EU ready for post-2015 agenda to share prosperity and reduce poverty in Africa

The world has arrived at a crucial juncture — the next few months will determine whether our generation succeeds or fails in eradicating poverty, sharing prosperity, and securing sustainable development — and the Third International Conference on Financing for Development that started on Monday in Addis Ababa is an important prelude.

The EU has played an important role in shaping the debate until now and will continue to do so. Heads of State are due to gather in New York in September to agree on a post-2015 development framework, which will include new Sustainable Development Goals.

It will be the successor to the Millennium Development Goals and will also integrate the follow-up to the Rio +20 Conference on Sustainable Development.

The European Union is working towards an ambitious and comprehensive package that includes the social, economic, and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in a balanced way.

The new agenda will help us eradicate poverty in all its dimensions — in terms of income but also access to food, water, energy, health, education, and addressing inequalities.

The European Union vision to support this agenda is a new global partnership that should involve all countries and mobilise all means of implementation. We stand ready to play our part in mobilising the resources for putting the future agenda into practice.

The European Council’s conclusions reaffirmed the European Union’s collective commitment to achieve a level of official development assistance (ODA) that is 0.7 per cent of gross national income (GNI) within the time frame of the post-2015 agenda. 

We agreed on the need to focus our efforts on least developed countries by meeting collectively the target of 0.15-0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to these states in the short term, rising to 0.20 per cent within the time-frame of the post-2015 agenda.

The conclusions reiterated the European Union’s strong political commitment to Africa, with a view to agreeing on significant international commitments for the continent in 2015.

In a few weeks, the Addis Ababa conference will set out a coherent and transformative framework to support the post-2015 development agenda. It should mobilise action by all countries and stakeholders at all levels.

For a far-reaching new global agenda to succeed, we will all have to raise our level of ambition.

All high-income countries must commit themselves to this target and, in a changing world context, upper-middle income countries and emerging economies must provide their fair share to support poorer countries in reaching internationally agreed objectives.

However, the question of financing for development cannot be addressed in isolation — this is not just about donor funding.

The Addis conference should address the full range of means of implementation, starting with a conducive policy environment. Good governance and effective institutions will be fundamental for progress and success.

Unleashing the potential of the private sector is key. The EU has already been using tools such as blending to unlock investments with an estimated volume of €40 billion in our partner countries.

The conference in Addis should give a push for further cooperation with public and private financial institutions, public-private partnerships, and private investments for development.

It should also unlock the full potential of science, technology, and innovation. At the same time, the conference should keep the focus on domestic resource mobilisation.

Putting in place transparent and efficient tax systems should be a priority for all — as well as tackling illicit financial flows.

Trade is one of the most powerful means at our disposal to promote sustainable development and growth.

We also need to harness the positive effects of migration. And finally, we will need a strong framework for monitoring, accountability and review.

The EU will continue to play a leading role in making sure that we agree on an ambitious, transformative, and universal agenda that delivers poverty eradication and sustainable development for all, backed with adequate and credible means of implementation.

Mr Mimica is the European Union’s Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development