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This weblog shares information on key ACP-EU programmes and events
from Brussels relevant to agriculture and rural development in ACP countries.
Date : [07/12/2012]
CTA Brussels Newsletter
Main events in the week
- Our Video Guest: Clive Ondari, WHO
- Main Events for the Week 10/12/2012 – 16/12/2012
- EU-UNICEF programme against undernutrition
- Caribbean Nations: dissatisfied with draft EU aid rules
- Over €71m for Tanzania water project
- Doha: On the edge of collapse
- Tanzania: Foreign agricultural investments boost sugar industry
- Towards a more resource efficient agriculture in Europe?
- Council approves agreement on 2013 EU budget
- EU: €500 million to help with the food crisis in Sahel
- Index Insurance program in Africa
- ACP: no to the 11% cut in EU development fund
- Four countries exceed EU targets for international aid
- MEPs pave way to 2013 EU budget deal
- No consensus over 2030 EU renewables policy
- First pledges at Doha: £133m from UK to Africa
- Lessons from EU engagement in Somalia
- EFSA: new explanatory brochure
- EU-WHO anti-malaria project in Africa
- New € 15 million EU funding for DRC
- A step closer to the EU Budget of 2013
- New maritime strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas
- UK stops aid to Rwanda
- Our Video Guest: Clive Ondari, WHO
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Health and Development, Humanitarian Aid
We have met with Dr. Clive Ondari, Coordinator of Access to Medicines, Department of Essential Medicines and Health Products, World Health Organization to discuss the efforts that the EU and the WHO make in order to fight Malaria in Africa, and the specificities of the "Working with African countries to ensure a pharmaceutical quality response to malaria" project.
According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2003 in the Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania more than 50% of the anti-malaria medicine did not respond basic quality requirements.
In order to address this problem, the EU and the WHO carried out a project- "Working with African countries to ensure a pharmaceutical quality response to malaria"- aimed at developing national regulatory frameworks for anti-malaria medicine quality in these six African countries.
At the end of the project in 2012 the total medicine failure rate dropped to 28,5%. The largest rate of failure was registered in Cameroon (with more than 60% rate of failure among tested medicine), while the smallest was registered in Ethiopia (with 0% failure rate).
It is estimated that in 2010 there were 216 million cases of malaria, resulting in 655,000 deaths. 81% of these cases and 91% of deaths happened in Africa.
 Watch the Video
EU-WHO anti-malaria project in Africa
- Main Events for the Week 10/12/2012 – 16/12/2012
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : ACP-EU Trade, Rural development, Aid effectiveness, Environment, Gender and development, Migration and development, New Technologies, ACP-EU Fisheries, Food Security, Health and Development, Food Policy, ACP-EU Policy, Humanitarian Aid
Council of the EU:
- 10 December: Foreign Affairs Council
- 11 December: General Affairs Council (GAC)
- 13-14 December: European Council
European Parliament:
- 10-13 December: European Parliament Plenary Meeting
ACP Group:
- 10-11 December: 96th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers
- 12 December: Joint meeting of the ACP Council of Ministers and ACP Ministers of Foreign Affairs
- 13-14 December: 7th Summit of the ACP Heads of State and Government
You can also read our newspaper “CTA Brussels Daily” (fed by our Twitter account), follow our new Facebook group CTABrussels and our Twitter account CTABrussels to receive up-to-date information on EU-ACP events.
- EU-UNICEF programme against undernutrition
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Humanitarian Aid, Health and Development
The EU has engaged to offer €41 million over four years to fund programmes in Bangladesh, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Philippines, as well as Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mali and Uganda, UNICEF announced on Thursday December 6. The aim is to improve nutrition security for children during the first 1,000 days of life, including pregnancy.
The EU-funded programme will focus on high-level policy engagement, as well as making sure that nutrition goals are incorporated into health, development and agricultural sectors.
It will also feature low-cost, high-impact interventions, including promoting the use of available foods and resources, breastfeeding, distribution of vitamin and mineral supplements, appropriate complementary foods, fortification of staple foods and integrated management of acute malnutrition.
