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ACP COURIER Readers' Survey 2010
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Music against poverty: a competition for young composers
An EU competition open to young Europeans between 15 and 25 for the composing of an original song on the theme of any of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG), has been launched.The deadline for entries which must be...[more]
European aid report 2010 released
The European Commission adopted recently its Annual Report 2010 on the implementation of the EU's development and external assistance policies in 2009. Specific instruments were set up in the year to help the world's poorest to...[more]
New Super-Structure for Empowerment of Women
The United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously on July 2 to create a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide. The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the...[more]
Technology-enhanced education in Africa
“How would I be able to enjoy seeing Ghana beat Germany ‘live’ in the World Cup Football final in my tent in the Sahara Desert?” This question was posed by Professor Anthony Rest of Southampton University, participating at a...[more]
African cotton producers hanging by a thread, say ACP ministers
The recent meeting of the Council of Ministers of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, held in Ouagadougou from 17 to 20 June 2010, expressed its regret that the World Trade Organization (WTO) is ignoring the plight of...[more]
EU running short of minerals for high-tech industry?
Fears that the EU will face a future shortage of some raw materials, especially those used to make products for the high tech industry, could lead to new EU measures to help ensure future access. Supplies of tantalum...[more]
EU Seeks donors for food security projects
The EU has launched a ‘Food Facility Auction Floor’. It is putting up for funding by other donors, food security projects it cannot finance under its own over-stretched budget. Eighty-four of these ‘ready-to-go’ projects can be...[more]
EU pledges €46M in food aid to Sudan
The European Union has agreed to provide €46 million to a UN agency (the World Food Program – WFP) to enhance its food assistance initiatives in the conflict-stricken regions of Sudan. An agreement to this effect was signed in...[more]
Time for fresh EU thinking on development, says Commissioner Andris Piebalgs
Andris Piebalgs, the EU’s Development Commissioner wants to work with EU member state to bring new ideas on development to the table. He outlines these in a letter drafted to all 27 EU Foreign Ministers ahead of their 14 June...[more]
New head for development in European Commission
Fokion Fotiadis will be Director General for Development in the European Commission (EC) from 1 July 2010, looking after affairs with 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, The Courier has learned. Fotiadis replaces...[more]
NGOs want to boost the growth of fair trade flowers
Campaigners protesting against the inhumane working conditions and long working hours in the flower industry handed out fair trade flowers produced under the Flower Label Program to European Parliamentarians in Brussels, 1 June...[more]
Will the EU’s new Treaty be negative for the ACP?
Fears that the European Union’s new Lisbon Treaty could negatively impact the 78 group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations, was voiced by the ACP’s Secretary General, Mohammed Ibn Chambas at a seminar organised at the...[more]
NGO regret at naval operation focus of EU High Representative’s visit to East Africa
For her first visit to the African continent as the European Union’s (EU) High Representative, Catherine Ashton, chose to visit countries affected by piracy off the east coast of the continent; Kenya, Tanzania and the Seychelles....[more]
EU-Congo agreement against illegal timber trade
The European Union (EU) and the Republic of Congo signed, on 18 May, a forest law enforcement governance and trade voluntary partnership agreement under the FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade) programme. The...[more]
Caribbean/EU climate change Summit set
A Caribbean-European Union (EU) Summit to discuss the region’s climate change worries is to be scheduled for the second half of 2010, confirmed President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, in the wake of the Summit of...[more]
L'UE affiche un déficit commercial de 9 milliards d’euros avec les pays de l’Amérique latine et des Caraïbes
A la veille du sommet entre l'Union européenne (UE) et les pays d'Amérique latine et des Caraïbes (ALC), Eurostat, l'office statistique de l'UE, a publié les dernières données relatives entre les 33 pays de l'ALC et les 27...[more]
‘Visionary Africa’: a summer-long celebration in Brussels of African independence
Over the summer months (30 May-26 September), ‘Visionary Africa’ will celebrate the independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 16 other African countries with music, film, photography and much more. Organised by...[more]
European Development Finance Institutions step up climate fund effort
Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and 12 European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the new Interact Climate Change Fund (ICCF) at a meeting...[more]
EC allocates €1M to tackle measles epidemic in Zimbabwe
The European Commission has approved an aid package of € 1 million for the vaccination of all Zimbabwean children aged between 6 months and 15 years. Since September 2009, Zimbabwe is facing a large-scale outbreak of measles....[more]
EIB puts €11.65M into microfinance fund to spur growth in Africa
The Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank (EIB) is to provide €11.65M ($US15M) for microfinance in Africa as a leading investor in REGMIFA, a fund developed by donor finance institutions to improve access to finance in...[more]
EU farm policy needs reform to meet MDGs, say anti-poverty campaigners
The European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) needs to be reformed urgently if the eight Millennium Goals are to be met by 2015. The call came at a seminar organised by the Millennium Campaign for Europe – the...[more]
EU projects for Haiti’s reconstruction underway
European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, signed five funding agreements for Haiti’s reconstruction totalling some €200M during a visit to the earthquake struck country, April 23-24. It means that the reconstruction...[more]
Child immunisation in Nigerian state jumps from 1.7 to 77 per cent as a result of EU project
The EU-PRIME (EU Partnership to reinforce immunisation efficiency) programme helped increase routine immunisation in Kebbi State, Nigeria from less than 1.7 per cent in 2003 to 77 per cent in 2009, one of the highest in the...[more]
