Voices & Views

Almost 80% of Cambodians live in rural areas with limited access to clean and affordable energy. The EU promotes sustainable consumption patterns and changes behaviours by supporting micro, small and medium-sized companies (MSMEs) to switch to solar energy sources.

In 2011, the Busan Principles defined what makes good-quality, effective development cooperation worldwide. However, in the ten years since Busan ODA (Official Development Assistance), programmes have become more fragmented and less effective. The Team Europe approach – adopted by the EU and its Member States in 2020 – is a commitment to delivering more and better impact through building joint coordinated, more effective European development cooperation. Capacity4dev spoke with country-level practitioners to learn from their experience on the Team Europe approach.

Migration et développement vont de pair. Depuis la nuit des temps, les humains ont essayé de surmonter l'adversité et d'améliorer leurs conditions économiques et sociales en se déplaçant vers d'autres lieux. Les moyens de communication et de transport modernes ont multiplié les possibilités de se déplacer, mais le COVID-19 a posé d'immenses défis aux migrants. Vous trouverez ci-dessous quelques bonnes pratiques de l'Afrique orientale et australe en la matière.

The EU has been supporting the global fight against COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, and it is committed to making national health systems more resilient. Partner countries have faced many challenges including the distribution of emergency supplies to strengthen local health systems, the launch of national vaccination campaigns and the boosting of economic recovery. The EU has supported its partners across the world wherever necessary and whenever possible, including in Zimbabwe.

The world celebrates the anniversary of the Declaration of Children’s Rights adopted on 20 November 1959 by the UN General Assembly. Although one in three people worldwide is a minor, most societies still undervalue the opinion of children and teens. However, young activists like Greta Thunberg and Francisco Vera prove that – for a better world – their voices matter.

The Middle East has faced political tension, military conflicts and other disputes for many years. It is, as a result, a region with one of the most enduring conflicts in the world. The EU has set out its policy on the Middle East in a series of high-level public statements including the Venice Declaration of 1980, the Berlin Declaration of 1999, the Seville Declaration and the Roadmap for Peace of 2002, as well as multiple Council conclusions . Against this backdrop, ongoing environmental challenges have severely affected local communities and showcased their transboundary repercussions on neighbouring regions and countries including Palestine, Israel and Jordan. Hence, in spite of regional conflicts, a new ground for cross-border collaboration has emerged with joint research providing supranational solutions to environmental issues.

Cities are home to more than half of the world’s population and 80% of the global economic output. They lead the way as pioneers on sustainability issues, developing innovative solutions for environmental, social and economic challenges. Better knowledge about specific local conditions allows the development and promotion of context-specific solutions that are more likely to resonate with citizens, thus having greater impact. Cities play a crucial role in achieving the SDGs, and city-to-city alliances are steadily emerging. The partnership between Bruges, Belgium, and Ebolowa, Cameroon, highlights the potential of synergies among the Global South and Global North.

COVID-19 has had a significant negative effect on the economy of Jamaica. As a developing country, the island is heavily reliant on tourism and remittances for revenue. Earnings from the tourism sector dropped sharply – due to low visitor arrivals since March 2020 – when the island closed its borders following its first positive COVID-19 case. The economic contraction and significant loss of revenues has bolstered the case for social intervention programmes to meet the needs of the most vulnerable citizens, many of whom live in inner-city areas.

Los patrones de consumo y de producción no sostenibles se encuentran en el centro de la triple crisis planetaria: cambio climático, pérdida de biodiversidad y contaminación La degradación medioambiental se ha vuelto aún más evidente durante la pandemia de COVID-19, lo que pone de relieve la fragilidad de nuestras sociedades. La UE y el PNUMA están aunando esfuerzos con múltiples partes interesadas para garantizar un futuro más verde.

Pour la protection des populations civiles, il est crucial que les troupes déployées dans les zones de guerre respectent le droit international des droits de l'homme (DIDH), le droit international humanitaire (DIH) et le droit des réfugiés (DDR). C'est ce qui est entrepris au Sahel par la force militaire conjointe, créée en 2017, par cinq pays de la région appelée Force Conjointe du G5 Sahel (FC-G5S). Les efforts de collaboration de ces pays pour lutter contre le terrorisme, la criminalité transnationale organisée et la traite des êtres humains sont soutenus par des mesures et des mécanismes concrets et sur mesure qui protègent les civils avec le soutien de l'ONU et de l'UE.

Adolescent pregnancy is a complex issue, often with severe consequences. Latin America has the second-highest teen fertility rate globally -well above Asia, North America, and Europe. For 15 years, the European Union's flagship programme for social cohesion in Latin America EUROsociAL+ has been providing technical support to policy reforms at the national and territorial level, with a strong emphasis on gender equality and women empowerment. On International Youth Skills Day, it is an opportunity to tackle this hugely important public health issue.

Illegal logging is a global problem with significant negative economic, environmental, and social impacts. Partner countries around the world, including in the Latin America region, have taken action and introduced measures to tackle illegal logging and mitigate its environmental and socio-economic repercussions. In this process, the EU stands as a partner via numerous interventions in forest-rich countries of Latin America, with Guatemala exemplifying these efforts.

An estimated 160 million children are engaged in child labour worldwide, the equivalent of 10% of the global child population. Of these, 70% are working in agriculture with a link to the fashion sector using goods to be exported to Europe. A recent EU-funded project has raised awareness among European consumers and engaged with policymakers and companies to improve the livelihoods of the smallholder farmers and workers behind these products.