Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - Investing in people - Communication on the thematic programme for human and social development and the financial perspectives for 2007-2013
Date: 2006-01-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, EU relations, cooperation policy, economic and social cohesion, equal treatment, multiannual financial framework, staff, third country, vocational training

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 25.1.2006 
COM(2006) 18 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

Investing in people 

Communication on the thematic programme for human and social development and the 
financial perspectives for 2007-2013 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

I. 

II. 

General introduction on thematic programmes............................................................ 3 

Context: Investing in people - EU policy on human and social development ............. 3 

Experience and lessons learnt .................................................................................................... 4 

Rationale and added value of the thematic programme “Investing in people”.......................... 5 

III. 

Proposed thematic programme “Investing in people” ................................................. 5 

Scope 

...................................................................................................................................... 5 

Priorities for thematic action on human and social development .............................................. 6 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

Good health for all ....................................................................................................... 6 

Knowledge and skills for all......................................................................................... 6 

Culture.......................................................................................................................... 8 

Employment and social cohesion ................................................................................. 8 

Gender equality............................................................................................................ 9 

Youth and children ..................................................................................................... 10 

IV. 

Programming and Implementation............................................................................. 10 

Annexes .................................................................................................................................... 12 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE 
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

Investing in people 

Communication on the thematic programme for human and social development and the 
financial perspectives for 2007-2013 

I. 

GENERAL INTRODUCTION ON THEMATIC PROGRAMMES 

To rationalise and simplify the current legislative framework governing external action by the 
Community, the European Commission has proposed a set of six new instruments under the 
Financial Perspectives for 2007-2013. Three of them are horizontal instruments to respond to 
particular needs and circumstances. Three are designed to implement particular policies (pre-
accession  assistance,  European  neighbourhood  and  partnership  policy,  and  development 
cooperation  and  economic  cooperation)  and  have  defined  geographical  coverage.  In  future, 
these  instruments  will  provide  the  legal  basis  for  Community  expenditure  in  support  of 
external cooperation programmes, including thematic programmes which will cut across the 
geographical  coverage  of  the  three  policy-driven  instruments  and  replace,  inter  alia,  the 
existing  thematic  regulations.  As  the  Instrument  for  Pre-Accession  Assistance  (IPA)  is 
specifically designed to help candidate and potential candidate countries adopt and implement 
the  acquis  communautaire,  the  beneficiaries  of  IPA  do  not  fall  within  the  scope  of  this 
thematic programme. 

Thematic  programmes  provide  distinctive  value  added  and  complement  geographical 
programmes,  which  remain  the  preferred  framework  for  Community  cooperation  with  third 
countriesi. The Commission has committed itself to enter into discussions with the European 
Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  scope,  objectives  and  priorities  for  each  thematic 
programme  based  on  formal  communications  to  both  institutions.  This  process  will  provide 
the  political  guidelines  for  the  subsequent  stages  of  programming,  notably  the  thematic 
strategy papers to be drawn up in accordance with the abovementioned instruments. 

II. 

CONTEXT:  INVESTING  IN  PEOPLE  -  EU  POLICY  ON  HUMAN  AND  SOCIAL 
DEVELOPMENT 

Human  and  social  development  is  about  peopleii.  People’s  needs  drive  and  people’s 
opportunities  determine  development,  growth,  security  and  poverty  reduction.  It  is  a  key 
strategic  element  of  “The  European  Consensus”iii  and  strongly  emphasised  in  the  EC's 
international commitments such as those under the Millennium Declaration and those agreed 
at the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for 
Social  Development,  the  Beijing  Platform  for  Action  on  gender  equality  and  the  September 
2005 UN Summit. 

In  the  context  of  external  action,  including  development  policy,  the  thematic  programme 
Investing in people will focus on the core themes good health for all, knowledge and skills, 
culture, employment and social cohesion, gender equality, children and youth. It will reflect 
the internal policies of the EU and contribute to the coherence of the EU’s external policies. 

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The programme will thus support the new external assistance architecture, giving the EU the 
means  to  act  in  some  crucial  areas.  In  particular,  it  will  provide  a  thematic  framework  for 
sharing know-how, good practice and experience, for monitoring, data collection and analysis, 
for  innovative  approaches  and  pilot  projects  in  the  areas  which  directly  affect  people’s 
livelihoods around the world. It will strengthen the EU’s  voice at international level. It will 
allow the EU to continue to play a visible and credible role in international organisations and 
partnerships on these themes. 

Experience and lessons learnt 

The thematic framework builds on a wealth of lessons learnt from experience at national and 
international  levels,  which  is  further  developed  in  Annex  2.  It  also  takes  account  of  recent 
assessments and evaluations of action in these areasiv. The EC held extensive consultations on 
the design of this thematic programmev. 

The lessons learnt point to a need for a holistic and coherent thematic approach to human and 
social development, which is firmly anchored in the comprehensive approach formulated by 
the  EU  in  its  new  development  and  external  policies  and  which  will  complement  and  add 
value  to  country  programming  in  different  focal  areas.  Consequently,  the  programme  is 
innovating  by  going  beyond  the  present  strategy,  which  has  been  centred  on  health,  gender 
and basic education. 

In  the  areas  of  poverty  diseases,  sexual  and  reproductive  health  and  rights  (SRHR)  and 
gender, the thematic strategy is built on the experience with the specific budget lines for those 
fields  which  will  expire  at  the  end  of  2006vi.  In  other  areas,  such  as  education,  thematic 
programmes have been implemented through regional funds or pilot and preparatory action. 
Experience  in  these  thematic  areas  and  from  individual  countries  has  shown  that  the  EC 
should  have  a  role  where  coherence  of  policies  and  a  common  EU  approach  can  make  a 
difference. 

Employment and social cohesion issues are receiving increasing attention in the international 
debate. More and more countries and regions have a particular interest in the EU’s experience 
of economic, employment and social policies and have engaged in cooperation with the EU. 
The focus on employment and social cohesion in the thematic programme will facilitate the 
response  to  this  increasing  demand  and  reflect  the  EU’s  willingness  to  find  new  ways  to 
tackle the growth-investment-employment nexus, trade, social inclusion and protection issues. 

Culture  has  featured  very  little  in  development  work,  but  there  is  growing  recognition  that 
cultural  and  inter-cultural  factors  influence  development  considerably  and  need  to  be 
addressed from three angles: fostering dialogue between cultures, addressing cultural diversity 
throughout the world through international co-operation and promoting the cultural sector and 
industries as a factor of employment and growth. 

Investing in people could thus be a means to formulate and test strategies on how to address 
these new priorities with European added value. 

With  regard  to  gender  equality  and  children,  the  lessons  learnt  from  experience  and 
stakeholder contributions are that mainstreaming is important, but not effective enough, and 
has to be backed up by specific action.  

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The programme could potentially address many other issues, but given the limited resources, 
choices  have  to  be  made,  focusing  on  activities  where  EU  leverage  and  credibility  are 
greatest. 

Rationale and added value of the thematic programme “Investing in people” 

As stated by the European Commissionvii, a thematic programme encompasses a specific area 
of  interest  to  a  group  of  partner  countries  not  determined  by  geography,  or  cooperation 
activities  addressed  to  various  regions  or  groups  of  partner  countries,  or  an  international 
operation  that  is  not  geographically  specific,  including  multilateral  or  global  initiatives  to 
promote the Union’s internal policies abroad. 

