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Searches the Development Section of MyHeadlines for EU-Africa updates.
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Youth, Rural Development and ICT: ARDYIS Essay Contest Extended to 15 August 2010!
DG | Civil Society 01 08 2010 The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with FARA, Yam-Pukri, CAFAN, AYF, ANAFE, PAFPNET, has recently launched an essay writing contest on “Youth and ICTs in Agriculture and Rural Development”. The deadline to apply is extended to 15 August 2010. The essay contest is open to young people aged 18 - 25 years old, from urban or rural areas of Africa, Caribbean and the Pacific countries. Win up to 1,500 Euros, make your voice heard and improve your

Interview with the EC’s Head of Panafrican Issues and Institutions on the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. Europafrica Bulletin. 29 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 31 07 2010 Following Europafrica Bulletin’s interview with the then African Union Representative to the EU, H.E. Mahamat Saleh Annadif, on the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES), the latest issue of the Europafrica Bulletin poses the same questions to Philippe Darmuzey, Head of the Panafrican Issues and Institutions, Governance & Migration Unit at the European Commission. Darmuzey argues that the uniquely continentally-focused joint strategy is the most ambitious, comprehensive and flexible in comparison with Africa’s other strategic partnerships.

Négociations APE avec l'UE. L'Afrique centrale réunit à Kinshasa. Xinhuanet via BATOTO. 29 juillet 2010
ECDPM | News 30 07 2010 En prélude à la relance des négociations annoncée bientôt avec l'Union européenne (UE) sur l'Accord de partenariat économique (APE), les négociateurs de l'Afrique centrale se réunissent ce jeudi à Kinshasa en République démocratique du Congo (RDC) pour harmoniser leurs points de vue, selon une source proche du dossier.

Albright Reaffirms Need to Work at Preserving 'Gift of Freedom'
NDI 30 07 2010 The fragility of freedom and how to preserve it was one of the themes explored at the 10th anniversary meeting of the Community of Democracies (CoD), a global coalition of democratic countries, meeting July 2-4 in Krakow, Poland. NDI Chairman Madeleine K. Albright, who as U.S. secretary of state was an initiator of the organization along with the late Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek, returned to Poland for the gathering. In 2000 in Warsaw, ministerial delegations from 106 countries signed a declaration, "Toward the Community of Democracies," with the aim of demonstrating methods of support to countries striving for democracy and freedom. The Krakow meeting was attended by 80 official delegations from around the world, including 40 at the ministerial level, as well as 200 civil society activists from Burma, Zimbabwe, China, Russia and Cuba, among other places. Also attending were parliamentarians from Europe, Africa and North America who are participants in the community's Parliamentary Forum, which was launched last March at the initiative of Lithuania, which currently holds the CoD chairmanship.

New Technologies Create Opportunities, Risks in Democracy Support

In the decade since the founding of the Community of Democracies, a major change has been the explosion of technology and the tools it has created, both for those supporting the free flow of ideas and other democratic values and for authoritarian states interested in the opposite, curtailing information and suppressing human rights. Speaking on a panel in Krakow, NDI's chief technology officer, Chris Spence, explored the role of technology in democratic development and the risks its use poses in closed societies. "Our view is that technologies are clearly a net positive for democracy...because of the important role [they] can play in consolidating democracy in fragile and transitional democratic states," he said. Read more »

