Development Policy Archives

The G20 group of leading economies agreed on Wednesday (15 April) to suspend debt payments owed to them by some of the world's poorest countries in a bid to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The wealthy Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation called Wednesday (15 April) for global cooperation to ready COVID-19 vaccines for seven billion people, while offering $150 million toward developing therapeutics and treatments for the virus.

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).

The United Nations will create a fund to support the treatment of coronavirus patients worldwide, Norway’s foreign ministry said on Monday (23 March).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Yet, …

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Trump administration on Tuesday (26 March) expanded its anti-abortion policies, cutting funding to the Organization of American States (OAS) and prohibiting the use of US tax dollars to lobby for or against abortion rights.

France wants to be at the forefront of efforts to regulate multinationals’ responsibility towards workers in developing countries, but is having difficulty enforcing its own law on duty of care, according to a report published on 21 February. EURACTIV France reports.

Negotiators are hoping to break the back on talks for the successor to the Cotonou Agreement, which expires in May 2020, between the EU and 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP).

The gap between developed and developing countries in their capacities to attract and retain skilled workforces have increased over the last five years, business school executive told EURACTIV.

Public and diplomatic pressure mounted Monday (8 January) on the Democratic Republic of Congo to announce the outcome of 30 December elections to replace long-term leader Joseph Kabila.

On 31 December, the day after the presidential election, the Congolese government cut off internet access. The European Union has called for the situation to normalise while the preliminary results are still awaited, one week after the poll was held. EURACTIV France reports.

The African Union has ambitious plans to reconfigure its continent’s relations with the European Union. In 2018, led by Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and the Chadian chair of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Addis Ababa-based AU moved …

The EU delegates 1.7% of its budget to NGOs, while no common definition exists in Europe. This is a shortcoming which complicates the monitoring of projects. EURACTIV France reports.

Climate change affects developing countries more heavily, with broad impacts on the environment and the economy, insurers say, highlighting the need to act before damage is done.