01/03/2019 Standing Committee
Not only does development co-operation reduce inequalities, but it could also help to prevent a sharp increase in migration flows in the future, the Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Paris at Standing Committee level, said today.
Following the proposals of rapporteur Pierre-Alain Fridez (Switzerland, SOC), parliamentarians called on European governments to continue and step up their development co-operation and diversify funding, “putting emphasis on sustainable programmes for education, health services and infrastructure, with the understanding that results may only be tangible in the long term”.
Regions and civil society, for their part, should understand the importance of small-scale projects tailored to immediate, specific needs and consequently foster civil society initiatives, partnerships and physical exchanges which benefit all parties socially and culturally and provide capacity-building opportunities.
Parliamentarians urged all member states to work globally to limit climate change, which is estimated to force nearly 50 million people to leave their homes in African countries by 2050.