Fairness matters : European neighbourhood policy : social issues.
Date: 2009-01-29
Institutions: Directorate-General for External Relations
Subjects: European neighbourhood policy, access to education, aid to agriculture, health policy, living conditions, social policy

EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY: 
SOCIAL ISSUES

FAIRNESS MATTERS

European Neighbourhood Policy

ec.europa.eu/world/enp

European Commission 
Directorate-General
for External Relations
B – 1049 Brussels
enp-info@ec.europa.eu

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  EU Member States
  ENP partner countries
  Candidates for EU membership
  Potential candidates for EU membership

S W E D E N

F I N L A N D

DENMARK

REPUBLIC 
OF 
IRELAND

U N I T E D  
K I N G D O M

NETHER-
LANDS

G E R M A N Y

P O L A N D

ESTONIA

LATVIA

L I T H U A N I A

BELARUS

BELGIUM

F R A N C E

LUXEMBOURG

CZECH REPUBLIC

UKRAINE

REPUBLIC 
OF MOLDOVA

SLOVAKIA

HUNGARY

AUSTRIA

SLOVENIA

CROATIA

R O M A N I A

BOSNIA 
& 
HERZEGOVINA

REPUBLIC OF 
SERBIA 

I T A L Y

MONTE-
NEGRO

KOSOVO 
under UNSC 
resolution 1244

B U L G A R I A

F.Y.R OF 
MACEDONIA

ALBANIA

GREECE

GEORGIA

AZERBAIJAN

ARMENIA

T U R K E Y

MALTA

TUNISIA

CYPRUS

S Y R I A

LEBANON

ISRAEL
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN 
TERRITORY

JORDAN

A L G E R I A

L I B YA

E G Y P T

POR-
TUGAL

S P A I N

M O R O C C O

Partners 
in development

Chefchaouen,  with  its  beautiful  white  and  blue  houses,  is 
situated  in  Morocco’s  breathtakingly  stunning  Rif  Moun-
tains. However, this relatively remote and testing landscape 
presents major challenges to local communities and there is 
widespread rural poverty.

With  EU  support,  a  major  scheme  covering  hundreds  of 
square kilometres of Chefchaouen’s hinterland is working to 
improve livelihoods. “Our main objective is to raise incomes 
and preserve natural resources,” explains Abdelsalam  Chriqi, 
who heads the initiative.

One of many such schemes in the Maghreb region, the pro-
gramme  supports  more  productive  sustainable  farming, 
reforestation,  animal  husbandry,  infrastructure,  health-
care, the development of the region’s natural park, and fairs 
for  regional  products,  etc.  “The  participation  of  the   local 
 community is an essential pillar of our activities,” points out 
Hassan  Berhili  who  coordinates  the  management  of  the 
various projects in the fi eld.

The fruits of co-operation

Mohamed Bouqaydi is an industrious small-scale farmer. 
In this tough mountain terrain, he owns olive and carob 
trees, keeps bees and herds goats in order to make ends 
meet.

Bouqaydi  is  jubilant  because  a  new  co-operative  olive 
press employing state-of-the-art technology has opened 
up  in  the  Chefchaouen  area  of  the  Rif. “We  own  a  trad-
itional family press but we prefer to use the modern one 
because it produces better quality oil, in larger quantities 
and with less labour,” he explains.

With  traditional  methods,  the  ratio  of  olives  to  oil  is 
around  14%. With  the  new  press,  this  has  risen  to  21%. 
In  addition,  the  resultant  oil  is  more  consistent  and  has 
much  lower  acidity,  which  boosts  its  quality.  With  the 
help  of  the  co-operative,  which  has  developed  its  own 
distribution  network,  Bouqaydi’s  oil  is  now  fetching  up 
to 60% more than before. “I’m using the extra income to 
improve life for my family,” the beaming father says as he 
pats the shoulder of his son.

The  EU-funded  co-operative  also  provides  farmers  with 
a comprehensive range of support services. “We work to 
raise  awareness  among  farmers  that  good  olive  oil  also 
depends  on  the  right  agricultural  techniques,  proper 
storage  and  transportation,”  explains  Abdel-Rahman  
el-Khawaja  who  heads  the  co-operative.  “We  provide 
them  with  support  and  training  in  these  areas.” The  press 
has just wound up its fi rst season during which it extracted 
40 tonnes of oil from nearly 220 tonnes of olives on behalf 
of most of its 70 members and 205 non-members.

