About: development
A ”facelift” to the EIB: the EU financial arm needs forward-looking reforms
The European Investment Bank (EIB) celebrates this year its 60th anniversary. But the 1958-founded EU body and bank should now look forward and commit to becoming a more sustainable, accountable and transparent institution, writes Xavier Sol.
Africa-Europe ties need a reset – but not just because of migration
Europe and Africa need a partnership which should focus on the new realities in both regions. Europe can become the region's main partner during its transformative revolution if it listens to civil society representatives, writes Shada Islam.
EU politicising development aid to build Fortress Europe
EU investments should not be used to blackmail or externalise borders. Particularly if the EU really wants to tackle the root causes of forced migration, writes Xabier Benito Ziluaga.
EU-India relations come full-circle
For more than a decade, the EU and India partnership had been slow-moving and fragmented, struggling to maintain momentum. The last EU-India summit however shows EU-India relations have come full circle, writes Gauri Khandekar.
EU’s ‘New Consensus on Development’ puts migration control centre-stage
The EU's New Consensus on Development is meant to plot a roadmap to meeting the UN's Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Instead, the draft proposal appears to prioritise migration control and military operations, writes Johannes Trimmel.
EU’s New Consensus on Development needs support
With national discourse becoming increasingly insular, few politicians are brave enough to make the case for multilateralism on the domestic stage. But the need for multilateral action and effective support of development and growth outside Europe has never been greater, argues Werner Hoyer.
‘Share the knowledge’ at UN’s Quito summit on cities – or wait until 2036
Some 90% of urban growth over the next 30 years will happen in developing countries. If we squander the chance to set them on the path to sustainability now, it may be lost for ever, write Eva Dic and Maria-Theres Haase.
EU must secure adequate resources for girls
We know that empowering women and girls makes our societies safer, healthier, greener and more prosperous. So what are we waiting for, ask the organisers of this year’s European Week of Action for Girls (EWAG).
Doing regional integration differently in Africa
No country alone can solve the development challenges of a continent made up of 54 countries. Conflicts spill over boundaries. Disease is not stopped by border control. And climate change doesn’t carry a passport, write Jan Vanheukelom and Bruce Byiers.
‘Zombie facts’ about women and girls need to be buried once and for all
“Zombie facts.” We’ve all heard them. Many have unwittingly used them: fictional data points cited, recited, and recycled so often that, like zombies in a science fiction movie, it seems they simply refuse to die, writes Caren Grown.
Education is the key to development and stability
The EU needs to reach out to civil society in South Asia and make sure its efforts to support education in the region do not go astray, writes Ana Maria Gomez.
Four signals for global cooperation that Europe must send
By sending out strong signals against nationalism, reaching out to religious minorities, the poor and the marginalised, and keeping its climate and development promises, Europe can become the leader in international cooperation, writes Dirk Messner.
Financing development through better domestic resource mobilisation
Domestic resources are the largest, most important and most stable source of finance for development, writek Gail Hurley and Nergis Gülasan.
Eradicating diseases of poverty
If we are to achieve the ambitious aims of the 2030 Agenda, then we need to be making the kind of scientific breakthroughs the winning scientists of the Nobel Prize made in the 1970s, writes Francoise Grossetête.
Challenges for EU soft power in the Middle East
Diplomacy and development are the foundations of the EU’s influence in the world. But they can only be effective if we truly understand the cultural and political landscapes of the countries we are trying to influence, writes Hans Gustaf Wessberg.
Capitalising on multilateral momentum: The UN and the 2030 Agenda
The UN’s new 2030 Development Agenda is more comprehensive than the Millennium Development Goals that it replaces, and fundamental change is needed to equip the UN for the challenges it will face, write Max-Otto Baumann and Silke Weinlich.
The Addis Agenda: An ambitious and comprehensive financing framework?
Addis Abbaba is the place birthplace for one of the most important international frameworks for the next decade and beyond, writes Sabine Terlecki.
Addis Ababa: A one-time opportunity
The international community has a one-time opportunity in Addis Ababa this week to provide positive, fresh impetus for global sustainable development, writes Kathrin Berensmann.
The world needs more development aid
Development aid lays the foundations of a more peaceful and resilient world. It is not only a moral obligation, but an economic necessity, writes Christian Friis Bach.
More Badanya spirit needed to fund the ambitious global development agenda
Building up people’s capacity to earn an income is crucial to a successful Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) plan, writes Kaday Mansaray Sibanda.
From farm to fork: Investing globally in food safety on World Health Day
On World Health Day (7 April), European Commissioners Vytenis Andriukaitis and Neven Mimica highlight the importance of food safety, malnutrition, and fighting health threats both in the Union and in developing countries.
World Toilet Day: EU should make sanitation a development priority
Today marks UN World Toilet Day. In Europe we might question the need for a special commemorative day for something that for us is so trivial and commonplace. But for many people around the world, this is no joke., writes MEP Catherine Bearder.
Peace in Colombia is peace in the world
The peace process conducted with the FARC guerillas has led profound changes for Colombia, including boosting rural development, the origin of our conflict, changing bullets for votes, and dismantling of the mafia drug trafficking structures, writes Columbia's president, Juan Manuel Santos Calderón.