1 European Conference on Public Awareness Raising and Development Education for North-South solidarity Conférence Européenne sur la sensibilisation et l’éducation au développement pour une solidarité nord-sud Brussels, 18-20 May 2005 Conference Recommendations A.   As   part   of   an   ongoing   debate^[1],   participants   from   national,   European   and international administrations, non-governmental organisations and other actors of civil society,  together  with  members  of  different  media,   took  part  in  a  conference  on public  awareness  and  development  education  for  North-South  solidarity  in  Brussels on 19/20 May 2005. B.  The  participants,  meeting  in  both  plenary  and  specific  working  group  sessions, have   drawn   up   the   following   recommendations.   Further   specific   proposals   and suggestions from different participants are outlined in the conference papers. 1.   The  renewed  commitment  by  the  European  Union  and  the  member  states  to increase ODA levels adequately for 2010 and the achievement by 2015 of the level of 0.7%  by most, as advanced by the United Nations in 1970, should be welcomed   and   propagated   as   widely   as   possible   throughout   the   Union. Effective    development    education    and    awareness    raising    are    essential conditions to mobilise support to reach these targets. 2. Noting that the assistance provided is a question of finance,  effectiveness and   quality,  as  well  as  sustainable  development,  the  Millennium  Development Goals   should   be   included   as   a   major   facet   of   public   awareness   and development education activities throughout the Union. 3.    Comprehensive  and  coherent  development  education  and  awareness  raising strategies  should  be  designed  or  reviewed  at  both  national  and  European levels.  The  relevant  authorities  should  ensure  that  these  strategies  are  fully integrated  into  their  development  and  education  policies.  This  will  require close cooperation with NGOs and other relevant civil society organisations. 4.   Awareness-raising  and  development  education  should  be  integrated  into  the curricula   of   the   formal   and   informal   educational   systems   throughout   the current  and  future  members  of  the  Union.  Such  programmes,  aimed  at  all levels and ages of society, are necessary to foster the greatest possible North- South solidarity. 5. National and European authorities should ensure there is adequate funding for development education and awareness-raising in their planning. It is proposed that the European Commission and Member states move towards or beyond  a figure  of  3%  of  ODA,  as   proposed  in  a  UNDP  Report.  This  increase  in funding    implies    the    necessary    quality,    efficiency    and    effectiveness    of development education and awareness raising activities. 6. As part of the overall need to raise both quality and efficiency, best practices should  be  actively  encouraged  and  supported,  particularly  between  Member states but also internationally Ongoing coordination and cooperation, learning

2 from  past  experiences  at  the  widest  possible  level,  are  therefore  essential  to ensure coherence and maximise effectiveness. 7.    It  should  be  stressed  that  both  awareness-raising  and  development  education are  distinct  from  publicity  and  fundraising.  Equally  development  education and  awareness  raising  activities  should  be  rooted  in  the  realities  of  Northern societies and take into account the interdependency between North and South as well as the need for policy coherence in the North. 8.    Assistance towards achieving effective development education and awareness raising in new Member States should be provided.  In order to enable new and future  Member  States  to  access  EU  funding  for  development  education  and awareness  raising,  current  thresholds  on  financial  capacity  requirements  and eligibility criteria  should be adapted in their favour. 9.    Recognising   that   international   development   cooperation   issues   were   not properly  discussed in the course of the last  accession rounds, further rounds should  address  it  in  a  much  more  proactive  way.   In  the  case  of  the  new Member  States  and  acceding  countries  ,ad  hoc  development  education  and awareness-raising activities should partly make up for the lost opportunities. 10.  The contribution of national and local authorities, parliamentarians, NGOs and other  civil  society  actors  in  North-South  cooperation  should  be  strengthened with  a  view  to  boosting  capacity,  awareness  and  commitment  in  the  current and future Union, as well as outside. 11.  Emphasis    should    be    given    to    how,    following    natural    or    man-made catastrophes,  there  is  a  process  of  linking  relief  to  provide  initial  stability, rehabilitation   and   development   which   should   be   on   a   sustainable   and environmentally friendly basis. 12.  A  comprehensive  press  strategy  for  North-South  solidarity  should  cover  the broad range of existing media but focus on channels with the widest coverage where  resources  are  limited.  Development  and  humanitarian  actors  should make   more   efforts   to   provide   useful,   clear   and   appealing   material   and opportunities  to  journalists  to  enable  them  to  offer  independent  and  accurate information   on   North-South   issues.   The   press   has   a   fundamental   role   in preventing crises becoming forgotten both by governments and European civil society and should be recognised as a development actor. 13.  Images and articles are best if they respect the dignity, beliefs and traditions of the peoples of the “South” in their presentation. 14.  Monitoring  and  evaluation  of  humanitarian  and  development  programmes must therefore  cover not only the effect in the field but also the evolution of public  perception  in  the  North  and  the  South  of  the  progress  accomplished. Building   on   existing   experiences,   increased   efforts   have   to   be   made   to improve  monitoring  and  evaluation  of  development  education  and  awareness raising  activities  in  order  to  systematically  enhance  their  overall  relevance, efficiency and effectiveness. 15.  It is proposed that the recommendations of this Conference, particularly those pertaining  to  the  role  and  place  of  development  education  and  awareness raising, be integrated into the new EU Development Policy Statement before

