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Resolution 2268 (2019)
Development co-operation: a tool for preventing migration crises
1. The 21st century has brought with
it even greater challenges for developing countries, in particular
those of the African continent, related to rising population levels,
climate change and political instability, coupled with problems
of poor infrastructure and exacerbated by the digital divide. One
consequence of these phenomena has been the large-scale displacement
of populations, both within the continent and towards Europe.
2. European countries have always shown great support for underdeveloped
regions, motivated by humanitarian concerns but also by their recognition
that the indispensable markets for goods and reservoirs of natural
resources they represent require stable societies and a certain
standard of living to be operational. Economic and cultural ties
with former colonies and protectorates often help favour preferences.
Development funding has steadily increased in recent years, as recorded
by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
3. The work of international organisations, principally the United
Nations, has done much to change the attitudes of donors and beneficiaries,
by transforming the notion of aid into multi-sectoral approaches
involving real co-operation for development. In addition, poverty
eradication is at the core of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, which declares that the whole world should
be put on a more prosperous and sustainable development path. By
adopting the agenda, member States have undertaken to co-operate
to ensure safe, orderly and regular (legal) migration as a means
of strengthening the resilience of host communities, particularly
in developing countries. Goal 10 of the agenda aims to “reduce inequality
within and among countries”.
4. Development co-operation has a two-fold role in relation to
migration in Africa: firstly in empowering the more stable countries
to manage the arrival, reception and integration of migrants from
conflict or poverty-affected neighbouring countries and, secondly,
in providing hope for a viable future at home for people who would
otherwise migrate to Europe. In the longer term, investment in education,
health and social and cultural community-building are also contributing
to a measure of demographic regulation, in particular by providing women
with alternative choices to their traditional domestic roles.
5. The European Union’s development policies, based on the United
Nations goals, make the European Union and its member States providers
of 50% of the world’s development aid. The recent reinforcement
of security and border control measures and the financial support
given to countries to manage migration should not mean a corresponding
reduction in funding for governance and local communities or detract
from budget for sustainable development programmes.
6. Given the importance of development co-operation for migration,
the Parliamentary Assembly calls on member States to:
6.1. at international level:
6.1.1. work together to fulfil the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals, and in particular Goal 10 “Reduce inequality
within and among countries”, as well as Target 10.7 “Facilitate
orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of
people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed
migration policies”;
6.1.2. for those countries having signed the United Nations Global
Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, contribute to its
implementation, and in this context in particular Objectives 18,
19 and 20 on skills development, conditions that allow migrants
and diasporas to fully contribute to sustainable development in
all countries, and the faster, safer and cheaper transfer of remittances;
6.1.3. use the tools and programmes of international organisations
such as the United Nations, the OECD and the European Union to better
co-ordinate their development co-operation, evaluate needs and assess
implementation;
6.2. at national level:
6.2.1. continue and step up
their development co-operation and diversify funding, putting emphasis
on sustainable programmes for education, health services and infrastructure,
with the understanding that they can only produce tangible results
in the long term;
6.2.2. not apply conditions to development co-operation such
as returns on investment, access to markets and resources or migration
management, or the equivalent of “gag rules” which eliminate some
forms of assistance on ideological grounds, especially with respect
to women’s health care and reproductive rights;
6.2.3. invest in particular in education as a means of increasing
the skills, resilience, employability and capacity for innovative
adaptation of young people and future generations, and of helping
them to understand and respond to today’s global challenges;
6.2.4. use historic and linguistic links with developing countries
to facilitate co-operation, while taking into account that some
regions of the world, such as the Sahel, are neglected as they do not
have strong ties with Europe or any particular economic interest;
6.2.5. stand ready to react swiftly to situations of extreme
poverty resulting from conflict or drought, and ensure that development
programmes are tailored to the regions and communities for which
they are destined and take their concerns into account, using the
international checklists for development devised by the United Nations
and the OECD;
6.3. at regional and civil society levels:
6.3.1. understand
the importance of small-scale projects tailored to immediate, specific
needs and consequently foster civil society initiatives, partnerships
and physical exchanges which benefit all parties socially and culturally
and provide capacity-building opportunities;
6.3.2. implement policies which encourage and support civil society
bodies and private initiatives to co-operate with developing countries,
including tax-reduction measures, facilitating remittances and fostering
relations of diaspora communities with their countries of origin.
7. In addition, the Assembly calls on all member States to invest
globally in efforts to contain climate change which, it is estimated,
will force 50 million people to leave their homes in African countries
by 2050.