EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 10.5.2019

SWD(2019) 176 final

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT

Progress of the EU and its Member States – Goal by Goal

Accompanying the document

Report from the Commission

Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals across the world: The 2019 Joint Synthesis Report of the European Union and its Member States

{COM(2019) 232 final}

SDG 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere 1

Global trends

The number of people living on less than $1.90 a day has fallen to a record low of about 736 million or 10 percent of the world’s population, but without significant shifts in policy, about 480 million people - some 6 percent of the world - will remain in extreme poverty in 2030 2 . According to recent projections, in 2030, 87% of the world’s poorest will be living in sub-Saharan Africa, including in fragile contexts 3 .

EU policy approach

Eradicating poverty in all its dimensions, tackling discriminations and inequalities and leaving no-one behind are at the heart of the European Consensus on Development 4 (‘the Consensus’). Tackling the various dimensions of poverty requires actions on all fronts (including education, health, social protection, gender equality, and strengthening resilience). The EU’s and Member States’ actions under all SDGs contribute in some way to the core goal of eradicating poverty. Poverty eradication requires a special focus on the poorest and most vulnerable sections of society. To help achieve this, the EU is committed to allocating at least 20% of its Official Development Assistance (ODA) to social inclusion and human development. Given future projections for extreme poverty, the EU and Member States have continued to strengthen ways to address needs in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), sub-Saharan Africa and fragile and conflict-affected states.

The EU and its Member States have also addressed the links between poverty, conflict, fragility and forced displacement in a coherent and comprehensive manner, by joining up actions for instance on human rights, food security, education in crises, rule of law, good governance, climate change, peace and security. Tackling extreme poverty, especially in fragile situations, requires a strengthened link between humanitarian, development and security actions.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The EU has supported several global and country programmes to strengthen social protection systems and is involved in the Universal Social Protection Initiative 5 to promote universal social protection policies, particularly for the poor and vulnerable. In 2018, the EU supported around twenty partner countries, including in fragile or conflict affected countries, in their efforts to strengthen their social protection systems. One of them is Lesotho, where the EU helped to establish a social protection system that addresses vulnerability and inequality throughout life. Budget support has been an important delivery modality for social protection policies.

The EU’s use of budget support to eradicate poverty

The EU disbursed €1.8 billion through budget support in 2017, about 18% of its ODA. The EU’s budget support is fully aligned with partner countries’ own development policies, priorities and systems. It increasingly focuses on low-income and lower-middle-income countries - 37% of total 2017 commitments went to low income countries compared to 26% in 2014. This includes helping fragile states to rebuild basic state functions and improve their resilience. The 90 countries receiving EU budget support achieved strong gains in reducing extreme poverty.

Figure 1: Percentage of population living in extreme poverty (US$ 1.90 a day, 2011 international prices)

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/budget-support-trends-and-results_en

The UK helped 8.9 million people (including at least 4.6 million women) meet basic needs with cash transfers and provided 69.5 million people (including 36.4 million women) with access to financial services over the period 2010-2015. Hungary funds multiple projects promoting the rights and social protection of ethnic and religious minorities in developing countries, providing €24 million since 2016, including to those facing persecution in conflict countries and LDCs. Ireland has supported a livelihood project of training and credit in Northern Ethiopia since 2014, enabling over 70,000 smallholder farmers to diversify and secure their incomes. Estonia has supported disadvantaged groups, such as women in rural areas in Kenya and Ghana and people with disabilities in Uganda in the fields of handicraft, business development and agriculture. In rural Moldova, Estonia has also helped women entrepreneurs and young people to understand product development and marketing priorities for small producers and promoted female entrepreneurship and craft production in the Calarasi region.

SDG2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Global trends

With 821 million people suffering from hunger worldwide, in 2017 food and nutrition insecurity was on the rise for a second year after steadily declining for over a decade. Malnutrition rates remain alarming: 88% of countries face a serious burden. Worldwide, stunting is declining too slowly, with approximately 155 million children under five suffering 6 . The impacts of climate change and growing pressures on food, water and energy systems are affecting the ability of agriculture and food systems to deliver healthy and nutritious diets to all.

EU policy approach

Ending hunger and improving the nutritional status of the most vulnerable are key concerns in the Consensus. The EU and its Member States have worked to ensure that food and nutrition security remain at the heart of development cooperation efforts globally and that work is enhanced to improve nutrition and stimulate better livelihoods in the agricultural sector. Gender equality and support for women in food and nutrition security have been important parts of this approach.

In 2017, annual financial commitments from the EU and its Member States to food and nutrition security totalled €4.03 billion 7 . In the reporting period, the EU and Member States have addressed systemic issues in the global food and agriculture systems and worked to build a strategic approach to food crises and resilience, linking humanitarian actions, development and peace building. They have promoted agricultural development that serves multiple purposes, working to increase land productivity and boost food supply, creating additional income and employment opportunities, enhancing gender equality, while protecting natural resources and the environment and tackling climate change. To address the complex link between food insecurity, rural poverty and migration, the EU has stepped up its dialogue in the EU-African Union (AU) Partnership 8 and organised EU-Africa Business Forums 9 to help create employment opportunities for youth and women, including in agriculture. The EU and Member States have worked to: improve smallholders’ livelihoods and reverse negative trends in chronic hunger by sustainably enhancing incomes and dietary diversity; improve poor people’s tenure security of their land; support regional agriculture; strengthen social security mechanisms; enhance nutrition; and improve the coordination of humanitarian and development actors to better address the needs of victims of crises and emergencies. Through the Global Network against Food Crisis 10 , the EU and its Member States have improved joint analysis and coordinated responses. This Network strengthens coordinated actions in support of humanitarian, development and peace objectives, acknowledging the links between armed conflict, food insecurity and the threat of famine. The EU and Member States have enhanced national and regional agricultural research capacities. At the One Planet Summit in 2017, the EU and the Gates Foundation each committed €270 million over 2018-2020 to work together on climate-relevant innovation and research in agriculture in third countries.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

In the framework of the European External Investment Plan 11 (EIP), one of the investment windows under the European Fund for Sustainable Development is dedicated to “sustainable agriculture, rural entrepreneurs and agroindustry", with the objective of addressing the lack of financing mechanisms adapted to farmers and agri-entrepreneurs, particularly for smallholders, cooperatives and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). In addition, the Task Force Rural Africa 12 , who delivered a final report in March 2019, have set an agricultural, food and rural agenda for the new Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs 13 . The EU assisted over 8 million food-insecure people through social transfers and nearly a million women of reproductive age and children under five through nutrition-related programmes.

In joint programming, since 2013, the EU and its Member States have engaged in Senegal, focusing on the inter-dependence between nutrition, food security and agriculture, particularly in rural areas. In Laos, nutrition is one of the joint programming strategy’s seven priority sectors. In Nepal, the EU and Member States have jointly implemented a rural village water management project, supported priority interventions around nutrition-sensitive value chains and rural advisory services, and supported investment in drinking water infrastructure.

The Netherlands provided assistance to over 33 million undernourished people, with over 15 million demonstrating improved food intake, with higher incomes and productivity for 2 million farmers and 370,000 hectares cultivated in a more eco-efficient manner, including in the Sahel. The Netherlands also funded the Geodata for Agriculture and Water project, which uses information from satellites and translates it into agricultural advice for producers, thus increasing food security. With the special initiative ONE WORLD – No Hunger, Germany supports 28 partner countries. This initiative has enabled 920.000 people to have a healthier and more nutritious diet. In 15 “green innovation centres”, 850.000 small-scale farmers participated in training to increase their production and incomes. Around 1.8 million smallholders have benefited from knowledge on soil protection and 130,000 hectares of soil have been protected or rehabilitated. The United Kingdom reached over 42 million children under five, women of childbearing age and adolescent girls through nutrition-relevant programmes between April 2015 and March 2018. France supported 15 million smallholder farmers between 2016 and 2018. This included projects in West Africa to develop resilient and workable agro-ecological techniques and to strengthen rural community food and nutrition security. The programme has led to 61% of participants having acceptable food consumption, compared to 36% of non-participants.

Denmark is increasingly blending humanitarian and development aid streams to reduce vulnerability in protracted or recurrent crises. In Ethiopia and Kenya development programmes were adapted to address the challenges of drought, famine and displacement. In Ethiopia, humanitarian cash programmes complemented the government-led national social protection system targeting chronically poor and food-insecure groups. Famine 12-12, a Belgian multi-stakeholder initiative has mobilised the public, personalities, firms and media to help 20 million people suffering from severe malnutrition in South Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen. Since 2015, Latvia has provided technical expertise: on agricultural practice and food production in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan; on agricultural export capacity and market access in Ukraine, including for MSMEs; and most recently in 2018 on veterinary drug management in Georgia. Romania invested over €160,000 in the Republic of Moldova to promote innovation in fresh fruit production, including for export. In 2017, a joint ‘Visigrad 4’ Action, financed under the EU Trust Fund for Africa and coordinated by Slovakia, was started to provide training in good practice and for organic and fair trade certification to improve market access for 15,000 marginalised smallholder farmers in Kenya, growing cashew and sesame. In Ethiopia, Austria helped 348,513 farmers (23.6% of whom are women) to improve their agricultural productivity. Over 6,000 households benefitted from rehabilitation measures in watersheds. Ireland along with others quickly reacted to the worst drought in 35 years in Maputo Province, Mozambique, by providing drought resistant seeds and food to 700,000 people.

Figure 2: EU and MS ODA to agriculture, fishing and basic nutrition, ODA commitments, € billions constant 2016

Source: OECD CRS data

SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Global trends

Over the last quarter of a century, global health has made impressive progress: child mortality has more than halved; maternal mortality has declined by 44%; millions of people are now on life-saving TB and HIV treatment; and malaria elimination has become a realistic prospect. Global ODA for health increased to $37.4 billion in 2017, reflecting a 1% average annual increase since 2010 14 . Infectious diseases continue to represent a threat especially in low-income countries, and fragile and conflict affected countries. In middle and high-income countries, HIV, TB and viral hepatitis epidemics remain a public health challenge disproportionally affecting vulnerable hard-to-reach populations. Non-communicable diseases also represent emerging challenges for developing countries. This includes life years lost due to pollution, notably 7 million premature deaths worldwide every year due to air pollution. An increasing number of partner countries now face a 'double burden of disease', requiring both curative and preventive care. In 2016, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), accounted for 71% of the 57 million deaths worldwide 15 .

