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European Parliament resolution on MDG contracts |
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 On Tuesday 24 March, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution on the "MDG contracts", which were devised by the European Commission with the aim of delivering a predictable, long-term financial commitment while accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals.
The resolution makes a number of comments and recommendations on the MDG contracts. It calls on the Commission to maintain high levels of budget support to developing countries, and to ensure that substantial amounts of this is targeted at the health and educations sectors. It urges that the Commission must provide a detailed timetable for the introduction of the MDG contracts and ensure the involvement of developing country parliaments and civil society at every stage of the process. It also calls on the Commission to make its budget support conditional not only on good governance and transparency criteria, but also human rights. On gender equality, which is a vital component of the MDGs, MEPs strongly agreed that the EC should "continue to link its budget support to results in beneficiary countries related to gender equality and the promotion of women's rights" and strengthen "measures to facilitate access for all women to information about sexual and reproductive health and to universal sexual and reproductive health services; improved access to and greater use of family planning methods; long-term measures to promote women's education and emancipation; and measures to combat sex discrimination and foster gender equality." Source: |
