- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 31 January 1985 (27th and 28th Sittings) (see Doc. 5339, opinion of the Political Affairs Committee on the report on the activities of OECD in 1983). Text adopted by the Assembly on 31 January 1985 (28th Sitting).
The Assembly,
1. Distressed by the tragic famine affecting entire populations in several African states and threatening the lives of millions of people ;
2. Convinced of the imperious need for the states of democratic Europe to show immediate and effective solidarity with these people by mobilising all their energies in the co-ordinated organisation of food aid ;
3. Recalling the practical measures recommended in paragraph 8 of its Lisbon Declaration, as well as the work done by its Committee on Agriculture in the interests of food aid and agricultural development in the Third World ;
4. Welcoming the recent report of OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) which demonstrates the falsity of suggestions of "aid weariness" among taxpayers in the developed world, in spite of the continuing recession ;
5. Noting the considerable effort being deployed in this field by the European Economic Community, and supporting the initiative taken by the European Council at its Dublin meeting to increase food aid to Africa from the Community and its members to 1.2 million tonnes of cereals until the next harvest and its appeal to other donor countries to match this effort in order that the total estimated need of 2 million tonnes will be met ;
6. Aware that emergency food aid can only tackle the effects of the present situation, and that it is necessary to eradicate the causes of that situation in the medium and long term ;
7. Preoccupied in this connection by the combined effects in Africa of the constant decrease in food production during the past decade, of the degradation of the environment and climatic conditions, and of ceaseless population growth ;
8. Underlining the important part played by non-governmental organisations, both national and international, which have managed on several occasions to engage the active participation of local populations in giving aid to Africa and fighting for its continued development,
9. Supports the action programme of the World Bank for long-term sustained development, in particular for agriculture and food production, and the Bank's proposal to set up a special facility for the financing of reform programmes of African nations, for which widespread support was already given at the meeting of the Development Assistance Committee of OECD in December 1984 ;
10. Invites the governments of the OECD member countries to co-ordinate their emergency relief and rehabilitation efforts in the seriously affected countries of Africa, in close liaison with the Secretary General of the United Nations, taking action in particular to ensure that :
a the help goes directly to the people affected ;
b transport difficulties are overcome by mobilising all the necessary technical resources ;
c the FAO proposal to set up food reserves in Africa is accepted by the donor countries ;
d the non-governmental organisations are encouraged and supported in their work of food aid support ;
e the World Bank's joint action programme and fund for sub-Saharan Africa be supported so that the various efforts are coherently managed within an overall long-term strategy for self-reliant, selfsustaining development which tackles the underlying causes of the present famine.