One  important  principle  underlying  the  concept  of  thematic  programmes  is  “subsidiarity”. 
Geographical  programmes  are  the  preferred  instrument  for  cooperation with  third  countries. 
However,  in  some  circumstances  geographical  (country,  multi-country  and  regional) 
programmes  are  not  the  best  instrument  for  action  in  a  particular  domain:  some  EU  policy 
objectives cannot be achieved through country and regional programmes and/or some of the 
action  under  the  country  and  regional  programmes  can  be  effectively  supplemented  by 
thematic action. The thematic programme adds value to geographical programmes since it: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

supports innovation and stimulates scaling up of innovative measures and creates and 
pools know-how and good practice across regions; 

enhances technical cooperation between countries and regional organisations in order 
to  make  progress  on  international  commitments,  and  strengthens  partner  countries’ 
and  regions’  participation  in  and  adherence  to  relevant  international  conventions, 
initiatives  or  processes.  In  specific  cases,  it  can  provide  the  tools  for  effective 
benchmarking  and  monitoring  across  regions and  in  this  way  benefit  country  policy, 
aid effectiveness and  donor harmonisation, in line with the Paris  Declaration on Aid 
Harmonisation; 

supports development in situations and regions where bilateral cooperation cannot be 
agreed or there is no cooperation framework, such as in fragile states and in the case of 
critical programmes; 

focuses on meeting the EC’s international obligations, on global advocacy for critical 
issues,  on  improved  global  governance,  increased  aid  efficiency  and  securing  an 
effective multilateral policy framework. 

III. 

PROPOSED THEMATIC PROGRAMME “INVESTING IN PEOPLE” 

Scope 

The programme is to be set up in the framework of the “European Consensus”, the external 
dimension  of  EU  policies  and  international  commitments  and  will  focus  on  providing 
synergies between the themes and EU policies in these areas in order to reinforce coherence. 
Investing  in  people  builds  on  and  integrates  the  acquis  formulated  in  a  series  of  key  policy 
documentsviii. It complements the country strategies. 

The  EC  will  report  regularly  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  about 
implementation of the strategy and publish evaluation reports. 

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Priorities for thematic action on human and social development 

The focus of the programme is on six themes crucial for human and social development put 
forward  in  the  “European  Consensus”  and  in  the  EC’s  other  aforementioned  international 
commitments  in  this  area:  health,  knowledge  and  skills,  culture,  and  social  cohesion  and 
employment, gender equality, youth and children. These priorities are strategically linked and 
synergies are developed between all the themes. 

1. 

Good health for all 

Health  is  crucial  for  individual  well-being,  learning,  work  and  social  activity,  for  gender 
equality  and  for  any  society’s  growth  and  development.  Health  systems  in  individual 
countries and access to essential services are a central concern.  Human resources  for health 
care  are  a  crucial  bottleneck  to  be  addressed  at  country  and  at  international  level.  Health 
information  systems  with  the  ability  to  generate,  measure  and  analyse  disaggregated 
performance  data  are  essential  to  ensure  better  health  and  development  outcomes  and  that 
domestic  and  external  resources  contribute  effectively  to  faster  progress.  Ensuring  fair 
mechanisms for financing equitable access to health care for all is another major priority of 
EU  policies  improving  health  systems  and  social  cohesion.  Poverty  diseases  present  a 
particular  challenge  across  sectors  and  beyond  national  borders.  The  EU  has  long  been 
leading and supporting international efforts to confront HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and 
other  diseases.  Finally,  the  EU  continues  to  be  one  of  the  driving  forces  in  the  key  area  of 
sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) based on the full Cairo agenda. Action in 
these  two  areas  will  continue  with  the  same  definitions  and  scope  as  provided  for  in 
Regulation (EC) No 1568/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on aid to fight 
poverty diseases in developing countries and Regulation (EC) No 1567/2003 of the European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  on  reproductive  and  sexual  health  and  rights  in  developing 
countries.  The  European  Commission’s  recently  adopted  orientations  for  combating 
HIV/AIDS within the EU and neighbouring countries will be taken into account specifically 
for  developing  countries  of  the  EU  neighbourhood.The  thematic  programme  can  respond  to 
these challenges in several ways: 

•  speed up the development and improve the availability of and equal access to global public 
goods,  including  effective,  affordable  and  safe  pharmaceutical  products,  reproductive 
health commodities and innovations, including electronic communications, for strategies to 
combat diseases and prevent infection, support innovative environmental health measures 
for  disease  prevention  and  support  the  participation  and  capacities  of  institutions  and 
communities  in  order  to  allow  ethical  and  efficient  implementation  of  clinical  trials  and 
enhance regulatory capacity; 

•  support advocacy and information activities to increase political and public awareness and 
improve education of the public, including sensitivity for rights, equity, gender and cultural 
issues related to desired health outcomes and prevention; 

•  build  capacity,  including  use  of  ICT  tools,  for  policymakers  and  other  relevant 
stakeholders  at  country,  regional  and  global  level  to  improve  their  contribution  to 
development outcomes in these areas; 

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2. 

Knowledge and skills for all 

The EU is contributing to improving access to education for all children and, increasingly, for 
women and men of all ages, with a view to increasing knowledge, skills and employability on 
the job market, contributing to active citizenship and individual fulfilment on a life-long basis, 
supporting  an  inclusive  knowledge  society  and  contributing  to  bridging  the  digital  divide, 
knowledge  and  information  gaps.  Attention  will  be  devoted  to  adult  illiteracy  and  adult 
literacy  programmes.  Beyond  universal  primary  education,  countries,  together  with  the 
business sector and donors, now have to build vocational education and training (VET) as a 
major  enabler  of  employability  and  provide  greater  access  to  good  quality  secondary  and 
higher education. Tertiary education plays a key role in creating local knowledge centres and 
in  producing  education  and  health  practitioners  and  people  whose  skills,  capacities  and 
entrepreneurial  spirit  contribute  to  growth  and  thus  poverty  reduction.  The  capacity  and 
quality  of  tertiary  education,  including  advanced  VET,  need  to  be  improved  in  many 
developing  countries.  Initiatives  developed  in  the  EU  or  within  bilateral  external  assistance 
programmes  on  skills  and  human  resources  development  can  also  be  of  interest  to  some 
partners. 

This  comprehensive  approach  emphasises  the  fact  that  access  to  knowledge  and  skills  is  a 
major  tool  to  empower  children,  youth  and  women  and  to  improve  awareness  and  skills 
related to disease prevention and care, family planning, awareness of human rights, tolerance, 
solidarity  and  peace.  Knowledge,  innovation  through  science  and  technology  as  well  as 
development of and  access to  electronic communication networks are key engines of socio-
economic growth and sustainable development and need to be addressed in synergy with the 
international dimension of EU research policy. All efforts to promote education and training 
should minimise the brain drain effect. 

