European Union needs to rethink its Latin America and the Caribbean relations
Over 100 organizations presented their recommendations to the European Union during the second EU-CELAC Civil Society Forum held in Brussels, organised by CONCORD and Mesa de Articulación, last March 19.
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Lack of transparency and doubts on the real impacts and benefits of cooperation aid through the private sector. Video of a conference held at the European Parliament on 21 March 2013
Lack of transparency and doubts on the real impacts and benefits of cooperation aid through the private sector are some of the issues that have been discussed today during a conference at the European Parliament.
Brussels, 21st March 2013. The civil society networks: ALOP, APRODEV, CIDSE, CIFCA, COUNTER BALANCE, EURODAD, GRUPO SUR and OIDHACO, together with European Parliamentarians from five political groups, organised the conference: “Aid to the private sector: promoting responsible investments? Latin America as a testing ground”, which took place on Thursday 21st March at the European Parliament.
Civil society networks ALOP, APRODEV, CIDSE, CIFCA, GRUPO SUR and OIDHACO welcome the European Parliament (EP) resolution of 12 June 2012 on defining new development cooperation with Latin America.
In a region where 180 million people – one in three persons -live below the poverty line, it is paramount that the EU take due consideration of the widespread poverty and inequality when defining its development cooperation. In particular we support the following recommendations of the EP and urge that they be effectively included within the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI):
The flaws within the security policy Ever since he began his time in office in 2002, President Uribe’s policy has been to improve the country’s security and to end the armed conflict militarily.
Ever since he began his time in office in 2002, President Uribe’s policy has been to improve the country’s security and to end the armed conflict militarily. During his two terms, he has promoted controversial measures, several of which were found to be unlawful by the Constitutional Court and many of them criticised by the United Nations. They include initiatives such as the network of civilian informants, which involves the civilian population in the armed conflict, in total disregard of the fact that they are protected persons in line with the principle of distinction between combatants and non-combatants, and exposing these people to possible reprisals. This policy of informants as well as the policy of paying civilians rewards for information and soldiers for the detention or killing of members of illegal groups has been responsible for many acts of injustice, including mass arbitrary detentions and, even more seriously, systematic extrajudicial executions.