Figure 3: Under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births)

Source: World Development Institute data

EU policy approach

The EU has supported a comprehensive, inter-sectoral approach to health, with a focus on strengthening health systems to achieve universal health coverage. Truly effective health policy requires parallel work in other sectors, such as SDG 2, SDG 5, SDG 6, SDG 7 and SDG 10. Therefore, the EU and Member States supported partner countries in pursuing approaches which took health into account across all policies and which looked at interconnected, multidisciplinary ways to tackle health challenges. This included coordinated efforts aimed at the most vulnerable population groups, including children under five years, adolescents and pregnant and breastfeeding women. The efforts have been pursued both through bilateral programmes on health, population and gender, and through contributions to global health initiatives, UN agencies and civil society organisations. Global initiatives include the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria 16 (GFATM), the Vaccine Alliance 17 (GAVI) and United Nations Population Fund Supplies 18 programmes. EU Member States have progressively shifted their support from bilateral programmes towards global health initiatives. Among Member States, multilateral channels now account for 75% of development assistance for health compared to 50% in 2002. In 2017, the EU and its Member States contributed around 50% of GFATM’s annual budget of $4 billion, and around 50% of GAVI’s annual budget of $1.5 billion. Programmes supported by the GFATM partnership have saved an estimated 27 million lives as at the end of 2017. Sexual and reproductive health and rights was also a priority area for support. An estimated 30% of EU health aid was spent on reproductive maternal neonatal child and adolescent health (around €469 million in 2017) 19 .

Examples of EU and Member States actions

During the 2013-2017 period, EU-funded interventions supported more than 19 million births attended by skilled health personnel, provided full immunisation for 13 million children, enabled more than 57 million women to use contraception, provided 11 million people with access to treatment for HIV and distributed 600 million insecticide-treated bed nets 20 . The EU contributed to the EU-World Health Organisation universal health partnership programme 21  to strengthen health systems in more than 35 countries. They supported improved access for family planning and the reduction of harmful traditional practices and gender-based violence. The EU is committed to supporting developing countries in implementing the International Health Regulation 22 (IHR, WHO 2005) in order to strengthen country systems for prevention and response to health crises. EU budget support is often used to strengthen such systems. In Myanmar, the EU contributed to a multi-donor fund to strengthen the national health system, to improve access for poor and vulnerable populations. The fund successfully improved maternal, new-born and child health, and combatted HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. 220 000 children were immunised during the period 2013-2016. The EU has provided over €200 million in emergency and longer-term research funding in response to the Ebola and Zika virus emergencies. It has also further developed the Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness 23 , the only global network to enable an effective research response within 48 hours of a major outbreak of an infectious disease with pandemic potential.

EU Member States’ programmes have included investment on women’s and girls’ access to sexual and reproductive health information and services. Ireland adopts an integrated multi-sector approach to HIV/AIDS with a particular focus on fragile states. Sweden and Romania have developed a joint emergency response programme in the Republic of Moldova. The Product Development Partnerships III Fund is a Dutch Fund of €86.3 million (2015-2020) which funds public-private partnerships to develop affordable, effective medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and innovative products for neglected diseases and conditions, particularly related to poverty and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Six public-private partnerships are funded including the International Partnership for Microbicides. Luxembourg’s SATMED+ project, launched in 2017, is an e-health platform, originally piloted with NGOs and now available to the broader health sector, to improve public health in developing countries, especially in remote areas without connectivity.

Figure 4: EU and MS ODA to health sector, ODA commitments, €m constant 2016

Source: OECD CRS data

SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Global trends

The last decades have seen considerable progress in ensuring access to primary education for all children. Primary education completion remains a challenge, particularly in LDCs, but implementation of SDG4 now requires a focus on the quality of education, as more than half of children and adolescents worldwide are not meeting minimum proficiency standards in reading and mathematics. Increased attention is also required on other levels of education - secondary, tertiary and vocational.

EU policy approach

The EU and Member States actions have recognised that quality education can have major positive impacts on growth, sustainability, human rights and inequality. They have invested in: improving education quality and infrastructure, particularly in LDCs; vocational education and training; plus education in fragile and conflict-affected countries. In 2018, they strengthened their approach to education delivery and systems strengthening in emergencies and protracted crises 24 . They have supported all the major areas of SDG 4, focusing on quality education in early childhood and primary years; promotion of education at secondary and tertiary level, technical and vocational training, and work-based and adult learning, including in emergency situations. They have paid special attention to opportunities for girls and women. Their contributions to the education sector stood at €5.86 billion in 2017.

Figure 5: EU AND MS ODA to education, ODA commitments, €m constant 2016

Source: OECD CRS

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The EU committed €3.4 billion in bilateral support to education and training in 45 countries in the 2014-2020 period. The EU aimed to promote inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all, and allocated 60% of these actions for children in fragile and conflict-affected areas. In addition, budget support has been used to strengthen education systems in 23 countries. On tertiary education, the EU’s ERASMUS+ programme 25 has supported education, training and youth, including through scholarships. The EU, in partnership with the African Union, has established and funded the Harmonisation of African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation 26 (HAQAA) initiative to support the development of effective systems at national, regional and pan-African continental level. The EU has financed the SHARE programme 27 to strengthen regional cooperation and enhance the quality, regional competitiveness and internationalisation of ASEAN higher education institutions and students.

Through joint programming, the EU and its Member States have worked to improve the quality of education, especially for girls. For instance, in Senegal, initiatives from France and Italy have focused on improving management and transparency in the governance of the education system and on better aligning learning with skills required in the labour market.

EU and Member States’ support to multilateral initiatives has been a significant component of their action in education. Along with UNESCO, UNICEF and the NGO Plan International, France has committed €1.5 million over the 2016-2018 period in Cameroon, Senegal and Togo to combat school-related gender-based violence. Finland, Belgium, Ireland and Germany have provided sector support through a joint financing agreement in Palestine, to improve equal access to quality and inclusive education. As Palestine is a fragile and conflict context, protecting improvements achieved and sustaining the system is crucial. Through the Arvid Pardo Fund, Malta has provided scholarships in areas such as climate change and blue growth, gender equality and investment. The EU, together with Sweden and Lithuania, support the European Humanities University (EHU), which is a Belarusian University-in-Exile, based in Vilnius, Lithuania, to help integrate Belarus into the Western intellectual community through independent teaching and learning in humanities and social sciences. Within the EU’s Eastern Partnership, Hungary provides development assistance to educational institutions to improve local conditions and standards and also funds a broader tuition programme, the Stipendium Hungaricum Programme, which provides scholarships to students from developing countries (over 7,000 in 2018). Portugal invested €103 million on Education and Science and Technical and Vocational Training between 2015 and 2017, encompassing quality education and planning, management of the educational system and scholarships. Greece disburses a significant amount of Greek bilateral ODA annually as scholarships, targeting critical skills gaps.

Poland has supported education at all levels in Belarus, the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine, including improving the quality of local government educational policy and ensuring equal educational opportunities for children in rural areas. The Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development aims to strengthen institutional capacities in higher education, research and management in partner countries, including in Sub-Saharan Africa, through partnerships with Austrian education institutions. Bulgaria has provided equipment for interactive language learning and information technology (Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova) as well as reconstruction and rehabilitation of school buildings and kindergartens in a range of countries.  The EU-Central Asia Education platform, led by Germany and implemented with Latvia and Poland, supports development of the education system in Central Asia. Latvia has also supported cooperation between agriculture MSMEs and higher education institutions in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to develop high quality education content that responds to labour market needs.

SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Global trends

While some forms of discrimination against women and girls are diminishing (such as child marriage and female genital mutilation), gender inequality continues to hold many women back and deprive them of basic rights and opportunities. Women spend in average about three times as many hours in unpaid domestic and care work as men 28 . The representation of women in national parliaments has increased from 19 percent in 1995 to only 23 percent in 2018 29 .

EU policy approach

The Consensus recognizes that women and girls are key agents of development and change. It reaffirms the commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 30 , the Beijing Platform for Action 31 and the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development 32 . Further to its second EU Gender Action Plan for 2016-2020 33 (GAP II), EU actions have focused on shifting the institutional culture, ensuring girls’ and women’s physical and psychological integrity, promoting their social and economic rights and empowerment, and strengthening their voice and participation. Gender is a cross-cutting issue for all EU development policy. The EU undertakes systematic gender analysis for all new external actions and supports the production and use of sex-disaggregated statistics and data wherever possible. Robust gender analyses are used to inform the formulation of EU budget support contracts, which in turn has led to dialogues on policies, performance measurement and capacity development. Most EU Member States pay special attention to gender equality as a cross-cutting topic, notably through gender mainstreaming in projects and programmes. Sweden has promoted gender-responsive budgeting in public administration as a means of monitoring gender indicators.

Figure 6: EU and MS ODA to gender, ODA commitments by sector, €bn constant 2016

Source: OECD CRS data

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The Spotlight Initiative 34 , the multi-year global partnership between the EU and UN focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls, was launched in 2017. The EU contributed €500 million. Comprehensive country programming in a limited number of countries is complemented by regional programmes. The EU has also funded the Women 2030 Programme 35 , constituted by a coalition of women and gender network organisations to realize the SDGs across the world.

The EU and its Member States’ implement gender strategies in close coordination with thematic areas of good governance, climate change and environmental sustainability, and human rights. The principle of empowering women to boost prosperity is at the heart of the first Gender Strategy adopted in 2016 by the European Investment Bank (EIB), the EU’s Bank. The EIB’s policy of “protect, impact, invest” embeds gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in all its activities both inside and outside the EU.

Many Member States have developed specific national plans and strategies to implement SDG 5 through: gender mainstreaming of all development policy strategies and projects; targeted measures for economic empowerment of women; combating gender-based violence; supporting women in preventing and resolving conflict; and supporting sex-disaggregated statistics. Sweden and France have implemented feminist foreign policies, and Cyprus and the UK have recently appointed special representatives for gender equality. Many EU Member States seek to increase women’s participation in politics as well as decision-making processes, local employment and entrepreneurship initiatives. The Women and Sustainable Energy initiative was launched in 2017 with a contribution of €18.1 million over five years. The EU has supported three projects to contribute to gender equality, improvement of women’s lives and status, eradication of poverty, jobs creation and promotion of sustainable energy. A project by Italy has empowered women and increased their participation in local and national politics, which includes support to actively promoting gender equality, the establishment of a national network of women elected at local level and microprojects for local development conducted by women.

Many Member States have prioritised sexual and reproductive health and rights policies, projects and programmes, often in conjunction with health objectives under SDG 3. In 2017 the UK committed to a £1.1 billion investment in family planning, to support nearly 20 million people with contraception, prevent 6 million unintended pregnancies and save the lives of over 6000 women every year. Finland, Hungary and the UK support psychological and psychosocial health awareness and initiatives for women subjected to gender-based violence. Cyprus has worked through UNFPA since 2017 to promote more synergies between development financial institutions, the private sector, civil society and academia, as well as like-minded governments, the UN and other international and regional organisations.

