REPORT on the role of the EU’s development cooperation and humanitarian assistance in addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on the role of the EU’s development cooperation and humanitarian assistance in addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic

(2020/2118(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the statement of the World Health Organization (WHO) of 30 January 2020 declaring COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern,

– having regard to the opening remarks of the WHO Director-General at the media briefing on COVID-19 of 11 March 2020, declaring COVID-19 a pandemic,

– having regard to the United Nations (UN) report of March 2020 entitled ‘Shared Responsibility, Global Solidarity: Responding to the socio-economic impacts of COVID-19’,

– having regard to the joint statement of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund of 25 March 2020 regarding a call to action on debt of International Development Association countries and the communiqué of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors of 15 April 2020 announcing a time-bound suspension of debt service payments for the poorest countries that request forbearance,

– having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution 74/270 of 2 April 2020 on global solidarity to fight the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19),

– having regard to UN General Assembly Resolution 74/274 of 20 April 2020 on international cooperation to ensure global access to medicines, vaccines and medical equipment to face COVID-19,

– having regard to the joint communication of the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 8 April 2020 on the Global EU response to COVID-19 (JOIN(2020)0011),

– having regard to the international pledging conference hosted by the EU together with the WHO and other partners on 4 May 2020, which raised EUR 7.4 billion in initial funding to kick-start global research cooperation,

– having regard to the Commission proposal of 28 May 2020 for a Council regulation establishing a European Union Recovery Instrument to support the recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic (COM(2020)0441), which proposed allocating up to EUR 5 billion at 2018 prices for humanitarian aid outside the Union,

– having regard to the Council conclusions of 8 June 2020 on the ‘Team Europe’ global response to COVID-19,

– having regard to the proposal contained in the Council’s draft conclusions of 10 July 2020 to provide EUR 5 billion for humanitarian assistance via the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI-Global Europe) under the Next Generation EU instrument,

– having regard to the Council’s proposal contained in the draft conclusions of 10 July 2020 that clear criteria and modalities for the allocation of the new Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve envelope be defined,

– having regard to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) component of the 2020 Global COVID-19 humanitarian response plan entitled ‘Addressing the impacts of COVID-19 in food crises, April-December 2020’,

– having regard to the article of the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) entitled ‘Protecting the most vulnerable children from the impact of coronavirus: An agenda for action’, published on 3 April 2020 and updated on 21 September 2020,

– having regard to the report of the World Food Programme (WFP) of 29 September 2020 entitled ‘WFP Global Response to COVID-19’,

 – having regard to the report of the Food Security Information Network of 20 April 2020 entitled ‘2020 Global Report on Food Crises 2020: Joint Analysis for Better Decisions’,

– having regard to the report of the UN Conference on Trade and Development of 19 November 2020 entitled ‘Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on trade and development: transitioning to a new normal’,

– having regard to the report of the FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, UNICEF, the WFP and the WHO of 2020 entitled ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020: Transforming food systems for affordable healthy diets’,

– having regard to the issues paper of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition of September 2020 entitled ‘Impacts of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition: developing effective policy responses to address the hunger and malnutrition pandemic’,

– having regard to the World Health Assembly’s resolution of 28 May 2019 on water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities,

– having regard to the progress report of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Programme Coordinating Board of 23 November 2020 entitled ‘COVID-19 and HIV: Progress Report 2020’,

 

– having regard to the UN Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage of 23 September 2019 entitled ‘Universal Health Coverage: Moving Together to Build a Healthier World’,

– having regard to the WHO report of 15 October 2020 entitled ‘Global Tuberculosis Report 2020’,

– having regard to the recommendations of 5 May 2004 from the WHO consultation on zoonoses,

 

– having regard to the 2021-2025 EU Gender Action Plan (GAP) III entitled ‘An ambitious agenda for gender equality and women’s empowerment in EU external action’,

 

having regard to the policy brief of UN Women of 9 April 2020 entitled ‘The Impact of COVID-19 on Women’,

 

– having regard to the report of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) of 27 April 2020 entitled ‘Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Family Planning and Ending Gender-based Violence, Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage’,

 

– having regard to the UNFPA article of 28 April 2020 entitled ‘Millions more cases of violence, child marriage, female genital mutilation, unintended pregnancy expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic’,

