12 Mar 2019
Virginia Mucchi
Head of Communications
vm@ecdpm.org
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Dear <<First name>>,
March is often a very productive month for ECDPM, so we have lots to tell you about this week.
First up, we have a paper on Somalia and in particular on the need to improve the link between the development, humanitarian aid and peacebuilding sectors working in the country, all while involving local actors more directly.
The need for more effective integration of development and humanitarian areas of work is all the more important when governments are devising policies to tackle forced displacement. This was one of the key findings of the team of experts – two of them from ECDPM – selected by the Finnish foreign ministry to evaluate the coherence between the country’s development policy and the objective of dealing with forced displacement.
Meanwhile, the head of ECDPM’s team working on agricultural transformation, Francesco Rampa, tells us in a video interview about his role as a member of the Task Force Rural Africa. This was a major opportunity to feed into and shape the policy of the European Commission on strengthening the partnership between Europe and the food and farming sector in Africa.
One of the findings highlighted by the task force is the need for a proper territorial development strategy. Clearly, a truly regional approach in handling essential resources is necessary. Ahead of Water Day, on 22 March, we have looked at Mali’s ambivalent attitudes towards the regional river basin organisations, as it tries to reconcile its national and regional interests in the management of the resource that is becoming scarcer every day: water.
All the best,
Virginia
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How can the international community work in a more integrated way while taking into account local realities in Somalia? In this paper, we analyse the incentives and interests – or lack thereof – for bridging security, humanitarian aid, peacebuilding and development cooperation. Read the paper >>
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| ECDPM’s James Mackie and Noemi Cascone were part of the team carrying out an evaluation on forced displacement and development policy in Finland. They conclude that the country has a lot of potential and means to promote closer links between humanitarian assistance, development cooperation and peacebuilding. Read the evaluation >> |
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The Task Force Rural Africa – a group of 11 experts, including ECDPM’s Francesco Rampa – delivered its final report on an Africa-Europe agenda for rural transformation to the European Commission last week. In this video, Francesco Rampa explains what the task force set out to do and what it recommends to the commission. Watch the video >>
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De nouveaux barrages, le changement climatique, la démographie ou encore l’arrivée de nouveaux partenaires comme la Chine modifient les équilibres, sur fond de pénurie en eau et de normes internationales controversées. Quel rôle joue le Mali dans la gouvernance des grands fleuves d'Afrique de l’Ouest? Lisez l’étude >>
Pour en savoir plus concernant notre cadre d’analyse d'économie politique, qui permet d’identifier les facteurs et les contraintes de l’intégration régionale, jetez un œil à la note méthodologique: ‘Aborder le développement régional autrement’.
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News from
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| Bård Drange from the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs in Oslo shares five obstacles that limit the impact of the EU’s responses to crises. Read the article >> |
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| EURACTIV - the European media network - covers development policy in English, from Brussels, in French, from Paris, and in German, from Berlin. |
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Other news and interesting reads
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Governance
 In a recent op-ed for The Guardian, French President Macron states: ‘Brexit is a lesson for all of us: it’s time for renewal’...
...and Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, chairwoman of the German Christian Democrats, highlights the need to get Europe right and calls the EU to improve its ability to act in foreign and security policy.
Al Jazeera explains the protests sparked by 82-year-old President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid for a fifth term in office in Algeria.
Peace and security
The Heidelberg Institute for International Conflict Research launched its Conflict Barometer 2018.
World leaders should do much more to secure space for women’s safe participation in public life, argues Isabelle Arradon from the International Crisis Group.
Migration
The European Commission took stock of progress on the European Agenda on Migration and set out the measures still needed to address immediate and future challenges.
Last month, a five-year South-South migration hub – currently one of the largest migration research projects in the world – kicked off in Accra.
At the Africa Resilience Forum, the African Development Bank called for strong responses to migration within Africa and globally.
According to a new report by members of the UK parliament, the UK’s migration policy is ‘disconnected and incoherent’, with the Home Office’s approach to asylum seekers and refugees undermining aid to displaced people in African countries, reports The Guardian.
Trade, finance and regional integration
Brookings’ Landry Signé argues that there is great potential to increase tourism-related investment in Africa, which can boost economic growth and job creation…
…while according to Jaime de Melo, the Africa Continental Free Trade Area is an opportunity to deepen cooperation on regional public goods such as peace and security, mining and energy.
Brexit
In an article for Global Finance, Andrew Woodman explores how Brexit could damage Asian and African economies.
According to a working paper by the Peterson Institute for International Economics, with Brexit everyone loses, but Britain loses the most.
EU officials last week said that talks with Britain on amending its Brexit deal with the EU have made no headway and no swift solution is in sight, reports EURACTIV.
Other
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Oxfam launched its gender inequality quiz.
In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, Andrew Jack explains why the ways we produce and consume food is no longer fit for purpose.
The World Resources Institute asks: Will women build the sustainable infrastructure of the future?
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