... global poverty, a challenge for the

Austrian EU-Presidency

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Imprint

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Foreword p|03

Eradication of extreme poverty in the world p|04

Poverty eradication as the Priority ofEuropean Development Policy p|06

Ensuring all policy areas conform to theobjective of poverty eradication p|08

Project manifesto p|10

Contact information p|11

Content

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AUSTRIAN EU-PLATFORM OF NON-GOVERNMENTALDEVELOPMENT ORGANISATIONSLaudongasse 40, A - 1080 Vienna, www.eu-platform.at

EDITOR: Austrian EU-Platform of Non-Governmental Development OrganisationsDESIGN: Aleka Zichy / www.deA-publishing.com; PRINT: Ploetz, Druck & Verlagshaus GesmbH

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Foreword

THE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY has been on the political agenda at least since

the adoption of the UN Millennium Goals in 2000. As early as its signing date,

though, doubts emerged as to the ambitiousness of the goal of halving absolute

poverty while consciously accepting that the other half cannot find a way out of

it. Today this question is even more urgent.

In most African countries that are continuously found at the bottom of the

Human Development Index, reaching the Millennium Development Goals is out

of the question. We shall wait and see if the EU Strategy for Africa will bring a

change. In any case, it has to be observed with scepticism since the driving

forces seem to be development together with security on an equal footing.

Rightly, people in developing countries demand dignity and respect for human

rights:The mother with no opportunity to educate her child, the family unable

to feed itself from its own fields, or the handicapped woman deprived of the

opportunity to live a life of equal rights.

These justifiable demands cannot be met by the governments of developing

countries alone. An adequate response by the donor countries is also needed, in

particular by the European Union and its Member States, as the world’s biggest

donors of development aid.

The response is straightforward if:

the European Union and its Member States genuinely put poverty eradi-

cation at the centre of their development policies

the European Union and its Member States pursue coherent foreign poli-

cies, i.e. no longer allow foreign, economic and trade policies to coun-

teract the efforts of their own development policies

people in the European Union determine their own actions, being aware

of the inequalities and discrimination experienced by people in develo-

ping countries.

I hope and demand that during “its” EU presidency,Austria will make a substan-

tial step forward, for more justice in our world.

Johannes TRIMMEL

Chairman of the Austrian EU-Platform

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> All inhabitants of the European Union, the US, Canada and Australia suffer from hunger. Together withthe whole population of Russia and Japan they live in absolute poverty on less than one Euro per day.Most of them have no access to clean water. In five days all of Oslo’s inhabitants die from hunger or its immediate con-sequences. Within another five days Dublin’s citizens die, within a week everyone in Vladivostok is dead, and within fiveand a half days all of those who live in Denver are dead.

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This is no horror story or fantasy – the figures are real, only the settings are different...

More than one billion people on earth live in absolute poverty on less than one Euro per day. More than 800 million suffer from hunger or do not haveenough to eat on a regular basis. Many also do not have regular access to clean water. Not taking into account the impact of natural disasters or imme-diate violence, every day about 100,000 people die. From hunger or its direct consequences.

Eradication of extremepoverty in the world

Malip|4 Photo

Rwandap|5 Photo

In 2000 the United Nations launched - with their Millennium Development

Goals - the most ambitious offensive to-date in the global battle against pover-

ty, disease and inequality. The heads of State and Governments of the UN

Member States who signed the Millennium Declaration committed to eradicat-

ing extreme poverty and hunger in the world.

By 2015, it was declared, the number of people living on less than a dollar a day

would be halved. And the number of people suffering from extreme hunger

would also be halved.

The European Union has been the forerunner in international development

policies – more than half of all international development funds come from EU

institutions and its Member States. This leading role has to be maintained and

responsibility assumed in global efforts to achieve the Millennium Development

Goals.

Therefore the Austrian EU-Platform urges all European Union and Austrian

politicians to focus their efforts for the eradication of extreme global poverty in

an even more effective and determined manner by:

Making poverty eradication the priority of European development

policy!

