The Courier

The first Development Days (Dev Days) took place in Brussels in November 2006. The initiative met with great success and will be a key annual event in the calendar of development cooperation decision makers from now on.

What is Dev Days??

DEV Days can be seen as the Davos of Development Policy. It is a gathering of the most prominent actors involved in development cooperation; it is intended to produce a rich exchange of views and ideas between those who are engaged in the world of development aid; it is designed to enhance development policies and to ensure coherence and complementarity in the domain and, finally, it aims to enhance public awareness and to ensure that the general public are conscious of what the European Union does for development cooperation. The rich range of EU policies including the European Consensus on Development, the steps taken toward greater aid effectiveness, the strategies focussing on Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, all of which contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, must filter through to the general public. Indeed recent surveys have shown that whilst European Citizens see poverty reduction as the most important objective for development policy, they are not always aware of the active policies being pursued by the European Commission or their own Member States with this aim in mind.

DEV DAYS 2006 chose as its main topic ‘Africa on the move’. It attracted a star-studded attendance including Bishop Desmond Tutu, over 20 African Heads of State or Government and more than a thousand European decision-makers. High level officials from a number of international organisations, civil society representatives and acknowledged development experts also participated. The event was hosted by the European Commissioner responsible for Development, Louis Michel.

DEV DAYS 2007 has taken on a new theme. This time it will focus on Climate Change and Development. Discussion will target the implications of climate change on cooperation between the EU and its developing country partners. The main challenges Europeans and their partners are facing will be addressed through a series of events organised by the Commission.

Climate change has become an issue of crucial importance worldwide. The link between this and extreme weather conditions is well known. Since July 2007 alone the European Commission has provided over €24 million to the victims of natural disasters worldwide. It is now generally accepted that there can be no further meaningful progress without pausing to think about the ill effects of climate change. Which is why the Commission has chosen this theme for this year.

Following on from Montreal in 1987 and Kyoto in 1997, the Commission has played an active role in promoting international action to tackle climate change. In 2003 it launched a strategy and action plan to tackle the issue within the context of development cooperation. The Spring Council of 2007 put forward concrete proposals for a post-2012 international climate change agreement and committed itself to significant cuts in the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. In September 2007, the Commission proposed a global climate change alliance (GCCA) to help developing countries most affected. It proposes building a new alliance between the EU and the poor developing countries most affected and with the least capacity to deal with this new phenomenon.

DEV DAYS 2007 will provide the first occasion to discuss the GCCA with developing country partners.

Taking place in Lisbon at the invitation of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, details of participants, seminars, promotional stands and all other information is available at the following web-site address :
www.eudevdays.eu