This  thematic  programme  can  contribute  to  country  programmes  through  the  following 
complementary action: 

•  help low-income countries to become eligible for international support for the development 
of adequate and quality education policies; contribute to international mechanisms aimed 
at  supporting  countries  that  fail  to  mobilise  sufficient  donor  support  to  finance  their 
education plans; 

•  promote  international  exchanges  of  experience  and  good  practice  for  the  development  of 
secondary  and  vocational  education  and  training  including  close  cooperation  with 
organisations  representing  employers  and workers and other stakeholders, with a view to 
ensuring quality and meeting skills needs, and maximising employability and adaptability; 

•  promote  transnational  university  cooperation  and  student  and  scholar  mobility  at 
international  level  through  accompanying  measures  facilitating  country  to  country  or 
regional  programmes,  the  use  of  ICT  networks  to  build  south-south  and  south-north 
education  networks  and  access  to  information  resources,  including  on  the  ERASMUS 
mundus programme, distance learning and virtual mobility; 

•  support  development  of  statistical  capacity  and  consistent  methods  for  retrieval  of 
quantitative and qualitative data based on commonly defined indicators, common concepts 
for  the  analysis  of  data  and  expansion  of  the  global  monitoring  framework.  This  will 
benefit programming, monitoring and evaluation of aid, in particular sector budget support, 
for recipients and donors alike; 

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•  marginalised  and  vulnerable  children  (e.g.  working  children,  orphans,  disabled  children, 
children  in  conflict/post-conflict  situations,  indigenous  and  minority  children,  or  children 
in remote rural areas, particularly girls) have no opportunity to go to school. This situation 
can be intrinsically linked to these children’s and families’ conditions or to deficient school 
systems. The programme could promote greater attention to these children at global level, 
through  advocacy,  pilot  projects,  exchanges  of  experience  and  good  practice,  while  most 
support  will  need  to  come  from  country  or  regional  programmes.  The  link  between 
education and combating all forms of child labour should be a priority area. 

3. 

Culture 

Culture determines how societies and economies function and has an impact on all spheres of 
interaction between the EU and partner countries, with implications for social, economic and 
external policies. The principles of ownership and participation, if properly and fully applied 
to achieve self-esteem and “parity of esteem”, should make it possible to take due account of 
the cultural reality of partners in cooperation, without questioning the universality of human 
rights  and  fundamental  freedoms.  The  recent  adoption  of  the  UNESCO  Convention  on  the 
protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions underlines the international 
consensus to actively promote and foster cultural diversity in international relations, notably 
with developing countries. Audiovisual means might be an effective way to promote culture 
as well as to transfer experience and good practice. 

Learning,  gender  roles  and  stereotypes,  ways  of  life,  attitudes  towards  others,  stigma, 
discrimination, conflict and many other issues are deeply influenced by culture. 

•  Investing  in  people  can  help  to  promote  mutual  understanding  and  dialogue  between 
peoples  and  cultures,  promote  cultural  diversity  and  respect  for  the  equal  dignity  of  all 
cultures  and  strengthen  cooperation  and  exchanges  of  experience  in  various  fields  of 
culture,  education  and  research.  The  importance  of  promoting  respect  for  the  social, 
cultural  and  spiritual  values  of  indigenous  peoples  and  minorities  helps  combating  the 
social inequalities and injustice in multi-ethnic societies. 

•  Furthermore,  culture  is  also  a  promising  economic  sector  for  development  and  growth. 
International  cooperation,  in  particular  with  developing  countries,  should  give  a  more 
substantial place to the cultural sector, and in particular cultural industries, to fully exploit 
its economic potential. 

4. 

Employment and social cohesion 

There  is  growing  interest  at  global  level  and  in  various  regions  and  countries  in  the  EU’s 
economic and social approach taking into account the different situations, needs, interests and 
possibilities  of  partner  countries  and  regionsix.  Employment,  combating  inequalities  and 
promoting social cohesion form an important new theme in the Union’s external relations and 
development  policy.  This  includes  decent  work  for  all,  social  welfare  and  inclusion, 
productive employment, social dialogue, development of human resources, empowerment of 
women  and  fundamental  social  rights,  including  combating  all  forms  of  child  labour  and 
trafficking  of  people.  It  also  includes  promotion  of  an  integrated  social  and  economic 
approach that regards the economy, trade, employment and social cohesion as interdependent 
elements with a  view to fighting inequalities. The  EU  will  focus  in  particular  on  social  and 
fiscal reforms to promote equity and on progressively integrating the informal sector into the 
formal economy. 

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The 2005 UN Summit highlighted the important contribution which productive employment 
and  decent  work  for  all  can  make  to  preventing  and  combating  poverty  and  the  need  to 
integrate  them  into  development  strategies.  Integrated  social  and  economic  strategies,  trade 
policies that promote social development, investment policies that stimulate entrepreneurship, 
gender equality at work, local employment and skills, efficient labour market institutions and 
cooperation between social partners will therefore be crucial for development strategies. 

Social  security  schemes  and  social  inclusion  are  key  elements  to  tackle  vulnerability  and 
reduce  the  risk  of  poverty.  They  support  households  and  contribute  to  the  gender  equality 
agenda as well as to combating child labour. It will be necessary to address the lack of social 
protection in the informal economy. 

The thematic programme could: 

•  contribute to promoting the “decent work for all” agenda as a universal objective, 
including  through  global  and  other  multi-country  initiatives  to  implement 
international labour standards, assessment of trade impact on decent work, social 
dialogue,  sustained  and  adequate  mechanisms  for  fair  financing,  effective 
functioning  –  and  wider  coverage  –  of  social  protection  systems,  including 
pension schemes and basic social protection benefits; 

•  support initiatives to promote the improvement of working conditions as well as 
the  adjustment  to  trade  liberalisation.  This  should  include  an  employment 
dimension  in  development  policies  and  the  further  take-up  of  Corporate  Social 
Responsibility  as  a  voluntary  business  practice,  to  help  spread  European  social 
values; 

•  help promote the social dimension of globalisation and the EU’s experience. 

5. Gender equality 

The  promotion  of  gender  equality  and  women's  rights  is  not  only  crucial  in  itself  but  is  a 
fundamental  human  right  enshrined  in  the  European  Convention  on  Human  Rights  and  a 
question  of  social  justice,  as  well  as  being  instrumental  in  achieving  all  the  MDGs  and  in 
implementing  commitments  such  as  those  given  under  the  Beijing  Platform  for  Action,  the 
Cairo  Programme  of  Action  and  the  Convention  on  the  Elimination  of  All  Forms  of 
Discrimination  Against  Womenx.  Throughout  this  thematic  programme,  gender  equality 
issues such as girls’ and women’s access to knowledge and skills, safe school environments, 
sexual  and  reproductive  health  and  rights,  social  protection  and  employment  should  be 
addressed  under  the  four  priorities  outlined  above.  Initiatives  in  the  area  of  culture  will 
contribute  to  modify  the  social  and  cultural  patterns  of  conduct  of  men  and  women,  with  a 
view to achieving the elimination of prejudice and customary practices which are based on the 
idea of inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and 
women. 

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Beyond  this  horizontal  dimension,  gender  equality  is  a  theme  in  its  own  right  that  will  be 
addressed  through  specific  action  on  gender  equality.  This  thematic  programme  can 
complement  necessary  country  action  through  the  following  forms  of  support  globally  or 
across regions: 

•  providing  strategic  support  to  programmes  that  contribute  to  achieving  the 

objectives of the Beijing Declaration; 

•  promoting  civil  society  organisations,  notably  women’s  organisations  and 
networks, in their endeavours to promote gender equality and economic and social 
empowerment, including north-south and south-south networking and advocacy; 

•  promote  a  gender  perspective  in  the  efforts  to  promote  statistical  capacity,  by 
indicators 

the  development  and  dissemination  of  data  and 

supporting 
disaggregated by sex, as well as gender equality data and indicators. 

6. 

