European Parliament resolution on the drought in Central America
Date: 2001-09-06
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Central America, development policy, drought, emergency aid, financial aid, hunger, sustainable development

21.3.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 72 E/353

Thursday 6 September 2001

Calls for increased resources for humanitarian demining and mine awareness and landmine victim

4.
rehabilitation and assistance programmes;

5. Welcomes proposals to seek commitments from non-State actors, for example through a Deed of
Commitment for Adherence to a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Landmines and for Cooperation in Mine
Action;

Calls on the Managua Conference to support the efforts to obtain strong commitments from non-

6.
State actors;

7.
Calls on the States party to the Ottawa Convention to give closer attention to the problem of anti-
personnel mines in relation to non-State actors and to support the efforts made by specialist NGOs and
international institutions to commit non-State actors to the mine ban process;

8.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the governments of
the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red
Cross, the Committee for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary
Assembly, and the governments of the United States of America, the Russian Federation and the People(cid:146)s
Republic of China.

21. Drought in Central America

B5-0547, 0562, 0569, 0574, 0591 and 0600/2001

European Parliament resolution on the drought in Central America

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to its previous resolutions on Central America, in particular its resolution of 15 June

2000 on a Community action plan for the reconstruction of Central America (1),

A. having regard to the disastrous consequences of the drought which has been affecting Central America
for more than three months and has prompted the United Nations to classify the situation as more
serious than that caused by Hurricane Mitch,

B.

C.

stressing the worsening of the already difficult human and social situation in the region following the
natural disasters it has suffered (Hurricane Mitch and the El Salvador earthquake) and the adverse
effect this will have on the prospects for socio-economic development in the countries concerned,

alarmed at the forecasts made by those running the UN World Food Programme (WFP) estimating that
more than one and half million people are affected by famine and the exhaustion of food reserves,
which could lead to a rapid spread of famine,

D. whereas, moreover, this is not an isolated climatic phenomenon, but is repeated year after year in
Central America, with growing intensity, the link between cause and effect being well established,
with climate changes caused by the greenhouse effect and global warming,

E.

noting that faced with this process of chronic deterioration the usual response consists in concentrat-
ing, year after year, on the need for emergency food aid in the form of ever larger consignments of
foodstuffs, but with few preventive measures aimed at sustainable development projects for the far-
ming populations concerned being carried out by either local government or international aid,

(1) OJ C 67, 1.3.2001, p. 297.

C 72 E/354

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.3.2002

Thursday 6 September 2001

Expresses its concern and deep sympathy with the populations and the governments of the countries

1.
affected;

Calls on the Council and the Commission to make a rapid assessment of the consequences of the

2.
drought and to introduce effective aid mechanisms to help to alleviate the famine;

3.
Calls on the Council and the Commission, when drawing up the 2002 budget, to take into account
these special circumstances, to ensure recognition of the financial aid needed to cover the basic needs of
the affected populations in the region;

4.
Recommends that the Council and the Commission should consider the cyclical and worsening
nature of the Central American drought and promote sustainable development policies resulting in a
specific programme for agriculture aid measures which will help to prevent drought and deterioration of
the environment in the worst hit areas of Central America;

5.
Calls on the Commission to urge the governments of Central America to accept their responsibilities
in the face of this chronic problem and to adopt public policies aimed at revitalising the rural sectors
which are most vulnerable from the social and economic points of view;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of

6.
the Central American countries and the Central American Parliament.

22. Mountain farming

A5-0277/2001

European Parliament resolution on 25 years(cid:146) application of Community legislation for hill and
mountain farming (2000/2222(INI))

The European Parliament,

(cid:129) having regard to the United Nations decision to proclaim 2002 International Year of Mountains, and
to the Johannesburg (cid:145)Rio+10(cid:146) meeting, which will further consider Chapter 13 of Agenda 21, relating
to mountains,

(cid:129) having regard to its resolution of 23 October 1998 on a new strategy for mountain, less-favoured and

environmentally sensitive regions (1),

(cid:129) having regard to Council Directive 75/268/EEC on mountain and hill farming in certain less-favoured

areas,

(cid:129) welcoming the important new elements concerning European mountain regions stemming from the
second cohesion report, especially those cases where policy measures are to be implemented from
2006,

(cid:129) having regard to the importance of the Council of Europe(cid:146)s proposed European charter of mountain

regions and to the Alpine Convention and the protocols thereto,

(cid:129) having regard to Rule 163 of its Rules of Procedure,

(cid:129) having regard to the report of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (A5-0277/

2001),

A. whereas mountain regions account for about 30 % of the land area and about 20 % of the utilised
agricultural area in the European Union; whereas in some Member States, such as Italy, Spain, Por-
tugal, Greece and Austria, mountain regions account for over 50 % of the national territory and
whereas some 30 million people live in mountain regions,

(1) OJ C 341, 9.11.1998, p. 369.