David Cronin’s recent article (“EU aid puts health on the back seat”, July 3) leaves one with the impression that the European Union is failing poor countries and alleges a “lack of focus on health and education” by EU donor support that “will put the achievement of the United Nations millennium development goals in jeopardy”. This is simply untrue.
For the period 2008 to 2013, the EU has committed, through the European Development Fund (EDF), about â,¬22-billion to assist its African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) partners. Of this, a significant percentage will be provided to health and education, be it through generalised budget support paid directly to the government (up to 27% of EDF funds) or through programming support under the “investing in people” priority (7% to 8% of EDF funds).
In addition, the European Commission is a significant donor to the global fund to combat HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis. In fact the EU (member states and European Commission) accounts for more than 50% of monies pledged to the Global Fund to date — resources from which many ACP countries extensively benefit.
More importantly, though, EU donor support is about sustainability … more so than ever in respect of achieving the UN millennium development goals. Achieving poverty reduction, health and education targets by 2015 requires much more than simply reaching them by 2015. Far more important will be not to lose the gains made by that date.
With our developing partners we have come to look at much broader sets of factors or policies impacting on their ability to reach and sustain those numerical targets. We make no apology for assisting our partners on their path to a better future in which good governance, as well as sound economic and trade regimes, are key.
Experience has shown that simply directing aid into areas of growing need — such as health and education, without assisting our developing partners in creating the sustainability the MDGs demand — is an easy recipe for increasing donor dependency and risks replicating errors of the past.
Country strategy programmes are developed for, and with, each ACP country. They are the result of thorough discussions with the countries and international donors, where partnership with and ownership by our developing partners are central principles.
Governance is as important for the stewardship of health and education as it is for trade and investment. Budget support reinforces developing countries’ capacity to manage their own affairs. While not funded through the EDF, European Commission funding for health and education in South Africa is more than â,¬200-million and makes up as much as 22% of overall commission development funding to the country. This high level of commitment is set to continue in the strategy and programme for 2007 to 2013.
Lodewijk Briet is the ambassador to the EU Commission in South Africa