Hive of activity

Thanks  to  this  programme,  Chefchaouen  has  become  a 
centre of co-operative activity. It hosts co-operatives for 
beekeepers,  goat  herders,  rabbit  breeders,  and  others. 
One  beekeeping  co-operative  produces,  year-round,  an 
entire range of forest honey. Depending on the season, 
the  bees  feed  on  lemon,  eucalyptus,  thyme,  or  carob 
trees, thereby producing diff erent fl avours of honey.

“The shifting of beehives to diff erent surroundings in the 
forest… is one of the greatest innovations this co-opera-
tive has brought about. It has also made it much easier 
for  us  to  buy  materials,  introduce  new  techniques  and 
market  our  output,”  says  Azhar  el-Azzouzi,  a  member 
of  the  co-operative.  “In  the  six  years  since  we  started, 
our output has risen tenfold.”

Goat  husbandry  is  one  of  the  mainstays  of  the  local 
economy. In order to help herders make the most of their 
milk, a co-operative goat’s cheese factory recently opened. 

“We  set  up  this  association  with  the  participation  of 
local  husbanders,”  explains  Mohammed  Boueissa  who 
manages  the  factory. “We  also  help  farmers  improve  their 
goat  husbandry  techniques  and  share  experience  and 
know-how.”

The  modern  factory  buys  the  goat’s  milk  from  farmers 
at  above-market  prices  and  uses  it  to  produce  soft  and 
matured cheese. The facility employs up-to-date hygiene 
and quality controls. “We carry out analysis along the entire 
production line,” describes Zeinab Rati, one of the factory’s 
young  lab  technicians.  She  is  thrilled  that  she  managed 
to fi nd a job, her fi rst, to match her qualifi cations.

Following  a  thorough  study  of  the  Moroccan  goat’s 
cheese  market,  the  co-operative  now  distributes  its 
brands all over the country.

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The  majority  of  European  Union  citizens,  a  recent 
survey  found,  are  in  favour  of  closer  co-operation 
with  neighbouring  countries.  They  believe  that 
closer ties could strengthen peace and democracy. 

This  is  precisely  what  the  European  Neighbour-
hood Policy (ENP) is about. Developed in 2003/2004 
with  the  aim  of  drawing  the  enlarged  EU  and  our 
neighbours closer together, the ENP is about taking 
concrete action to support reforms and to enhance 
prosperity:  to  improve  the  daily  lives  of  people  in 
our neighbourhood. 

So  how  does  it  work?  The  EU  and  each  of  its 
neighbours agree on how to build closer relations 
and  support  reforms  over  a  three-to-fi ve-year 
period. The joint commitments are spelled out in so-
called  Action Plans. Expertise and funding (almost 
€12  billion  from  2007  to  2013)  is  available  under 
the  ‘European  Neighbourhood  and  Partnership 
Instrument’  (ENPI)  to  assist  with  modernisation 
and reform.

A place like home

As she sings a popular song about Tbilisi, Ketevan looks 
like  many  other  happy  and  carefree  11-year-olds  in  the 
Georgian  capital.  However,  ‘Katie’  has  spent  her  entire 
life in an accommodation centre for internally displaced 
 people (IDPs).

Her family, like a quarter of a million ethnic Georgians, fl ed 
the  violence  which  broke  out  in  the  separatist  region  of 
Abkhazia in the early 1990s. Many thousands continue to 
live in converted hotels, hospitals and even army  barracks. 
The war in August 2008 has only worsened the situation.

Her  parents,  Irma  and  Merab,  are  determined  not  to 
 allow  this  to  stop  them  leading  normal  lives. They  have 
even transformed a section of their modest house into a 
classroom where the local children can engage in extra-
curricu lar  activities,  such  as  painting,  drawing,  singing, 
dancing and computing. 

“The  children  just  love  coming  here  after  school  and  at 
the weekends,” enthuses Irma, who volunteers her time as 
a teacher. An EU-backed programme helped her to equip 
the classroom. 

Ludmila Gvozdik has lived with her husband and family at an 
IDP centre since the early 1990s.