Source: UNICEF
Read more
Find out more about EU-UNICEF partnership in Africa
Find out more about UNICEF-EU partnership
- Caribbean Nations: dissatisfied with draft EU aid rules
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Humanitarian Aid, ACP-EU Policy
Caribbean governments expressed their dissatisfaction with the European Union rules currently under European Parliament debate regarding aid granted to the region and to former colonies in the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP).
Under the new rules draft, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its 15 member nations and the Dominican Republic could be “graduated or differentiated” from funds under the European Development Fund (EDF) because the Europeans might not look only at gross domestic and gross national product figures to determine which countries should get help. Thus, most of the region – with Haiti perhaps being the only exception – might no longer be regarded as countries that need help because their GDP and GNP figures will categorize them as middle- and upper-middle-income countries, making them ineligible to qualify for grant aid and cheap loans.
CARICOM nations say the old criteria, which included other factors like national vulnerabilities to hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, will no longer be applied, and that considering only economic statistics and constructs is a backward step.
CARICOM plans to raise the issue at a mid-December summit of ACP leaders in Equatorial Guinea, where all aspects of relations with the EU will come up.
Source: AtlantaBlackStar.com
Read more
What after Cotonou
Find out more about EDF
- Over €71m for Tanzania water project
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Rural development, Humanitarian Aid
Tanzania will receive a grant of 71,62 million Euros for improving the water sector in five different regions, as part of an agreement the country has with the EU and Germany.
Tanzania still needs to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number four strategy on efficient supply of clean water and improved sanitation services in rural areas, as 35% of Tanzanians living in rural areas are reported not to be supplied with water by 2015, the deadline set by the UN for achieving this MDG.
This sum consists of EU MDG Initiative (MDGI) contribution of EUR 51.26 million and an additional EUR 20 million from the German Development Bank.
Source: StarAfrica.com
Read more
EU's declaration
Find out more about MDGs
- Doha: On the edge of collapse
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Environment
Talks are on the edge of collapse Thursday in Doha at the United Nations conference on climate change, according to representatives of civil society.
Industrialised nations are not willing to give in for more emissions cuts, nor for financial support for poor nations for the next period of the Kyoto protocol (to start January 2013), said Celine Charveriat, director of advocacy and campaigns for Oxfam International. The atmosphere was reported to be extremely tense with less than 24 hours left before the last day of the summit, Friday 7 December. Especially SUA, Canada and China are reported to block negotiations advancements. Also, EU representatives say that they cannot go any further due to the unfavorable atmosphere created by the financial crisis which hit the European states.
Source: Insurancenewsnet
Read more
Doha: more aid for developing countries?
Video: ACP position at Doha
- Tanzania: Foreign agricultural investments boost sugar industry
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : ACP-EU Trade, Rural development
In contrast to the current yearly sugar gap, Tanzania's sugar industry is expected to increase its exports in the next four years as more foreign agricultural investments flow in by 2016. This will represent a great contrast from the current situation where there is existence of sugar gap every year, authorities say.
The Sugar Board of Tanzania (SBT) says its nine projects whose implementation will see the country tripling its annual sugar production from the current estimate of 300,000 metric tonnes to 910,000 metric tonnes come 2016, targets the current gap sugar. "These projects should come to fruition come 2016. With the total amount of sugar we are producing, we'll be able to export some to our neighbours in East Africa," the SBT project manager, Mr Abdul Mwankemwa, says. Currently, the country has four major sugar factories with an annual sugar production of at least 300,000 metric tonnes against the demand of 500,000 metric tonnes.
Source: allAfrica
Read more
Tanzania to become net sugar exporter by 2016
Find out more about EU-Tanzania relations
- Towards a more resource efficient agriculture in Europe?
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Environment, Food Security, Rural development
Is Europe ready and willing to increase the investment in research and technologies for the sake of more reaching more sustainability in the agricultural sector? - this was the main topic of the “Towards resource efficient agriculture in Europe” conference organized by the European Landowners Organization (ELO) on December 6 in Brussels.
