EUROSTEP STATEMENT ON A NEW EU-AFRICA PARTNERSHIP

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1 Eurostep comprises twenty-two development organisations from 15 European countries working for justice and equal opportunities for people North and South. It was founded in 1990 to coordinate its members policy work at European level. The members of Eurostep are: ActionAid, UK; Concern, Ireland; DWHH, Germany; Forum Syd, Sweden; Frères des Hommes, France; Helinas, Greece; Hivos Netherlands; Ibis, Denmark; Intermón, Spain; Kepa, Finland; Mani Tese, Italy; MOVIMONDO, Italy; Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, Denmark; NCOS, Belgium; Norwegian People s Aid, Norway; Novib, Netherlands; OIKOS, Portugal; Oxfam GB; Oxfam Ireland; Swiss Coalition of Devlopment Organisations, Switzerland; Terre des Hommes, France; terre des hommes, Germany. EUROSTEP STATEMENT ON A NEW EU-AFRICA PARTNERSHIP We welcome the EU s initiative to launch a debate on a new partnership with Africa at the EU Informal Development Council this month. Much of Eurostep s work, in advocating EU policies that advance the eradication of poverty and sustainable development, has been directed at the EU s co-operation with Africa. Africa is the region with the largest grouping of least developed countries. It is also the continent with the highest proportion of the population living in poverty. According to the World Bank, 300 million people in sub-saharan Africa survive on less than $1 a day. With the added problems of conflicts and disease, life expectancy is decreasing faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world The EU and its Member States have agreed to commitments made at international UN Conferences that are intended to contribute towards the eradication of poverty. In addition the EU in its own Treaty is committed to the campaign against poverty in developing countries. The EU is well placed as the world s largest donor and Africa s largest trading partner to contribute to poverty eradication. As the UK Finance Minister Gordon Brown states Poverty, famine and disease cannot simply be shut off in one part of our world and ignored by the rest And individuals and nations we are dependent upon each other for our sustenance and livelihood We must strive for a more global social inclusion. In the light of these facts, the overall objective of the EU s partnership with Africa should be the eradication of poverty. All proposals made in the context of a EU-Africa Partnership should effectively advance poverty eradication. Particular attention should be given to mainstreaming principles of gender equality. The latest UNDP report on Human Development ranks Sub- Saharan Africa as the region with the lowest Gender Related Human Development Index. We welcome the Portuguese Presidency's wish to include within the debate, issues relating to political dialogue, the integration of African countries in the global economy and the prevention and management of conflicts. In this statement we set out our key concerns on these issues. Political Dialogue Many of the issues that influence under-development and development co-operation are of a political nature or relate to decisions and discussions that can only be carried out at a political level. For this reason, dialogue at all levels of the political process is essential to a partnership aimed at poverty eradication. Yet EU-Africa co-operation does not provide for institutionalised dialogue at the highest level, i.e. Heads of States. It is worth noting that during the early part of the ACP-EU negotiations, the EU rejected the ACP s request for the creation of a new ACP-EU institution involving EU and ACP Heads of State. This would have provided the only means for an institutionalised dialogue between the EU and Sub Saharan African Heads of States. The fact 115 Rue Stévin, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Ph Fax admin@eurostep.org Web:

2 that the EU s co-operation with other regions such as Asia, Latin America, the Mediterranean and the Caribbean provides for political dialogue at the highest level puts into question the EU s commitment to a partnership with Africa. The EU in its discussions on partnership with Africa should aim to institutionalise dialogue with Africa at the highest political level. Areas of dialogue should not be restricted to a number of issues relating to EU interests. The subjects of discussion should include topics that both parties find relevant to development such as debt, investment and trade flows. Conflict Management and Prevention With the establishment of its Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has the machinery to effectively contribute towards the management and prevention of conflicts in Africa. In its approach to Africa, the CFSP should include two essential elements that are critical to the management and prevention of conflicts in Africa the control of European export of arms to Africa and the regulation of European trade in Africa s natural resources that have been illustrated to contribute to conflict on the continent. The establishment of the EU code of conduct on arms has somewhat limited possibilities of sales of arms from the EU to Africa. However loopholes in the code have restricted its potential to reduce arm sales to Africa. The EU should tighten its code through the establishment of multilateral consultations that prevent one EU member capturing arms contracts that another has refused, and making all national arms sales reports public. The EU should also use the influence it has on other exporters of arms to Africa to establish rigorous arms export controls. According to the organisation, Human Rights Watch, Eastern European countries are now the main suppliers of arms to conflict zones in Africa. In its negotiations with these countries on accession to the Union, the EU is well placed to exert leverage on Eastern European countries to reduce arms exports to Africa. Pressure should also be put on African governments to reduce their spending on arms. Export of diamonds and oil to Europe and other regions have been singled out as factors that perpetuate conflicts in Africa. The International Diamond Campaign Fatal Transactions launched in October 1999 persuaded some companies to boycott the purchase of diamonds from Angola. The organisation Global Witness recommends that oil companies involved in war torn Angola should ensure that a policy of full transparency is adopted on the use of oil revenues. International finance institutions granting loans to Angola are advised to ensure that all future loans are made subject to a full independent audit of all military budgets and expenditures. The EU should take on the recommendations of these organisations and put pressure on EU companies to act accordingly. EU humanitarian and reconstruction aid provided to African countries emerging from conflict should be increased. The EU and other developed countries response to the crisis in Kosovo has shown that large-scale rapid responses to conflicts is feasible and effective. EU post-conflict aid should target, among other things, the development of alternative sources of income for excombatants Integrating African economies in the international economy Integration of African economies into the world economy will only contribute to sustainable development if the trade and investment arrangements, that fuel integration, include people living in poverty. 2

3 The EU could play an important role in such a process by firstly taking unilateral action to provide duty free and quota free access for all products from all African and Least Developed countries. Other industrial countries should be lobbied to follow suit. Secondly the EU should reform its Common Agriculture Policy by reducing the support provided to European farmers. This excessive support has the twin effect of destroying local African industries and depressing the world market prices of many of the goods that African countries produce. Thirdly the EU should work with African countries in addressing the supply side constraints that have impeded production in Africa. Finally the EU should provide further assistance for the adjustments that many African countries will have to make if they opt for future ACP-EU trade arrangements based on free trade. Human Development Successful integration into the world economy is dependent on skills and capacities of workers. This quality in turn hinges on levels of education and health. Education At present 45 million African primary school aged children never see the inside of a school. It is estimated that 75% of the 70 million children who will still be out of school by 2015 will be in sub-saharan Africa. Girls make up two-thirds of all children not in school and account for most of those dropping out. The EU is well placed to act as a champion for education in Africa. It is a major donor, and its member states amount to a powerful voice in the UN and Bretton Woods institutions. The challenge is to develop an international response, which goes beyond increased aid. The EU should support the proposal for a Compact on Education for All in Africa under which the international community will mobilise additional resources, working with governments committed to reform 1. This would be part of a Global Action Plan for achieving education for all and delivering on the 2015 international development targets. The Education for All Forum in Dakar next April provides an opportunity for the EU to play a critical role in the Education for All process. The EU s own aid to education could be made far more effective through an improved strategic focus on the learning needs and aspirations of people living in poverty. The focus of EU aid needs to shift from infrastructure to learning materials, teacher training, the mainstreaming of flexible non-formal alternatives into the formal system, and developing the capacity of government officials and civil society organisations to manage education programmes more effectively. The EU should also take a lead in ending donor support for all forms of costsharing in basic education. HIV/AIDS HIV-AIDS is perhaps the most serious threat to Africa's human resources. According to UNAIDS, 69% of all people infected with AIDS today live in Africa. This encompasses 8% of Africa s adult population. HIV/AIDS is concentrated in the young economically active groups who should provide Africa s labour force. In the Central African Republic, AIDS is the leading cause of death of teachers. In Kenya HIV/AIDS now costs Kenyan companies on average $25 per employee. The spread of HIV/AIDS is exacerbated by poverty and influenced by many factors including macro-economic conditions and the position of women in society. In addition there is now evidence that the growing number of AIDS orphans in Africa is fuelling the conscription of child soldiers. 1 Proposed by Oxfam and Action Aid 3