Youth and children 

Investing in youth and children is investing in the future. The largest cohort of children and 
youth the world has ever seen presents challenges and opportunities for developing countries. 
They are particularly vulnerable and their rights and interests need special attention, starting 
with participation and empowerment and including promotion and protection of their rights, 
health and livelihoods. Healthy and educated children and youth, enjoying their basic rights, 
are an opportunity. Knowledge and skills equip them to participate in the labour market and 
society at large. The best interests of children and youth should be taken into account in all 
relevant  action  and  participation  by  children  and  youth  should  be  ensured,  while  ensuring 
consistency  with  a  life-cycle  and  inter-generational  approach.  Beyond  mainstreaming  and 
country support the thematic programme could: 

•  enhance countries’ attention and capacity to address children and youth issues in 

external action; 

•  support  regional,  inter-regional  and  global  initiatives  in  key  areas,  such  as 
preventing all forms of child labour, trafficking and sexual violence, and support 
the youth employment network; 

•  support  action  to  promote  youth  and  children  in  situations  and  regions  where 

bilateral cooperation has limitations, such as in fragile states; 

•  support  mapping  problems,  collecting  and  monitoring  data  (including  birth 
registration), developing policies and pilot projects, and sharing best practice for 
rescuing  victims  of  child  labour,  trafficking  or  violence  and  reintegrating  them 
into society (education, skills training, medical and psychological care), advocacy 
and  awareness-raising  and  innovative  initiatives  (e.g.  against  child  labour, 
trafficking, genital mutilation, forced sexual relations and forced marriages). 

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IV. 

PROGRAMMING AND IMPLEMENTATION 

•  Four-year  (2007-2010)  and,  subsequently,  three-year  (2011-2013)  Thematic 
Strategy  Papers  (programming  documents)  will  be  decided  by  the  Commission 
following the Comitology proceduresxi. 

•  On  the  basis  of  this  multi-annual  programming,  the  Commission  shall  produce 
annual  action  programmes  which  establish  priority  actions  to  be  supported, 
specific objectives, anticipated results as well as indicative amounts. 

•  The programme shall be implemented in accordance with the 2000 Reform of the 
Management  of  External  Assistance  which  foresees  inter  alia,  devolution  of 
management responsibilities to the delegations where appropriate. 

•  As  for  the  mid-term  review,  an  external  evaluation  of  the  operations  during  the 
first  three-year  period  (2007-2009)  will  be  carried  out  to  provide  input  to  the 
preparations  for  the  second  Thematic  Strategy  Paper  (2011-2013).  The  reports 
will  be  transmitted  to  and  discussed  with  Member  States  and  the  European 
Parliament. 

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List of key policy documents on human and social development 2002-2005 

ANNEX 1 

–  United Nations Millennium Declaration, New York, 2000 

http://www.un.org/millennium/summit.htm 

–  The 2005 World Summit; http://www.un.org/summit2005/ 

–  The 2005 World Summit on Information Society; http://www.itu.int/wsis/ 

–  UNDP Human Development Report 2004, “Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World” 

http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/ 

–  High-level Forum on the Health Millennium Development Goals, Geneva, 2004 

http://www.who.int/hdp/hlf/en/ 

–  UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, 2001 

http://www.unaids.org/en/events/un+special+session+on+hiv_aids/declaration+of+commit
ment+on+hiv_aids.asp 

–  Education For All: Meeting our collective commitments, Dakar, 2000 
http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/ed_for_all/dakfram_eng.shtml 

–  Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing Declaration, 1995 

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform/declar.htm and Beijing + 10 

–  World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 1995 

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssd/ 

–  United Nations International Conference on Population and Development, Cairo, 1994 and 

Cairo + 10 http://www.iisd.ca/cairo.html 

–  A Fair Globalisation: Creating opportunities for all, World Commission on the Social 

Dimension of Globalisation, Geneva, 2004 
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/fairglobalization/index.htm  

–  ILO decent work agenda: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/decent.htm 

–  Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) 

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm 

–  Joint Statement by the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member 
States  meeting  within  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Commission  on 
European Union Development Policy: “The European Consensus”, 22 November 2005. 

–  Proposal  for  a  joint  declaration  by  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament  and  the 
Commission  on  the  European  Union  Development  Policy  “The  European  Consensus”  -
COM(2005) 311 of 13 July 2005 

–  Policy  Coherence  for  Development  -  Accelerating  progress  towards  attaining  the 

Millennium Development Goals - COM(2005) 134 of 12 April 2005 

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–  Health and Poverty Reduction in Developing Countries - COM(2002) 129 

–  EU  Strategy  for  Action  on  the  Crisis  in  Human  Resources  for  Health  in  Developing 

Countries - COM(2005) 642 

AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis 

–  Regulation (EC) No 1568/2003 of the European Parliament and  of  the  Council on aid to 

fight poverty diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria) in developing countries 

–  Report  on  the  Commission  Communication  on  the  Update  of  the  EC  Programme  for 
Action:  Accelerated  Action  on  HIV/AIDS,  Malaria  and  Tuberculosis  in  the  Context  of 
Poverty  Reduction  –  Outstanding  Policy  Issues  and  Future  Challenges  –  European 
Parliament  Committee  on  Development  and  Cooperation  (PE  326.776/DEF  A5-
0055/2004) 

–  Second  Progress  Report  on  the  EC  Programme  for  Action:  Accelerated  action  on 
HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the context of poverty reduction - SEC(2004) 1326 

–  A  Coherent  European  Policy  Framework  for  External  Action  to  Confront  HIV/AIDS, 

Malaria and Tuberculosis - COM(2004) 726 

–  Council  Conclusions  on  a  Coherent  European  Policy  Framework  for  External  Action  to 

Confront HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, 23 November 2004 

–  A  European  Programme  for  Action  to  Confront  HIV/AIDS,  Malaria  and  Tuberculosis 

through External Action - COM(2005) 179 

–  Council  Conclusions  on  a  European  Programme  for  Action  to  Confront  HIV/AIDS, 

Malaria and Tuberculosis through External Action, 24 May 2005 

–  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  on 
combating  HIV/AIDS  within  the  European  Union  and  the  neighbouring  countries  2006-
2009 - COM(2005) 654 of 15 December 2005. 

Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) 

–  Regulation (EC) No 1567/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on aid for 
policies and actions on reproductive and sexual health and rights in developing countries  

–  Council conclusions on "Cairo ICPD +10", 24/11/04 

Education 

–  Education  and  training  in  the  context  of  poverty  reduction  in  developing  countries  - 
COM(2002)  116  of  6  March  2002.  This  document  paved  the  way  for  the  adoption  of  a 
Council  Resolution  on  “Education  and  poverty”  on  30  May  2002  and  of  a  European 
Parliament  Resolution  on  “Education  and  training  in  the  context  of  poverty  reduction  in 
developing countries” on 15 May 2003 

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Culture 

Convention  on  the  protection  and  promotion  of  the  diversity  of  cultural  expressions. 
UNESCO, Paris, 20 October 2005. 
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-
URL_ID=11281&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html 

Social  protection,  social  dialogue,  employment,  rights  at  work,  children’s  rights,  social 
dimension of globalisation, decent work for all 