The discussion was moderated by MEP Mr. Robert Sturdy and saw the contribution of several stakeholders, ranging from policy sector, academia, industry and green NGOs members. They proposed solutions for the sustainable intensification in European agriculture, touching upon topics as: water use and protection, the possibilities to use more effective fertilizers and the way to do this more efficiently; the concept of nutrient recycling, organic agriculture as an alternative to fertilizers; the way to manage soil better, and not lastly the opportunities for improved and sustainable plant protection.
The main conclusions drew on the urgency to adjust the policy framework for an efficient use of land and inputs, to introduce sustainable agricultural practices, as well as to establish precision farming and conduct further investigations on GM-crops and their potential for European agriculture.
Source: CTA
Read more
Agriculture: from Problem to Solution
The decline in the CAP budget
- Council approves agreement on 2013 EU budget
2012-12-07
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : ACP-EU Policy
The Council approved on Thursday 6th of December the agreement with the European Parliament on the 2013 budget in total value of 132.84 billion EU. It also approved the draft amending a sixth variant of the budget for 2012.
It herewith confirmed the deal reached between the Cyprus presidency, representatives of the European Parliament and of the Commission at a trilogue on 29 November.
The agreement provides for additional resources within the 2012 EU budget in order to address a shortfall of payments and puts the spending priorities within the 2013 EU budget on measures enhancing growth and jobs while taking account of member states' consolidation efforts.
If the European Parliament approves the package the 2013 EU budget on 12 December.
and draft amending budget no 6 for 2012 are considered to be adopted.
The budget corresponds to 0.99% of the EU's Gross National Income (GNI) and represents an increase of 2.4% compared to the EU budget for 2012 as amended by amending budget nos 1-5.
Source: Council of the European Union
Read more
A step closer to the EU Budget of 2013
MEPs pave way to 2013 EU budget deal
- EU: €500 million to help with the food crisis in Sahel
2012-12-06
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Health and Development, Food Security, Humanitarian Aid
Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva announced on Thursday 6 December that EU will give around €500 million to help with the food crisis in Sahel.
Present at the High-level Meeting of the Alliance Globale pour l'Initiative Resilience (AGIR), Georgieva also urged for further actions, as the early signals for 2013 are actually quite worrying regarding access to food. Furthermore, British NGO Oxfam reported on the crisis in Sahel on October, “the food crisis is far from over and an increase in aid is still needed to help farmers and herders overcome the triple challenges of recurrent droughts, persistent poverty and political instability.”
There are 18 million people facing hunger and malnutrition across 8 countries of the Sahel region of West Africa, according to EU figures. The European Commission is the main humanitarian donor in the Sahel, having already brought response to the food crisis in value of €318 million.
AGIR initiative came to life on June in Brussels, with the purpose of reacting to this situation, and has different stakeholders including governments, humanitarian organisations, UN agencies and organisations such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and two regional organisations (ECOWAS and UEMOA).
Source: New Europe
Read more
Find out more about the situation in Sahel
Find out more about AGIR
- Index Insurance program in Africa
2012-12-06
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Environment, Rural development, New Technologies, Food Security, Food Policy
The EU in collaboration with the ACP group supports a pilot program aimed at introducing the index insurance in the African market. The Global Index Insurance Facility program (GIIF) is managed by the World Bank and the International financial corporation (IFC), and was launched at the end of 2009 in Kenya, in order to address the scarcity of affordable insurance protection against natural disasters in developing countries.
By the end of 2013 it is expected that 200.000 insurance contracts to have been signed. This would benefit around 1 million total households. Up to present, eight different project partners (insurance companies) have been involved in the program. In its first phase, the GIIF offers premium supports, but organizers hope to be able to faze it out within the next two years.
According to Shadreck Mapfumo, GIIF Program Manager, the idea of the program is to move beyond payloads, and to concentrate on building capacity, given that the more institutions start offering insurance, the less premium have to be paid by the GIIF. Also, an extension of the GIIF to the Caribbean is being considered.
Index insurance uses a weather index (for example rainfall), and not a possible consequence of weather (for example crop failure) to determine payouts to the insured farmer.
The GIIF program has been presented on Tuesday 4th December by European Commission, ACP and the World Bank representatives at a conference organized by the Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid DG in Brussels.