The Krakow meeting focused on challenges to democracy and, specifically, how to overcome obstacles in the path of building civil society in the contemporary world. The CoD is developing a global democracy work plan focusing on such areas as civil society protections; gender equality and women's rights; poverty, development and democracy; promoting democracy and responding to national and transnational threats; and regional cooperation. Albright attributed the success of the first gathering in 2000 to Geremek, who died in 2008 and for whom a democracy award has now been named. "In his welcoming remarks," she said, "he declared that 'the emergence of democracy was the most important development of the 20th century.' But he also reminded us that the gift of freedom was never fully safe – because from one direction or another, the principles of freedom will always be opposed. He argued, therefore, that those who are blessed to live in a democracy have an obligation to repay that blessing by upholding free institutions and by teaching, protecting, and cherishing democratic values." Albright presented the Geremek Award to Father José Conrado Rodriguez of Cuba, a minister in the impoverished city of Santiago de Cuba. Father José, she said, "reminds us that democracy – at its best – is more than just another system of government... Democracy is grounded in a belief that the legitimate power of governance comes not from the barrel of a gun, or from the means to arrest and to brutalize prisoners, or from the capacity to punish those who dare to voice their discontent. Power, to be legitimate, must come from the people." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who delivered a keynote address, noted "three essential elements of a free nation – representative government, a well-functioning market and civil society – that work like three legs of a stool." But "walls are closing in" on civic organizations in an increasing number of countries, she said, citing Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Venezuela, Russia, China and Egypt. "Over the last six years, 50 governments have issued new restrictions against NGOs, and the list of countries where civil society faces resistance is growing longer." "An attack on civic activism and civil society is an attack on democracy," she said. "...it doesn't matter whether the goal is better laws or lower crime or cleaner air or social justice or consumer protection or entrepreneurship and innovation, societies move forward when the citizens that make up these groups are empowered to transform common interests into common actions that serve the common good." The next ministerial level meeting will take place in 2011 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Related:

Pictured above: Lech Walesa and Madeleine Albright greet each other at the 10th anniversary meeting of the Community of Democracies. Photo courtesy of Pavol Demes. Published on July 16, 2010

New Technologies Create Opportunities, Risks in Democracy Support
NDI 30 07 2010 In the decade since the founding of the Community of Democracies, which met June 2-4 in Poland, a major change has been the explosion of technology and the tools it has created, both for those supporting the free flow of ideas and other democratic values and for authoritarian states interested in the opposite, curtailing information and suppressing human rights.
Speaking on a panel in Krakow, NDI's chief technology officer, Chris Spence, explored the role of technology in democratic development and the risks its use poses in closed societies. "Our view is that technologies are clearly a net positive for democracy...because of the important role [they] can play in consolidating democracy in fragile and transitional democratic states," he said. In such places, democracy, which hasn't fully taken root, "risks backsliding toward authoritarianism if nascent democratic institutions are not strengthened. Creative uses of technology in these environments can and do help make these institutions more efficient, accessible, transparent and effective and thus help democracy deliver for their citizens." Spence noted that in the early 1990s NDI began to recognize the important role technology plays in politics and democratic development, and began to develop creative ways to integrate technology tools and approaches into its democracy support programs. He cited two current NDI programs:

A tool, www.afghanistanelectiondata.org, for analyzing Afghanistan election results data in the aftermath of last summer's flawed presidential election. It was developed to pinpoint fraud, to try to hold the government accountable for better elections, and to help civic groups and political parties oversee the next round of parliamentary elections slated for September. Embracing an "open data" approach, the site uses information provided by the Afghanistan government in a 2,500-page PDF document that was difficult to use and combines that with demographic, ethnographic, topographic and security information from other sources. The site makes the data easier to analyze using new visualization tools including maps, graphs and other data filtering tools.
A Citizen Hotline program in Uganda that allows citizens to use text messaging to report problems with voter registration for the country's 2011 elections that will be combined with a domestic election monitoring program on election day. The Hotline uses a technique, known as "crowd sourcing," to pinpoint the location of complaints. This is an evolving new approach to increasing citizen participation and oversight of elections and other political processes, including human rights monitoring, budget monitoring, and any number of others.

"The introduction of these tools in the absence of good civic or political organization is not enough."