4 We welcome the increase in EC funds made available to programmes on HIV/AIDS, but we are very concerned that the recent merging of the HIV and reproductive health budget lines will limit the scope of HIV/AIDS programmes. More importantly, for such a potentially major player, we believe the EU is not committing enough funds to this cause. We therefore urge the EU to place a higher priority on the fight against HIV/AIDS, not only within budget allocations but also as a cross-cutting issue to be addressed within all development programmes. Increased funding should be directed towards support for expanded and intensified community-based action; universal access to voluntary counselling and testing, treatment of opportunistic infections, orphan support and planning for multi-sector mitigation; meeting the educational needs of children in households affected by HIV/AIDS and addressing issues of gender and power relations that underpin the impediments to epidemic control. The EU should also support South Africa in its struggle to implements its right to license production of HIV/AIDS drugs with a patent. Financial Resources Trade liberalisation that often accompanies attempts at integration into the world economy increase the need for financial resources for most developing countries to offset losses in tax revenue and finance other adjustments. While EC ODA has increased over the last years, the EC has failed to proportionally increase its aid to sub-saharan Africa within the European Development Fund. It has been argued that low aid absorption rates in African countries and a lack of capacity within the EC does not make it possible to significantly increase funding to the continent. The 1998 OECD DAC review of EU aid identified complex EC administrative procedures and low staffing levels as some of the main contributors to the EC s low disbursement rate. If the EU is serious about its commitment to Africa and poverty eradication, mechanisms should be put in place that allow for increased aid to Sub-Saharan Africa. Debt and Structural Adjustment The debt burden for many sub-saharan African economies remains the greatest obstacle to achieving the 2015 international development targets. Tanzania, yet to receive debt relief, spends four times as much on paying its debt to developed countries than it does on primary education. The enhanced HIPC framework even when combined with existing aid, does not provide sufficient resources for all countries to address the 2015 international development targets. Subject to country specific conditions, a fully reformed HIPC should ensure that debtor governments on average pay less than 10 % of their revenue in debt service. This will require creditor governments to cancel 100 % of bilateral debt, and the multilateral institutions to move further on debt reduction. In order to achieve this, the EU should work with other donors to ensure that the HIPC debt relief package is fully funded. Debt relief packages should be funded from additional resources identified outside existing development aid budgets. Secondly the EU should ensure that debt relief is given to those African countries committed to spend debt saving on anti-poverty programmes, recognising the World Bank s attempts to link poverty eradication with debt relief in its Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. However, this would only be meaningful if structural adjustment programmes are reviewed 4

5 The EU should support proposals to carry out participatory evaluations on the social impact of adjustment, which include UN agencies, governments and civil society in these exercises with a view to reformulating adjustment strategies. Support for Civil Society Civil society organisations very often have a profound knowledge of the problems of under development due to their proximity to many of the peoples affected and concerned by it. For this reason the participation of civil society in development co-operation and the EU-Africa partnership is vital to its success. The ACP-EU agreement on civil society participation creates enormous opportunities for a formalised role for civil society in the development process. The EU-Africa Partnership should recognise this agreement and ensure both EU and African civil society organisations are engaged in the debate. Furthermore the EU and African countries should work together to engage in the capacity building of civil society organisations and establish an information policy that renders all relevant information of EU-Africa co-operation public. January