A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE IN OUR HANDS - To Parent Directory

Global poverty© EC• Improve maternal health• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases• Ensure environmental sustainability• Develop a global partnership for developmentAt the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development inJohannesburg, the EU launched two initiatives designed to guaranteesupplies of water and energy – two essential components topoverty reduction. The first – the Water for Life initiative – aims tohalve the number of people without access to safe drinking waterand adequate sanitation by 2015. The second – the Energy Initiativefor Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development – seeks toattract new resources in terms of capital, technology and humanresources from the private sector and financial institutions.Trade is another essential component of growth. Under theCotonou Agreement which runs until 2020, the EU is workingwith African, Caribbean and Pacific countries to achieve theirgradual integration into the global economy. With Latin America,a range of agreements have been concluded based on a strengtheningof economic cooperation, institutionalised political dialogueand trade relations. The EU is now Latin America’s number oneforeign investor and second biggest trading partner. In Asia, whichis home to two-thirds of the world’s poor, the EU is contributingto a third of the continent’s total aid. The EU’s overall target is toraise the volume of aid donated to developing countries to 0.7%of its countries’ Gross National Income by 2015.Debt relief is also high on the European agenda. The EU is animportant player in the World Bank and International MonetaryFund’s initiative to cancel the debts of heavily indebted poorcountries. So far, full debt relief has been given to 18 countries,including Bolivia, Madagascar, Tanzania and Uganda.065