European Commission blueprint on post-2015 development agenda calls for framework addressing sustainability, poverty

Apr 11 2013

"The European Commission has unveiled a blueprint for global development aid and called on world leaders to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with an international aid framework based on sustainable and inclusive development tackling poverty at its roots," Inter Press Service reports. The European Report on Development 2013, commissioned by European states, "was prepared by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), German Development Institute/Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE) and the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM)," the news service notes, adding, "The European Commission (EC) stresses that it is not a reflection of any policy it may have on post-2015 aid and is designed to add to current debate on global development aid." European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, speaking in Brussels at the launch of the report, said, "Efforts to end poverty in the post-2015 world must go hand in hand with sustainable development. It is vital that aid is used in the best way to make effective change. ... Aid alone is not sufficient. We need to look beyond just financing," according to IPS (Stracansky, 4/10). The Guardian's "Global Development Professionals Network" provides a summary of the report's main findings (Mackie, 4/9).