Mirjam van Reisen, Director of EEPA participated Wednesday in a hearing in the Dutch Parliament on EU Development Policy. Dutch parliamentarians were interested to understand how they can influence the Mid Term Review of EU aid to ACP countries. They raised issues of concern over the budget support programmes agreed with Rwanda and Tanzania. Van Reisen asked parliamentarians to closely follow negotiations on a new European External Action Service, a new EU institutional set-up that will support the European President. MEP Brok, author of a European Parliament opinion on this institution asks that the institution be brought under the Commission. Van Reisen expressed the view that democratic accountability needs to be arranged in line with the Lisbon Treaty. The Treaty also defines Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Assistance as community policies and these should certainly remain within the scope of the Commission with scrutiny and discharge provided by the European Parliament.

More information:

• An article by Mirjam van Reisen in The Broker Online: EU development cooperation after the Irish "Yes": is anyone interested?
• A Dutch article in nrc.next: ‘Ontwikkelingshulp EU niet strategisch inzetten'
• A Dutch article in het Reformatorisch Dagblad: Gevecht over zeggenschap ontwikkelingshulp

As the situation in Somalia becomes increasingly grim, EEPA has taken the initiative to call on the Members of the new European Parliament to continue the work of the previous Parliament and exert their right to democratic scrutiny to defend the rights of the Somali people to live a peaceful, secure and healthy life, free of the devastation and misery caused by war, violence and hunger. By querying the EC and the EU on their policy development and implementation and putting the human rights of the Somali people in the centre of EU policy, the MEPs can contribute to a rights-based approach to support for Somalia whether in the field of development, security or humanitarian aid.

Over the years the conflict situation in Somalia has become of increased concern to European decision makers, donors and humanitarian aid agencies alike. Years of fighting between warlords and clan leaders, coupled with recurring droughts have left the country and its population destitute. Over 250,000 people have been displaced from the capital, Mogadishu, since May 2009 alone, while some 3.64 million people - close to half the Somalian population - require humanitarian aid.

Yet, Somalia is one of the most difficult and dangerous environments for aid agencies to work in. Those aid agencies that have managed to continue working in the country are faced with numerous challenges, while their access to the millions of people in need is increasingly diminishing.

As a major donor the EU has been playing an important role in the political, developmental and humanitarian affairs of Somalia under the aegis of the UN. In spite of their support of the Transitional Federal Institutions and the AU peaceforce AMISOM and the EU's support to the Somali security forces, the situation in Somalia continues to deteriorate, with the Somali population as the main victims.

In the past Members of the European Parliament have regularly voiced their concerns not only for the lack of transparency and accountability in the EU's policy development and implementation in relation to support for the Transitional Federal Government and its security sector, but also in relation to the humanitarian situation and the restrictions on access to people so badly in need of humanitarian assistance. They will need to continue doing so, if the EU is to contribute effectively to bringing peace and security to Somalia and the Somali people.

Click here for the letter to the MEPs.

On Wednesday 30 September, the European parliament unveiled the 10 nominations for this year's Sakharov prize for democracy and human rights campaining. The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is awarded each year by the European Parliament. The prize was set up in 1988 to honour individuals or organisations for their efforts on behalf of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The intention is to honour exceptional individuals who combat intolerance, fanaticism and oppression. Like Andrei Sakharov himself, all the winners of the prize have shown how much courage it takes to defend human rights and freedom of expression. The Parliament awards the human rights prize, endowed with €50,000, at a formal sitting held in Strasbourg on or around 10 December, the day on which the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948. This year's candidates includes Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak, who has been imprisoned in Eritrea since 2001 without a trial. The heads of Parliament's political parties will choose the winner on 22 October before the official awards ceremony on 16 December 2009.

Click here to read the EUobserver article.
Click here for more information on the Sakharov prize.

The Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin held a meeting to discuss the quality of EU Aid. MEP Gay Mitchell gave some examples of the importance of the European Parliament as legislator in ensuring Europe's quality of international cooperation. He also emphasised the importance of international aid as an instrument for the EU, and demonstrated Irish leadership in this important area of EU policy. Koos Richelle, Director of EuropeAid gave an overview of the improvements realised in recent years under the Agenda of Aid Effectiveness. Mirjam van Reisen, Director of EEPA, gave examples of Irish involvement that had allowed important decisions for the EU's international cooperation programme, especially to ensure strong accountability and transparency. She warned that the European External Action Service, a diplomatic agency that will bring Member States' foreign policies closer together under one umbrella, should not be burdened by the implementation of development policy as this would complicate already ambitious goals that have been set in the Lisbon Treaty in the area of external policy. She urged that the Treaty was clear on the separation between development and humanitarian aid on the one hand, and the diplomatic service on the other. She urged that with the European Commission as implementing agency and the European Parliament's control accountability and transparency was best ensured.

Click here for the keynote speeches, presentation and video.
Click here for some pictures in our Photo Library.

At the moment 130,000 Bhutanese are living outside the country of whom 110,000 are living in the UNHCR registered refugee camps in Nepal. The other 20,000 refugees who have been resettled in various western countries are facing serious adjustment problems. In the past few years the dire situation of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) has gained in importance on the agenda of the EP. It is within that context that SAAPE, Eurostep and EEPA would like to draw attention to the refugee problem of the Bhutanese people. With a letter they invited the MEPs to raise the problems that these refugees face within the EC and the EU Member States.

Click here to read the letter.