–  The  Social  Dimension  of  Globalisation  –  the  EU’s  policy  contribution  on  extending  the 

benefits to all - COM(2004) 383 

–  The Social Agenda - COM(2005) 33 

–  Promoting  core  labour  standards  and  improving  social  governance  in  the  context  of 

globalisation - COM(2001) 416 of 18 July 2001 

–  December 2004 and June 2005 European Council conclusions on the social dimension of 

globalisation 

–  Council Conclusions of 21 July 2003, 5 March 2005 and 24 May 2005 

–  EP Report on promoting core labour standards, July 2003 (M.H. Gillig) 

–  EP  Report  A6-0308/2005  on  the  Social  Dimension  of  Globalisation,  14  November  2005 

(M. Brejc) 

Gender equality 

–  Regulation (EC) No 806/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 

2004 on promoting gender equality in development cooperation 

–  Programme  of  Action  for  the  mainstreaming  of  gender  equality  in  Community 

Development Cooperation - COM(2001) 295 

–  Council Conclusions C/10/403 of 8 November 2001 

–  Report  on  equality  between  women  and  men  2004  and  2005  -  COM(2004)  115  and 

COM(2005) 44  

–  Council Conclusions on the "Review of the implementation by the Member States and the 

EU institutions of the Beijing Platform for Action", 2/3 June 2005 

–  EP resolution on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing + 10), 

10/03/2005 - EP05-027 

–  EP Report A-5-0066/2002 (Maria Martens/Luisa Morgantini) 

–  http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/gender_equality/gender_mainstreaming/glo

bal/global_en.html 

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Main international and EU policy frameworks concerning children 

–  The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)xii 

–  International  Conference  on  Population  and  Development  (ICPD)  and  its  Programme  of 
Action, especially on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (Chapter VII) 

–  ILO Conventions 182 and 138 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour and the 

minimum age for admission to employmentxiii 

–  UN  Protocol  to  Prevent,  Suppress  and  Punish  Trafficking  in  Persons,  Especially  Women 

and Childrenxiv 

–  UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Children’s Rights of May 2002xv 

Main International and EU policy frameworks concerning Indigenous Peoples 

The  ILO  convention  no.  169  on  the  rights  of  indigenous  and  tribal  peoples  in  independent 
countries. 

The UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 

The  UN  Draft  declaration  on 
(E.CN.4.SUB.2.RES.1994) 

the  Rights  of 

Indigenous  Peoples 

(1994/45) 

European  Commission  Working  Document  of  11  May  1998  on  support  for  indigenous 
peoples in development cooperation of the Community and Member States. 

Council Resolution of 30 November 1998 on Indigenous Peoples within the Frame work of 
Development Cooperation of the Community and Member States. 

Council Conclusion of 18 November 2002 on Indigenous issues. 

The Convention on biological diversity (Article 8J) 

Agenda 21 (Article 24) 

World Bank Operational Policies on Indigenous Peoples (O.P 4.10 May 10, 2005) 

World Bank Bank Procedures on Indigenous Peoples (BP 4.10 May 10, 2005) 

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ANNEX 2 

Lessons learnt and past experience 

Overall, while recognising the added value of thematic programmes, the new architecture of 
the instruments for external action provides an opportunity to rethink the scope and content of 
thematic  programmes,  including  their  budget  appropriations,  and  to  extend  the  concept  of 
simplification to them by consolidating and rationalising them with a view to improving their 
effectiveness  and  efficiency.  The  scope  and  rationale  for  the  programme  envisaged  and  the 
management procedures for programming, budgeting and adopting them take into account the 
lessons  learnt  from  evaluations.  The  Commission  has  evaluated  most  of  the  thematic 
regulations  under  the  current  Financial  Perspectives.  Moreover,  a  significant  number  of 
country strategy evaluations have been undertaken in recent years, which throw light upon the 
link  between  country  programmes  and  thematic  programmes.  Certain  general  findings  and 
lessons drawn from these studies need to be taken into account in the concept and definition 
of the future thematic programme, particularly where it is implemented at country level. On 
the one hand, the evaluations show that generally thematic programmes have had a positive 
impact. 

Thematic  programmes  have  proven  useful  for  implementing  Community  action  in  cases 
where  the  government  of  the  partner  country  blocks  action  under  the  geographical 
programmes, which is particularly the case in sensitive areas such as human rights, democracy 
or support to civil society. 

They are a useful, if not the only, tool to create or contribute to international initiatives and 
partnerships,  to  pursue  global  advocacy  and  to  buttress  a  leadership  role  for  the  EU  on  key 
issues on the international agenda. 

They have been found useful to initiate actions, often with innovative approaches, with pre-
selected partners. 

Action is often more easily accepted by partner countries when funding is “additional”. 

Thematic  programmes  have  proven  useful  to  intervene  in  fragile  states  and  difficult 
partnerships, particularly in supporting programmes implemented by non-state entities. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  thematic  programmes  and  budget  lines  have  demonstrated  certain 
weaknesses.  They  are  currently  extremely  numerous  and  fragmented.  The  narrowly  defined 
thematic  focus,  once  determined  by  a  legislative  act,  limits  the  flexibility  to  adapt  to  new 
needs.  Parallel  implementation  of  numerous  thematic  programmes  and  the  country 
programme poses managerial challenges and leads to loss of efficiencyxvi. By nature, action in 
non-Community countries funded under thematic programmes creates problems of coherence 
with  country  and  regional  strategiesxvii.  Thematic  action  needs  to  be  consistent  with  the 
country analysis and should respond or relate to country strategiesxviii. Consequently, it should 
also be part of the complementarity assessment made in the context of country strategies. The 
substance of thematic programmes should be integrated into the policy dialogue with partner 
governmentsxix. 

The  EC’s  priorities  for  action  on  HIV,  malaria  and  tuberculosis  take  into  account  those 
which  apply  internationally.  More  specifically,  the  new  European  policy  framework  to 
confront the three diseases was based on two progress reports on the previous Programme for 

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Action, finalised in  2003  and 2004 respectively. The 2004 progress  report and the  evidence 
gathered from stakeholders to prepare it illustrate that EC action led to a reduction of up to 
98% in the price of some key pharmaceutical products in developing countries and that policy 
coherence  has  been  increased  through  common  action  on  research  and  developmentxx  and 
trade regulations which contributed to making medicines available and affordablexxi. Synergy 
and policy coherence at EC level have been enhanced, in particular, by agreed, concrete and 
concerted action on capacity building and clinical research capacity and by access to medical 
care  coverage  for  populations  during  clinical  trials  and  the  financial  support  currently 
provided to EDCTP clinical trial sites and the populations concerned by these trials from the 
research budget and the poverty diseases budget line (21.020702). The active role played by 
the  EC  in  terms  of  providing  leadership,  coordinating  positions  and  mobilising  resources 
among  the  EU  Member  States  and  other  donors  is  a  key  achievement,  including  a  strong 
European voice in the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria and in international 
forums  on  key  issues  such  as  trade-related  aspects  of  intellectual  property  rights  and  sexual 
and reproductive health and rights. The report has shown that the main outstanding challenges 
include  how  to  increase  the  prioritisation  of,  and  resources  to,  health  and  social  services  in 
non-EU  countries;  how  to  boost  ailing  health  infrastructure  and  overburdened  human 
capacities  (especially  in  the  context  of  the  current  brain  drain);  how  to  support  regulatory 
capacity in developing countries; how to make key pharmaceutical products more affordable 
and  improve  access  to  pharmaceutical  products  in  general;  how  to  develop  new  tools  to 
confront  the  three  diseases;  and  how  to  continue  coordination  with  partners  in  developing 
countries,  civil  society  and  the  private  sector.  New  challenges  include  how  to  maintain 
coherence  and  harmony  in  an  increasingly  complex  and  divergent  global  institutional  set-
upxxii  and  how  to  respond  to  the  evolving  epidemiology,  geography  and  demography  of  the 
diseases in the context of an enlarged EU. 