– having regard to the WHO’s International Health Regulations of 2005,

– having regard to the New European Consensus on Development of 2018 entitled ‘our world, our dignity, our future’,

– having regard to the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid of 2008,

– having regard to its resolution of 27 October 2015 entitled ‘the Ebola crisis: the long-term lessons and how to strengthen health systems in developing countries to prevent future crises’[1],

 

– having regard to the study by Professor Sabine Oertelt-Prigione of 27 May 2020 entitled ‘The impact of sex and gender in the COVID-19 pandemic’,

– having regard to its resolution of 17 April 2020 on EU coordinated action to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences[2],

– having regard to Rule 54 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Culture and Education​,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Development (A9-0151/2021),

 

A. whereas COVID-19 is a global pandemic affecting every country in the world;

 

B. whereas, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development special report of 2020 entitled ‘Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on trade and development: transitioning to a new normal’, the disruption caused by COVID-19 has had real and disproportionate consequences on vulnerable and disadvantaged low-income households, migrants, workers in the informal sector, and often women, notably in developing countries, where populations are not covered by social safety nets and yet are particularly affected by soaring unemployment;

 

C. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has increased gender-based violence, child marriage and existing inequalities, in particular in terms of access to health services, including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services, and has already reversed some of the progress made on gender equality over the last decades;

D. whereas humanitarian aid is severely underfunded, which makes it difficult to adequately address the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries;

 

E. whereas the economic and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt most strongly in developing countries; whereas global extreme poverty is expected to rise in 2020 for the first time in over 20 years, leading to the sale of assets, increased borrowing and the use of savings by vulnerable individuals;

 

F. whereas short-term humanitarian aid must be combined with support to tackle existing challenges such as security, poverty, peace, democracy and climate change, in order to strengthen long-term resilience;

 

G. whereas there is a disproportionately high risk of contagion for millions of refugees worldwide, who often live in densely populated refugee camps or collective centres, where the population of children alone is estimated to be around 3.7 million;

 

H. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on access to SRHR, in particular for women and young people, due to the deprioritisation of and disruption to the provision of SRHR services, as well as travel restrictions and changes in health-seeking behaviours; whereas an additional 49 million women have had an unmet need for modern contraceptives because of COVID-19;

 

I. whereas climate change, the continuous worldwide loss of biodiversity and the destruction of natural habitats greatly increase the risk of zoonotic diseases developing; whereas the COVID-19 outbreak must in no way be used as an excuse for delays in tackling the climate and environmental emergency; whereas there is an urgent need for a green, social rebuilding of the global economy after the COVID-19 outbreak;

J. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated the existing debt problems of developing countries, further endangering their efforts to mobilise sufficient resources to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while also severely reducing global remittances and foreign direct investment;

 

K. whereas during the COVID-19 pandemic, pressure on public health systems and lockdown measures have further restricted access to SRHR services, and whereas this jeopardises the health of women;

L.  whereas, according to UNICEF, 1.6 billion children and young people worldwide were affected by school closures at their peak in 2020, with many not having internet access at home; whereas at least 24 million students could drop out of school due to the COVID-19 pandemic;

 

M. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing the needs of communities affected by extreme weather events, natural disasters and climate change;

N. whereas the disruption caused by the COVID-19 outbreak to education and training systems across the world is likely unprecedented in contemporary history, with the closure of schools and training institutions affecting 94 % of the global learner population, according to UNESCO, risking a lasting impact on the long-term prospects of many young people, in particular girls; whereas school closures due to the pandemic have deprived vulnerable children of school feeding and nutrition services that are essential to their health, thereby increasing the number of children living in hunger by 36 million in 2020, and also increasing their exposure to violence and abuse;

O. whereas the pandemic has highlighted the fragility of global supply chains, notably in the food and health sectors, and has heightened the vulnerability of developing countries that depend on them; whereas the pandemic presents an opportunity to develop more sustainable and resilient supply chains, among them regional value chains, and to boost regional integration; whereas food insecurity and malnutrition are on the rise as a secondary effect of the pandemic;

P. whereas education plays a key role in breaking the cycle of poverty and in reducing inequalities; whereas the target of SDG 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, and whereas this is essential for the achievement of other SDGs; whereas the contribution of culture to sustainable development is pointed out in several SDG targets, notably in SDG 4;

