EU role in the Busan Conference heavily criticised

The three-day summit concluded on Thursday was the first time in history that civil society organisations were official partners at the negotiating table alongside governments and donors.

But leading charities and NGOs united in condemning the outcome and, in particular, the role played by the EU and its representatives in Korea.

Leading the criticism was Justin Kilcullen, president of the group Concord, who said, “The EU was a ghost at the summit. Despite contributing €53bn to development aid a year, the EU allowed a watered down agreement on global aid reform to accommodate geopolitical agendas. We are concerned that several important measures such as cooperation between developing countries - south south cooperation - ended up only being proposed on a voluntary basis as the final outcome document reveals.”

Further condemnation came from Oxfam spokesperson Farida Bena, who said “We've not seen any leadership here and are hugely disappointed at the EU's lack of leadership. The EU has not been constructive - it should have supported efforts to improve the effectiveness of European aid.”

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