SDG 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Global trends

Currently, 3.6 billion people worldwide (nearly half the global population) live in areas where water can be scarce at least one month per year, and this could increase to 5 billion by 2050 according to UNESCO I 36 . According to UN Water,  37 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and 4.5 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services globally. The pressure on this vital resource will only increase with population growth and the effects of climate change.  Over 80% of countries report insufficient financing to meet national water, sanitation and hygiene targets.

EU policy approach

The EU and its Member States have supported policy initiatives to tackle water challenges. This has included supporting the implementation of drinking water and sanitation-related human rights, as well as sustainable and integrated water resources management at all levels, while addressing the most relevant inter-linkages between water food, energy, land and climate change.

The EU and its Member States have supported transboundary water cooperation in different part of the globe. They have also promoted accession to the Helsinki Water Conventions 38 . The EU has addressed the recommendations of the Global High-Level Panel on Water and Peace 39 on the interdependence between water security, international water cooperation and conflict prevention, condemning the use of water as a weapon of war and supporting access to water and sanitation for conflict-affected populations.

The EU and MS combined ODA to third countries in the water and sanitation sector has continued to increase: commitments to water and sanitation stood at over €3.1 billion in 2017 40 , 60% up from the 2014 level in real terms. The main sub-sectors of growth are large water supply systems and waste management and disposal. Combined EU and MS ODA commitments in water and sanitation represented 40% of all donors ODA commitments in 2017.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The EU has pursued its SDG6 implementation efforts through programmes for instance with a regional focus on the links between food, water, energy and ecosystems. EU Member States use bilateral cooperation directly to support water sectors, but also address water and sanitation through the perspective of adaptation and climate change, especially the integrated management of water resources of river basins and the interlinkages between food, water and energy.

To help unlock finance for high impact sustainable projects, in 2018 EIB launched its first Sustainability Awareness Bond (SAB). Initially, SABs are focusing on investments in water supply, wastewater collection and treatment, and flood protection, including in developing countries. The scope is expected to expand to include other sectors such as health and education.

In joint programming, the European Joint Strategy in Palestine 41 (2017-2020) includes support for access to self-sufficient water and energy services. The EU and the Member States are working together to improve the operation of water and wastewater infrastructure and the management of water resources, and contributing to the rehabilitation and construction of water wells and distribution and collection systems, sewerage networks, and desalination and wastewater treatment plants. The EU has also supported large multi-country cooperation programmes such as the ACP-EU Water Facility 42 .

Figure 7: EU and MS ODA to water supply and sanitation, ODA commitments, € m constant 2016

Source: OECD CRS

In 2017, France invested €1.2 billion through bilateral projects in the water and sanitation sector, helping to provide safe and sustainable drinking water services for 5 million people and safe sanitation services for 1.5 million people. In 2016, the Netherlands supported 1.33 million people with access to clean drinking water sources through an investment of €194 million on bilateral projects and institutions, with a focus on targets such as farmers’ use of water and climate resilience, improved access to water and sanitation, and water safety. In 2017, Hungary supported 15 joint water projects in 13 partner countries. Hungary is one of the main donors of the 2030 Water Resources Group, which brings together public, private, and civil society stakeholders to improve water management. From 2016, Hungary has provided water purification equipment to Peru following a natural disaster. The CREWS initiative, supported by France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and others is helping LDCs and Small Island Developing States to develop early warning systems to protect the most vulnerable. During the past five years, two Finnish-funded bilateral projects have connected nearly 300,000 people to clean drinking water and around 1.6 million people to sanitation services in Nepal. A number of donors, including Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden and the Netherlands, are supporting the Mekong River Commission (MRC) to provide scientific information and policy advice to its Member Countries to promote the sustainable development and management of transboundary water resources in the Lower Mekong Basin. Portugal provided €10.5 million for water and sanitation, including a Waste Management Roadmap for Cape Verde and a water quality control network in Timor-Leste.

SDG 7: Energy: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Global trends

Efforts to extend electricity access in low-income countries are showing results but action must be stepped up to ensure universal access. In 2017 the number of people without electricity access fell below 1 billion, a fall of 97 million compared to 2016. However, progress continues to be uneven; three-quarters of the people who gained access since 2011 are in Asia and 600 million of those lacking access are in Africa 43 . Almost three billion people lack access to clean-cooking solutions and are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution 44 . Renewable power generating capacity in 2017 increased by 9% over 2016 but faster progress is needed. The energy efficiency target is currently unmet, with the current rate of 2.2% per year less than the 2.7 % needed 45 . Financial flows, including public and private investments in energy, are also falling short of need.

EU policy approach

The EU and its Member States have addressed energy as a horizontal issue to achieve sustainable development, working to strengthen the links between the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change 46 . They have given special attention to energy as an enabler for economic growth and sustainable development and worked to meet objectives in energy alongside other objectives such as poverty eradication, gender equality, sustainable agriculture, education, job creation, health, environmental protection, peace and security.

The EU and its Member States have worked to improve access to energy, renewable energy generation and energy efficiency in order to achieve a sustainable balance between energy production and consumption while bolstering the fight against climate change. This has involved supporting political ownership, improved governance and reform of the energy sector in partner countries, as well as promoting the use of digital technologies and boosting sustainable investment through innovative financing. The EU and Member States have worked on: renewable energy large scale and off-grid investments; providing finance for energy efficiency; research and development; expanding regional partnerships and networks; and reforming energy sectors for wider deployment of sustainable energy, better energy governance and planning.

Commitments to energy increased from €4.3 billion in 2014 to €5.4 billion in 2017, with particularly fast growth in commitments to energy policy, energy distribution and renewable energy production. Energy represented around 7% of total ODA commitments. Spending on energy distribution increased by €649 million between 2014 and 2017 - more than doubling in real terms. Disbursements for renewable energy generation increased by nearly €700 million between 2014 and 20176, a 70% increase.

In the 2014-2020 period, the energy sector has been a focal sector of EU cooperation in 30 partner countries, whilst other sectors (such as rural development, agriculture and sustainable infrastructure) also relied on energy cooperation. In total €3.7 billion has been committed to energy in 2014-2020 programming, with around €2.7 billion for Sub-Saharan Africa. This should help 40 million people to gain access to energy and contribute to a saving of about 15 million tons of CO2 per year.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The EU and Member States are strong supporters of regional and multilateral energy initiatives. The EU has stepped up its Energy and Climate Diplomacy 47 to support and encourage partners in their own efforts and initiatives and set up the Global Energy Transformation Programme 48 to promote more effective development cooperation in sustainable energy. It has facilitated public-private cooperation to increase investments in Africa's sustainable energy sector. It launched a dedicated electrification financing initiative, ElectriFI 49 , together with several Member States, private sector actors, civil society and the involvement of European Development Financial Institutions. One window of the External Investment Plan is dedicated to provide guarantees in 'Sustainable Energy and Connectivity' to unblock bottlenecks and de-risk investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The EU has also set-up an AU-EU research and innovation partnership on climate change and sustainable energy 50 . The EU is also a leading partner of the International Solar Alliance 51 , which aims to deploy solar energy massively by 2030 and mobilize funding. In 2017 in Ukraine, the EU supported the preparation of a new energy strategy and a national Energy Efficiency Fund, to promote energy saving measures in urban centres and improve energy security.

Energy is a focus in the joint programming process in Togo (2014-2020). The EU programme has improved the delivery of energy to urban and rural populations through coordinated investments and is expected to reduce energy costs, currently among the highest in the region. The EU and Member States support the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative 52 and committed to mobilize finance to achieve the 10 gigawatt goal of new and additional renewable energy generation capacity by 2020.

The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom, together with Norway and Switzerland, are funding Energising Development (EnDev), an energy access partnership in 25 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, promoting access to modern energy services (both on and off grid electricity as well as clean cooking) to meet the needs of the poor. France’s financial commitments in the energy sector in Africa amounted to €5.9 billion over the 2013-2018 period, focused on: access to electricity by grid extension or off grid systems; development of production of renewable energies; and modernization of electricity networks. Finland set up the Energy and Environment Partnership, a multi-donor fund providing catalytic financing to clean energy projects and technologies in East Africa, plus grants for new renewable energy initiatives in Cambodia, Lao, Thailand and Vietnam. Over 700.000 households have benefited from improved access to electricity and clean cooking since 2015. Romania invested over €50,000 in 2016 in Armenia for crop cultivation using solar energy. Portugal has established a cross-cutting renewable energy, environment and water concessional loan (totalling €100 million) for strategic projects in its priority partner countries and provided a further €12 million on clean energy, including energy infrastructure and energy efficiency projects.

Figure 82: Energy ODA, EU and MS commitments in € billions

Source: OECD, ODA figures broken down by sector and sub-sector.

SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

Global trends

The average 3% GDP per capita growth rate in LDCs of 2.3% between 2010 and 2016 falls well short of the 7% target set in the 2030 Agenda. Over the past three years, only four LDCs achieved per capita growth rates exceeding 5% per year (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia and Lao). Regarding employment and decent work, the UN SDG Report 2018 53 highlights increases in labour productivity and a decrease in unemployment rates, but at the same time emphasises that gender earning inequalities remain pervasive and that youth were three times more likely to be unemployed than adults in 2017.

EU policy approach

Prosperity is about inclusive and sustainable growth and jobs and thus spans not only SDG8, but also SDGs 9, 12, 13 among others. The EU has supported the Decent Work Agenda 54 , and promoted employment that is secure, ensures fair wages, safe working conditions, equal opportunities for all, guarantees no discrimination in the workplace and provides for social protection and social dialogue. EU trade policy increasingly contributes to sustainable employment, decent work and internationally recognised labour standards, through the new generation trade agreements, which include legally binding commitments on labour and environment. The EU also uses the Generalised System of Preferences 55 (GSP) and in particular the GSP+ (Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance), as well as the ‘Everything but Arms 56 ’ (EBA) arrangements to promote human rights and international labour standards.

Member States pursued SDG 8 both through major strategic objectives, such as green growth or sustainable economies and through programmes designed to contribute to more inclusive and higher growth and better employment for instance by generating more equitable employment and more decent working conditions). Member States focused increasingly on synergies and interlinkages with other SDGs (for instance between growth and gender equality, agriculture, migration and environmental sustainability). They supported a range of productive sectors, training, entrepreneurship, business development, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), development of social economy systems and access to finance for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

The EU and its Member States have been global leaders in the provision of support to financial intermediaries with 64% of all ODA to this area in 2017. This has included provision of credit to the banking sector for lending to SMEs. The EU and its Member States are also leaders in direct support to SMEs, providing 66% of all ODA commitments in 2017. This has been coupled with the promotion of foreign direct investment and support to local businesses in partner countries, through the European External Investment Plan and its dedicated investment window for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Financing.