Source: CTA, Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid
Read more
Find out more about Index Insurance
Index-based insurance in India: video
- ACP: no to the 11% cut in EU development fund
2012-12-06
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : ACP-EU Policy, Humanitarian Aid
At the last session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly taking place in Suriname, the Secretary General of the ACP Group Mohamed Ibn Chambas has expressed regret at the European Council’s proposal to cut development aid funding by more than 7%, compared to figures put forward by the European Commission. This includes a disproportionate 11% slash to the European Development Fund (EDF), which benefits 930 million people in ACP countries.
“While we appreciate the fiscal challenges that some of our European partners are facing, we do not believe that now is the time to be cutting back on development finance. To do so is rather short-sighted. Vulnerable communities in ACP countries are the worst hit by the global economic crisis – we should all show solidarity and responsibility with the world’s poorest during these times of need, rather than attempt to balance budgets at the cost of millions of lives,” stated the Secretary General.
He pointed out that the proposed budget would not allow the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals, which include within others the reducing by half of the number of people living in absolute poverty.
The Secretary General welcomed the stance of European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and his Commissioner for Development Cooperation Andris Piebalgs, who proposed at least €30 billion for EDF covering the period 2014-2020 (as compared to €26.9 billion, proposed by the Council).
Source: ACP Group
Read more
EU leaders urged to 'stand up and fight' for overseas aid
Barroso against development aid cuts
- Four countries exceed EU targets for international aid
2012-12-05
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Humanitarian Aid
Four countries- Sweeden, Luxembourg, Denmark and the Netherlands exceeded European Union targets for international development assistance last year, OECD analysis shows.
Sweden had the largest surplus, having spent $5.6 billion (€4.3 billion), or 1.02% gross national income for aid in 2011, while the EU has an overall target of 0,7%.
Luxembourg, which is the smallest of EU’s major donor nations, spent $413.4 million (€316.2 million) or 0.97% of GNI. Sub-Saharan African nations were the biggest beneficiary of Luxembourg’s aid though Vietnam, Nicaragua and El Salvador were also recipients.
Luxembourg’s contribution represents however only 0.48% of overall EU development aid in 2011. Germany has the largest European expenditures to development aid, with $14.5 billion (€11 billion) in 2011. The three next European main donors, ranked by total contribution were the UK, France, and the Netherlands.
The EU is collectively the largest world aid donor, providing $86 billion (€66 billion) in total both from national governments and EU institutions – or 55% of the world total in 2011, according to OECD figures.
European leaders have agreed to provide annual development aid equivalent to 0.7% of gross national income by 2015. But austerity measures could cost the EU’s aid budget nearly €10 billion for the seven-year period running from 2014 to 2020 under the latest proposals being discussed by EU leaders at their November summit in Brussels.
Source: Euractiv
Read more
Barroso against development aid cuts
Poor quality in European aid programs
- MEPs pave way to 2013 EU budget deal
2012-12-05
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : ACP-EU Policy
The European Parliament budget committee has given its thumbs up to a compromise agreement reached with member countries on the EU’s €137 billion budget for 2013.
MEPs also voted through a €9 billion increase in the 2012 budget to cover a shortfall in funds, which will be given in two tranches: the first of €6 billion by the end of the year and the remaining €3 billion early in 2013.
“This is a bad deal for Europe. With EU governments only agreeing to meet part of the shortfalls for 2012, the 2013 budget will have to fill the resulting €3 billion gap in payments to programmes in EU member states that have already been committed to” said MEP Helga Trüpel, the Greens budgetary spokesperson. “That will lead to inevitable shortfalls next year, perpetuating the current cycle,” she said.
The agreement is to be voted by both the European Parliament and the Council next week.
Source: Euractiv
Read more
A step closer to the EU Budget of 2013
Barroso against development aid cuts
- No consensus over 2030 EU renewables policy
2012-12-05
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Environment
Energy ministers from the 27 EU countries pledged to maintain momentum given by the European Commission to move beyond 20% greenhouse gas emission reductions for a post-2020 renewables policy framework.
However, after the Energy Council on Monday 3 December the Irish Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte said there was “no consensus around the table yet” on renewables targets for 2030, although discussions would continue under the Irish presidency, which begins on 1 January.