Q. whereas the pandemic will have devastating consequences for people in countries with underfunded health systems, especially women and girls, and for people living in conflict-affected countries; whereas the pandemic will put more than 47 million women and girls worldwide below the poverty line by 2021;

R. whereas the economic consequences of the measures taken to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries will exacerbate existing inequalities and vulnerabilities, including by further weakening health infrastructure, worsening food insecurity, widening education gaps and increasing poverty and social exclusion;

S.  whereas around 1.8 billion people are at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 and other diseases because they use or work in healthcare facilities without basic water services, according to a December 2020 WHO-UNICEF report;

T. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted routine immunisation programmes and other basic health services, which is putting lives at risk;

U.  whereas, according to recent data from UNFPA, it is estimated that the delay or interruption of community outreach programmes and education on harmful practices globally will lead to two million more cases of female genital mutilation and 13 million more child marriages over the next decade compared to pre-pandemic estimates;

V. whereas the lockdowns have had a particularly severe impact on persons with physical and intellectual disabilities;

W. whereas improved coordination, capacity sharing and cooperation is needed as part of international efforts to promote an efficient and resilient humanitarian-development-peace nexus;

X. whereas the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated human rights violations and stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV, LGBTI persons and other vulnerable groups, underlining the critical need for COVID-19 responses to be rooted in human rights and equality, as learned from the HIV response; whereas key populations have on occasion been denied access to services or been subject to discriminatory enforcement of COVID-19 lockdown orders;

Y. whereas the medium-term consequences of COVID-19 are likely to have a devastating impact, reversing years of development gains, and require unprecedented global cooperation;

Z. whereas the pandemic-induced crisis has accelerated the digital transition and the shift towards new learning tools such as remote and blended learning;

AA. whereas it is crucial to acknowledge once more that achieving the SDGs and the Paris Agreement objectives requires investing in human development and pursuing a rights-based approach, while complying with the Busan principles for effective development cooperation;

Team Europe approach

Welcomes the EU’s global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which demonstrates its ambition to lead and show solidarity with all partner countries, including those affected by conflict and humanitarian crises; points out, however, that current funds are essentially reallocated from other budget lines and that the challenge of aid front-loading has to be tackled; requests that the distribution criteria for the allocation be updated according to the impact of the pandemic in partner countries; calls, therefore, for substantial new flexible funds to be mobilised to assist developing countries worldwide in fighting the direct and indirect consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and addressing their critical needs in relation to health governance and epidemiological surveillance; stresses that making safe vaccines, treatments, equipment, therapeutics and diagnostics available globally in a fast, equitable and affordable manner must be one of the first steps; highlights that it is also important that priority for vaccines is given to health and social workers, followed by teachers and other essential workers and people who are most at risk of developing COVID-19 complications; urges donors to rapidly scale up official development assistance to achieve levels that have been committed to in the past, but never delivered;

 

2. Welcomes, in this regard, COVAX, the world’s facility to ensure fair and universal access to COVID-19 vaccines, and the strong support of Team Europe, which is the biggest donor and has so far allocated more than EUR 850 million euro to this initiative, while EU and non-EU countries have already announced their intention to donate their vaccine surplus via COVAX; welcomes the WHO’s announcement that the global rollout to 91 eligible countries started in the first quarter of 2021 and that by now, two billion vaccine doses have been delivered; underlines that safe vaccines should be made universally available, affordable and easily accessible for all in order to curb the pandemic; stresses that health personnel and the most vulnerable have to be prioritised;

3. Calls on Team Europe to strengthen effective mechanisms to ensure policy coherence for sustainable development so that they are systematically and efficiently used by all EU institutions and Member States; stresses that the EU should perform sustainability impact assessments in every policy sphere, including as regards its responses to the pandemic;

4. Insists that the momentum gained from the common Team Europe approach in terms of joint analysis, joint programming and joint implementation must translate into a new standard for cooperation in the fields of humanitarian aid and development policy, both in law and in practice; considers that the EU should promote the idea that coordination should be increased not only between Member States, but also with non-EU donor countries, with a view to maximising the efficacy and efficiency of international cooperation and humanitarian aid; highlights the importance of the NDICI-Global Europe in ensuring funding for human development, including health, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), social and child protection, and the education sector; calls on the EU and the Member States to prioritise human development and health in their joint programming; encourages the Commission to use humanitarian and development instruments flexibly, in line with an integrated nexus approach, particularly when it comes to the financing and distribution of vaccines;

