EU Commission President Barroso holds press conference with Bono and Bob Geldof
Sommaire: 22 September 2008, New York - Following a meeting between José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Bono and Bob Geldof, the three held a joint press conference to raise awareness of the European Commission's recent proposal for financing a €1 billion Food Facility to provide seeds and fertilizer for the world's poorest farmers.
Press Speaking points - José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
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Bob Geldof(left) with José Manual Barroso and Bono at a European Commission Press Conference.
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On the positive side, the world is on track to halve global poverty by 2015.
From 2000 to 2005, more than 120 million people have escaped poverty.
2 million lives have been saved by reducing child mortality.
30 million additional families have access to water.
30 million additional children are going to school, and boys and girls are in equal numbers in school in many countries where gaps used to be very large.
Poverty has been reduced largely thanks to economic growth in Asia, including China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
But in other areas, and most particularly, in Sub-Saharan Africa, poverty reduction remains too slow, in spite of sustained economic growth.
Certainly because
growth alone can not do the work.
Development requires also good governance and policies that contribute to share the benefits of growth.
Despite commitments in Gleneagles, re-affirmed at successive summits, and most recently at the G8 in Hokkaido, aid volumes have recently declined, including from the EU, which represents 60% of world's development aid.
In 2007, and for the second year in a row, global aid provided by the 22 biggest donors in the world went down.
We must honour our pledges. Europe must reaffirm its leadership in aid. This not only "how much" but also "how well" aid is delivered and used.
In this sense, much remains to be done in scaling up aid and delivering it more effectively. The agenda of aid effectiveness - at European but also at global level - is one of my priorities.
The slowdown of the global economy together with oil and food price shocks poses additional challenges. It affects the economic prospects for poor countries, may reduce capital, investment, and, in our societies, it risks undermining support for development aid.
Concerning the increase in food prices, I recently proposed a
1 Billion € EU Food Facility.
These are funds which were originally earmarked for EU's agricultural subsidies but are not being used, precisely because of this increase in prices.
This is now under discussion among our member states and the European Parliament and I do hope that the EU will soon agree on this and by doing so it will re-affirm its leadership in aid and its commitment to Africa's development.
The initiative has been very much welcomed by all my interlocutors here in NY, from the UN to the World Bank, the African Union and NGOs.
Background:
The EU (EC + member states) is the biggest donor in the world, with 60% of the total, and with Official Development Assistance amounting to € 93 per citizen (Japan: €44, US: €53).
EU accounts for around 90% of worldwide commitments to scale up aid levels.
Around 90% of the increase in aid to Africa comes from the EU.
In 2005, Member States promised to reach 0.56% of ODA/GNI by 2010 and 0.7% ODA/GNI by 2015. In 2006, the EU reached 0.41% ODA/GNI, in 2007 0.38% ODA/GNI.
- Ref: PRESS08-008EN
- Source UE: Commission Européenne
- UN forum:
- Date: 22/9/2008
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