Many Member States have launched initiatives to encourage foreign direct investment for sustainable development, often linked with CSR/RBC. For example, investment guarantees, financial grants and advisory and promotional services are provided by several Member States under their ODA budget. This, with the associated transfer of technology and know-how, is expected to contribute to local employment, market development and strengthening of export capacities in partner countries. Better natural resources management plays a pivotal role in decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation. The EU and a number of Member States fund authoritative research to inform policymaking in these fields.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The European External Investment Plan is an example of a multi-pronged instrument to promote sustainable development through creating prosperity and jobs, particularly for the young. By 2018, the EIP had invested €3.7 billion, which is set to leverage over €37.1 billion of extra public and private investment to improve economic and social development in Africa and in the European Neighbourhood. This is well on the way to the target of €44 billion of investment to be leveraged by 2020. The Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs, launched in September 2018, also contributes to employment opportunities, including for young women, by supporting education and training, and enhanced access for youth to digital technologies and services.

"EU4Business 57 ” is an umbrella initiative covering EU support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in six countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) in economic development and market opportunities. EU support of over €300 million has triggered more than €1.5 billion in loans to SMEs in the region, supporting more than 110,000 SMEs and the creation of at least 10,000 jobs. “Boost Africa 58 ” is a partnership of EIB, the African Development Bank and the EU, to help develop an entrepreneurial environment in Africa by supporting the earlier, riskier stages of new ventures in a sustainable way. The objective is to enable African youth to compete regionally and globally, attract domestic and foreign investment, create quality jobs and contribute to inclusive and sustainable growth. An EU partnership with the International Co-operative Alliance 59 , established in 2016, supports enterprises helping vulnerable groups, such as low-income women, unemployed youth, persons with disabilities, indigenous people, migrants and refugees to participate in the formal economy. Through the technical assistance facility SOCIEUX+ 60 , since 2013 the EU has provided expert assistance to 138 countries 61 to foster partnerships for the design and creation of inclusive social protection and employment systems. The EU supported the sustainable growth and modernisation of Myanmar’s rural economy by encouraging diversification in agriculture and providing skills for new jobs with higher wages. From 2010 to 2016, 33 100 people (including 12 600 women) were trained in non-agricultural skills. 

In Joint Programming in Ghana, Denmark and the EU have promoted the business environment through advocacy to private sector organisations. Denmark and the Netherlands have promoted climate-related investments through the Ghana Climate Innovation Centre. Germany and the EU have financed Technical and Vocational Education and Training and the Netherlands and Switzerland have supported the cocoa value chain including support for smallholders.

Several Member States have sought to stimulate private sector investment in sectors with a high impact on poverty reduction such as agriculture. For example the UK’s capital investment vehicle, AgDevCo, has benefited over 450,000 smallholders and directly addresses lack of investment in agriculture. Denmark and Slovenia have started initiatives to develop sustainable businesses in partner countries, whilst the Netherlands have launched an innovative blending instrument for private-public partnerships. The Dutch Good Growth Fund has provided financing to SMEs and entrepreneurs in 68 emerging markets and developing countries. As of 2016, it had mobilised three to five times as much private capital as the amount invested and helped create 12 000 new jobs in low- and middle-income countries. Slovenia’s development projects in the Western Balkans and Sub-Saharan Africa aim at economic empowerment through skills development, linking SDG4, SDG5 and SDG8. In 2015, the Czech Republic set up the B2B programme, an innovative instrument which has provided grants for business activities through 128 projects in more than 30 developing countries. The Czech Republic has also launched a pilot guarantee programme to catalyse private investments in developing countries. Hungary supports projects, including in the Middle East, focusing on capacity building and promoting social mobility of populations most at risk of economic deprivation and local persecution. The projects aim to promote the livelihoods of vulnerable populations, provide psycho-social support to returnees and enhance the sustainable development of the recipient country. Since 2016, Poland has supported Ukraine to increase the competitiveness of Ukrainian regions, by developing regional centres of business support for both public administration and entrepreneurs, and providing access to finance for start-ups. Luxembourg’s Business Partnership Facility (BPF), launched in 2016, promotes the transfer of technology and expertise, as well as job creation in developing countries, targeting the ICT, financial technology, logistics, bio-health, eco-innovation and circular economy sectors. Finland’s programme Business with Impact, funded the online career and recruitment platform Fuzu in Kenya, now with over 700,000 users, which helps to unblock bottlenecks caused by poorly functioning public employment services. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is the main multilateral partner of the EU and its Member States on SDG8, including in the promotion of fundamental labour standards. Belgium’s external action in support of SDG8 revolves around two areas: job creation and the protection of labour rights. Germany supports the ILO´s programmes on social protection, the elimination of child labour, and the promotion of labour standards in global supply chains. Sweden, in collaboration with other countries, the ILO and the OECD, has initiated the Global Deal to use enhanced joint dialogue between all relevant parties on the labour market to promote the creation of decent jobs and support inclusive growth. As a complement to its grant funding, Sweden has also substantially increased its guarantee framework, which is fully aligned with development cooperation objectives.

Figure 9: Total EU direct investment flows, disaggregated by regions, 2014-2017, in €billions

Source: Eurostat, EU direct investment flows, breakdown by partner country and economic activity

SDG 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation

Global trends

Infrastructure is a key driver of economic prosperity, sustainable development and inclusive growth, but its development is constrained by a major financing gap, estimated at USD 15 trillion from 2017 to 2040 62 . Investment needs for infrastructure in Africa alone are estimated at USD 130 billion annually. Improving connectivity and accessibility are key challenges. The digital economy is a key driver of inclusive growth and sustainable development. By 2016, the proportion of population covered by a 3G mobile broadband network stood at 61 per cent in the LDCs and 84 per cent globally 63 . But there is still an access divide, for instance in terms of mobile broadband networks coverage in rural areas.

EU policy approach

The EU and Member States have been major supporters of SDG9, committing over €8 billion in 2017. Work on SDG9 has been part of broader support to inclusive sustainable growth, including sustainable production and consumption and development of small businesses and industries. Actions are closely linked to other SDGs, such as SDG 7, SDG 8, SDG 12 and SDG 13. Work on SDG 9 has included credit and research for technological advances, developing value chains and promoting good business practices. The EU provided three quarters of global ODA committed to research in 2016, 73% of global support to banking and financial services and 52% of global ODA to industry.

EU programmes have focused on physical and mobile connectivity, coupled with policy and sector reform, to ensure that investments are cost-effective and yield returns. This has included climate--resilient infrastructure and in trade and transport facilitation, including transport corridors. The EU and Member States have supported the extension of broadband connectivity and digital infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, and promote digital literacy, skills and entrepreneurship, including among women and youth. They have promoted low-carbon transport solutions, aiming at decarbonizing cities and connecting them with peri-urban areas and centres of production.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

On transport, under European Investment Facilities 64 , such as the Africa Investment Platform 65 (AIP), more than €3 billion was leveraged for enhanced transport connectivity between 2016 and 2018 with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It aimed at strategic corridor development consistent with the priorities of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa 66 . For instance, the EU improved major transport axes such as the North South Corridor in Zambia and the Northern corridor linking Kenya to Uganda. Since 2015 the EU has provided access to all weather roads to over 12 million people. In Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania, EU budget support contributed to improvement of accessibility, road maintenance, and management capacities. In Rwanda, the EU helped to rehabilitate or maintain 1200 km of rural feeder roads, setting up community cooperatives for road maintenance. In 2014-2017, the EU supported the construction and maintenance of 520 km of road in the area of Garamba national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to strengthen park management and conservation. Since 2012, the EU, with France and the EIB, have rehabilitated areas of unregulated housing in Tunisia, with more than 1000 km of improved roads, 300 km of sewerage systems, 13,000 street lights and other public facilities such as sport halls and playgrounds. In Azerbaijan, the EU has supported over 10,000 entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector with access to credit.

Regarding small businesses, Spain finances the Huruma Fund, an Impact Investment Fund to address the traditional constraints of agriculture finance for smallholders and underserved farmers. Spain also, in partnership with the African Development Bank, funded the Microfinance Capacity Building Fund for Africa, which aims to build capacity in the financial sector for the benefit of poor and low-income populations, particularly women and those living in rural areas.

On Information and Communication Technologies, in 2017, the EU established ‘Digital for Development’ (D4D), a comprehensive approach to mainstream digital technologies in support of the SDGs. Estonia developed a project in Moldova to support the development of a secure digital society for reliable service delivery and economic prosperity. In Ukraine, Estonia is also co-developing (with the EU, Denmark, Germany, Poland and Sweden) a decentralisation programme to improve public service delivery in local governments through improved ICT architecture, information systems and administrative services. The Estonian e-Governance Academy promotes good governance and better access to services in Pacific islands. Ireland supported innovations in e-health platforms, including diagnostics, information campaigns and logistics, helping to improve Sierra Leone’s Ebola response. Italy supported the Women and Girls First Initiative in Myanmar, which developed a youth application for mobile devices, covering sexual and reproductive human rights and gender-based violence. Sweden helped Guatemala, with over €3 million, to develop methodology and statistics for SDG monitoring, data collection and analysis. Belgium, to support Palestinian medical doctors and researchers, funded the project on efficient learning through digital information resources in health sciences (ELDIR-med). Belgium has also developed digital tools to promote human rights and create inclusive public spaces in partner countries. To promote e-services and inclusive digital democracy, Latvia supported the development and modernization of a united court administration system and an electronic citizens’ initiative platform in Ukraine. The platform allowed Ukrainian NGOs to develop skills in using electronic participation platforms to increase civil engagement in decision-making.

Figure 10: EU commitments in support of SDG 9, in €billions of constant 2016

Source: OECD CRS codes

SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries

Global trends

Global progress in reducing inequality within and among countries has been mixed. Inequality in all its forms remains a concern in many parts of the world. Many of the countries with the highest levels of income inequality are in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

EU policy approach

SDG 10 calls for addressing inequalities in income as well as those based on age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status. Inequality is a multidimensional challenge that is interlinked to many other important aspects of sustainable development: it hinders sustainable economic growth, holds back poverty eradication, undermines social cohesion and erodes environmental protection. The reduction of inequality is an EU priority, both internally to the EU and externally. The rights-based approach 69 (RBA) to development cooperation has been a key instrument for the EU to address discrimination and promote equal opportunities for all. All EU funded actions use a RBA, encompassing all human rights. The EU and its Member States have targeted inequality in partner countries including through: support to social protection systems to guarantee basic income and build resilience; support to universal access to public services, including education and health; policies to fight discrimination; redistributive policies to shareof the benefits of growth; and support to progressive fiscal policies and domestic revenue mobilisation. However, the reduction of inequality needs to be better mainstreamed in EU development cooperation. Ireland has a specific social protection strategy guiding its engagement. Slovenia addresses the reduction of inequalities as one of the key underlying goals of its development cooperation. Some Member States also address inequalities between countries, including by shifting their geographic focus and commitments towards disadvantaged, least-developed and fragile countries.