“A substantial body of states wants to maintain the momentum offered by Commission proposals but some – like Poland – are strongly opposed to binding targets being fixed after 2020,” he told reporters in Brussels.
EU states such as Denmark and the Netherlands favour extending the approach to 2030. But despite a call by the energy commissioner for a decision on new targets before 2014 at the launch of the EU’s energy roadmap a year ago, discussions are still ongoing.
Source: Euractiv
Read more
Commission´s low carbon Roadmap
Find out more about European Commission's proposal
- First pledges at Doha: £133m from UK to Africa
2012-12-05
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Environment
UK has promised a £133m (163,7m Euros) funding to Africa for adapting to climate change and reducing emissions, the British energy secretary announced on Tuesday 4 December at the Doha conference.
£98m (121m euro) are to be allocated to the Green Africa Power project, £14m (17m Euros) to small-scale renewable projects, mostly in Uganda, while £21m (25,7 m Euros) will fund water-supply projects.
NGOs representative declared themselves satisfied with UK’s announcement of increasing its contribution to the fast start finance after 2012, but asked for a longer-term commitment, up until 2015.
Source: The Guardian
Read more
Largest solar power plant in West Africa
Decrease in UK’s expenditures on development
- Lessons from EU engagement in Somalia
2012-12-04
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Humanitarian Aid, Aid effectiveness
In a new policy brief the European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) presents the main features of EU engagement in Somalia, a resource for those trying to draw lessons from previous EU missions and analyze their comparability with future actions
In Somalia, the EU has supported an African peace enforcement operation managed by the African Union financially, technically and politically. In parallel, the EU has directly trained Somali troops loyal to the Transitional Federal Government.
After that on 19 November, the Council of the EU welcomed a possible EU training mission for Mali, paving the way for the launch of an operation replicating the work done with Somali troops, it has been said that the EU approach to the crisis in Somalia may be a relevant model for action in Mali.
Source: EUISS
Read more
Read the report
Find out more about the
- EFSA: new explanatory brochure
2012-12-04
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Food Security
EFSA’s new brochure “Science protecting consumers from field to fork” provides a concise overview of the Authority’s role in the EU food safety system.
Europe’s food chain is continually evolving and EFSA’s remit has evolved to cover an increasingly complex number of areas related to the safety of the food chain: food-borne diseases, contaminants, animal health and welfare, plant protection, food production and distribution as well as food sector innovation to name a few.
Source: EFSA
Read more
Read the brochure
Find out more about EFSA
- EU-WHO anti-malaria project in Africa
2012-12-03
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Aid effectiveness, Health and Development, Humanitarian Aid
The EU and the World Health Organisation (WHO) carried out a project aimed at developing national regulatory frameworks for anti-malaria medicine quality in six African countries.
The EU Project "Working with African countries to ensure a pharmaceutical quality response to malaria" was implemented in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, and had as main purpose to develop technical specifications and professional guidance on the basis of which National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) could asses and ensure the quality of anti malaria medicine present on the market.
According to a study conducted in 2003 in the six target countries by the WHO more than 50% of the anti-malaria medicine did not respond basic quality requirements. At the end of the project in 2012 the total medicine failure rate dropped to 28,5%. The largest rate of failure was registered in Cameroon (with more than 60% rate of failure among tested medicine), while the smallest was registered in Ethiopia (with 0% failure rate).
Among the most important actions included in the project were: training regulators regarding quality requirements, providing technical specifications for labs developing anti-malaria medicines, providing support for manufacturers, inspecting sites and ingredients, and training health-professionals to monitor and report adverse drug reactions.
It is estimated that in 2010 there were 216 million cases of malaria, resulting in 655,000 deaths. 81% of these cases and 91% of deaths happened in Africa.
Source: CTA Brussels
Read more
Find out more about the coordinator of the project
EU's fight against Malaria
- New € 15 million EU funding for DRC
2012-12-03
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Humanitarian Aid, Aid effectiveness
The European Commission requested EU budgetary authorities to release € 15 million for increasing its humanitarian aid for the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as a response to recent escalation in fighting between the armed forces and the March 23 Movement (M23) reported to have worsened the humanitarian situation in the region. If the new founding is approved, the total humanitarian aid from the Commission to DRC would amount to almost €80 million for 2012.
