This is the weekly e-alert on ACP-EU News.

Information provided in weekly e-alerts is available via daily updated RSS feeds which can be found on the ECDPM website’s News and Events page www.ecdpm.org/news.
You can view all information or select feeds according to specific topics of interest. You may find these easier to read. And they are also available to any organisation to post on its own internal or external websites. This e-alert and previous issues are also available in PDF format at: http://www.ecdpm.org/Web_ECDPM/Web/Content/Content.nsf/7732def81dddfa7ac1256c240034fe65/2f9cc239d94a300bc1257344004ddd21?OpenDocument

I need to improve the quality of the weekly e-alert with information and analysis from beyond what’s available on the internet. If you have a moment to pass on anything that could usefully be included I’d be most grateful. It will be non-attributable of course (unless you prefer otherwise). If you provide information, then others will too with information useful to you.

All the best and Seasons Greetings www.ecdpm.org/seasonsgreetings,

Melissa


New at ECDPM

*14 December update of "EPA Negotiations: Where do we stand?"
These pages can be accessed online at www.acp-eu-trade.org/epa and www.ecdpm.org/epa
French versions of the updates for the all ACP view, Central Africa, West Africa and East and Southern Africa will be available shortly at www.acp-eu-trade/ape and www.ecdpm.org/ape
As always, we welcome any comments or suggestions you may have.

*Europafrica Bulletin. 12December issue
Contents:
Joint EU-Africa Strategy adopted at Summit
Summit characterized by disputes on trade and human rights
Konaré happy with civil representation at summit
Britain represented by Amos
Africa made its voice heard
More news on the Lisbon Summit
EP and PAP adopt joint declaration
Civil Society positions:
Presentations from side-events to summit
Final declaration of Youth Summit
Statement of the EU-Africa Business Forum
Save the Children: ‘Africa’s leade! rs must fulfil pledge to children’
Euro-African Civil Society Forum: Interviews with participants
http://europafrica.org/2007/12/12/630/

*Capacity.org - December 2007: Fragile states
http://www.capacity.org/en/content/view/full/3764

*ECDPM Director Chaired SID briefing on Policy Coherence for Development. 26 November.
Also attended by ECDPM’s Niels Keijzer
The Society for International Development briefing session dealt with the issue of Policy Coherence for Development. Commissioner Louis Michel delivered a speech as well. Paul Engel, the Director of ECDPM, chaired the briefing session. The timing coincided with the publishing of the first ever European Report on Policy Coherence for Development.
A short report of this meeting, as well as some short videos by some of the participan! ts (including Paul) is available on the following web log:
http://sideurope.wordpress.com/
On the 'events' page, you can also download the speeches that were given by Louis Michel and Jos van Gennip (Member of the Dutch Senate):
http://sideurope.wordpress.com/events/

*Impact of communication in development: where is the proof?
Although the importance of communications has been recognised for several years now, the development community have recently recognised the need to demonstrate the impact of this. Recently launched Development Communications Evidence Research Network (DCERN) website brings together materials that demonstrate what does (and does not) work.
Designed around five sectors -- agriculture, education, health, governance and growth -- the website has been designed for “passively disengaged” i.e. those w! ! ho have not really considered the value of communications in their work. The users can access materials, and create a synthesis paper for each sector pulling together the most compelling pieces of evidence.
For more information, please visit http://www.dcern.org


General Reports/News of Contextual Interest

*IBSA: An International Actor and Partner for the EU? FRIDE
17.10.07
http://www.fride.org/publication/294/ibsa-an-international-actor-and-partner-for-the-eu

*U.S. military's Africa command alarms aid workers
Mary Yates is deputy to the commander of the U.S. military's new Africa Command. But she has no stars on her shoulder and does not wear a uniform. Yates is a career diplomat! who has served as U.S. ambassador to Ghana and Burundi. Her appointment symbolizes the military's effort to make its newest command very different from the others and a possible model for the future. The command, responsible for U.S. military operations in Africa, will include more diplomats, aid experts and other civilians than headquarters for other parts of the world. And they will be integral to the organization, not just advisers. The U.S. government bills that change as an effort to make sure all its branches work together. But the structure has alarmed aid agencies, who see the military encroaching into traditionally civilian areas such as aid work and economic development and believe armed forces should have a minimal role in those efforts. 13.12.07
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071213/pl_nm/usa_africa_africom_dc

*Aid is a knowledge industry
In the complex field of development cooperation, where there are no silver bullets, knowledge is essential. Although NGOs are taking more interest in knowledge management, they have so far failed! to recognize that they are part of a knowledge industry, of which the delivery of goods and services is only a part.
http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/en/articles/aid_is_a_knowledge_industry


Major ACP-EU Events/debates

*Special European Voice report on Slovenian EU Presidency
See this and other related articles in this week’s issue
13.12.07
http://www.europeanvoice.com/current/article.asp?id=29501

*BRUSSELS EUROPEAN COUNCIL
14 DECEMBER 2007
PRESIDENCY CONCLUSIONS
On futu! re of EU, ENP, CFSP, globalization, external relations
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/ec/97669.pdf

*Does Brown have time for the EU?
Gordon Brown’s late arrival at the Lisbo! n treaty signing ceremony and his absence from last week’s EU-Africa summit may cement the view that the UK prime minister has no interest in Europe, writes Kirsty Hughes.
13.12.07
Link: http://www.europeanvoice.com/current/article.asp?id=29500

A public version of the information provided herein, updated daily, is posted on ECDPM's website at www.ecdpm.org/news

Specific news items and ECDPM activities on Development Policy and EU External Action

Specific news items and ECDPM activities on ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreement Negotiations