European Commission Welcomes World Bank's Announcement of Africa Fund

The European Commission has welcomed the World Bank Group’s recently announced Africa Catalytic Growth Fund, saying that both institutions are determined to support and to accelerate shared economic growth and to assist in the achievement of Millennium Development Goals that have proved difficult to attain in Africa.

The World Bank Group Trust Fund complements the European Trust Fund on Infrastructure, which was launched on February 9th by the Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) as a new tool to implement the Euro-Africa partnership on infrastructure. Both institutions are also key actors in development co-operation and have now new means to better respond to the African challenges.

"Last year, the international community has taken substantial commitments to raise more money for development aid and deliver it better and faster," said Louis Michel, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid. "This year we must deliver on these commitments."

Last December, the European Union adopted the European Consensus on Development and the EU Strategy for Africa. Today the EU has a joint strategy for development shared by all its Member States and by the Commission alike. The World Bank has equally adopted an Action Plan to support Africa in September 2005. To establish synergy and complementarity between the two strategies, both institutions are engaged in frequent consultations.

Development is a global effort, say the European Commission, and both the EU and the World Bank share the same objective of growth and poverty eradication in Africa. The two Trust Funds will allow the two institutions rapidly to channel additional resources from other partners to Africa with the aim of accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals

EuropeanExpress Supports Fight Hunger

We support fight hunger, the UN organisation to fight the hunguer, for this reason we are sending massive mailings to show the world the new campaign.
Damos apoyo a "fight hunger" el programa de UN para luchar contra el hambre en el mundo, por ello estamos difundiendo masivamente el link de su video para mejorar sus subvenciones.

Play video here http://www.fighthunger.org/files/energy_en.wmv

To view the places where you can walk >press here<

Este acto tendrá lugar el día 21 de Mayo a las 12:00 en la Plaza Colón y se dirigirá hasta la Puerta de Alcalá (Madrid). Hay la posibilidad de que se lleve a cabo en la ciudad de Vigo, para mantenerse informado presione >aquí<

UN Appeals For $426 Million To Aid Drought Victims In Horn Of Africa

Launching an appeal for $426 million to support the urgent needs of people in the drought stricken Horn of Africa the UN's top humanitarian official said that more than 8 million were in mortal danger.

Speaking in the Kenyan capital Nairobi UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland said that the drought shows no sign of relenting. Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia have been suffering from water shortages and declining access to food following several years of successive rainfall failures and the rapid erosion of assets. Large numbers of people were dyingdue to preventable diseases and malnutrition related to the drought, Mr. Egeland said.

He went on to warn that Somalia, to which the bulk of the appeal, is targeted, is particularly vulnerable to the unfolding crisis. Intolerable levels of children are dying of malnutrition with "angry and hungry men with Kalashnikovs in search of food" poised to trigger furtherconflict.

“I know we launch many appeals, and there are many areas of the world needing assistance, but I cannot underline too much how important this is,” Kevin Kennedy, the Director of the Complex Emergency Division of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said recently in New York.

“There are millions of people at risk, and predictions …that if things do not improve rapidly, if assistance is not provided, we could see a much, much worse situation three, four, five months out,” he warned.

Mr. Kennedy said the five or six year drought cycles of the past have become yearly or bi-yearly leaving some 15 million people at risk in addition to the 8 million in immediate danger.

These are people who rely on livestock for their livelihood and their whole way of life,” Mr. Kennedy said. “The rain has stopped falling. The waterholes have dried up. The crops have failed when they can do cropping and the livestock are dying.”

OCHA said the funds being sought will provide a comprehensive response, covering water and sanitation, health and nutrition, livestock and agriculture, livelihood security and education, as well as food aid, in order to save lives immediately and to also build resilience to futuredroughts.

“We have to break the cycle of drought in this region; it will affect and save the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of people over the long-term,” Mr. Kennedy said.

Palestinian Assistance: Humanitarian Assistance and Democracy Building

The United States remains committed to President Bush’s vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is also our desire to help provide for the basic human needs of the Palestinian people.

Consistent with these principles, the United States will increase its humanitarian aid to help Palestinians in need. Basic humanitarian assistance – including health, food, and education – will increase by 57 percent, for a total of $245 million. The United States will also provide $42 million to strengthen civil society and independent institutions. Assistance will be administered through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and non-Palestinian Authority actors, including local and international NGOs.

Because the new Hamas-led Palestinian government has failed to accept the Quartet principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel and respect for previous agreements between the parties, the United States is suspending assistance to the Palestinian government’s cabinet and ministries.

The new Palestinian government must take responsibility for the consequences of its policies.

The path back to the Roadmap is clear – acceptance of the three principles. If it accepts the Quartet principles, or a new government comes to power that accepts them, funding can be restored.

Fact sheet of the U.S.Department of State_Spacial Briefing