Swedish NGO Network outlines development challenges for EU Presidency

First published on the Euforic Blog

CONCORD Sweden is a joint platform of 38 Swedish NGOs with the task of monitoring and influencing the EU development policy. In the light of the beginning Swedish EU Presidency the network outlines the development program for the second half of 2009.

Policy coherence

According to Concord Sweden trade agreements should meet the requirements as laid down in the document EU Policy Coherence for Development. Negotiations should be flexible enough to allow developing countries to protect local food production and small-scale farmers. Furthermore regulations for foreign investments should consider human rights demands and the need of the poor. Also, Europe should take stringent measures to fight capital flight and tax havens.

Poverty eradication

Sweden should use its good reputation in the development aid context to convince member states to uphold their pledges of increased aid budgets and better quality. Aid should be demand-driven and owned by national governments with broad participation of parliaments, civil society and the media. Furthermore the network demands better coordinated, un-tied, climate-proofed and sustainable aid with a stronger emphasis on rural development and agriculture. Special attention should also be given to the rights of children including issues of sexual and reproductive health and rights.

Climate negotiations

Sweden should lead the way in bringing a just and development-friendly climate agreement that greatly reduces greenhouse gases and secures resources for the development of poor countries. Additional to the aid budgets European member states should take concrete steps to finance climate adaptation, support technology transfer to developing countries and take measures for forest protection. Also, they should commit themselves to reduce their emissions to at least 40% by 2020.

Human rights

Sweden stands for a rights-based approach in development cooperation and should therefore pursue the integration of human rights into all policy areas. Besides the support for democratization Concord Sweden demands a holistic human rights perspective, including economic, social and cultural, civil and political rights.

In a Calender on their website Concord Sweden lists information about seminars, events and meetings during the Swedish EU Presidency 2009, organised by CONCORD Sweden and its member organisations.

by Martin Behrens

See the Euforic EU Presidency newsfeed, as well as the newsfeed and dossier on Swedens development cooperation

 

Civil-military relations in peace operations: the Danish experience

First published on the Euforic Blog

It is common sense that armed conflicts can not be overcome by military means alone. There is the need to find ways to combine civil and military instruments in peace operations. However concepts to approaches of civil-military cooperation are diverse and common language or definitions to understand them need to be found.

A Synthesis Report of the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) combines the work of DIIS and partner organisations looking at civil-military engagement within Danish missions in Iraq (see separate study) and Afghanistan (see separate study). The report looks at the coherence challenge within and between Danish institutions involved, harmonization efforts with other international players, as well as at the alignment with local and national actors.

It recommends to increase sharing of analyses, lessons-learned and the development of common guidelines for civil-military relations, including standards for civil-military monitoring and evaluations. With regard to the host nation and local level the challenge remains to use local knowledge effectively. Additionally the linkages between national and regional levels need more attention. Furthermore understanding local perceptions of security and the protection of the population need higher priority. The report also makes very specific recommendations regarding the Danish institutional set-up and policy framework.

The synthesis report is part of DIIS research on ‘Civil-Military Relations within International Peace Operations’ with publications also concerning other European countries. See also for example: ‘Integrated National Approaches to International Operations. The cases of Denmark, UK and the Netherlands‘.

by Martin Behrens

See the Euforic newsfeed and dossier on peace and security

As well as ICCO on Democratization and Peacebuilding

 

German NGOs criticize military engagement in reconstructing Afghanistan

First published on the Euforic Blog

Venro, the German Association of NGDOs, criticize (pdf in German) the so called ‘Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) in Afghanistan under German command.

The teams, which usually consist of 250-300 soldiers plus some civil experts, aim to promote security and stability in the Afghan provinces and actively engage in reconstruction and humanitarian assistance, security sector reform and political dialogue with the Afghan population. According to Venro, these measures are meant to enhance the acceptance of the military thus increase force protection.

The German NGOs claim that the overlap of military and civil activities spoils the neutrality of NGOs thus worsening their security situation. While development actors are strictly guided by a humanitarian imperative, the German military which is increasingly engaging in combat missions follows clear political interests thus is part of the conflict environment.

The authors quote a statement by the International Red Cross: “The distinction between humanitarian, political and military action becomes blurred when armed forces are perceived as being humanitarian actors, when civilians are embedded into military structures, and when the impression is created that humanitarian organizations and their personnel are merely tools within integrated approaches to conflict management. “

The report demands that the German military concentrates on stabilizing and security activities which should primarily serve the Afghan population and leave humanitarian aid, reconstruction and development assistance to civil actors.

The report further argues that the advantages for force protection due to reconstruction activities of the military are hardly evident and are clearly outweighed by the risks for civil personnel. Additionally Venro demands a military exit strategy which would increase the credibility by showing that the international community is striving to bring peace and security to Afghanistan and does not only look for its own strategic interests.

by Martin Behrens

See the Euforic news alert and dossier for more on peace and security.

See also Euforic’s dossier and news alert on German’s international cooperation activities.

 

CONCORD: Manifesto for the 2009 European Parliament Elections

First published on the Euforic Blog

In June 2009, European citizens will elect their representatives to the European Parliament for the 2009-2014 term.

In a recent Manifesto, Concord calls on the future parliamentarians to take close regard to essential EU development policy objectives namely 1) sustainable development, 2) more and better aid and 3) democratic accountability.

1) In reference to the objective of sustainable development CONCORD urges the Parliament to push forward key targets of climate justice, which means to effectively slow down climate change while also helping developing countries to cover cost of adaptation. Furthermore commitments regarding gender equality need to be implemented and covered financially. Other issues broad to attention are a responsible Economic and Trade Policy, a responsible Food and Agricultural Policy, a Decent Work Agenda, sustainable Finance for Development, issues regarding migration as well as social and human development.

2) Concerning the target of more and better aid CONCORD urges the MEPs to ensure that EU aid targets are met (see Concords Aid Report: “No time to waste“). Furthermore commitments to democratic ownership, accountability and transparency should be strengthened as well as the respect for human and social rights which are absent in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness.

3) In the light of the policy goal of democratic accountability EU Parliamentarians should ensure the close participation of civil society in EU decision-making. Additionally CONCORD calls on the Parliament to issue a report on Development Education which is seen as essential to a strong, informed and actively engaged citizenry. Regarding future institutional reforms, as enshrined in the Lisbon Treaty, Parliamentarians should ensure that the post of an Commissioner for Development will not be sacrificed and remains an crucial voice in the College of the EU Commission.

See the Euforic newsfeed on Civil Society; and the Concord newsfeed