Laying down roots

The  project  empowers  internally  displaced  people  and 
helps them fi nd dignifi ed housing by providing advocacy 
training,  information  and  legal  aid,  explains  its  coord-
inator Rikke Johannessen of the Danish Refugee Council 
(DRC). It helps in particular those displaced people who 
are threatened with eviction from facilities that are being 
privatised.

Nunu Sanaya – who lives in a centre hosted in a hospital 
where she also works as a nurse – has received advocacy 
and  other  training  from  professionals,  including  the 
Georgian Young Lawyers Association. “We are determined 
to  make  the  voices  of  IDPs  heard  and  to  ensure  that 
suitable alternative accommodation is found for people 
like me,” she emphasises.

A better society for all

Every  society  faces  challenges  created  by  poverty,  lack 
of  education,  marginalisation,  disease,  etc.  Refugees, 
internally  displaced  people,   disadvantaged  children, 
impoverished  rural  and   inner  city  communities  have  all 
beneﬁ ted from EU support.

Learning is a girl’s 
best friend

Maha,  16,  lives  in  the  village  of  Abusir,  which  lies  near 
some of Egypt’s most famous pyramids. Although it is the 
summer holidays, this motivated young woman goes to 
school three days a week.

The Abusir Girl-Friendly School caters for local girls who 
have  dropped  out  of  the  mainstream  primary  system 
or  live  too  far  away  from  other  schools.  It  is  part  of 
Egypt’s  fl agship  Girls  Education  Initiative  which  aims  to 
narrow the gender gap in primary education. The EU has 
constructed  and  equipped  200  such  schools  as  part  of 
the Children at Risk programme.

“I used to go to an ordinary school, but I had to drop out,” 
Maha recalls. “But I still wanted an education. One day, as 
I was passing this school, I talked to the teachers and they 
helped me to convince my father and enrol.”

The art of persuasion

Since  the  school  opened  in  2004,  the  staff   have  been 
engaged in a campaign to win locals over. “At fi rst, many 
parents had reservations for fi nancial and social reasons,” 
explains  Iman  Saber,  the  school’s  supervisor.  “Now  the 
school is so popular that we have a waiting list.”

The one-classroom school, with 36 girls, follows a novel 
approach. “Here, we don’t have teachers, in the traditional 
sense, but facilitators who are trained in student-centred 
teaching  to  meet  the  specifi c  needs  of  the  girls,”  Saber 
points out. 

The  age  discrepancy  can  also  be  a  challenge.  “We 
encourage the girls to think of each other as sisters and 
friends, and that their age doesn’t matter; the important 
thing is that they are here to learn,” she adds.

Maha,  one  of  the  oldest  girls  in  the  class,  will  soon 
graduate. “I  dream  of  going  on  to  university.  I’d  love  to 
become  a  teacher  because  I  like  what  my  teachers  do 
here,” she says enthusiastically.

Dr Naira Aptsiauri greets patients in Kakheti.

The right medicine

Dr  Elza  Togonidze  was  very  pleased  when,  in  December 
2007, the new primary healthcare centre in the small village 
of  Eniseli  in  Kakheti  (Georgia)  opened  to  serve  more  than 
4 000 in the surrounding countryside.

“We have all the equipment and facilities we need to deal 
with the primary health needs of our patients – everything 
from pregnancies to diabetes,” she observes. “The locals are 
very pleased. In fact, the clinic’s reputation has become so 
good that even some people who are not sick come in for 
consultations,” she laughs.

This is a far cry from the previous centre whose crumbling 
building still stands behind the current one as a poignant 
reminder of the ailing state of healthcare in many parts of 
the country.

Prescribing a better health system

“As part of this pilot project, the ministry of health developed 
a complete master plan to build and rehabilitate facilities, to 
train and retrain staﬀ , and to raise awareness and promote 
healthcare  among  local  communities,”  explains  Dr  Giorgi 
Shavgulize, head doctor at the Kvareli ambulatory clinic.

funded 

the  construction  or 
The  pilot  project  has 
refurbishment of 52 health facilities, supported the training 
of 360 health promotion volunteers, and the establishment 
of 76 village health committees. In addition, a mobile theatre 
group has been touring the region to promote the import-
ance of preventive healthcare.

“We  are  not  just  stopping  at  primary  healthcare.  There  is 
a  nationwide  campaign  to  build  more  than  100  state-of-
the-art  hospitals,  several  of  which  will  be  in  Kakheti,”  says 
Shavgulize proudly.

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