Inequality is a root cause of poverty, conflict, fragility and forced displacement, and a driver of vulnerabilities. The EU is committed to promoting the dignity and resilience of long-term forcibly displaced persons and their inclusion in the economic and social life of host countries and communities. The EU prepared a European Agenda on Migration 70 in 2015, a policy framework for the management of displacement with new tools to link immediate relief to mid- and long-term support for displaced persons and their hosts. External migration policy was further developed under the Partnership Framework on migration. 71  

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The EU has participated in the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor 72 , a global initiative to accelerate financial inclusion in partner countries. In terms of supporting the rights of persons with disabilities, the EU-funded ‘Bridging the Gap 73 ’ project carries out actions aimed at increasing the inclusion of persons with disabilities at both the international and country level. The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa 74 , launched in 2015 has allowed the EU and its Member States to work with African partners faster and with more flexibility to foster long-term stability. It addresses the root causes of destabilisation, forced displacement and irregular migration across three regions of Africa: the Sahel and Lake Chad, the Horn of Africa and the North of Africa. With a budget of over €4 billion, the Trust Fund has proved its value as a swift and effective implementation tool. European Partners have jointly supported Ethiopia in addressing the ‘push and pull’ factors that make young people susceptible to irregular migration and human trafficking. They have contributed to creating more than 14,000 jobs in the country, assisting more than 26,000 people in income-generating activities and training 10,000 others. EIB has developed the Economic Resilience Initiative 75 to respond to the long-term social and economic infrastructure needs of countries of origin, transit and destination.

Italy’s Fund for Africa is aimed at dialogue and cooperation with African countries relevant for migration routes. In 2017 the Fund committed €152 million mainly to assisting migrants, refugees and host communities. This also funded the creation of jobs, social and economic development in the Sahel countries and supported human rights and the rule of law. Germany has supported the Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD) through its ‘remittances working group’ generating recommendations for policy through research and knowledge exchange. Germany also supported the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion, to reduce the cost of remittances. Estonia aims to reduce socioeconomic disparities between regions and boost welfare in Georgia, through tourism products and training for tourism entrepreneurs in disadvantaged regions. Hungary supports educational institutions particularly in regions in developing countries that suffer from higher levels of inequality. From 2015-19, the EC, OECD, Finland (and since 2016 Germany) support low- and middle-income governments and expert institutions to develop effective social protection systems, including in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Togo, Vietnam and Zambia.

SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Global trends

Since 2015, most developing country partners have experienced continued rapid rates of urbanisation, resulting in new challenges and opportunities for developing countries. Cities are a critical element in achieving many SDGs, bringing economic opportunities but also risks in terms of stability, environmental quality, financing and basic service delivery in health, education, energy and water and sanitation. There are important gaps today in reaching the urban targets. Nearly 1 billion people live in slums. Air pollution in many megacities especially in Asia has reached toxic levels. 91% of the world’s population live in places where poor air quality exceeds WHO guideline limits 76 . Continued rapid urbanisation will exacerbate these problems. It is projected that the urban population will increase by 2.5 billion people up to 2050 77 . Well-managed urbanisation will be a key element in achievement of most of the SDGs.

EU policy approach

Sustainable urban development is increasingly being integrated in EU development policy frameworks. Actions have included supporting energy efficient buildings, low emission transport networks, climate friendly infrastructure and compliance with environmental standards. Further to the UN Habitat III Conference 78 , the EU and its Member States have acted to promote well-governed cities that are inclusive and safe, green and resilient, prosperous and innovative.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The EU has increased bilateral and regional programmes in urban development, launching a city-to-city cooperation programme in 2018 and addressing slum-upgrading, urban resilience and climate change. One of the windows of the External Investment Plan is focused on Sustainable Cities. EU budget support targeted various aspects of SDG11 including the legal, policy and fiscal frameworks of decentralization, environmental management, housing and public infrastructure, linking these with disaster prevention and preparedness and reconstruction. These commitments also built capacity for more decentralised service delivery.

The Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme 79  is a joint effort of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, the EU and UN-Habitat. The programme works in 35 countries and 160 cities to improve the lives of at least 2 million slum dwellers through integrated strategies and inter-regional technical exchange. The Covenant of Mayors Sub-Saharan Africa initiative 80 , launched in 2015, works with nearly 140 cities from 34 countries, to assure energy access and climate mitigation and adaptation. 13 cities received grant support for local climate and energy planning and pilot projects in 2018.   

In joint programming In Kenya, one of four priority sectors agreed by European partners in the Joint Cooperation Strategy 2018-2022 81 is sustainable infrastructure. France, Italy and Sweden have supported the provision of sustainable housing and better managed urban development (nearly 61% of urban residents live in slums). European partners also focus on financing housing and urban infrastructure, including transport systems, and supporting governance in the infrastructure sector.

Over the period 2014-2016, France committed €5.1 billion for sustainable cities. 2.8 million people benefited from waste collection and treatment and 750,000 people living in slums saw their housing improved in 2015. This included €6 million for India’s Smart Cities Mission initiative, to develop innovative and sustainable approaches for better life quality in 100 Indian cities. In the Philippines, France worked in natural risk management and prevention and sustainable urban development in 52 cities, including climate planning. The UK established the Infrastructure and Cities for Economic Development programme to accelerate the development of urban and infrastructure programmes in partner countries through demand-driven technical assistance. The UK also committed £165m over five years to deliver the Cities and Infrastructure for Growth Programme, which seeks to enhance economic growth by creating jobs, unlocking investment in infrastructure projects and expanding access to reliable power for businesses. Several European cities are also partnering with cities in partner countries to jointly work on SDGs, such as the partnership between the city of Harelbeke (Belgium) and Eenhana (Namibia). In 2017, these cities signed a declaration of engagement to the SDGs. In Cyprus, the Nicosia Municipality is actively participating in the SDGs Cities Leadership Platform, to promote sustainable development in cities across the world, as well as raising awareness amongst citizens.

Figure 2: EU and MS support to housing, transport and urban development and management, in €billions of constant 2016

Source: OECD DAC data, CRS for housing, transport and urban development and management.

SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Global trends

Decoupling economic growth from resource use remains challenging. While progress has been made on the development of policies, knowledge resources and technical tools – notably through the 10-year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns 82 (10YFP) adopted in June 2012 - these have resulted in limited concrete changes in practice. Support to policy implementation and scaling up practices with positive impact are necessary to achieve the shift to sustainable consumption and production. Multi-stakeholder partnerships have a key role to play. Improving monitoring is also important, to scale-up good practices and demonstrate their benefits.

EU policy approach

The EU’s Action Plan for the circular economy 83 of December 2015 has been one of the main EU contributions to SDG 12. It concentrates on actions at EU level, but recognises the need to develop the circular economy at global level and to ensure policy coherence in internal and external EU action. With partner countries, the EU has worked on: sustainable value chains, including in garments; the systematic inclusion of trade and sustainable development provisions in EU trade agreements; and the sharing of best practices and scaling up initiatives that promote responsible supply chains and multi-stakeholder approaches, including on responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas. The EU has also promoted regional programs on CSR/RBC with international organisations. Most Member States have addressed SDG12 under a wider objective of promoting sustainable economies that generate decent jobs and wellbeing. Almost all Member States have actively promoted CSR/RBC and deepened the links between European businesses and developing country partners to promote more responsible corporate behaviour and better assessment of the economic, environmental and social sustainability impact of investments.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The EU has launched a number of responsible supply chains initiatives such as the EU Garment Initiative 84 and the SWITCH to Green flagship programme 85 . Under SWITCH, during the period 2013-2017, the EU supported the rattan sector in Indonesia in promoting sustainable production, processing and utilisation of rattan products. The project involved stakeholders along the value chain and contributed to improved learning and application of sustainable best practices in the sector. In total, 720 SMEs implemented eco-friendly production process with EU support. Through the SwitchMed project 86 , around the Mediterranean, the EU promotes sustainable consumption and production patterns in partner country businesses, encouraging competitiveness and generating jobs, while also raising the awareness of policy makers and consumers through networks and sharing of good practices. “Responsible Supply Chains in Asia” 87 is an EU pilot project, developed with the ILO and the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in six Asian countries (China, Japan, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). It promotes CSR/RBC with regard to the environment, decent work and the respect of human rights by improving understanding of responsible behaviour and creating conducive policy environments. The EU Partnership Instrument 88 has also allocated €9.5 million for specific project to promote CSR/RBC and Business and Human Rights in selected CELAC countries (Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Chile and Colombia).

Many Member States have promoted CSR/RBC by sharing best practices, training, promoting investments and by focusing on supporting responsible business practices and responsible management of supply chains, particularly in the agricultural sector, in order to develop agricultural markets and value chains in partner countries. France co-leads the Sustainable Tourism Programme of the 10YFP. This programme supports cooperation between stakeholders to implement innovative projects and good practices in sustainable tourism in developing countries. Spain has provided financing for private companies willing to invest in developing countries while screening these investments for CSR content and their economic, environmental and social sustainability impact. Denmark has launched the global initiative P4G – Partnering for Green Growth and the SDGs - to develop innovative public-private partnerships (PPP) with a focus on energy, water, agriculture, sustainable cities and circular economy.

Germany supports several multi-stakeholder-initiatives to strengthen sustainability in global supply chains and to improve compliance with social and environmental standards, including the Sustainable Textile Partnership, with initiatives in chemical and environmental management and improvement of labour standards. Germany, with the Global Coffee Platform, aims to foster a sustainable coffee sector. The German Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa, a joint initiative with the German sweets and confectionary and retail industries plus civil society, aims to improve the living conditions of cocoa farmers, improve natural resource management and increase the proportion of sustainably produced cocoa on the German market. Slovenia supported several projects from 2012 - 2017 through UNIDO, to promote sustainable consumption and production in Eastern and Central Europe. It also co-organized with UNIDO and the EU a 2018 Conference on the Circular Economy in Tourism in South East Europe. Sweden implements the Swedish Textile Water Initiative; a collaboration between over 30 Swedish textile and leather brands and the Stockholm International Water Institute, to develop sustainable business practices and improve water management in supply chains. The initiative works with suppliers in more than 70 countries. Estonian fashion designer Reet Aus is working with major textile manufacturers in Bangladesh and India to create garments that are entirely made from manufacturing leftovers and 100% upcycled. Estonia’s ‘Let’s Do It Foundation’ works towards a waste free world based on circular economy and zero waste practices. In 2018, it organized the biggest World Cleanup Day with 17 million people clearing waste in 157 countries.