 5. Calls on EU donors to ensure that local civil society organisations and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on the front line are given funding to implement programmes and projects tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences at community level, to reach the people left furthest behind; underlines that in the absence of additional resources for the COVID-19 response and recovery, and with most funds going to geographic envelopes, ensuring optimal complementarity of the EU’s funding is crucial;

Humanitarian aid funding

6. Warns that the pandemic risks triggering a humanitarian crisis; is therefore deeply concerned about the underfunding of the EU humanitarian aid budget, given the additional humanitarian needs caused by the pandemic; calls for a clear distribution of the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve envelope, which should aim to provide balanced coverage of its obligations as follows: neither internal nor external operations may be allocated more than 60 % of the annual amount of the reserve; on 1 October of each year, at least one quarter of the annual amount for ‘year n’ must remain available to cover needs arising until the end of that year; as of 1 October, the remaining funds may be mobilised to cover needs arising until the end of that year;

7. Emphasises the need to provide humanitarian assistance, such as staff and medical equipment, including personal protective equipment and test kits, to the most vulnerable populations; welcomes in this regard the setting up of the 2020 European Union Humanitarian Air Bridge;

8. Urges the EU and the Member States to allocate additional money to the countries that will suffer the greatest impacts of the pandemic to address its direct and indirect consequences and insists on the need to accelerate the implementation of emergency food aid programmes targeting those who were already identified as being vulnerable before the COVID-19 crisis, while enforcing procedures to reduce the risks of transmission;

Food security

9. Emphasises that the pandemic is threatening food security in rural, urban and peri-urban settings; underlines that pastoral farming is an ecologically sound, environmentally friendly and local method of food production and is therefore part of a sustainable food system; points out that pastoralists are particularly vulnerable to food security disruptions and the impacts of climate change; considers it essential to support pastoralists by ensuring safe access to local markets during the pandemic, in order to make sure that they are able to continue to provide protein-rich food to the local population, that cross-border mobility of people and livestock is allowed, that their herds have access to water and grazing land and that mobile community one-health teams monitor the situation and intervene in individual cases but also, where necessary, with a view to maintaining public health; calls for cash transfers for pastoralists in order to ensure their basic needs are covered, including food and feed, and calls for feed aid for herds as part of livelihood support in the form of humanitarian aid, when this is needed;

10. Underlines the need to support family farms and local small and medium-sized enterprises, notably in the agro-industrial sector, in order to increase food security and resilience;

11. Emphasises the need to support the actions of UN agencies, notably the FAO and the WFP, as well as the actions of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Movement and international NGOs, aimed at mitigating hunger, malnutrition and loss of livelihood and building up resilient food systems, such as those to set up a global data facility for the provision of swift information on humanitarian needs, to provide food production assistance and access to food, to organise cash transfers and vouchers or in-kind food distribution and school meals, developing linkages with shock-responsive social protection systems, to stabilise food systems, to ensure the functioning of local food markets, value chains and systems while focusing on smallholder farmers and small-scale fishers by implementing sanitary measures in order to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, and to respond to other crises, economic downturns and conflicts such as the desert locus upsurge in East Africa; considers that the process of economic recovery offers an opportunity to better integrate small farmers and producers into local and regional markets and to develop more sustainable livelihoods; emphasises the importance of technology and digitalisation in this regard as a means of facilitating market knowledge and access, and scaling up small businesses through tools such as mobile money applications;

12. Recalls that safe and affordable food will have to be provided for a global population of approximately 10 billion people by 2050, while securing decent employment and livelihoods along the entire food value chain, protecting the most vulnerable in rural areas, including indigenous people, migrants, and informal and ad-hoc workers, and countering extreme food price volatility in national and international food markets; recognises the crucial role of nutrition in strengthening resilience; calls for a more integrated approach towards preventing, diagnosing and treating hunger and malnutrition in both humanitarian and development responses, particularly among the countries most vulnerable to climate change; highlights that it is crucial to develop local agriculture for local consumption in order to reduce the dependence of developing countries on imports and exports and possible disruptions along the food chain; underlines that reaching SDGs 1 and 2 requires a transdisciplinary approach in order to transform the way food is produced, processed, consumed and traded; emphasises, in this respect, the need for a holistic transformation to accelerate fair, safe and healthy food systems, taking the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit as a turning point from which to build back better from the COVID-19 crisis; calls on the EU to promote sustainability throughout food supply chains, from production to consumption, in line with the European Green Deal and the farm to fork strategy;