An  independent  external  evaluation  of  all  the  EC’s  external  cooperation  in  population-  and 
development-oriented  programmes  was  recently  completedxxiii.  It  concluded  that  the  EC’s 
overall approach to population is consistent with the International Conference on Population 
and Development (ICPD, Cairo, 1994) and the activities of other donors and that EC support 
has made a substantial contribution to achievement of the ICPD goals relating to reproductive 
health and family planningxxiv, with “a strong emphasis on providing tangible benefits to the 
poor”.  The  recommendations  called  for  broadening  the  population  beyond  sexual  and 
reproductive  health  and  for  steps  to  be  taken  to  ensure  that  gains  made  from  budget-line 
projects are not lost in sector-wide approaches. 

On  education,  annual  and  mid-term  reviews  of  the  9th  EDF  have  repeatedly  indicated 
problems with data integrity and the statistical and monitoring capacities of partner countries. 
Availability,  timeliness  and  reliability  of  data  vary  considerably  due  to  weak  retrieval 
methods  and  poor  understanding  of  the  basic  concepts  of  indicators,  target-setting  and 
performance monitoring. Furthermore, indicators to measure quality of education and learning 
achievement  remain  particularly  scanty.  The  two  major  evaluation  studies  in  which  the  EC 
has  been  involvedxxv  both  underline  the  difficulty  of  achieving  gender  parity  in  school 
education,  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  reaching  out-of-school  children,  i.e.  vulnerable  and 
marginalised groups, on the other. These tend to receive less attention in programme planning 
and  implementation.  The  studies  recommend  specific  measures  combined  with  the 
development of comprehensive and practical strategies to target the special groups and girls, 
pointing out that specific indicators to monitor the impact on such groups need to be included 
in education programmes. The two studies also refer to the bottlenecks in providing primary 
school leavers with study opportunities in post-primary (secondary and technical) education. 

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Primary  school  achievement  is  seen  as  failing  to  equip  children  for  the  world  of  work.  As 
regards  tertiary  education,  the  EC  has  almost  twenty  years  of  experience  in  promoting 
cooperation  between  higher  education  institutions  in  the  EU  in  order  to  contribute  to 
improving  the  quality  of  education  and  bringing  a  European  dimension  to  education.  This 
model  -  inter-university  cooperation  through  curriculum  projects,  joint  courses,  networking 
and,  particularly,  student  and  staff  mobility  -  has  proved  very  successful  even  beyond  the 
EUxxvi.  It  has  contributed  to  enriching  individual  students'  learning,  exchanging  experience, 
creating  new  academic  approaches,  sharing  European  values,  etc.  ‘Bottom  up’  activities  are 
complementary and useful if coupled with in depth Higher Education sector system upgrading 
and  equity  as  addressed  by  several  EC  bilateral  programmes  (the  latter  being  essential  to 
avoid  ‘brain  drain’).  The  capitalisation  and  dissemination  of  good  practices  coupling  both 
bottom  up  and  systemic  upgrading  points  to  a  way  forward  in  improving  Higher  Education 
systems. 

One of the lessons learnt in the education Fast Track Initiative is that mobilisation of funding 
at country level, which is the main vehicle for the FTI, can take a long time due to few donors 
being present at country level or to slow donor procedures and financing cycles. One answer 
to make aid more effective and speed up disbursement was the establishment of a global level 
fund  (the  FTI  Catalytic  Fund)  which  can  disburse  quickly  in  response  to  partner  countries' 
sector plans. 

Culture  has  featured  very  little  in  development  work  until  now,  but  there  is  growing 
recognition  that  cultural  and  inter-cultural  factors  influence  development  considerably  and 
need to be addressed. While putting emphasis on the need to foster dialogue between cultures 
and peoples, recent international debates led to the recognition of the need to address the issue 
of  cultural  diversity  throughout  the  world  but  in  particular  in  developing  countries,  notably 
through  international  cooperation,  both  as  a  political  imperative  -  as  cultural  diversity  is  a 
common  good  of  the  humankind  -  and  a  factor  of  development,  growth  and  stability.  This 
consensus was concretised in particular through the recent adoption of the Convention on the 
protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions in UNESCO last October. 

Furthermore, the cultural sector, and notably cultural industries, can play an important part in 
the development of countries, in terms of employment and growth, as it is largely based on 
intangible assets (i.e. intellectual property rights), whose value and tradability spread over a 
large period of time. As the UNDP Human Development Report 2004 highlights it, there is a 
“vast potential of building a more peaceful, prosperous world by bringing issues of culture to 
the mainstream of development thinking and practice”. 

Gender equality and women's empowerment is key for the achievement of development and 
peace. Both the 2005 UN Summit and the 49th Session of the UN Commission on the Status 
of  Women,  celebrating  the  10th  anniversary  of  the  Beijing  Platform  for  Action  (BPfA) 
reconfirmed  the  complementarity  and  inter-dependence  between  the  full  and  effective 
implementation  of  the  BPfA  and  the  achievement  of  all  internationally  agreed  development 
goals. The lessons learnt, experience and stakeholder contributions reconfirm the importance 
and the effectiveness of implementing a dual approach of gender mainstreaming and specific 
measures  to  promote  equality  between  women  and  men.  Gender  mainstreaming  should  be 
reinforced  in  all  actions  and  policies.  However,  gender  mainstreaming  alone  is  not  enough 
and has to be complemented with specific actions. 

Lessons  learnt  concerning  children  also  point  to  the  need  to  devise  strategic  action  which 
goes  beyond  mainstreaming.  Some  stakeholders  underline  the  need  for  a  strategic  focus  on 

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children.  Up  until  now  the  EC’s  thematic  action  for  children  (besides  basic  education  and 
support  to  immunisation)  has  focused  on  child  labour  (ILO  partnership)  and  trafficking, 
taking into account available resources. However, the specific approach concerning children 
must  also  be  seen  in  the  broader  context  of  the  inter-generational  and  life-cycle  approach. 
Child  poverty  and  lack  of  opportunities  for  youth  are  also  related  to  poverty  and  lack  of 
opportunities for the family, the group and the community at large. Child labour should also 
be seen in the wider context of application of the core labour standards and the lack of decent 
work opportunities for youth and parents. Over 80% of the population in developing countries 
have no social protection cover and over 90% of the job entrants in, for instance, sub-Saharan 
Africa are employed in the informal sector. 

Employment and social cohesion issues are getting increasing attention in the international 
debate.  The  2005  UN  Summit  has  highlighted  that  full  and  productive  employment  and 
decent work for all is a central objective for efforts to achieve the MDG. The EU is playing a 
key role on strengthening the social dimension of globalisation including global trade effects, 
in the follow up to the Copenhagen Summit on Social Development and on the promotion of 
decent  work.  Recent  experience  also  shows  growing  interest  outside  the  EU  in  the  EU’s 
economic  and  social  approach.  The  ILO  global  employment  agenda,  for  instance,  is 
influenced  by  the  approaches  and  working  methods  used  in  the  European  Employment 
Strategy.  The  EU  approach  on  social  cohesion  has  been  catching  the  attention  of  several 
regions  and  at  global  level,  including  in  the  follow-up  to  the  World  Summit  for  Social 
Development (Copenhagen +10) and the UN ECOSOC. The relevance of the EU’s experience 
to  promoting  social  development  across  the  world  is  acknowledged  both  inside  and  outside 
the  EUxxvii.  The  EC  is  also  taking  part  in  the  ongoing  UN  debate  on  a  Convention  on  the 
Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, taking into 
account the EC Directives on the prohibition of discrimination in employmentxxviii. 

