Brussels, 18 October 2007. On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 43.7 million people from 127 countries around the world called for action to be taken to end poverty and exclusion. The initiative to STAND UP and SPEAK OUT was organised by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) and the Millennium Campaign as part of an ongoing series of actions to strengthen international action to eradicate poverty, diminish inequality and to ensure the Millennium Development Goals are achieved by the 2015 target.  

These actions take place as the EU is finalising how € 24 billion in aid will be used over the next 7 years in some of the poorest countries in the world. Civil society organisations have prepared a set of Benchmarks setting out their expectations of the result.  

As millions of people around the world stand up and call on the international community to fulfill their commitments to end poverty, the European Union is finalising its plans for using € 24 billion in aid for the 70 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), including most of the poorest.

Civil society organisations have been calling on the EU to ensure that it uses its aid in ways that will make a real difference to the millions of people living in poverty.  Civil society organisations have been urging the EU to proritise actions that will impact directly on the lives of people living in poverty, including ensuring that enough investment is going into basic health and education, and the promotion of gender equality. Given the endorsement of the Millennium Development Goals by the international community, including the EU, at the UN in 2000, the achievement of these goals should not only be a priority, but seen as an obligation to ensure the right to life and means to a livelihood.

In the coming weeks the EU will finalise national and regional strategies for its support to ACP countries.  Initial indications on the orientation of these strategies give little confidence that they address these needs.

While there is an obligation for civil society to be involved in the preparation of these strategies, the draft plans are kept secret.  From the information that has been obtained it is clear that while the strategies are supposed to be developed jointly between the EU and countries concerned - to reflect principles of ownership of strategies by developing countries, and an partnership between the two sides - the EU has ultimately imposed its decisions on the draft outcome.

The involvement of civil society in the preparatory process has been mixed.  Far too often it has been cursory at best. The EU has promoted governenace as a core focus in many of the strategies, and support for infrastructure is prominent. An increased emphasis on using General Budget Support (GBS) for many countries could contribute to delivering the MDGs, as long as the national development strategies give priority to their achievement.  And the commitment to promote gender equality through mainstreaming is inadequately reflected in the EU's strategies beyond the policy framework.

A set of Benchmarks has been produced by civil society organisations that identify the expectations that they have on the outcome of these national and regional plans. These Benchmarks, entitled Democratic Scrutiny, Benchmarks for the Scrutiny of EU Aid to Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Countries  will be used to assess the country and regional strategies once they are adopted, and in their implementation that follows.  The updated list or civil society organisations that have endorsed these Benchmarks can be found here.