Dear <<First name>>,

European development ministers are meeting in Brussels later this week to look at ways to keep the momentum for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and link it to the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change. It seems like a very timely and perfectly sensible thing to do, but it does not make implementation any easier.

Connecting the three pillars of sustainable development – economic, environmental and social – as spelled out in the 2030 Agenda, has proven much tougher than people might have anticipated. In a brief for the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB), James Mackie has outlined some of the main challenges of policy coherence (a crucial element of Sustainable Development Goal 17) and suggested how to overcome the lull of progress.

The link between climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals goes well beyond Goal 13 on climate action. Hanne Knaepen talks to us about Lake Naivasha in Kenya and the issues related to the use and management of water. Here as well, the alignment of policies for different sectors such as agriculture, waste management and climate responses is imperative.

Finally, the European Think Tanks Group needs your help. More information below.

All the best,

Virginia

Where next with promoting policy coherence under the 2030 Agenda?

What are the four most common pitfalls in promoting policy coherence? And how can these be dealt with, in particular when tackling policy coherence for sustainable development? Read the brief >>

We collected our work on policy coherence in this dossier.

Focus on South Africa’s election

Following the victory of the ANC party, the Washington Post asks whether South Africa’s Ramaphosa can turn his government around.

African Arguments states that South Africa’s election shook the country’s major parties but did not erode their positions.

South Africa is at an important juncture in its international leadership and foreign policy, according to Aditi Lalbahadur from the South African Institute of International Affairs.

Pretoria wants to take back the lead of the ‘African renaissance’, according to Garth Le Pere in an article for the Italian Institute for International Political Studies.


Sibiu summit

Among other commitments, the declaration by the ministers who attended the Sibiu summit last week reiterates the importance for Europe to be a responsible global leader…

...but EURACTIV calls it a vague declaration on the future of Europe.

 Carnegie’s Judy Dempsey asks several experts whether they think EU reform will happen or not.


Governance

African Arguments sheds light on how Uganda’s government is clamping down heavily on opposition figure Bobi Wine.

Redie Bereketeab explains how women’s role in the protests will be among the factors determining what will happen in Sudan.


Climate change

More than 30 UN agencies and entities have issued a statement calling action against climate change a ‘moral, ethical and economic imperative’...

…and, in a joint communiqué, the UN and African Union committed to a ‘common battle’ for development and climate change financing.

Eight European countries have called for spending 25% of the entire EU budget on fighting climate change, according to the BBC.

Elections must put Europe on a path to a green future, states Simone Tagliapietra in a blog post for Bruegel.

 The World Research Institute explains how the International Monetary Fund is waking up to the financial risks of the climate crisis.


North Africa

By looking at former intelligence chief Muhammad Mediène, Brookings unveils Algeria’s dark side…

 ...and Jeune Afrique analyses the ‘conspiracy theory’ discourse resurfacing in Algeria on French involvement in the current political situation [in French].

 In an article for Brookings, Omer Karasapan looks at MENA’s economic integration in an era of fragmentation.

Authoritarian Arab regimes are reshaping the message from recent protests in Algeria and Sudan to their own advantage, explains Marc Lynch in an article for Carnegie.


Migration

The New Humanitarian reports that one year after deportations, the Sudanese left in Niger see no way out…

...and talks about Europe's hardening line on migration, looking at Sarah Mardini’s arrest.

The International Displacement Monitoring Centre published its 2019 global report on internal displacement.


Trade, finance and investment

According to Africa Confidential, international financial institutions are downgrading their growth prospects for Africa.

In this podcast, Geremia Palomba and Reda Cherif from the International Monetary Fund say that the African Continental Free Trade Area could be an economic game changer for the continent.

Bruegel asks: Can emerging markets be a source of global troubles again?


Other

EUObserver questions the need for an EU Commissioner for development.

The Nordic Africa Institute analyses how, after a change in livelihood from livestock pastoralism to farming, the situation for Karamojong women in northeast Uganda has drastically deteriorated.

In a video, the New Humanitarian tells the story of how aid worker Evans Onyiego is fighting to build peace in drought-hit northern Kenya.