A New Development Framework: How to Get There with the Right Means: ACP-EU Seminar in Yaounde calls for stronger civil society involvement in the future Sustainable Development Goals and their financing schemes
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the new leitmotif in development policy. Participants at the 14th Regional Seminar of ACP-EU economic and social actors organized by the European Economic and Social Committee i (EESC) in Yaoundé from 6 to 8 July strongly supported the establishment of a convergence framework for SDGs with poverty eradication and climate change mitigation at its centre. A considerable part of Official Development Aid needs to be directed to the poorest and most vulnerable countries, but the financing of development must also rely on other more substantial and innovative sources.
2015 a crucial year for development
With 3 global conferences at the highest level organised during the European Year of Development (those on development financing in Addis Ababa in mid-July, SDGs in New York in September, and climate change in Paris in December), organized civil society has to deliver the right messages. Around 90 representatives gathered at the seminar to discuss the role of organized civil society in the future Sustainable Development Goals, the financing for development that will allow implementing these goals, the post-2020 framework for ACP-EU relations, and the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Central African region.
Beyond Official Development Aid
In the run up to the 3rd High-Level UN Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa (13-16 July), rapporteur Ivan VOLEŠ presented the EESC opinion on the topic of the Seminar, stressing that all available resources must be exploited, including domestic resources (through reformed fiscal schemes), private-public partnerships (based on transparency and shared responsibilities), and more innovative tools such as micro financing and crowdfunding. The EESC will send a delegation to the Addis Conference to deliver these messages agreed by the EU civil society.
Participants at the Seminar concluded their work with the adoption of a Joint Declaration stressing the fundamental role that non-state actors play in development policy and relations between the EU and ACP countries. The Declaration will be shared with all EU institutions, the Central African governments and Economic and Social Councils, the African Union and the ACP Secretariat.
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