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EU cooperation with African countries and the African Union (AU) is based on two distinct frameworks: namely (a) the Partnership Agreements with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and (b) the Joint Africa-EU strategy.The legal basis for the political, economic and development aspects of the partnership between the EU and the ACP states was established by the Cotonou Agreement in 2000. This was replaced, on 15 November 2023, by the Samoa Agreement, which was negotiated to modernise and ...

The purpose of this briefing is to provide support to the European Parliament delegation to the 13th session of the United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, taking place 14-23 July 2025 at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters, under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The briefing provides an overview of the progress made on the SDG implementation by the global community and the EU, as well as key issues at stake in the meeting. This document ...

Development policy lies at the heart of the European Union’s external policies. It aims to reduce and ultimately eradicate poverty and it is central to the EU’s response to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (the 2030 Agenda). Its objectives include fostering sustainable growth, defending human rights and democracy, achieving gender equality, promoting peace and inclusive societies and tackling environmental and climate challenges. The EU works on a global scale and is the world’s largest ...

Humanitarian aid is an area of EU external action that responds to needs in the event of human-made or natural disasters. The Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations funds relief operations and coordinates Member States’ policies and activities. Parliament and the Council act as co-legislators in shaping the EU’s humanitarian aid policy and take part in the global debate on more effective humanitarian action.

This briefing is prepared for the European Parliament delegation to the third United Nations Ocean Conference, which will take place in Nice, France, from 9-13 June 2025. It provides an overview of the initiatives at the international and European level that aim to conserve and sustainably use the oceans and presents the key topics that will be addressed at the conference.

Thirty-one out of 54 African countries criminalise consensual same-sex relations between adults. In addition, several African countries penalise the public expression of lesbian, gay, trans, intersex, queer and other non-heteronormative (LGBTIQ+ ) identities, or those who fight for LGBTIQ+ rights. This criminalisation leads to violations of privacy and inhumane treatment, with some countries even providing for the death penalty. Despite decriminalisation in a few states like South Africa, Angola, ...

Hosting a substantial portion of the world's poor and displaced populations, fragile countries and territories ('fragile contexts') are characterised by weak governance and vulnerability to crises, and often prone to conflict. This creates challenges for identifying complex power structures, accessing the persons most in need and implementing long-standing development solutions. In these contexts, the UN and OECD pushed for a shift towards integrated, context-sensitive responses that consider humanitarian ...

This paper examines the role and impact of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on human development outcomes, focusing on health, education and extreme poverty eradication. The aim is to consolidate existing knowledge on how ODA advances internationally agreed targets and to evaluate current trends in European Union (EU) development policy from the perspective of its contribution to human development. The paper finds that the current EU emphasis on resource mobilisation and private sector engagement ...

On 20 January 2025, President Trump halted all US foreign aid pending a review. By 10 March, 83 % of USAID programmes had been terminated, creating a US$60 billion funding gap that neither Team Europe – the EU and its Member States collectively – nor other donors can fill, amid declining global official development assistance (ODA). This infographic uses OECD Development Assistant Committee (DAC) data on 2023 ODA commitments and disbursements. Commitments are pledged funds reflecting donor priorities ...

Commitments made at the confirmation hearings of the Commissioners-designate 2024-2029