Ensuring that all EU policies conform to the objective of poverty

eradication!

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> In spite of the fact that the terms “donor” and “donor countries” are commonly used, these expressionsdo not reflect reality.

The countries in the North are not donors, i.e. giving, but recipient countries. The development cooperation funds(around 60 billion US dollars a year) are only a drop in the ocean. Every year developing countries still lose about 700

Despite the fact that in 1970 most

Western European industrialised

countries accepted the need to

increase their respective “develop-

ment aid” budgets to 0.7% of GDP in

order to ensure that poverty was com-

bated efficiently and with sufficient

means, today only four EU Members -

the Netherlands, Luxembourg,

Denmark and Sweden – have met this

commitment. On the occasion of the

Millennium Declaration the 0.7% of

GDP demand was again raised. The

representatives of all European Union

Member States agreed to make avail-

able 0.7% of their respective gross

domestic product by 2015 for devel-

opment cooperation. In 2004, Austria

- the seventh richest country in the

world - was one of the worst per-

formers among the “old” EU Member

States (EU 15) with a contribution of

only 0.23%. This is not enough.

Concrete operational plans need to be

developed and put into practice.

Therefore it is necessary that

“fresh money” in the form of new,

untied funds is made available for

development efforts. Achieving the

0.7% target by including debt relief

does not provide developing coun-

tries with additional funds. Interest

and principal repayments made

already far exceed the amount of the

original loans. Between 1983 and

2001, developing countries repaid

386 billion US dollars more than they

received in new loans. Complete debt

relief would therefore substantially

improve the situation of the poorest

countries in the South.

Another problem is the way

funds are targeted. Currently only

about 50% of EU development aid

reaches the poorest countries in the

Poverty eradication asthe Priority of European Development Policy

Worldwide eradication ofextreme poverty - the stated objective ofEuropean development policy – can onlybe achieved if all development initiatives

are focused on poverty eradication.Our demand: More funds and better

programmes!

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did youknow?

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billion US dollars through trade impediments, i.e. quantity- and quality-based import restrictions. For example, sanitary standards for milk production inthe EU and third countries require that dairy products are manufactured from milk derived from cows that have been kept on farms and mechanicallymilked. India as one of the world’s largest producers of milk and dairy products cannot fulfil this criteria as most Indian smallholders milk their cows byhand. Therefore the majority of India’s milk output is being excluded from being exported to the EU.

world. Of the top ten recipient coun-

tries, only four - Ethiopia, Sudan,

Tanzania and Afghanistan – belong to

this category.

It is of particular importance

to invest funds in an effective and sus-

tainable manner, that is, to use them

for better programmes. At least 20%

of aid money should be used for basic

social services such as the provision of

basic health and education. In 2003

though, only 2% of the total EU devel-

opment budget was made available

for primary schooling. And still

770,000 children die from measles

each year - a disease that is considered

eradicated in Europe (with vaccina-

tions, providing life-long protection,

costing only 20 cents). < Also interesting:

5.5 billion US dollars wouldsubstantially improve thesituation of the 20 poorestcountries.

This equals approximatelythe construction costs ofEuro-Disneyland near Paris.

Eritreap|6 Photo, top

Malawip|6 Photo, bottom

East Africap|7 Photo, top

Nigerp|7 Photo, bottom left

East Africap|7 Photo, bottom right

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> To combat poverty effectively, respect for human rights has also to be taken into consideration.

The right of association, i.e. the right to form trade unions or to join them, is treated with contempt by many who sub-contract to transnational companies in developing countries. Attempts to achieve a fairer salary and to live a life in dig-

The left hand promotes and supports,

the right one destroys and holds back.

Coherence means the exact opposite:

the two of them are complementary

and cooperative. The theme of coher-

ence in development cooperation was

highlighted and given legal substance

Ensuring all policy areas conform tothe objective of poverty eradication

East Africap|8 Photo

Perup|9 Photo, top left

Indiap|9 Photo, bottom left

Thailandp|9 Photo, top right

Ecuadorp|9 Photo, top far right

All development efforts focussing on poverty era-dication are in vain if the objectives of other poli-

cy areas such as trade, commerce, foreign affairsand finance undermine or contradict them.