SDG 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

Global trends

The year 2018 was 1 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial period. An analysis by the World Meteorological Organization shows that 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 have been the four warmest years on record 89 . The world continues to experience rising sea levels, extreme weather conditions (the 2017 North Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest ever recorded) and increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases. This calls for urgent and accelerated action by countries to implement their commitments to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

EU policy approach

A major part of the policy approach of the EU and Member States is to work through the vitally important global processes and international climate governance, supporting the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 90 (UNFCCC) in implementing the Paris Agreement, monitoring and reporting on it and agreeing more ambitious action. This includes support to several progressive climate change groups, such as the Vulnerable 20 91 and the Alliance of Small Island States 92 , as well as to the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 93 , the scientific body informing the Convention. The Sendai Framework to promote Disaster Risk Reduction 94 (DRR) is closely linked to climate change. DRR is the subject of several targets under different SDGs, including under SDG13. Support to DRR and insurance schemes is needed at global level, complementing work at regional and national levels.

The EU has supported the preparation of many Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) by developing countries under the Paris Agreement. Support to implementation of NDCs is crucial as they are the framework for national climate action. The EU and Member States have joined the NDC Partnership 95 to coordinate actions with other donors and stakeholders. Linking NDCs to SDG strategies is crucial to ensure partner countries engage in low-emission, climate-resilient sustainable development processes. The EU and Member States have also worked to integrate climate change into their development cooperation. For most developing country partners, adaptation to climate change and resilience are major climate challenges.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

The EU has supported partner countries in achieving climate change objectives, in particular in relation to its commitment to spend 20% of its 2014-2020 total budget on climate change. Over the period 2014-2017, 19.8 % of total budget support contributed to climate change objectives. Contributions from the EU and its MS to support developing countries in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and coping with the impacts of climate change stood at €23.0 billion in 2017. Innovative financial instruments such as EIB’s Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund  96 (GEEREF) are contributing to these objectives by leveraging public resources to catalyse private capital.

The EU recognises that cities have become critical vehicles for meeting NDCs and leading catalytic climate action. The EU supports the regional chapters of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy in sub-Sahara Africa, Latin America and Asia 97 .

Figure 13: EU ODA to climate change adaptation and mitigation, ODA commitments, €m constant 2016. Stacked areas for EU ODA, stacked lines for all donors

Source: OECD CRS data

The EU’s Global Climate Change Alliance initiative 98 (GCCA+) has fostered policy dialogue with, and support to climate action in partner countries, mainly LDCs and SIDS. Two success stories are budget support in Rwanda, promoting climate change-proof investments by farmers, and in Bhutan, supporting the implementation of policies for renewable natural resources and climate change adaptation measures). The EUROCLIMA+ programme 99 , launched in 2017, is a flagship climate change programme for Latin America. It offers specialised services to support implementation of commitments to the Paris Agreement in climate governance, plus funding and technical assistance for projects. In 2017, under the Sustainable Urban Demonstration Projects 100  (SUDEP) programme, the EU supported twelve municipalities across ten neighbouring partner countries to the south and south-east of the EU 101 in implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency strategies and measures. The programme supported municipalities facing major challenges of population growth, extreme weather conditions and increasing numbers of refugees, working together with civil society and with a special focus on women and youth.

In terms of joint programming, as part of the agreed objectives on supporting climate change and the environment in Bolivia, EU, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Spain joined forces for Climate Diplomacy Week 102 , which raised awareness on the impacts of climate change and the need for joint action. It provided an opportunity to showcase European partners’ achievements in promoting climate policy at home and abroad, communicate joint European objectives, and build relationships with key local actors from government, business and civil society.

France has pledged to spend 50% of its ODA on co-benefits for the fight against climate change. Building on the G7 initiative InsuResilience, initiated by Germany, the G20 launched the InsuResilience Global Partnership for Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance Solutions. The objective of the G7 initiative is to increase to 400 million by 2020 the number of poor and vulnerable people in developing countries who benefit from insurance. The Global Partnership promotes disaster risk financing and insurance approaches to improve disaster risk management. In November 2018, Germany also launched a new Development and Climate Alliance initiative to mobilise voluntary contributions from the private sector for climate and sustainable development. Sweden is the largest per capita donor to the Green Climate Fund, which is of central importance for financing the commitments of developing countries under the Paris Agreement and climate adaptation and mitigation action. 90% of Ireland’s climate finance commitments targeted adaptation for least developed and small island countries. Ireland also provides significant support to the LDC and SIDS negotiating blocs, at climate-relevant multilateral meetings. Hungary has established “green funds” and other funding opportunities to private sector and civil society actors seeking to implement innovative, cost-effective and sustainable climate change-related projects in developing countries. Hungary allocated around €6 million from 2015-18 towards international climate finance.

Lithuania provides financial support to developing countries for climate change mitigation and adaptation, promoting renewable technology transfer and the mobilization of additional private sector finance. With EU research funding, Cyprus has started the development of a new Centre of Excellence at the Cyprus Institute to pursue research, teaching and innovation in atmospheric sciences, air pollution and climate change, collaborating with other international and regional institutions. The Slovak Republic has supported the development of weather monitoring systems in Georgia, including remote sensing, to promote water protection and hazard management.

SDG 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

Global trends

There has been an increase in protected areas. In January 2018, 16% (or over 22 million square kilometres) of marine waters under national jurisdiction were covered by protected areas, more than double the 2010 level. The mean coverage of marine key biodiversity areas that are protected has also increased—from 30% in 2000 to 44% in 2018. However, global trends point to continued deterioration of coastal waters due to pollution and the uncontrolled increase in nutrients (eutrophication). Without a coordinated effort, coastal eutrophication is expected to increase in 20% of large marine ecosystems by 2050. The global share of marine fish stocks that are within biologically sustainable levels declined from 90% in 1974 to 69% in 2013 103 . Achieving SDG 14 will require effective and coordinated strategies to address challenges such as overfishing, marine litter, coastal eutrophication, the impact of climate change and ocean acidification. Research capacity and ocean science funding are also crucial.

EU policy approach

The aim of achieving healthy and productive oceans is closely linked to broader efforts in the area of climate change mitigation, environment and sustainable development more broadly. The EU’s 2016 guidelines to mainstream environment and climate change in its development cooperation include a focus on how to reduce environmental pressures that threaten oceans and coastal areas and to reverse degradation. The EU and its Member States remain committed to contributing to the achievement of international commitments on biodiversity.

The EU is committed to playing a strong role regionally and globally in shaping ocean management and use. This has included funding for international projects on marine ecosystem restoration under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 104 and EU Partnership instruments. The EU has also shown strong commitment to sustainable fisheries management, as shown with effective implementation of the EU revised Common Fisheries Policy 105 and to the issue of illegal unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, as shown through the EU IUU regulation 106 .

EU Member States approach SDG 14 in a range of ways, from a general approach to environmental protection to very specific measures directly targeted at SDG 14. Germany has direct commitments related to the protection and sustainable use of coastal and marine areas and sustainable fishery in partner countries, in order to implement the BMZ Ten point Plan of Action for Marine Conservation and Sustainable Fisheries.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

With the Commission of the Indian Ocean, the EU signed the programme ECOFISH 107  for €28 million to promote the sustainable management of fish in the islands of the Indian oceans as well as Eastern Africa. A new joint initiative with the government of Kenya, ‘Go Blue 108 ’, contributes to unlocking potential sea-land opportunities in coastal urban centres by promoting sustainable economic growth, sea-land development and maritime law enforcement. In a large regional effort, the EU Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership in the Pacific 109 has started to support sustainable management and development of fisheries for food security and economic growth, while addressing climate change resilience and conservation of marine biodiversity. In Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the EU supported the Atlantic Ocean Tropical Tuna Tagging Programme 110 (2015-2020) to improve knowledge on tropical tunas, facilitating the adoption of adequate management measures around the Atlantic. In 2018, the Clean Oceans Initiative 111 launched by the EIB, KfW and AFD committed to mobilise €2 billion of investments to reduce plastic waste, especially in Asian and African cities.

Under the Joint Programming Document of Comoros (2015-2020) the EU supports political stability, economic growth and human development. European partners also focus on environmental protection, biodiversity and adaptation to climate change. France provides support for the preservation and enhancement of biodiversity, including the development of the Mohéli Marine Park, the richest marine sector on the Comoros Islands.

Denmark has included SDG 14 under its focus on transition and growth economies. Greece has enhanced its development cooperation with developing countries in the Mediterranean basin focused on environmental issues. In 2018, Sweden adopted a policy for sustainable environment, climate and oceans, and sustainable use of natural resources, which set aside about €600 million for the period 2018-2022, focusing on normative development, development of global policy and methodology and capacity building. Funded by Germany, France and Sweden, the Blue Action Fund is a new financial partner to support experienced national and international NGOs working to conserve and sustainably use the oceans and coastlines in the developing world, protecting marine biodiversity and improving local livelihoods and food security. Sweden supports FAO in the implementation of the Port State Measures Agreement on IUU fishing and complementary instruments. Sweden committed €5 million to FAO to assist 26 developing countries and small island developing states (SIDS) in improving national policy and legislative frameworks, and build capacity in institutions and systems for monitoring, control and surveillance. The United Kingdom has a specific focus on providing support to overseas territories and Commonwealth countries on ocean management, including on marine plastic pollution and sustainable use of oceans. The UK’s Blue Belt programme is on course to support marine protection of over four million square kilometres of marine environment across UK Overseas Territories. Between 2016 and 2020, the Programme is providing up to £20 million to improve scientific understanding and to develop and implement evidence-based, tailored marine management strategies that are sustainable and long term. The UK has also committed £70m to research and innovation to stop plastics from entering the ocean. The Commonwealth Clean Oceans Alliance, jointly led by the UK and Vanuatu and comprising 25 countries, aims to tackle plastic waste pollution. 

SDG 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

Global trends

The ‘ecological debt’, caused by overusing and depleting our natural resources, constitutes a major threat to sustainable development. Global consumption of material resources more than tripled between 1970 and 2017, and is projected to further double between 2017 and 2060 112 . The loss of forests occurs mainly in developing countries, but they and the poor people within them are often critically dependent upon natural resources. Three quarters of the people living in poverty are directly affected by land degradation globally while two thirds of agricultural lands in Africa are impacted. Global land use changes result in a loss of ecosystem services of an estimated value between USD 4.3 and USD 20.2 trillion per year (5% to 25% of global GDP). Deforestation, land and forest degradation and land use change amount to a quarter of global emissions 113 .

