Development co-operation policies
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 27 April 1995 (14th Sitting) (see Doc. 7274, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development; rapporteur: Mr Townend; and Doc. 7281, opinion of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Demography, Rapporteur: Mrs Aguiar). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 April 1995 (14th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
1. Relations between developed and developing countries are undergoing fundamental changes, calling for a new approach to development co-operation.
2. Among the major reasons behind these changes are not only the end of the cold war, but also the growing gap between a number of rapidly growing newly industrialised countries, with low labour costs and social standards, and other developing countries, notably in Africa, which are making little or no progress towards sustainable human development.
3. At the same time, mankind is engaged in a "race against time", especially when considering the links between the rampant growth of world population, under-development and environmental destruction _ causing certain countries and population strata to sink into ever deeper poverty and increasing migration pressures. As such, these problems require concerted international action, in accordance with
Recommendation 1260 (1995) on the International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 5-13 September 1994): follow-up by the Council of Europe and its member states, adopted by the Assembly in February 1995.
4. It is the wish of the Assembly that national development co-operation policies henceforth form part of an overall European scheme and that they take account of ecological constraints with a view to achieving sustainable development on a worldwide scale which demonstrates our mutual responsibilities for the planet's natural heritage.
5. The Assembly believes that access to markets, investment and borrowing is what matters most. It also holds that the effectiveness of aid is as important as strengthening the aid effort, properly integrated with the economic strategies, environmental requirements and public management methods of the recipient countries. It emphasises the need for a better public understanding of all the factors concerning aid, and the importance of encouraging more private aid from non-governmental organisations.
6. The Assembly therefore calls on member states to seek forthright answers to fundamental questions raised following decades of development co-operation _ especially why certain developing countries have developed much faster than others, even though they have received less assistance, or why others, which have received large quantities of aid, are poorer than in the past _ and to adapt their development co-operation policies accordingly.
7. Furthermore, the Assembly calls for development co-operation to be given new emphases in addition to those recommended in its
Resolution 981 (1992) on the new North-South relationship, aiming at concentration on more efficient use of resources on:
7.1 the least developed countries rather than the richer developing countries;
7.2 the underprivileged people in these countries, and women in particular, instead of the privileged;
7.3 basic needs which are normally not the object of private investment but which are nevertheless of great significance for economic development _ such as primary health care, primary education, the promotion of agriculture in rural areas, environmental protection and population control, notably by supporting the programme of action adopted by the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in September 1994.
8. The Assembly invites member states to make better use of scarce resources through:
8.1 refraining from giving other than humanitarian aid to warring countries, or official aid to countries where aid is spent on arms, or where it serves to maintain non-democratic regimes. Moreover, food aid should be reformed so as not to destroy local production in developing countries;
8.2 achieving better "aid-efficacy", notably by making assistance contingent on "good governance" in recipient countries - including democracy and human rights, the absence of corruption, social reform favouring the disadvantaged, economic reform in the direction of market principles, adequate protection of the environment, and more open trade including trade with other developing countries;
8.3 devoting an increased proportion of their aid to the social sectors;
8.4 co-ordinating their development co-operation policies, taking account of the notion of sustainable development and preferring policies which present an interest in terms of environmental protection.
9. Finally, the Assembly calls on member states of the Council of Europe and on the European Union to allow developing countries effective access to the markets of industrialised countries by fully realising the Uruguay Round agreement, and to encourage developing countries also to build up trade among themselves.