The  EC  has  made  a  significant  contribution  to  the  work  of  the  World  Commission  on  the 
Social  Dimension  of  Globalisation  in  different  ways,  such  as  by  organising  and  funding  a 
high-level event bringing together the European Commission, EU stakeholders and the World 
Commission  and  by  contributing  to  the  follow-up  to  the  2004  report  by  the  World 
Commissionxxix. Promotion of decent work is part of the overall cooperation agreement signed 
between the European Commission and the ILO on 14 May 2001xxx. In this context various 
global and multi-country initiatives on promoting decent work have been supported and co-
funded  by  the  Commission,  such  as  measures  on  socially  responsible  restructuring,  CSR, 
indigenous  people,  dissemination  of  information  on  freedom  of  association  and  collective 
bargaining and on health and safety at work, pilot projects on decent work indicators and the 
impact of trade liberalisation and the preparation and finalisation of the consolidated maritime 
labour convention. In July 2004 the Commission and the ILO also formed a partnership in the 
field  of  development  that  is  implemented  under  the  overall  cooperation  agreement  of  2001. 
The  Commission  and  the  ILO  are  cooperating  on  application  of  core  labour  standards  in 
relation  to  the  EU  Generalised  System  of  Preferences,  taking  into  account  the  specific 
mandate of the ILO. 

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ANNEX 3 

Guiding principles for thematic action 

Thematic  action  within  this  programme  is  based  on  the  following  guiding  principles  for 
implementation in order to ensure consistency with the policy framework for external action 
and development. These principles will be further developed in a thematic strategy paper: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

Action  will  support  joint  work  with  Member  States  and  other  financing 
mechanisms, including global and trust funds or facilities aimed at fostering 
and monitoring performance related to MDG and other relevant international 
commitments,  targeted  measures  or  specific  calls  for  proposals  and  other 
means in compliance with the Financial Regulation. 

Action  should  aim  at  knowledge  generation,  innovation,  transnational 
learning  and  capacity  building  through  pilot  projects,  studies,  conferences, 
networks, exchanges of experience and good practice to the extent that such 
measures cannot be implemented through country programmes. 

Cross-cutting  issues,  in  particular  concerning  gender  equality,  children  and 
youth,  will  be  addressed  in  all  action  and  also  be  addressed  specifically  as 
themes in their own right.  

Action  should,  as  far  as  possible,  take  account  of  imbalances  and  needs  of 
disadvantaged groups, including ethnic minorities and indigenous people and 
people with disabilities, in accordance with the differing needs between more 
dynamic  and  evolving  countries,  regions  within  countries  (e.g.  in  middle 
income countries) and least developed countries. 

Performance criteria and benchmarks will be developed for grant recipients. 
All data and information used for or gathered through this programme should 
be broken down, whenever possible, by gender, age and income. 

Cross-regional  dialogue  with  stakeholders  should  be  strengthened  and 
effective partnerships should be maintained and developed with civil society, 
social  partners,  key  organisations  and  global  initiatives  and  funding 
mechanisms. 

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ANNEX 4 

Matrix of possible forms of action 

The table below summarises the themes and linkages addressed by the thematic programme on Investing in people by juxtaposing the priority themes 
with the key dimensions of added value (international commitments, global voice, subsidiary country action) and selected cross-cutting dimensions.It 
is meant to show some key linkages as examples. Abbreviations are explained in Annex 5. 

International 
obligations 

Global voice 

Subsidiary 
action  

Gender equality 

Children/youth 

Culture 

Health and 
well-being 

ICPD, MDGs 4, 5 
and 6 

UNGASS 2001 
on HIV/AIDS 

EU policy 
framework for 
confronting 
HIV/AIDS, 
malaria, TB 
through external 
action 

SRHR, poverty 
diseases, human 
resources 

Human 
resources, 
health 
information and 
monitoring, 
health 
financing, RH 
commodities 
supply 

SRHR, poverty 
diseases, data broken 
down by gender 

Stigma, 
discrimination 

SRHR, vaccination, 
disease prevention, 
education, data 
broken down by 
age 

Knowledge 
and skills 

MDGs 2 and 3  
EFA FTI 

EFA framework 

FTI, best 
practice and 
local success 

Equal opportunities, 
data broken down by 
gender, safe schools 

Basic education 

Tolerance, values, 
rights 

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Child labour 
rescue strategies 

Equal economic 
opportunities, social 
protection 

Social protection, 
vocational training, 
youth employment 
network 

Education, rights, 
values, children’s 
rights 

stories, 
transnational 
learning, 
marginalised 
children, post-
primary 
bottleneck, 
tertiary 
education, 
statistics 

Innovative 
initiatives, 
exchange and 
dissemination 
of good 
practices, 
identification of 
success stories, 
workshops, 
analysis and 
indicators, 
assessment of 
global trade 
impact on social 
and labour 
conditions, 
cooperation 
with ILO 

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Social dimension 
of globalisation, 
decent work 
agenda 

ILO Conventions 
and action plans 
adopted by the 
International 
Labour 
Conference  

World Summit 
for Social 
Development  

September 2005 
UN Summit 

MDG 8 on 
employment and 
decent work for 
youth, MDGs 1 
and 6 

Employment 
and social 
cohesion 

EN 

 
 
 
 
Gender 
equality 

MDGs 3 and 5 
Beijing PFA 

Beijing PFA 

Children 

ILO Conventions  

MDGs 2 and 4, 
UN Convention 
on the Rights of 
the Child,  
ILO conventions 
on child labour  

Children’s rights 
and participation, 
SRHR 

Culture 

UNESCO 
Conventions on 
cultural 
heritage/diversity  

Inter-cultural 
dialogue 

Data broken 
down by 
gender, 
women’s 
networks, 
participation 

Data broken 
down by age, 
participation, 
mapping, 
trafficking, 
child labour, 
sexual violence, 
SRHR 

Research, 
workshops, 
twinning, 
voluntary youth 
service 

Equal access to 
health, education, 
social protection, 
etc. 
FGM, trafficking, 
violence 

Education, 
values, rights, 
governance 
structures, FGM 

Place of children 
in society 

Data broken down by 
gender, equal access, 
FGM, forced marriage 

Status of women 

Status of children, 
youth volunteers 

EN 

23 
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ANNEX 5 

List of abbreviations 

AIDS: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome 

AMANET: African Malaria Network Trust 

CRC: Convention on the Rights of the Child 

CSP: Country Strategy Paper 

CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility 

EFA: Education For All 

EFA-FTI: Education For All Fast Track Initiative 

GAVI: Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation 

HDIC: Health and Development Innovative Consortium 

HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus 

IAVI: International Aids Vaccine Initiative 

ICPD: International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994) 

ICT: Information and Communication Technology 

ILO: International Labour Organisation 

IPPF: International Planned Parenthood Federation 

MDG: Millennium Development Goals 

PRSP: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 

SRHR: Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 

TB: Tuberculosis 

UN: United Nations 

UNFPA: United Nations Population Fund 

VET: Vocational Education and Training 

WB: World Bank 

WHO: World Health Organisation 

WTO: World Trade Organisation 

EN 

24 

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i  
For the precise wording applicable to this and other thematic programmes see the Communication from 
the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament “External Actions through Thematic Programmes 
under the Future Financial Perspectives 2007–2013” - COM(2005) 324, 3.8.2005. 