EU policy approach

Since 2015, EU and Member States’ have pursued a wide range of policy approaches. They have focused on implementation of the Global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 114 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets 115 , which is the policy framework for all Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity 116 . The EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 117 includes a target on the EU contribution to fight global biodiversity loss. They have supported the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services 118 , for which the EU now has enhanced observer status. They have increased support for sustainable land use, the conservation and restoration of terrestrial ecosystems, nature-based solutions and the mainstreaming of biodiversity across sectors. These actions contribute to SDG15, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sendai Framework on Disaster-Risk Reduction. They are implementating the EU Action Plan on Wildlife Trafficking 119 and consolidating action to address drivers of wildlife and forest crime. They are tackling illegal logging and promoting trade in legal and sustainable forest products, including through the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan 120  (FLEGT) and the, EU Timber Regulation 121 . The EU is stepping up action to address deforestation and forest degradation and promoting sustainable global supply chains of agricultural and forest commodities. The EU and Member States are strengthening land governance and addressing desertification and land degradation, notably through the UN Convention to Combat Desertification Strategic Framework 122 and FAO’s voluntary guidelines 123 . They are also strengthening global environmental governance, including promoting active participation of developing countries and the effective implementation of commitments. The EU and Member States have also included environment protection and climate change as part of their development cooperation strategies and policies. The EU issued guidelines for mainstreaming the environment and climate change into EU international cooperation and development 124  in 2016.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

Biodiversity for Life 125 (B4Life) is the EU’s flagship initiative to support biodiversity through development cooperation over a 7-year period (2014-2020). B4Life has contributed to halting biodiversity loss and reacted to biodiversity and ecosystem crises, such as deforestation, wildlife poaching and ecosystem function collapse. It has mobilised an estimated €800 million for projects with biodiversity and ecosystems protection. The EU’s FLEGT initiative works with 15 tropical timber-exporting countries to halt illegal logging and promote responsible use of the world’s forests. The EU ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation’ Facility 126 supports countries in improving land-use governance as part of their efforts to tackle deforestation. The EU has funded projects on integrating ecosystems into national accounting frameworks in developing countries, working in cooperation with the World Bank and the UN to promote better decision-making.

One of the four jointly agreed priorities of European partners in the Joint Programming in Cote d’Ivoire (2017-2020) is equitable spatial development and the protection of the environment. European partners have focused support on the protection of reserves, parks and forest resources.

Austria has implemented the Sustainable Forest Governance in Georgia Phase II (2015-2018), which has helped to develop an institutional model to improve forest sector management. Belgium’s Capacities for Biodiversity and Sustainable Development (2014-2018) programme works to strengthen capacity in the South to support biodiversity and poverty reduction, through study grants, workshops and projects in Benin, Burundi, D.R. Congo, Peru and Vietnam. Since 2016, Luxembourg has provided technical assistance to promote investment in forestry projects in tropical forests in Central America, in order to restore secondary or degraded forest areas and make them economically, ecologically and socially viable. A new public-private fund, the Forestry and Climate Change Fund, was launched in 2017 to invest in these projects. The UK’s Forest Governance, Markets and Climate 10-year programme, established in 2011, has tackled illegal logging and underlying corruption and governance issues including in Indonesia, Liberia, Ghana, the Congo Basin, Guyana and Vietnam. To build technical knowledge, in 2017, Greece supplied the Georgian Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Natural Resources with specialized books and reports on forest management, climate change and desertification. The Czech Republic contributes to the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems, in particular soil and forest rehabilitation, through the transfer of know-how and agricultural technologies for the sustainable use of ecosystems in crop and livestock production.

Figure 14: EU and MS support to OECD biodiversity marker, €bn constant 2016

Source: OECD CSR data

SDG 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions

Global trends

Goal 16 covers a wide range of issues around peace, justice and inclusion, which are both enabling factors and outcomes of sustainable development. Many countries still face protracted armed conflict and violence and billions of people continue to suffer from weak institutions, lack of access to justice, and the suppression of fundamental freedoms 127 . In 2016, more countries experienced violent conflicts than at any time in nearly 30 years 128 . 2 billion people live in countries where development outcomes are impacted by fragility, conflict and violence. Advances in promoting the rule of law and access to justice are uneven. Equally, whilst institutions upholding human rights at the national level have been strengthened, over 300 human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists were killed in 2017 alone 129 .

EU policy approach

The EU and its Member States have prioritised implementation of peace, justice and strong institutions goals in their external action and as preconditions for sustainable development and stability. This includes work to better link development cooperation, humanitarian, peace and security actions. The EU pays special attention to improving prison conditions and the promotion of access to justice for all, particularly for women, children and vulnerable groups. The EU and its Member States strengthened their engagement in fragile and conflict-affected settings. They have worked in a more coherent way, implementing the EU integrated approach to external conflicts and crises, which also factors in environmental and climate change. By 2018, 1.420.000 people had benefited from EU programmes of post-conflict peace building and conflict prevention. The EU also improved support to Security Sector Reform 130 (SSR), with more focus on joined-up efforts between EU institutions and Member States, partner countries, international institutions and others.

Respect for the rule of law and the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms inspire EU actions across its external relations. The EU helps partner countries to establish and strengthen accountable, transparent institutions and independent, impartial judicial systems, to foster inclusive and evidence-based decision-making, to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of policies and legislation, to ensure credible and inclusive elections and to support initiatives to tackle corruption. ODA spending on SDG 16 has increased since 2014. In 2017, support from the EU and Member States to participatory development and good governance totalled €28.4 billion.

Figure 15: EU support to participatory development and good governance (€ millions)

Source: OECD/DAC Creditor Reporting System

The EU reaffirms its commitment to democracy through regular political dialogues, partnerships with regional and international organisations, and cooperation programmes supporting parliaments, political parties, civil society and democratic governance. The EU Action Plan on Human Rights and Democracy 131 (2015-2019) sets out the EU and Member States actions to promote democratic governance. By 2018, the EU had supported 8600 journalists, media actors and other human rights defenders in promoting civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. A new Action Plan is in preparation. Election observation is an important part of EU support, with more attention now given to long-term impact of missions and the democratisation processes of partner countries.

Examples of EU and Member States actions

In 2018, the Common Security and Defence Policy 132 missions and operations contributed to the EU’s global role in international peace and security and addressed major ongoing crises in Africa and the Neighbourhood. They also countered piracy off the Horn of Africa; and countered human smuggling in the Mediterranean Sea. The EU accompanied peaceful political transitions in Kenya and the Republic of The Gambia, and supported the Colombian Peace Process. In 2018, the EU rolled out a new Common Foreign and Security Policy instrument, in support of Mali's plan for integrated security, helping regional governors to develop stabilisation plans, integrating security concerns with broader governance and sustainable development. The EU Security Sector Governance Facility 133 , launched in 2018, provides technical expertise to promote legitimacy, good governance, sustainability, ownership and holistic approaches as central to SSR processes, including in The Gambia and Mali. EU budget support’s ‘state and resilience building contracts’ have supported 25 countries in fragile situations, by assisting transition processes, building state capacity for governance and service delivery and improving resilience. The EU also supported partner countries in the EU’s neighbourhood, including Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, Georgia, and Ukraine, to modernise their security services.

In the Sahel, the EU and Member States have supported regional security cooperation in Niger and Mali to address terrorism, organised crime and irregular migration and to strengthen police capabilities. The Alliance Sahel 134 launched in 2017 improved coordination and increased efficiency to respond to development and security challenges of the region, focusing on rural development, jobs for youth, energy infrastructure, governance and security.  

In 2018, France developed a new strategy on prevention, resilience and sustainable peace, focused on democratic governance as a mean to establish effective and legitimate institutions. France has promoted social inclusion and local governance in the Lake Chad region, including improving access to rights for the most vulnerable people, particularly girls and women. Croatia has provided psychosocial support for war-affected populations, with an emphasis on children and war veterans. Since 2015, Croatia has exchanged psychiatrists and psychologists with Ukraine in rehabilitating war veterans and providing psycho-social support to war-affected children. Croatia has also enabled cooperation between Croatian war veterans and their counterparts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, fostering social reintegration, including through skills development and employment schemes, thus benefitting veterans’ families and the wider community. Croatia also cooperates with Colombia in post-conflict psycho-social services, in finding missing persons and in forensic identification, which are crucial in bringing sustainable peace. The Netherlands is currently developing a ‘Preventing Violent Extremism-sensitivity toolkit’, to maximize the relevance to the prevention of violent extremism of Dutch development cooperation. The aim is to better target interventions to address root causes of violent extremism.

One of the key priorities for European partners in the Joint Cooperation Strategy in Ghana (2017-2020) is accountability, anti-corruption and rule of law. European partners are supporting initiatives to tackle corruption and to achieve better accountability, focusing on reinforcement of the rule of law and related institutions; strengthening transparency and accountability through support to oversight functions; and reducing corruption through improved detection and application of punitive measures. The EU contributed to the Nepal Peace Trust Fund 135 both at institutional level - on elections, law and justice, national, national monitoring mechanisms of the peace process and local reconciliation – and at community level, in particular to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable communities. Over the period 2014-2017, this initiative reached over 500 000 individuals, mainly conflict affected and internally displaced persons.

The Czech Republic has supported democracy and human rights, using its own experience of social transition and democratization, through the ‘TRANS’ programme, based on partnership with civil society, local administrations, media and academia. Projects have been implemented, among other countries, in Armenia, Myanmar, Belarus, Georgia, Cuba, Moldova and Ukraine. A joint Portuguese project with the EU, “Promoting the Rule of Law and improved Public Services”, covering all Portuguese-speaking African countries and Timor-Leste, focuses on the prevention and fight against corruption, money laundering and organized crime, particularly drug trafficking, including spill-over effects in partner countries. Since 2005, Slovenia has contributed, including through multilateral platforms, to the education of children's rights to more than 200,000 children in 26 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. For instance, in 2017, Slovenia implemented a pilot project on school and peer mediation in Bosnia and Herzegovina to foster a positive social environment, constructive dialogue and dispute resolution. Poland launched the largest firefighter training program in Kenya, opened the Fire Brigade Training Center in the suburbs of Nairobi and contributed to the creation of the fire brigades and units in cities and regions. In 2018, Malta offered tailored training to fire fighters from Ghana and from Palestine, including firefighting and search and rescue, especially for road traffic accidents. The Slovak Republic cooperates with Israel in the EU's Eastern Partnership countries to provide training for the state administration and non-governmental sectors, for example in gender equality. Building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions, including local governance, is a key element of Poland’s assistance to Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, including sharing experience of its own recent reform processes. Poland has prioritized the fight with illegal financial flows and has supported the Ukraine on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. The Netherlands helped marginalised people to generate an income and gain access to basic services; in 2016 nearly 80,000 people benefitted in fragile and conflict-affected areas. The Netherlands also empowers CSOs’ lobby and advocacy role in developing countries to support the most marginalised groups. Bulgaria financed projects to strengthen the capacity of the respective Offices of the Ombudsman and supported projects to improve access to social services and education for children and children with disabilities in countries including Georgia and Armenia.

