Poor Countries Must Step Up Efforts To Fight Poverty: EU Official

from Playfuls

Poor countries must step up their efforts to eradicate poverty by strengthening good governance, a European Union development official said Wednesday, while international watchdogs urged the EU to improve the effectiveness of its development aid.

"Not a single country has come out of poverty by development aid alone," said Koos Richelle, head of the EU's development aid office.

International aid could not make a country developed "but it must have its own motives," Richelle told a news briefing.

Good governance, respect for human rights, democratic reforms as well as support for non-governmental organizations was crucial to combat poverty, the EU aid expert said.

His comments came as international development watchdogs urged the EU to change its aid policy, arguing that more could be done to make "a visible difference in the lives of people living in poverty."

Despite being the world's biggest multilateral donor, the EU has a "mixed" record on the issue, an alliance of international development organisations and Caritas Europe said in a report released Wednesday.

The organisations called on the EU to base its aid on developing countries' own priorities in fighting poverty. They also said that the EU must better monitor and evaluate the real impact of its aid.

Richelle said that the European Commission, which is coordinating EU development aid, would "listen to the pleas of the regions and support their speed of development."

Turning to emerging donor countries, Richelle said that the EU could not criticise governments in China and Brazil for not basing their help on the sustainability of projects in poor countries.

"They want access to raw materials and resources and this is acceptable as we did the same for decades," Richelle said.

However, this would undermine international efforts to promote good governance in poor countries as new donor's aid criteria were not transparent and not in line with the EU's values, he said.

China last year signed trade deals worth some 1.5 billion euros (1.9 billion dollars) with African nations without linking them to democratic reforms and human rights, prompting European fears that the EU could lose its clout in Africa.

The 27-member EU last year committed 7.6 billion development aid and disbursed 6.5 billion euros in aid. EU aid goes to more than 150 countries, territories and organisations worldwide.