13. Points out that the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the already extremely serious problem of food insecurity in East Africa and the Middle East caused by the locust infestation, as restrictions are delaying the delivery of pesticides and equipment to control the locusts; emphasises the need for increased cooperation to help countries in East Africa and the Middle East to cope with crop loss;

14.  Points out that various global burdens such as rapid population growth, climate change, scarcity of natural resources and changing consumption patterns are impeding the ability of our food systems to ensure food security and food availability in a socially and environmentally sustainable way for all;

 

15. Stresses that sufficient measures are needed to improve the current situation in African countries, which are facing rapid population growth coupled with uncertainty that their agricultural sectors are able to ensure food production and implement climate change adaptation measures;

 

16. Considers that limits on land availability, land degradation, water scarcity and constraints in food production are severe barriers to increasing agricultural supply and productivity, which are linked to socio-economic and institutional uncertainties in developing countries;

 

Poverty and social protection

 

17. Underlines that global extreme poverty is expected to rise dramatically in 2020 for the first time in over 20 years, especially for children, with the COVID-19 pandemic compounding the forces of conflict, poor governance and climate change and having a particularly profound impact on women and girls (an additional 47 million people are expected to live in extreme poverty by 2021), informal and migrant workers (who represent one quarter of the global workforce), the tourism sector, and Latin American, Caribbean and African economies; highlights, against the backdrop of this extreme crisis, the importance of universal social protection and social dialogue; asks the Commission to design strategies with partner countries for economic recovery, job creation and for improving social security systems, fostering the expansion of social protection coverage to informal workers in rural sectors;

 

18. Highlights the fact that the most vulnerable are being hit the hardest by the pandemic, in particular refugees, internally displaced people and migrants in precarious situations, who are facing three crises: a health crisis, a socio-economic crisis and a protection crisis; highlights that children on the move are particularly vulnerable due to their limited access to essential services including WASH, and education, healthcare and care services, thereby putting at great risk the development, future and health of these children;

 

19. Highlights the fact that the consequences of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic are disproportionately affecting the poorest and people in the most disadvantaged, marginalised and unprotected social categories, including persons with physical and intellectual disabilities, persons with chronic medical conditions, persons with mental health problems and elderly persons, who already have limited or no access to basic hygiene and treatment for their healthcare needs, and have become even more vulnerable due to the pandemic;

 

Refugees and displaced persons

20. Urges the Commission to address the specific needs of refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons (IDPs), upholding the guiding principle of public health networks of leaving no-one behind and refraining from blocking front-line humanitarian workers from having direct contact with those they serve; recalls with concern that refugees, migrants and IDPs are among the most vulnerable populations facing this health crisis, as they are often faced with more precarious living conditions and tend to face greater obstacles to accessing basic health services than local populations; stresses the absolute need for equal access to COVID-19 treatments and other health services and safety net programmes for all affected people, regardless of nationality, legal status, origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other characteristic; stresses the importance of supporting refugees and IDPs to address the disproportionate socio-economic impact of the pandemic, by strengthening livelihood support and income-generating activities, in addition to their access to safety; emphasises that EU policies should seek to support their access to employment, education and civic documentation; urges the EU and the Member States to create the conditions for children and young people in refugee camps to have access to education, including remote learning options, in particular for basic learning;

Strengthening the health sector

21. Underlines that the COVID-19 outbreak has exacerbated the persistent problem of medicine shortages globally, with acute consequences in developing countries; underlines that development aid should primarily be dedicated to delivering ‘horizontal’ universal health care system coverage through a holistic and rights-based approach, which entails, inter alia, fully addressing the multidimensional nature of health (with close links to gender, food security and nutrition, water and sanitation, education and poverty); calls, in particular, for the revision of proposed or existing strategies and partnerships with the aim of further strengthening and supporting public health systems in partner countries, in particular as regards preparedness for pandemics and the organisation and management of health systems, including the provision of universal healthcare, vaccinations, health monitoring and information (including disease surveillance), training, recruitment and retention of medical staff, diagnostic capacity and medicine supply;