Our demand: More coherence!

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nity by founding trade unions can end with instant dismissal for many employees. Because of their own history, the new EU Member States bring valu-able experience in this field – human rights, democratisation, strengthening of civil society.

This knowledge is useful for the EU’s development cooperation and should consequently be integrated into all areas.

by the EU in its Maastricht (1992)

and Amsterdam (1997) Treaties. Poli-

cy coherence demands that other po-

licies are scrutinised for their impact

in developing countries. Development

policy should not be subordinated to

other priorities. Yet in reality the pic-

ture often looks different.

Ensuring that all policy areas

conform to development objectives

gets particularly difficult when trade

and agricultural agendas come into

play, as here central EU interests over-

lap with development goals.

A prime example of this is

concerning agricultural subsidies. On

the one hand, European development

policies promote local and regional

economic structures. Yet on the other

hand, the European Union heavily

subsidises its own agricultural prod-

ucts and exports leading to the

destruction of agricultural sectors,

arduously built local markets and thus

the livelihoods of about 90% of the

population in developing countries.

In the Dominican Republic the

import of European milk powder

ruined the great majority of national

producers: after a strongly growing

demand for milk products in the 90s

and the Dominican Republic’s acces-

sion to the World Trade Organisation

(WTO) in 1995, the increased

demand was satisfied primarily with

cheap imports of milk powder from

the EU. The cost of imported, sub-

sidised milk powder from the EU was

25% below that of regionally pro-

duced fresh milk. In only five years

the Dominican Republic became the

fifth largest importer of milk powder

from the EU – thousands of

Dominican farmers had to give up

their farms thus losing their liveli-

hood. <

Also interesting:

Annual developmentexpenditure amounts to60 billion US dollars andeven though global militaryexpenditure is 15 timeshigher (around 900 billionUS dollars a year), it isbeing discussed to financesecurity measures to com-bat terrorism out of the aidbudget. Such an act woulddeprive developmentcooperation of indispensablefunds.

Well reflected security poli-cies support and promotepoverty eradication.

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> Independent of formal political action, each of us, as individuals, has the potential to help

eradicate poverty.

Buying fair trade products (like coffee) for example, is a step towards improving working and living

conditions in developing countries.

POVERTY ERADICATION AS THE PRIORITY OF EUROPEAN

DEVELOPMENT POLICY

Worldwide eradication of extreme poverty - the stated objective of European

development policy – can only be achieved if all development initiatives are

focused on poverty eradication.

Our demand: More funds and better programmes!

ENSURING ALL POLICY AREAS CONFORM TO THE OBJECTIVE

OF POVERTY ERADICATION

All development efforts focussing on poverty eradication are in vain if the objec-

tives of other policy areas such as trade, commerce, foreign affairs and finance

undermine or contradict them.

Our demand: More coherence!

ManifestoThe Austrian EU-Platform urges all European Union and Austrian politicians tofocus their efforts for the ERADICATION OF EXTREME GLOBAL POVERTY in aneven more effective and determined manner:

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1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger2. Achieve universal primary education 3. Promote gender equality and empower women4. Reduce child mortality

6. Improve maternal health 7. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases7. Ensure environmental sustainability 8. Develop a global partnership for development

www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

RICH, POOR WORLD.Presidency project of the Austrian EU-Platformof Non-Governmental Development Organisations

Laudongasse 40 1080 Vienna

Tel +43 (0)1 / 40 555 15-320 or 329Fax +43 (0)1 / 40 555 19

www.richpoorworld.at

Bangladeshp|10 Photo, top

Nigerp|10 Photo, bottom

Nepalp|11 Photo

Contact information:

MILLENNIUMDEVELOPMENT

GOALS