The meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), to be held on 18-19 May, is focusing on the impact of the economic and financial crisis on developing countries.

As developing countries face the full impact of the economic crisis, European governments are falling short by nearly €40bn on their aid promises, a new report from CONCORD, the European confederation of Relief and Development NGOs, reveals.

President Barack Obama's proposed budget for 2010 includes significant increases in development assistance and other civilian-oriented tools of U.S. foreign policy.

European and West African Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiators say they are making significant progress towards closing the new trade deal by mid-June 2009.

Eurostep launches DevWire.eu, a unique website set up to help journalists covering EU development cooperation. DevWire is a comprehensive one-stop shop presenting relevant, up-to-date and reliable news from a variety of sources, such as the European Institutions, NGOs, think tanks and media. The website is tailored to the needs of the media and aims to serve as a provider of story ideas and background information. To enhance accessibility and clarity the site is news- and events-oriented with a clear focus on topics of high media-relevance. Featured official documents, press releases and articles are chosen based on their newsworthiness. A North-South balance will expose reporters from industrialized countries to southern ideas and give journalists from developing countries easy access to EU policy documents.