Eurostep WeeklyRegular News Update from Eurostep, N° 523 6 October 2008 Sudan elected to chair Group of 77 at UN On Friday 26 September, the alliance of developing countries in the United Nations known as the Group of 77 voted to hand the 2009 chairmanship of the organisation to Sudan. The Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organisation of developing states in the UN, and now has 130 members including China. The group aims to provide a vehicle for the countries of the Global South to promote their collective economic interests and enhance their negotiating capacity within the UN, and to promote South-South cooperation for development. The election of Sudan as chair of the group will give strength to the country's wider diplomatic offensive at the UN to stall the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. At the group's ministerial meeting in New York on Friday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the Sudanese Vice-President and head of the Sudan delegation to the UN General Assembly, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, on securing the confidence of other group members, and said that he looked forward to working with him on "addressing common challenges". He continued: "And challenges we face many at this time. The weakening world economy, steep rises in food and energy prices and climate change all threaten to reverse previous development gains." "And with only seven years to the Millennium Development Goals target date, the world cannot afford to spare any effort. Consolidating the global partnership for development, which is Millennium Development Goal 8, is particularly important." Sources: EU development ministers agree to €1bn food facility for developing country farmersMeeting at the informal Bordeaux Council on 29-30 September, EU development ministers have agreed to the Commission's proposal for a €1 billion emergency food facility to tackle the food crisis in developing countries, and that the fund should be mobilised immediately. According to the press statement of the meeting's conclusions, the ministers "recognise the need to take action now, so that those vulnerable are given immediate support, so that the next years' harvests are not lost and so that there are sustainable improvements in agricultural productivity in future years, indispensable for facing increases in populations and consumption." However, how much of the €1 billion will be drawn from unused common agricultural policy (CAP) funds, as the Commission proposed, was a cause of division between member states, with Poland and the Czech Republic in particular expressing misgivings. The press statement also urged that a "long term concerted strategy" be defined, "to tackle the root causes of the crisis, relaunch sustainable food and small scale farming, support private sector development and investment, improve critical conditions in agricultural production, and to help developing countries be less vulnerable to volatile food prices and food shortages." Ministers also discussed the upcoming international Doha conference on development financing to be held in from 29 November to 2 December, and agreed on the need for a common and concerted EU position at the negotiations, which urges the renewal of the aid commitments made in Monterrey in 2002. European development NGOs CONCORD and Coordination South, who were invited to participate in the debate, called attention to the need to tackle capital leakage from developing countries to European tax havens, which are estimated to amount to €300 billion annually. Sources USAID bans contraceptive supplies to Marie Stopes International The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has issued a ban on the supplying of contraceptives to Marie Stopes International (MSI), one of the world's leading family planning organisations, which it accuses of condoning forced abortions in China. While USAID does not supply contraceptives directly to MSI, the ban will prevent African governments from allowing USAID-funded contraceptives to be distributed through clinics run by MSI. Assistant Administrator for Global Health Kent Hill, who issued the ban, said the action was necessary because MSI works with the Chinese Government, whom the US State Department accuses of "coercive abortion and involuntary sterilisations". MSI chief executive Dana Hovig has categorically denied that MSI supports coercive abortion or involuntary sterilisation in China or elsewhere. "To the contrary, MSI is one of the few organisations that has worked over the past decade to increase the availability of voluntary, client-centred family planning services in China," said Hovig. He labeled the USAID's action "purely political and dangerous to the lives of women." MSI stressed that the ban was likely to result in more abortions in Africa as the decrease in access to contraceptives would lead to more unwanted pregnancies. Hovig said: "At a time when world governments have pledged to increase their commitment to improving the health of women, only the Bush Administration could find logic in the idea that they can somehow reduce abortion and promote choice for women in China by causing more abortion and gutting choice for women in Africa." MSI says the ban will seriously hinder its operations in at least six African countries - Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Sources: Conference celebrating 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights On 7-8 Oct the UN, the European Commission and the European Parliament will jointly host a conference, named "60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the defenders take the floor", to mark the 60th anniversary of the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights activists from across the globe will attend the conference to share experience and discuss progress towards the goal of advancing human rights worldwide. Many prominent EU officials will be participating in the conference, including EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EP President Hans-Gert Pottering. According to the conference brochure, "After the official opening a first panel will focus on the mechanisms of protection, looking in particular into the implementation of the 1998 UN declaration on human rights defenders and of the EU guidelines on human rights defenders. A second panel will underline the importance of freedom of expression as a pillar of the human rights system and highlight the crucial contribution of journalists to the defence of human rights." A press conference will be held at the close of the conference with Luisa Morgantini, EP Vice-President for Human Rights, and Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Source: Civil society groups demand immediate halt to EU-India FTA negotiations In a statement submitted to key political leaders in India, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an alliance of civil society groups have called for the immediate end to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks between the EU and India which began in June 2007. The statement criticises the negotiation process for a lack of transparency and a failure to put poverty eradication and the protection of Indian workers as its priority. The South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) also released a separate statement which levels severe criticisms at the negotiations. According to SAAPE: "The long term and almost immediate elimination of trade tariffs would expose a wide range of sectors to European imports, disproportionately affecting India's 13 million small businesses. The European Commission's (EC) own initial impact assessment studies predict significant job losses in India, in sectors ranging from automobiles and paper products to processed foods." "In sectors which India has already partly liberalised, including retail and financial services, European companies are pushing for further access. However, several reports shows that further opening-up of the financial services market is likely to exacerbate the overall decline in bank lending to poor and marginalised groups. At the same time, the Indian government would be restricted from regulating large retailers, putting at risk the estimated 30-40 million people working in small shops and hawkers." SAAPE further calls on the European Parliament to "closely scrutinize the negotiations" to ensure that they take into account "the interests of the poor, vulnerable and the marginalised people of India." Source: Palestinian NGOs discuss EU's role in the peace process and development On 25-26 September at a workshop in Ramallah, facilitated by Eurostep, Palestinian NGOs identified the EU as a key actor in promoting development in Palestine. They welcomed the EU's shift from merely providing emergency assistance towards financing a sustainable development approach. However, they emphasised that the EU had to act on its recognition that Israeli occupation is the main obstacle to Palestine's development. This recognition, included in the EC's progress report of April this year, must be reflected in the EU's political approaches to the region, and in its relations with Israel, the NGOs concluded. The workshop took place the same day as the publication of a report by 21 aid agencies and humanitarian organisations, criticising the role of the Quartet (Russia, EU, UN and USA) in the peace process and concluding that it has failed to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground. The NGOs also called on the Palestinian Authority and the EU to include them in the assessment and planning processes that identify the developmental needs in their country, and the strategies for addressing these. The meeting, which brought together 30 NGOs, was the last of six national workshops organised in EU neighbourhood countries which brought together local NGOs to review the EU's cooperation with their countries. The workshop was organised by the Palestinian NGO Network and facilitated by Acsur and the secretariat of Eurostep. The intention of the organisations to have a presentation on the EU assistance to Palestine (PEGASE) did not materialise due to the unavailability of the EC representation in Palestine. Source:
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