European Development Days
Acting together!
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As the fourth series of the European Development Days take place in Stockholm, Sweden, on 22-24 October 2009, the spotlight is turned on the EU's commitment to helping developing countries and the form this aid takes.
The European Development Days, hosted jointly by the European Commission and the Swedish EU Presidency, bring together delegates from 125 countries and 1,500 organizations, including heads of state and leading world figures. This annual event's stated aims are make development aid more effective, to build a global coalition against poverty and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.
The idea is that the forum allows representatives for NGOs, special interest groups, and donor and recipiant countries to share ideas and experiences. Each year, a set of themes and overarching ideas are chosen to help fuel debate. The 2009 topics are democracy, climate change, energy and the global economic crisis.
The EU is the world's biggest aid donor in the world, distributing around €49 billion euro to the developing world in 2008. But its development policy has many critics. It is frequently accused of allowing the money to go to waste or targeting it in the wrong ways. Also, as EU member countries grapple with the current economic crisis, the temptation is strong to concentrate on domestic spending and possibly even go back on commitments made in previous years.
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