In  its  broad  sense,  human  and  social  development  is  a  generic  concept  relevant  to  all  countries  and 

ii  
groups. See also the World Summit for Social Development and the UN ECOSOC: 
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssd/agreements/index.html, 
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/index.html. 
iii  
Joint  Statement  by  the  Council  and  the  Representatives  of  the  Governments  of  the  Member  States 
meeting  within  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Commission  on  European  Union  Development 
Policy: “The European Consensus”, 22 November 2005. 

iv  
See Annex 2 for further details on the lessons learnt. Cf. also: Thematic Evaluation of Population- and 
Development-oriented Programmes in EC External Cooperation - 03/2004; Joint Evaluation of External Support 
to  Basic  Education  in  Developing  Countries  -  09/2003;  Evaluation  of  the  integration  of  gender  in  EC 
development cooperation with third countries - 03/2003; Evaluation of the EC cooperation with ACP/ALA/MED 
countries in the health sector - 07/2002; Evaluation of EC Support to the Education Sector in ACP countries - 
05/2002. 

v  
Besides  regular  consultations  in  the  various  policy  areas,  a  meeting  with  stakeholders  and  a  written 
consultation  were  held  in  July  and  August  2005,  including  NGOs,  EU  Member  States,  the  UN  and  other 
international organisations. 

vi  
 Regulation (EC) No 1568/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on aid to fight poverty 
diseases (HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria) in developing countries (351 MEUR were spent on this budget 
line between 2003-2006). Regulation (EC) No 1567/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council on aid 
for policies and actions on reproductive and sexual health and rights in developing countries (73.95 MEUR were 
spent on this budget line between 2003-2006). Regulation (EC) No 806/2004 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council of 21 April 2004 on promoting gender equality in development cooperation. (9 MEUR were spent 
on this budget line between 2003 and 2006). 

vii  
See  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  “External 
Actions through Thematic Programmes under the Future Financial Perspectives 2007–2013” - COM(2005) 324,  
3.8.2005. 

viii  
Mainly  the  EC  Communication  “Education  and  training  in  the  context  of  poverty  reduction  in 
developing  countries”;  the  Communication  on  "Health  and  Poverty";  the  Programme  for  action  to  confront 
HIV/AIDS,  malaria  and  tuberculosis  through  external  action;  the  Communication  on  the  social  dimension  of 
globalisation – the EU’s policy contribution on extending benefits to all; and the European social agenda. See 
Annex 1 for the full list. 

ix  
European  social  agenda  2005-2010  -  COM(2005)  33;  Communication  of  18  July  2001  on  promoting 
core  labour  standards  and  improving  social  governance  in  the  context  of  globalisation  -  COM(2001)  416; 
Communication of 18 May 2004 on the social dimension of globalisation - COM(2004) 383; Communication of 
15  June  2005  on  the  EU  contribution  for  the  September 2005  UN  Summit;  renewed  overall  cooperation 
agreement between the European Commission and the ILO of 14 May 2001; cooperation between the EU and 
Latin America on social cohesion and agreements with an increasing number of countries, including cooperation 
on employment and social policy. 

x  
the thematic programme on human rights proposed by the Commission. 

European Consensus, chapter 4.4, op.cit. Gender equality from a human rights angle will be a focus of 

xi 

xii  

EN 

Cf. programming principles in annex 3. 

The full text of the CRC and its Optional Protocols is available at: http://www.unicef.org/crc/crc.htm. 

25 

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xiii  

xiv  

xv  

Available at: http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/norm/whatare/fundam/childpri.htm. 

Available at: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/trafficking_protocol.html. 

Available at: http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/wffc/index.html. 

xvi 
Example: “About fifty budget lines, of which around thirty that function and are regulated differently, 
were mobilised to finance almost 400 identified projects”. Evaluation of the EC Country Strategy for Honduras, 
February 2004. 

xvii 
Breakdown of the legal bases: excluding the European initiative for democracy and human rights, these 
various  thematic  regulations  concern  crisis  situations  (refugees  and  humanitarian  aid)  or  post-crisis  situations 
(rehabilitation)  in  which  action  in  favour  of  human  rights  makes  up  one  component  of  the  aid.  However, 
although  this  falls  exactly  within  the  objective  of  mainstreaming,  it  is  particularly  difficult  under  these 
circumstances precisely to identify which projects – and which budgets – are implemented in favour of human 
rights. 

xviii 
Example:  “Secure  further  coherence  between  all  the  EC  instruments  and  budget  lines  deployed  in 
Bangladesh.  …develop  procedures  to  ensure  that…deployment  of  the  budget  lines  concerned  is  coherent  with 
the Country Strategy, and pursues country specific objectives.” Recommendation 5 of the Evaluation of the EC 
Country Strategy for Bangladesh, November 2003. 

xix  
Cf.  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  and  the  European  Parliament  “External 
Actions through Thematic Programmes under the Future Financial Perspectives 2007–2013” - COM(2005) 324, 
3.8.2005. 

xx  
on clinical trials for the development of new action against the three diseases. 

E.g. establishment of the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, which focuses 

xxi  
medicines. 

Council Regulation (EC) No 953/2003 to avoid trade diversion into the European Union of certain key 

xxii  
Cf. Key evidence from major studies of selected Global Health Partnerships - A background paper 
for a meeting of the High-Level Forum on the Health MDGs’ Working Group on Global Health Initiatives and 
Partnerships,  25-26  April  2005.  Author:  Karen  Caines;  Best  Practice  Principles  for  Global  Health 
Partnership  Activities  at  Country  Level.  Report  of  the  Working  Group  on  Global  Health  Partnerships, 
High-Level Forum on the Health MDGs, 25-26 April 2005; L. Delcour and C. Vellutini: Study on the Added 
Value  of  Global  Partnerships  and  Global  Funds  to  Development  Cooperation,  April  2005.  Cf.  also  the 
GFATM evaluation library: http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/links_resources/library/position_papers/. 

xxiii  
PARTICIP, CIDEAL, ECDPM, IDC, SEPIA. March 2004. 

Thematic evaluation of population- and development-oriented programmes in EC external cooperation. 

xxiv  

ICPD Programme of Action, chapter 7. 

xxv  
support to basic education in developing countries (2003). 

Evaluation of EC support to the education sector in ACP countries (2002). Joint evaluation of external 

xxvi  
Examples  include  the  Asia-link  programme,  TEMPUS  programme,  ERASMUS  mundus  windows  for 
several  developing  countries  and  experience  from  specific  bilateral  higher  education  projects  in  different 
countries. 

xxvii  

xxviii  

xxix  

EN 

http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/international_cooperation/seminar13jan05_en.htm. 

http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/international_cooperation/un_disability_en.htm. 

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/wcsdg/consulta/brussels/index.htm. 

26 

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xxx  

http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/international_cooperation/ilo_front_en.htm. 

EN 

27 

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