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Resolution 1975 (2014) Final version
Stepping up action against global inequalities: Europe’s contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) process
1. In 2015, the target date for the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), agreed upon by the United Nations
in the final declaration of the Millennium Summit in September 2000,
will be reached. Since 2000, major progress has been made in eradicating
extreme poverty and hunger, increasing sustainable access to drinking
water, reversing mortality rates from diseases such as malaria and
tuberculosis and improving the living conditions of over 200 million
slum dwellers.
2. Nevertheless, many issues still remain to be resolved, such
as the high mortality rates amongst young children and maternal
mortality in the poorest regions, the insufficient proportion of
children who have access to primary education and the large number
of people who do not have secured access to basic health-care services,
let alone to vaccination programmes or to specific treatment for
serious diseases such as HIV/Aids. Integrated strategies are therefore
required in many areas to keep the ever-growing global population
– an expected 9 billion by 2050 – fit to learn, work and enjoy life.
3. The Parliamentary Assembly is concerned about the persistently
high levels of global inequality and the remaining barriers to a
more balanced human development, which are also affecting Europe’s
own destiny. The Assembly considers that Europe should strive to
increase its action and influence in order to better live up to
its responsibilities while taking into account global interdependencies.
4. Europe’s strength and added value in this respect lies in
particular in its experience and leadership concerning some of the
key issues that have not yet been addressed effectively by the international
community, in particular persistent gender inequality, a high rate
of violence against women and children, the lack of decent work
conditions in many regions of the world and the continuous degradation
of our natural environment.
5. Moreover, European experience in the field of good governance
could stimulate the effectiveness of global development processes:
democratic structures and procedures should therefore be promoted
beyond Europe’s boundaries and the most urgent issues, such as widespread
corruption, should be addressed both within Europe and in developing
countries. The efficiency of official development aid should also
be improved.
6. Europe has access to some of the solutions to the major challenges
of the 21st century, but it is also contributing to some of the
current global inequalities through its production and consumption
patterns.
7. Europe’s contribution should consist first in stepping up
efforts to reduce global and regional inequalities under the current
MDG framework. It should set good examples as regards good governance
and the committed fight against corruption, whilst promoting such
measures within and beyond Europe and explicitly addressing some
of the key factors hindering development in developing and emerging
countries. Europe should promote the political willingness for doing
so throughout the world, organise awareness-raising campaigns for
the general public on global interdependencies and contribute to
the international negotiation process by asking that the development
framework beyond 2015 be completed by new goals.
8. The Assembly thus calls on member States to:
8.1. as regards support provided
to various countries under the current MDG framework:
8.1.1. provide
assistance to countries in need, including capacity-building programmes
aimed at helping countries to stimulate sustainable economic development;
8.1.2. develop targeted programmes and integrated strategies
for poverty reduction, building comprehensive health services accessible
to all, promoting decent work and creating decent employment;
8.1.3. respond, in the meantime, to the commitments taken within
the international aid mechanisms and provide a level of 0.7% of
gross domestic product (GDP) as official development assistance;
8.2. as regards action to be taken in the field of good governance:
8.2.1. take legislative measures to fight corruption, tax fraud
and evasion, both in Europe and beyond, to ensure that a maximum
level of public resources is used according to set targets;
8.2.2. strengthen support to democratic institutions, such as
parliaments, to allow them to exercise effective oversight of anti-corruption
measures as well as of general development and assistance programmes;
8.2.3. promote media freedom and freedom of expression in order
to encourage the media and civil society to expose any cases of
corruption;
8.3. as regards key factors hindering development:
8.3.1. empower
women and girls in all spheres of society, including the family,
the educational sector, the labour market and political decision-making
processes, thus allowing them to access resources and opportunities,
and a fair share of power;
8.3.2. promote the guarantee of sexual and reproductive health
and rights for women and girls, in particular with a view to avoiding
unwanted pregnancies and further reducing maternal mortality;
8.3.3. step up the fight against violence towards women and girls
in the most committed manner through prevention programmes and campaigns,
including measures to protect victims;
8.3.4. create equal opportunities for women and young people
to access quality education and decent jobs;
8.4. as regards Europe’s contribution to the international
negotiation process revising the MDGs for the post-2015 period:
8.4.1. ensure that development assistance becomes once again
a priority on political agendas in Europe, and that innovative approaches
are sought to support developing countries;
8.4.2. integrate current MDGs into a new set of global Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs);
8.4.3. base this new framework on a cross-sectoral understanding
of sustainable development addressing global interdependencies in
a straightforward and innovative manner;
8.4.4. promote the idea that the next set of goals should explicitly
include measures fostering good democratic governance and the fight
against corruption, not least by defining these as preconditions
for obtaining international support;
8.4.5. ensure that the challenges identified as key factors for
a more balanced global development, such as sustainability and decent
work, be given a more prominent place in the upcoming development
framework;
8.4.6. continue promoting the principles of the European Landscape
Convention (ETS No. 176).
9. The Assembly also invites member States to ensure that the
Council of Europe is officially represented at upcoming events and
world summits related to this global process, until 2015 and beyond,
in order to ensure that the pan-European voice expressed in the
present resolution is heard worldwide.