38. Calls on the Commission to implement concrete measures against tourism-related ‘dumping ’in the
housing sector, after consulting the representative organisations of the sector;
39. Calls on the governments of the Member States to ensure that the rules applying to EU companies
are fully implemented in cases of relocation to or execution of contracts in developing countries, givingspecial consideration to the rights of the workers affected;
40. Demands that the governments of the countries concerned and EU tour operators enforce human
rights standards, workers' rights in accordance with ILO core labour standards, the protection of the Euro-pean tourist-consumer and the recommendations concerning tour operators;
41. Calls on the governments of developing countries to introduce transparent and properly regulated
procedures for access to national markets in accordance with the recommendations of the World TourismOrganization, as a necessary condition for all foreign investment;
*
**
42. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.
P6_TA(2005)0338
Famine in Niger
European Parliament resolution on famine in Niger
The European Parliament ,
—having regard to the UN donor appeals for food aid for Niger, amounting to USD 80,9 million,
—having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas Niger was the world's second poorest country even before poor rains and locust invasions
devastated last year's crops, leading to an estimated third of its close to 12 million people sufferingfrom severe food shortages, among them 800 000 children, who are facing acute malnutrition,
B. whereas, since 1900, Niger has been afflicted by nine periods of severe drought and famine and eight
plagues of locusts,
C. whereas drought-ridden areas are also known to be conducive to the outbreak of a number of com-
municable diseases such as malaria, hepatitis, cholera, typhoid fever and diarrhoea,
D. whereas Niger's food crisis is complex, and weather patterns, food production, markets, technology,
sanitation, healthcare, education, child-rearing practices, Niger's large foreign debt and widespreadpoverty all play their roles,
E. whereas, until June 2005, the government of Niger refused to distribute food rations free of charge,F. whereas this refusal was founded on a desire not to destabilise the market and on a denial of the
importance of the crisis,C 193 E/344 EN 17.8.2006 Official Journal of the European Union
Thursday 8 September 2005
G. whereas few moderately priced government-subsidised food products were available and they were too
expensive for the poorest,
H. whereas, at a time when the death rate is startlingly high, there should be no question of subordinating
emergency food aid distribution to future food security,
I. whereas repeated UN appeals, beginning in November 2004, went almost unheeded until the situation
had reached crisis proportions,
J. whereas the humanitarian aid needs are immense, ranging from food, drinking water and drugs to
vaccines for children with a view to preventing epidemics,
K. whereas the urgency of addressing the immediate situation is clear, and ending the cycle of deprivation
in Niger and across the Sahel is a long-term challenge requiring massive investment and a genuinecommitment to eradicating hunger,
L. whereas desertification and soil nutrient depletion in the Sahel are the results of the unsustainable use
of natural resources, including the destruction of forests and bushland and the effects of climate change,
M. whereas, according to the UN's coordinator for emergency aid, it is eighty times more expensive to
intervene in an emergency than to act preventively; whereas this also applies to the neighbouring coun-tries threatened by famine (Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Chad),
1. Urges the international community not to turn its back on the continued suffering in Niger as food
distribution continues across the worst-affected parts of the country but financial support for emergencyoperations shows worrying signs of tailing off;
2. Calls for the hyper-endemic nature of malnutrition in Niger to be recognised, with a view to intro-
ducing an overall system for assisting those in need, including access to care for children under five and theprovision of therapeutic food products of proven value;
3. Calls for priority to be given to prevention, by reducing dependence on rainfall owing to its irregular-
ity, developing irrigation-based agriculture (micro-dams), increasing food productivity with the use ofmanure, fertiliser and tools, and boosting the capacity of local cereal reserves;
4. Welcomes the Commission's earmarking of EUR 4,6 million in humanitarian aid to Niger, as well as
the pledge to ‘provide additional humanitarian funds should the situation continue to deteriorate ’,a s
announced on 1 July 2005;
5. Deplores the insufficient and slow reaction of the government of Niger to the looming crisis; regrets
the failure of the authorities to distribute free food in the early stages of the crisis;
6. Regrets the absence of sufficient government intervention to prevent speculation and crisis, and calls
on the government of Niger to create mechanisms to ensure that such practices do not recur;
7. Questions the wisdom of the total deregulation of agricultural markets undertaken under the ‘struc-
tural adjustment ’policies advocated by the IMF;
8. Warns, at the same time, against the risk of misguided food aid, and calls on the international com-
munity to end food aid as soon as it considers that the situation has improved;
9. Deplores the late response by international donors to the UN funding appeals first made nine months
ago; stresses, in this regard, the difficulty in mobilising international aid just as the rich G8 countries wereclaiming to make Africa their top priority;17.8.2006 EN C 193 E/345 Official Journal of the European Union
Thursday 8 September 2005
10. Calls for a substantial increase in the reserves available from the UN aid fund in order to ensure that
enough funds are available in advance so as to enable the UN aid bodies to launch relief operations speedily;
11. Deeply regrets the fact that African catastrophes are met with such laboured mobilisation, whereas
the tsunami and its victims, among whom were Western tourists, attracted huge media attention;
12. Welcomes the coordination of ECHO emergency aid with the longer-term food security operations
administered by the Commission, as well as the clear indication of rural development and food security as apriority in the Niger Country Strategy Paper;
13. Calls on the international donors also to focus on health-related aid, for instance in order to improve
access to clean water, distribute rehydration tablets, and support and expand existing health services so as to
prevent outbreaks of communicable diseases;
14. Calls on the international donors to coordinate their aid strategies for Niger with each other, as well
as with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and other regional and localactors; stresses the importance of making this aid long-term and part of a regional strategy to escape thecycle of poverty and starvation;
15. Expresses its concern over food availability in the neighbouring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso,
and calls for close monitoring of the situation in the wider region;
16. Calls on the Commission and Council to improve the early warning system in order to monitor
sensitive regions where famine may arise, so as to allow earlier action and prevent disasters;
17. Stresses that the core problem in Niger is chronic and widespread poverty, and that the country has
no margin to build contingency stocks to meet the kinds of need created by the crisis;
18. Calls on the Commission and Council to acknowledge the effects of global warming on sub-Saharan
Africa and act in Europe to mitigate those effects by adopting stringent CO
2reduction strategies at Union
level;
19. Considers that the question of the exploitation of natural resources needs to be taken into account in
trade negotiations with African countries;
20. Calls for action to ensure that the cancellation of Niger's external debt announced at the G8 summit
actually takes place;
21. Calls on the Commission to implement, once the emergency is over, a comprehensive policy for
tackling the root causes of the crisis, in order to address the underlying structural causes and improveagricultural productivity in the region;
22. Calls on the governments of the region to implement a policy of sustainable development in the
agricultural sector;
23. Calls on the UN General Assembly to define, at its September 2005 session, international aid
arrangements and instruments, with a view to eradicating poverty and hunger in the world, pursuant tothe millennium goals;
24. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the African Union,
the UN Secretary-General, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, and the Govern-ments of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.C 193 E/346 EN 17.8.2006 Official Journal of the European Union
Thursday 8 September 2005