Spence noted that while technology tools are useful and frequently necessary, to be most effective in bringing about political reform, they must be used to support well-organized political activities by strong organizations, typically civic groups or political parties, with long-term plans for change. "The introduction of these tools in the absence of good civic or political organization is not enough," he said. Spence also addressed the risks associated with the introduction of technology tools in authoritarian states, which usually have technological advantages over their citizens. "In closed societies, citizens and civic groups are at a technological disadvantage and need to be very deliberate in building communication strategies that take into account a full understanding of risk," he said. "They must include a combination of the right technologies and procedures that are designed for their specific environment." The “New Technologies for Democracy” panel was moderated by Teymoor Nabili of Al-Jazeera. Panelists included Matt Harrison from the Prometheus Institute; Walid Al-Saqaf, an online journalist and activist from Yemen; Susan Pointer, director of public policy and government relations at Google for Southern and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Wael Abbas, a well-known Egyptian blogger and activist. Related:

Pictured above: A map from www.afghanistanelectiondata.org Published on July 16, 2010

Africa delegates want raw material export ban. Daily Monitor, Uganda. 23 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 29 07 2010 Participants at a meeting of the African Union’s Trade and Industry Commission yesterday proposed that the continent adopts policies to discourage the export of raw materials to the developed world. During a media briefing at Munyonyo, Kampala, Ms Elizabeth Tankeu, the Trade and Industry Commissioner, said: “We have been exporting our raw materials to Europe since the colonial times when the Europeans came to Africa. They still come here for our resources but we have remained the poorest continent”. “The European Union through its Economic Partnership Agreements wants Africa to trade with them at zero per cent tariffs. They say they want reciprocal trade. But we are saying Africa still needs a lot in place for reciprocation to begin. We’re telling them we are not going to continue exporting raw materials.”

TRADE-NAMIBIA: EU Backs Off on EPA
IPS | Development 29 07 2010 European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht has appeased leading European civil society organisations about the negotiations for a Southern African economic partnership agreement (EPA), promising "not to put undue pressure" on countries.

Lessons from South Africa's trade negotiations with the European Union
Eldis | General 28 07 2010 As North-South trading arrangements proliferate, many fear that negotiators from developing countries lack the ability and bargaining power to defend ...

Third Africa-EU Summit to Focus on Economic Growth, Security. The Tripoli Post via europafrica. 26 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 27 07 2010 The third Africa-European Union summit scheduled to be held in Libya late this year will focus on the economic growth and peace and security of the African continent, a top official of the African Union (AU) Commission said on Wednesday. Rene N’Guettia Kouassi, director for economic affairs at the AU Commission told reporters here that there is also emerging consensus that key issues like climate change and food security should be discussed at the meeting that will be held from Nov. 29 to 30. Economic Partnership Agreements between Africa and the EU could also be on the agenda.

The African, Caribbean and Pacific States Observatory on Migration. Improving migration research in ACP countries for better policy making. Europe's World. 16 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 27 07 2010 The ACP Observatory on Migration is a new institution aimed at producing reliable and harmonized research and data on African, Caribbean and Pacific countries migration flows. It will enhance networking and cooperation among researchers to obtain a better knowlegde of migration flows and improve the migration contribution to development in ACP countries.

ACP ambassadors and senior representatives meet the European Investment Bank. EIB. 22 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 27 07 2010 On 22 July 2010 the European Investment Bank welcomed the representatives of the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to Luxembourg. The 80-strong delegation consisted of ambassadors, chargés d'affaires and other diplomats.

European Commission proposes to gradually resume development aid to Niger. 26 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 27 07 2010 The European Commission has proposed to the Council to close consultations under article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement – the political framework for EU relations with countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific - thereby offering to resume progressively delivery of development aid to Niger alongside the return to the constitutional order in the country. Development assistance for the Republic of Niger has been suspended since the end of the last year following a constitutional crisis there. However, humanitarian and emergency aid has remained available and was increased last June, to address the food crisis.

EU Development Commissioner pushes for tangible results on maternal and child health at the African Union Summit. 23 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 26 07 2010 From 24th to 26th July, European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, will address the 15th African Union (AU) Summit in Kampala, Uganda. Maternal, infant and child health will be the core theme of the meeting gathering the 53 African Union Member States. The EU Commissioner will stress the need for concrete progress in these areas. Among the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), child and maternal health (MDGs 4 and 5) are those where many developing countries are most off track. This is important as both Africa and the EU are preparing for the High Level Summit on MDGs that will take place in New York on 20-22 September.

