Development Policy
EU announces €15 billion to fight virus in developing countries
The European Union is to put up €15 billion to help poor countries fight the coronavirus epidemic, the bloc's chief announced on Tuesday (7 April).
UN to create global coronavirus fund to assist developing countries
The United Nations will create a fund to support the treatment of coronavirus patients worldwide, Norway’s foreign ministry said on Monday (23 March).
Activists warn over slavery as Mauritania joins UN human rights council
Mauritania is backsliding in efforts to eliminate descent-based slavery, an activist and opposition member has warned, as the West African country joined the UN Human Rights Council for the first time this week.
New chapter in EU-Africa relations can only succeed with support of civil society
Since the start of the new Commission, European leaders have switched gears to accelerate the advent of a new era of relations between the EU and Africa, writes Luca Jahier.
The Brief – What if Coronavirus reaches Africa?
Amongst mounting concern about the coronavirus outbreak, EU health ministers will gather in Brussels on Thursday to discuss Europe’s readiness to face a potential large-scale epidemic of the virus.
Von der Leyen pledges to back Africa on Ethiopia trip
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen assured Africa of the EU's strong support during a visit to Ethiopia on Saturday (7 December), her first trip outside Europe since assuming her post.
Von der Leyen to start with climate summit, Africa trip
The new head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will attend a climate summit in Madrid and travel to Africa in her first week in the job, highlighting two of the key priorities for the EU executive over the next five years.
Why EU must guarantee funding for local, regional governments in post-2020 development policy
Member states must strongly support the proposal of the European Parliament to add a budget line for local authorities to tackle global challenges, including through their decentralised cooperation, writes Marlène Siméon.
The Brief, powered by BP – The lost continent
Europe’s political influence on the African continent is in danger of dwindling, and that is a self-inflicted strategic mistake. Whether on trade, migration, energy or security, Europe will need stronger and closer partnerships with African governments over the next 20 years....
Europe gives go ahead to market Ebola vaccine
The European Union authorised the marketing of a vaccine against Ebola on Monday (11 November), permitting the first wider commercial use of a protection that has helped stem an outbreak in DR Congo.
Why don’t women benefit from international trade as much as men?
President-elect Ursula von der Leyen will be the first female Commission president. Not only that, but she has also succeeded in forming the first gender-balanced EU leadership team. Women are back on the EU's agenda, writes Cecilia Malmström.
Britain to create £1 bn fund for clean energy technology
Britain will create a £1 billion ($1.25 billion) fund for scientists around the world to create and test new technology to help developing countries reduce carbon emissions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will say on Monday (23 September).
Why multilateralism matters
This September, world leaders will gather at the UN in New York to reiterate the need to speed up action on the global promise to build a more equitable and sustainable world, which is the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), write Ulrika Modéer and Ahunna Eziakonwa.
G7 Leaders, take a stand for Africa!
Africa is still heavily reliant on coal. To protect the climate, leading industrialised countries should help Africa to invest in clean growth and leapfrog to renewables, says former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
An innovative partnership in the assistance programme for Syrian refugees in Turkey
Alper Küçük and Nils Grede provide insight into the use of the EU’s Facility for Refugees in Turkey, which enables much-needed cash transfers to one and a half million vulnerable refugees living in host communities in Turkey.
€102m grant boosts EU-WHO regional cooperation on global health
The new grant program largely funded by the European Development Fund (EDF) will support all 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries in an effort to strengthen their regional health systems and tackle non-communicable diseases and health security issues.
Statistics are at the heart of achieving SDGs, says gender equality advocate
In an interview with EURACTIV France, Fatiha Hassouni, head of the gender equality unit of the intergovernmental organisation Union for the Mediterranean, spoke about statistics being a crucial tool for assessing sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially with regards to gender equality.
One in ten of the world’s children are forced to work, report shows
Every tenth child in the world, which amounts to over 150 million in total, are forced to work to support their family financially, according to the human rights organisation Terre des Hommes. This finding was published in the organisation's 2019 Child Labour Report, which it published for International Child Labour Day (12 June). EURACTIV Germany reports.
Open letter to EU leaders: Our sustainable future must start now
EU leaders must end the political inertia on social and environmental challenges by making sustainable development the EU’s top priority for the next five years, say Europe’s leading coalitions of social, environmental and development networks who have joined forces with 150 organisations.
When climate action means better roads
The European Investment Bank is stepping up its climate adaption projects in developing countries, and that means building roads and infrastructure that can better cope with natural disasters, write Luca Lazzaroli and Léon Faber.
EU-ACP Cotonou successor faces one year delay
A joint ministerial council next week had been earmarked as the moment for formally concluding the successor to the Cotonou Agreement, which expires in January. But there are now doubts that it will be finalised before the end of the year.
A new Africa-Europe partnership: We can’t rewrite history, but we can co-create the future
As ministers come to Washington for the Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank this week, they must not ignore a quiet trend shaping the experience of two billion people. Europe is ageing while Africa's youth population booms, writes David McNair.
EU aid increases, bucking global trend
Development aid spending by EU members saw a slight increase to $87 billion in 2018 (€77 billion) a slight increase on 2017, according to new data published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.