The funding is aimed to help over 700.000, setting as priority life-saving activities such as cholera control, distribution of essential food and non-food items, shelter, health provision and protection.
Heavy fighting between M23 rebels and government forces (FARDC) in Eastern DRC broke out on 15 November, ending a virtual truce that had lasted on the frontlines for nearly three months. M23 has entered Goma on 20 November and controls now the city of 800,000 people and a key operational hub for humanitarian organisations throughout North Kivu.
There are 2.4 million internally displaced people within the country, and over 650 000 people have been displaced in eastern DRC since April 2012.
Source: European Commission
Read more
The situation in DRC
Humanitarian situation factsheet of DRC
- A step closer to the EU Budget of 2013
2012-12-03
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : ACP-EU Policy
COREPER (formed by the two working groups/committees of officials whose task is the preparation of meetings of the Council) has confirmed on Friday, 30 November that the Council is ready to approve a draft agreement on a global package on the EU Budget for 2013 and on Amending Budget 6 (for 2012), which was the result reached in trilogue on November 29 between the Council's and the European Parliament's negotiating teams and the Commission as the facilitator.
EP will follow further its own budgetary procedures. Should the EP relevant Committee (BUDG) on Tuesday December 4th endorse the agreement, the whole package will be resubmitted to COREPER next week as an I Item (of first importance) and then will be officially endorsed by the Council in the same week.
Source: Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU
Read more
Barroso against development aid cuts
EU leaders urged to 'stand up and fight' for overseas aid
- New maritime strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas
2012-12-03
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : ACP-EU Fisheries
The European Commission has adopted a maritime strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas that aims to boost smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in the region. The strategy rests on 4 pillars: a stronger blue economy, a healthier marine environment, a safer maritime space, and responsible fishing activities. It builds on the Commission's Blue Growth initiative and on the "Limassol Declaration on a marine and maritime agenda for growth and jobs", recently adopted by EU Ministers.
While recognizing the work already carried out by various organisations in the area, the new strategy underlines the need to step up cooperation. It will use existing resources, structures and regulations to foster cross-border partnerships and mobilize local, regional and national actors towards common objectives. The first initiative of this kind in the Mediterranean sea basin, the strategy will help develop the sea basin´s blue economy by coordinating financing and delivery mechanisms.
The strategy will be implemented in 2013 through an Action Plan to be jointly developed with the region's stakeholders.
The new strategy is part of the overall Integrated Maritime Policy of the EU, which already includes maritime strategies for the Baltic and the Atlantic Seas.
Source: European Commission
Read more
Find out more about the Blue Growth initiative
Find out more about the integrated strategy
- UK stops aid to Rwanda
2012-12-03
NEWSLETTER_CATEGORIES : Humanitarian Aid, Aid effectiveness
The UK International Development Secretary, Justine Greening, announced today that the UK Government will not release the £21 million (25,8 million Euro) aid payment to Rwanda, amid concerns about its involvement in the conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Greening designated the support for the M23 militia in DRC as a breach of the partnership principles set out in the Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries, resulting in freezing the aid for the month of December.
In the same time, The UK Government also announced that it will provide a further £18 million (22,2 million Euro) of support for immediate humanitarian needs in DRC which will provide 100,000 people with three months of emergency food assistance, as well as access to clean water, essential household items and emergency education. "We are committed to finding lasting solutions to the conflict in this region and will work with the Governments of Rwanda and DRC to secure a peaceful resolution to the situation in eastern DRC", Greening said.
Source: Department for International Development
Read more
Find out more about aid blockage
EU- Rwanda Partnership
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Ms Isolina BOTO
Head
CTA Brussels Office
39 rue Montoyer
1000 Brussels - Belgium
Tel: +32 (0) 2 513 74 36 (direct); Fax +32 (0) 2 511 38 68
E-mail: boto@cta.int
Website: http://www.cta.int/
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Brussels Briefings: http://brusselsbriefings.net/
Editor: Cristina Dobos (dobos@cta.int)
NOTE
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The opinions expressed in the comments and analysis are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CTA.
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