Four major European partners commit to ECA 2010-2012 Business Plan. EAC. 19 July 2010
ECDPM | News 22 07 2010 In a major expression of partnership with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), four European funding partners – Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK – have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under the Joint Financing Arrangement (JFA) to provide substantial support to the ECA Business Plan 2010-2012.

Swaziland Trade Minister says summit was not about EPAs. Next summit to be held in October. Tralac. 21 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 22 07 2010 Swaziland’s Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Jabulile Mashwama, has said that last week’s meeting of heads of state and governments of Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member countries was not about resolution of issues surrounding the contentious Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with the European Union (EU). “It should be known that the meeting was about all SACU member states finding a solution in all the 10-plus issues that were brought before the heads of state and governments.” “It is certainly not true that Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland agreed to anything in isolation on this matter. This was about finding a win-win approach in all the problems brought before the summit. In fact, the heads of state directed the ministers to develop such strategies and present them before the next summit which will be held before the end of October.

ECDPM on Joining up Africa: Support to Regional Integration
Euforic | Aid effectiveness 21 07 2010 "This report summarises the main findings of a study conducted by ECDPM in preparation for the Joining up Africa (JUA) conference held in London on 3-4 March 2010. It addresses key issues relating to aid effectiveness at the regional level in view of improving donor support to regional integration processes in Africa." ( 19.07.2010 - ECDPM)

DW Project of the Week: Climate aides in South Africa
Euforic | Aid effectiveness 21 07 2010 09.06.2010 - Deutsche Welle

1 Day Workshop: MDGs Review and Beyond 2015
Euforic | Aid effectiveness 21 07 2010 This master class is to convene discussions on three questions related to the MDGs. A cross-cutting focus would be a particular emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa, 21 May 2010, Bonn

South African Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Jabulile Mashwama: ‘Internal interests first, EPA later’
Euforic | Aid effectiveness 21 07 2010 19.01.2010 - Swazi Observer -

European financial markets chief pledges Africa protection. Afrique en ligne via europafrica. 20 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 21 07 2010 Europe’s top internal markets official, Michel Barnier, has pledged to institute special measures to protect African countries from speculation, which is responsible for the fall in key commodity prices and the rise in food prices.

SACU Advocates Win-Win Solution on EPA Negotiations. allAfrica.com. 19 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 21 07 2010 Southern Africa Customs Union has reached a common agreement on how to proceed with the European Union on Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations. This is the position that the presidents of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and South Africa agreed to earlier, and would ensure that there is no difference in tariffs or rules of origin among SACU-member countries when negotiating with the EU. The next negotiating meeting is scheduled for Brussels in the last week of this month to discuss rules of origin and tariffs.

EU and ACP non-state actors insist on food security as a human right. EC Press Release. 14 July 2010.
ECDPM | News 21 07 2010 The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and their partners from across Africa met at the 11th Regional Seminar of ACP-EU Economic and Social Interest Groups in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They addressed the revision of the Cotonou Agreement and called for greater involvement of non-state actors in its implementation. They broached the challenging issues of Economic Partnership Agreements for the East African Community (EAC) and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) regions, sustainable food security and the EU-Africa Strategy.

China Foreign Investments in Africa
DG | Governance 20 07 2010 Who exactly defines, asserts, defend and protect continental Africa’s best interests? Why are too many Africans aping, and regurgitating acerbic criticisms of China by America and European nations, western nations who have in fact, had 600 years of dominating Africa? Western nations which have enjoyed unbridled and unmitigated monopoly of African human and material resources? China has in recent years increased her presence globally, and more particularly so, on the African continent. China as a

The EU Commitment to Deliver Aid for Trade in West Africa and Support the EPA Development Programme (PAPED)
EADI | Research highlights 07 07 2010 2010/05 - European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM); Discussion Paper 96

Discussion Paper 94: What next for the Joint Africa-EU Strategy? Perspectives on revitalising an innovative framework A Scoping Paper
EADI | Research highlights 07 07 2010 2010/03 - European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM); Discussion Paper 94; Authors: Jean Bossuyt & Andrew Sherriff

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