Eurostep WeeklyRegular News Update from Eurostep, N° 515 8 July 2008 Second draft of Accra Agenda for Action released A second draft of the Accra Agenda for Action (AAA), which builds on the 2005 Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, was issued on 30 June 2008. The revised AAA, which takes into account the comments received on the first draft, will be discussed at the July meeting of the OECD/DAC Working Party on Aid Effectiveness. A final draft will then be submitted for endorsement at the Accra High-Level Forum. The AAA includes three resolutions to accelerate progress on aid effectiveness: 1) strengthening country-owned development processes; 2) building stronger, more inclusive, partnerships for development; and 3) delivering and accounting for development results. Under these headings the agenda includes commitments to make the use of country systems the norm rather than the exception, engage with civil society organisations, not impose conditions on aid and increase the medium-term predictability of aid, among others. This new draft of the AAA is broadly supported by NGOs as a basis for negotiation at Accra. At a meeting of Dutch NGOs discussing the AAA it was stated that the text is considered an improvement on the first draft, but that there is a need to include performance indicators. It is unlikely that this second draft will be changed significantly before the High-Level Forum in Accra, Ghana on 2-4 September 2008. Read the full text of the revised draft at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ACCRAEXT/Resources/4700790-1205870632880/AAA-27-June-2008.pdf Source: Brussels conference on agriculture: Who will feed the world? On 3 July, a conference was held at the European Parliament (EP) on the issue of agricultural policy and the global food crisis, entitled "Who will feed the world?" Participants included EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering, French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier, Agriculture Commissioner Mariann-Fischer-Boel, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Development Commissioner Louis Michel. The conference was organised by the French Presidency of the Council, in partnership with the European Parliament and the Commission. The conference aimed to analyse the pressures on agriculture posed by global food and energy shortages and climate change, and to provide answers for policy-makers at regional and global levels on how to address these fundamental problems. "Immediate response should go hand in hand with long-term policies to strengthen agricultural production in developing countries," said Marianne Fischer Boel. She announced that the Commission will utilize surplus funds from the Budget for the Common Agricultural Policy to support farmers in developing countries with seeds and fertilizers to increase production and stabilize markets. Jacques Diouf, Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, in turn underscored that "current trade rules are not providing incentives for African farmers. Factors which are guaranteeing food supply and local production need to be strengthened." Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing director of the Worldbank, lauded African leaders new commitment to invest into agricultural policies. Pertaining to the acute food crisis and climate disasters Okonjo-Iweala recommended insurance systems on the national, regional and international level to counteract income losses of farmers as well as serious price fluctuations of staple foods on the global level. Regarding the latter she suggested the establishment of a transparent global stock management. Sources: Hokkaido G8 Summit opens Monday 7 July At the G8 summit of industrialised nations, which begins in Toyako on the Japanese island of Hokkaido on Monday, world leaders will meet to discuss the global economy, environmental concerns and African development, among other pressing issues. The summit will be the largest ever meeting of the G8, and the last attended by US President George W. Bush. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Sunday that securing progress on emissions reductions will be high on the agenda. "We will be working for real commitments from this G8 Summit, not only reinforcing ones taken in (Germany) last year, but if possible, to go beyond that with a mid-term commitment...I hope this G8 will not disappoint all those who are waiting for concrete results from this gathering -- mainly on climate change." Against the backdrop of rising food and fuel prices and the credit crunch, there is concern that the G8 may allow the anti-poverty development agenda embodied in the Millennium Development Goals to be derailed. Oxfam GB Director Barbara Stocking warned: "There are worrying signals coming out of Japan in the run-up to next week's G8 summit. Ever since the onset of the credit crunch there have been concerns that rich countries' economic woes could threaten to push global poverty issues down the G8 agenda. Any major new financial commitment seemed unlikely, but now it appears that leaders are preparing to use their meeting in Hokkaido to water down the aid pledges they made at previous summits, or even to renege on them altogether...We cannot allow G8 leaders to view current global crises as an excuse to lower ambitions and push back on the poverty agenda." That sentiment was echoed this week by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said: "The world is suffering a triple challenge: of higher fuel prices, higher food prices and a credit crunch. My message to the G8 will be that instead of sidelining climate change and the development agenda, the present economic crisis means that instead of relaxing our efforts we have got to accelerate them. This agenda is not just the key to the environment and reducing poverty, but the key to our economic future as well". Eurostep Director Simon Stocker will be in Japan to monitor the ongoing summit and side events. Sources: Workshops on the European Neighbourhood Policy Last week, Eurostep staff facilitated two workshops on the theme of the EU's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in Egypt and Morocco. The workshops were held under the cooperation project involving Eurostep, Aprodev, WWF, Acsur and Womnet which aims at strengthen civil society's knowledge on the ENP and empower actors to get involved in monitoring of EU assistance, and eventually shaping the priorities which are to be reviewed in 2009. Presentations were given by representatives of civil society from the EU and neighbouring countries as well as country governments and EC Delegations, explaining the processes and mechanisms of the ENP and identifying opportunities for civil society to influence the policy. Participants discussed the challenges they face in their work and how they perceive the role of EU in development as well as that of their governments. A key issue of the seminars was budget support as an aid modality and how it can be effectively monitored. Sub-groups also discussed the impact of the ENP on issues such as gender, the environment, human rights, governance, immigration and social and economic rights. Each group analysed the priorities of the implementation strategy of the EC and presented recommendations on how to deal with what civil society actors identify as core development issues. Furthermore, the participants discussed how to conduct and coordinate lobbying activities both at national level and in cooperation with Eurostep. Key issues in the discussions were the consequences of free trade agreements and privatization of the health sector as well as the lack of institutionalised consultation processes with civil society, and in the case of Egypt; the tense relationship between the government and the civil society actors. Source: Lunch debate organised by the European Commission on the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean The French presidency is expected to intensify the discussions on a Mediterranean Union and the upcoming ministerial meeting on the 13 July will provide a key forum for debate and decision-making on this issue. DG EuropeAid of the European Commission is therefore holding a lunchtime conference on the topic on 8 July, to give an update before the 13 July summit. The European Council has already approved the French-German initiative of a Union for the Mediterranean encompassing the EU Member States and the Mediterranean neighbouring states that are not EU members. In March, it invited the Commission to present proposals defining the modalities of what will be called "Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean" in preparation of the summit of 13 July 2008 in Paris. The Commission stated that pilot projects will be carried out under the ENP in the areas of transport, solar energy, de-pollution of the Mediterranean, sound environmental governance and civil protection from environmental disasters. Civil society groups have criticised the process for not including any proposal regarding a greater involvement of Euro-Mediterranean civil society, and pointed out that any European initiatives in the Mediterranean may lack credibility while the issue of peace and stability in the Middle East is still unresolved. Sources:
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