3 its  adoption  and  coherently  translated  in  other  relevant  policy  processes  and instruments. 16.  A    group    of    representative    stakeholders    be    established,    following    this conference,   in   order   to   ensure   the   follow-up   of   the   outcomes   of   this Conference throughout the current and future Union. This representative group should also be aware of the need for accountability - in the widest sense – appropriate  evaluation  of  what  is  a  long  term  process  of  improving  North- South  solidarity.   It  would  then  organise  further  meetings  and  discussions  as appropriate. In this context, it particularly welcomes the offer of the Chairman of  the  Development  Committee  of  the  European  Parliament  to  draw  up  a report on the matter. C. While these recommendations are addressed above all to the representatives of the European Parliament, the European Council, the European Commission, as well as the  national  authorities  at  the  conference,  they  are  also  directed  to  all  members  of society,  individuals  and  organisations  who  are  able  to  increase  awareness  of  and strengthen North-South solidarity in all its aspects. D. The participants note with pleasure that certain authorities are already actively pursuing  these  goals.   The  recent  communication  of  the  Commission  to  the  Council and the organisation of this conference by the European Commission and the Belgian authorities are recent positive examples. [1] See in particular Annex 1 ANNEX 1 European Conference on Public Awareness Raising and Development Education for North-South solidarity Political commitments to development education and awareness-raising on North-South solidarity in the EU-25 In November 2001, the EU Ministers in charge of Development Co-operation adopted a Council Resolution "on development education and raising European public awareness of development cooperation". This Resolution states that "given the global interdependence of our society, the raising of awareness by development education [...] contributes to strengthening the feeling of international solidarity, and also helps to create an environment which fosters the establishment of an intercultural society in Europe. Heightening awareness also contributes towards the changing of lifestyles in favor of a model of sustainable development for all. Lastly, raising awareness increases citizens' support for further efforts in the public funding of development cooperation." The Resolution further "encourages the initiatives of the NGOs and European and

4 national institutions aimed at raising awareness amongst the population of the candidate countries for accession to the EU of the importance of supporting international solidarity in the fight against world poverty, as well as promoting development education in general". "[It] calls on the Commission to reinforce its information and communication activities in order better to heighten the awareness of the public in the Member States, and in the Candidate Countries for accession, of European development cooperation policy." Almost five years later, it is important to measure to what extent the recommendations made by this Resolution have been followed by concrete actions by the European Commission (EC) and the Member States (MS). In November 2002, the Europe-wide Global Education Congress, held in Maastricht, has led representatives from governments, parliaments, local authorities and civil society organisations of Member States of the Council of Europe to commit themselves to increase support to Global Education, through the so-called "Maastricht Declaration". Measures agreed upon include, inter alia, the development (or strengthening) of national action plans for global education and increased funding, as well as the integration of global education into education systems at all levels. In October 2003, the "Palermo process" -initiated by the revision of the NGOs co- financing budget line of the EC- has stressed the need for an "integrated approach to development", combining direct action in the South (development cooperation) with influencing attitudes and policies in the North (development education). Since May 2004, the Community has opened its budget line 21-02-03 (Co-financing with NGOs) for public awareness actions in Europe about development problems in the developing countries to the NMS. More recently, a Eurobarometer study, released in February 2005, reveals that in the EU-25 "public awareness of Commission activities in [the] field [of development cooperation] as well as Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is limited". Four years after the adoption by the UN -including, thus, all EU-25 MS- of those MDGs aiming at halving extreme poverty by 2015, 88% EU citizens have never heard of them. Therefore, the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel, has undertaken to "increase EU public awareness of our activities as well as of our Millennium Development Goals". He acknowledges that "European taxpayers have the right to know how their money is being spent, how we help the developing countries, how we are fighting poverty and infectious diseases and what we are doing to promote good governance, democracy and fundamental rights." He has recently initiated a tour of the capital cities, including many of the NMS, to explain his strategy, particularly in relation to the MDGs. "Greater visibility" of the EU external action, including development and humanitarian aid, constitutes one of the major pillars of the new EC information and communication strategy. Development education and awareness-raising activities still have a long way to go to fully mobilize European public opinion on North-South issues, around the MDGs as well as around the more specific goals of EU development cooperation and humanitarian aid policies. Are all the necessary conditions gathered for a successful outcome: political commitment; public funding? Are all concerned actors involved? Are there effective aid policies that ensure credibility when building public support? Is there adequate understanding of how to build public constituencies for North-South Solidarity? Have those tasks become even more challenging with the recent EU enlargement? To what extent are the 'older' Member States facing similar challenges?