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Eurostep's activities towards Asia -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eurostep's activities towards the EU's co-operation with Asia were initiated from a consultation meeting in India in September 2000. The consultation was between Eurostep and a number of the member organisations' partner repersentatives from South Asia. This initiative was led by Hivos and was the third partner consultation between Eurostep and representatives from civil society organisations from developing countries. Poverty Eradication - South Asia's call for joint responsibility
The partner consultation brought together over 50 civil society representatives from South Asia and Europe. The aim of the meeting was to identify joint strategies for addressing poverty within South Asia, where more that 500 million people live in extreme poverty - more than 40% of the world's total. The meeting resulted in the Manesar Declaration . See also report of the meeting. Presenting the Manesar results to the European Commission
In May 2001 a delegation of representatives from the Manesar partner consultation at a meeting during the Third United Nations conference on Least Developed Countries that took place in Brussels. It resulted in a discussion with representatives of the European Commission. Report. The establishment of the South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE)
In December 2001 a small strategy meeting took place in Kathmandu, Nepal, bringing together representatives from 5 South Asian countries and Eurostep. The result was the launch of the South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) which has focal points in all 6 South Asian countries. SAAPE Position Statement. The review of the Regulation governing the EU's co-operation with Asia and Latin America
Following further discussions in Kathmandu in September 2002 a joint strategy was developed between SAAPE and Eurostep to follow the review of the Asia-Latin America Regulation that was initiated by the European Commission in July of that year. This resulted in a SAAPE delegation visiting Brussels in November 2002 to investigate the importance and the relevance of the review. During the visit of the delegation a proposal was made for the European Parliament's Development Committee to hold a Hearing on the Review. This Hearing took place on 19 February 2003. Joint Asia, Latin America and European civil society delegation
A delegation from Asia, Latin America and Europe visited the European Parliament, Member State representatives and the European Commission at the time of the Hearing. In preparation for the Hearing and the visit of the delegation a Joint paper was produced.
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