SDG 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

Global trends

There is still considerable scope to increase the resources available to developing countries from all sources. For LDCs, median tax revenue in 2016 was 13.3 per cent of GDP, a marginal increase from 10% in 2000 136 . After two consecutive years of decline, the World Bank estimates The World Bank estimates that remittance flows to developing countries are projected to reach $596 billion in 2017, up from $573.6 billion in 2016 137 . Total FDI to developing countries amounted to approximately $653 billion in gross terms in 2017, with FDI to LDCs estimated at $32.6 billion (or around 2 per cent of total global FDI flows). However, FDI remains heavily concentrated in a few countries and in the extractive industries 138 . More work is needed to direct more investment to the poorest countries where needs are greatest and to sustainable sectors. Total net annual global ODA rose from $131.0 billion in 2015 to $153.0 billion in 2018 139 . More effort is still required for the global community to move towards the 0.7% target. Four of the OECD-DAC member countries that reached the 0.7% target in 2018 were EU Member States.

EU and Member States policy approach and examples of actions

The EU and Member States support for implementation of SDG 17 is part of their broader approach to partnership and means of implementation, as set out in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement. The EU and Member States continued to make efforts towards meeting their commitments on Official Development Assistance, including for LDCs, increased the effectiveness of their development cooperation, including through joint programming, and developed innovative channels for cooperation. Denmark has established an SDG Fund that aims to mobilize finance from private investors, such as Danish pension funds, by using public sector funds. These go toward projects that contribute to growth and employment in developing countries while generating return for the private investors. Portugal partnered with the African Development Bank to establish a “Development Finance Compact for the Lusophone Countries of Africa”, that will provide for risk mitigation and technical assistance, coupled with €400 million of guarantees from the Portuguese State Budget for 2019 to allocate in projects in the countries involved. Lithuania has chosen SDG 17 as one of its thematic development cooperation priorities, bringing together Lithuanian institutions with partner countries to promote transfer of experience.

Finance

The EU and Member States provide support for partner countries to mobilise and make best use of all financial resources available to them including domestic resources, ODA and other international public finance, private finance and lending and remittances.

a.Mobilising domestic resources

The EU and its Member States have significantly scaled up support for domestic revenue mobilisation (DRM) in developing countries, increasing commitments from €112.7 million in 2015 to €197.9 million in 2016. The European Commission adopted the ‘Collect More, Spend Better 140 ’ approach in 2015, which supports developing countries in: i) improved DRM ii) more effective and efficient public expenditure and iii) debt management. Budget support programmes also promoted governance, public financial management and DRM in partner countries. The EU and its Member States support work on exchange of information for tax purposes, anti-corruption, tax avoidance and illicit flows.

Poland has prioritized the fight with illegal financial flows and has, for example, supported the Ukrainian system of public finances since 2015, with a focus on combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. Spain has programmes of assistance in DRM in more than 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and has set up twinning programmes of training and technical assistance. Belgium provides Burundi’s Revenue institution with an institutional strengthening programme, complementing the EU’s budget support. Finland's implements of DRM objectives through international policy influence, regional and country level activities (in Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Somalia and Afghanistan), CSO activities and research. Finland is supporting the Tanzanian Revenue Authority’s 5-year plan for tax modernisation. In 2018, Sweden organised the Stockholm Tax Conference on capacity building for taxation, to promote more efficient DRM globally. In 2018, the Central Bank of Malta trained officers from The Gambia Central Bank. In Madagascar, Germany supports three regions with training for 100 local authorities and the update of tax registers. Revenues collected have risen by 60 % on average.

b.ODA / other public finance

The EU is the world's largest provider of ODA, accounting for over half of total ODA provided to developing countries 141 . The EU’s collective ODA was €74.4 billion in 2018. The EU collectively increased its ODA to LDCs in absolute terms to 0.12% of collective GNI, though more work is needed to reach the target of 0.15-0.20% of ODA/GNI in the short term and 0.20% by 2030. The EU and its Member States are collectively the largest provider of public climate finance. The EU is committed to promoting the mobilisation of the full spectrum of international public finance for development. They support the effective use of south-south cooperation as a useful additional source of investment in developing countries. They are actively engaged in the development, under the auspices of an international task force, of the measure of total official support for sustainable development. They have also established innovative financing mechanisms to support implementation of the SDGs. In 2017, France generated over €1 billion for international development through charging mechanisms on air tickets and on financial services transactions.

c.Private finance and investment

This document, under other SDGs, shows the multiple ways in which the EU and Member States are working to mobilise private finance and investment for sustainable development including through the use of ODA, for instance through blending, guarantees, creating better operating environments for business and reducing the risk of investment.

d.Debt

The debt burden for developing countries is rising. The EU is at the forefront of debt relief through its contribution to the World Bank's Debt Relief Trust Fund 142 , which funds the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative 143 . The EU’s collective financing up to August 2016 is equal to 41 % of the overall total contribution in that period. As an example of specific actions, Poland has agreed a debt swap with Mongolia and Cambodia in 2017, which supported higher education and renovation works.

e.Remittances

Remittances are an important source of development finance and in absolute terms much larger than ODA flows. The EU and Member States are actively working to increase the impact of remittances in developing countries and remittance costs are decreasing as a result. ‘Money from Sweden’ is an online service that compares fees and exchange rates for money transfers abroad. The Portuguese Central Bank monitors information about private transfers made through resident banks and money transfer operators. Spain is working to facilitate remittance payments and reduce costs.

Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)

Figure 16: ODA for science, technology and innovation, 2007-2016 (€ millions, %)

Source: OECD/DAC Creditor Reporting System

The EU and its Member States are the main provider of ODA for STI to developing countries, spending €1.84 billion in 2017, 80% of the global total. As specific examples, to increase cooperation with developing countries on STI, the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area 144 was set up to foster innovative solutions for sustainable food systems and integrated water management. In 2017, the EU launched the EU-CELAC policy advice mechanism 145 in research and innovation to help Latin American and Caribbean countries achieve the SDGs. The policy dialogue facility E-READI 146  promotes EU-ASEAN collaboration in support of STI. In promoting STI, the EU and Member States take account of the work of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism 147 , the Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries and other relevant organisations.

Capacity building for sustainable development

Capacity building is an important element of almost all development cooperation. Since 2015, the EU and its Member States have enhanced their efforts to support developing country capacity to formulate and implement inclusive national sustainable development policies and results frameworks, as well as to increase accountability and responsiveness to citizens. From 2019, the EU will establish dialogues based on the SDGs with partner countries to assess progress against the SDGs and discuss cooperation to meet priority needs. From 2015, Romania, with UNDP, developed a Mobility Fund to respond in a quick and relevant manner to beneficiaries’ needs in implementing the SDGs. The instrument has supported experience-sharing missions in areas where Romania offers a competitive advantage such as food safety, integrity and anti-corruption and electoral management. Funded by the EU within the framework of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa, Italy aims to support 24 Libyan municipalities in providing basic services, through rehabilitation work, provision of equipment and capacity building, with a focus on education, health, water and sanitation, in the face of migration and displacement flows. The Czech - UNDP Partnership for Sustainable Development Goals brings Czech expertise to partner countries, including in Georgia and the Republic of Moldova. Its main component is a Challenge fund generating innovative solutions for SDGs. In 2015, the Greek Police trained Ukrainian officers on drug trafficking and Sudanese officers on management of evidence, to combat illegal trafficking and money laundering and improve border protection.  Luxembourg’s CARES project, developed with Senegal and John Hopkins University, focuses on strengthening the capacity of health care systems, in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau, in the clinical and community management of infectious diseases, by improving access to diagnostics and treatment of HIV, hepatitis virus B (HBV) and papillomavirus (HPV), all three of which constitute serious public health problems in West Africa. 

Trade

The EU firmly believes in the central role that the multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core, has for sustainable development. The EU’s trade agreements with developing countries, including Economic Partnership Agreements 148 (EPAs) with ACP countries, and unilateral trade preference regimes (Generalised Scheme of Preferences, GSP) for vulnerable developing countries, including LDCs, support partner countries’ efforts to generate inclusive growth through trade. The trade policy also promotes decent work and environmental protection through Trade and Sustainable Development chapters in the EU’s trade agreements and through the GSP, including the Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+). EU trade preference schemes to vulnerable developing countries, particularly to LDCs, are the most comprehensive, accessible and valuable schemes in the world. In 2017, the EU imported goods worth €68 billion from the beneficiaries of the three arrangements of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences. The EU is the main export market for goods from LDCs. The EU has concluded nine Economic Partnership Agreements involving 50 countries from the Africa, Pacific and Caribbean regions. The Agreements aim to use trade to promote sustainable development.

Aid for trade can help tackle the important supply-side constraints in developing and least developed countries that limit them from fully taking advantage of the EU’s trade agreements and preference schemes. The EU and its Member States are the largest provider of Aid for Trade 149 (AfT) globally – providing €17.6 billion between 2010 and 2016. The EU Aid for Trade Progress Report 2018 150 shows that 2016 EU AfT commitments reached an all-time high of €13.5 billion. Africa continued to receive the largest share (42%) in 2016, followed by Asia (22%), America (12%) and Europe (11%). AfT commitments to LDCs amounted to 22% of EU AfT, again an all-time high. The new AfT strategy puts a stronger focus on social and environmental dimensions of sustainability, together with inclusive economic growth. The German Alliance for Trade Facilitation and the Global Alliance on Trade Facilitation work as exchange and collaboration platforms to bundle expertise from various stakeholders to promote trade facilitation reforms. The two initiatives have supported more than 10 countries to implement the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement. Spain has developed a number of specific financial trade-oriented tools and provides capacity building support in trade facilitation.

Data and monitoring

The EU and Member States support to statistical capacity building represents just over 50% of all donors’ disbursements to this area. Total donor support to statistical capacity is only a very small element of the total volume of ODA flows, since support to statistical systems in developing countries is generally integrated in specific programmes and is not separately reported. 60% of support to statistical capacity building targets African countries. The EU also provides twinning projects on statistics to countries including Armenia and Jordan. In Vietnam, support to improve energy data and statistics has been mobilised through the EU Technical Assistance Facility for Sustainable Energy 151 . Germany and the UK separately have established initiatives to support developing countries to improve the dissemination and use of SDG indicators at a national and international level.

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