terror laws to qualify for lucrative trade concessions from the 28-member bloc.
MEPs on Wednesday (26 October) approved a €500 million increase to EU spending to cover the costs of the refugee and migration crisis without cutting development aid.
European NGOs have rounded on EU governments over the growing use of foreign aid budgets to meet refugee costs at home, claiming that the strategy artificially inflates official figures for development assistance despite money never reaching the poor countries for which it was intended.
The 2014-15 ebola outbreak in the west African states of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia left 11,000 dead, caused global panic, and saw the EU and member states put up nearly €2bn in financial aid.