 

22. Recalls that the strengthening of health systems should not exclusively take into account the epidemiological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on partner countries, but should also consider factors such as the need to manage increased malnutrition caused by the disruption of food supply chains or the psychological impacts of measures to mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks;

 

23. Reminds the Commission that the EU’s well-established partner organisations, such as the Global Fund, provide valuable help in rapidly procuring and deploying personal protective equipment, diagnostics and therapeutics for COVID-19 while playing a vital role in building up and reinforcing health systems and providing donors;

 

24. Stresses the need to catch up on routine immunisation programmes as soon as possible and to ensure that the provision of other basic health services is resumed; calls for adequate funding for initiatives such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations; is concerned about the outsourced, fragmented global vaccine governance system, which has led to competition for vaccines, diagnostics and treatments, rather than cooperation; urges the EU and Member States to lead calls for equal and affordable vaccine access worldwide based on the principle of global solidarity; calls on the Commission to ensure that the EU global response to the COVID-19 pandemic does not undermine EU funding for other vital health programmes, including the Minimum Initial Services Package for sexual and reproductive health and programmes targeting the health of women and pregnant women; urges all Member States and the Commission to continue to support partner countries in providing services related to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), while ensuring the safety of communities and health workers;

 

25. Recalls the importance of implementing key lessons from previous health crises such as the Ebola epidemic; highlights in this regard the importance of working with community leaders to spread key public health messages and mobilise societies; underlines the critical role played by civil society organisations and national and international NGOs in delivering health services to the poorest communities; recognises that such organisations will be essential partners in distributing vaccines for COVID-19; calls on the EU to support the capacity-building of these organisations;

 

26. Underlines the role of health education in preventing and alleviating the impact of pandemic outbreaks and in preparedness for future public health emergencies; highlights the benefits of sport in addressing the physical and mental health consequences of extended confinement and closure of schools;

 

27. Urges the Commission and the Member States to commit to making anti-pandemic vaccines and treatments a global public good, accessible to all;

 

28. Highlights that the continuity of basic health services, including nutrition, is needed in the response to and recovery from COVID-19; underlines that quality nutrition services should be provided as part of primary healthcare, including the prevention, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of all forms of malnutrition; recognises the role of community health workers as front line workers that need to be supported, including through training;

 

29. Underlines that research and innovation (R&I) have been of crucial importance in the global COVID-19 response, enabling the development of urgently needed therapeutics, vaccines and diagnostics; emphasises that R&I activities need to be steered towards tools that work in low resource settings in order to allow for a truly global response; emphasises that similar efforts are needed to address existing research and product gaps to fight other epidemics, in particular poverty-related and neglected diseases that affect billions of people worldwide but offer limited market incentives for private sector investments, and in order to end the dependence on richer countries as regards their research into diseases that may not directly affect them; calls on the EU and its Member States, therefore, to increase opportunities for trans-national collaboration among researchers and encourage the development of the human research potential in partner countries, with a particular focus on women;

 

30. Supports the important work of the WHO and points out its central role as the leading and coordinating authority on the COVID-19 response, while recognising the need for its reform, including, but not limited to, the reform of the International Health Regulations, after the acute crisis has been managed;

31.  Underlines the need for urgent action, increased funding and improved coordination of responses on hygienic behaviour and practices as one of the most vital defences to prevent, contain and treat COVID-19; underlines the need for reliable supplies of clean water to keep homes and schools, as well as healthcare facilities clean and highlights the importance of access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure, services and commodities, because they are key for building resilience to future disease outbreaks; calls on the EU and its Member States to significantly increase their funding for WASH as part of their COVID-19 response and to strengthen global resilience against future crises;

32. Highlights the crucial role played by community-led organisations and civil society organisations (CSOs) in delivering health services to the most marginalised and underserved communities; calls on the Commission to ensure political, financial and technical support for CSOs delivering community-based services in order to make sure that those who cannot go to health clinics are able to access tailored and appropriate services;

33. Stresses that a more equitable distribution of vaccines around the globe is essential to combat effectively the spread of COVID-19 and its mutation; recalls equally that COVID-19 medical tools should be affordable, safe, effective, easily administered and universally available, and that they should be considered a global public good;

Human rights, governance and democracy

34. Is concerned that, since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, many governments have used the emergency to justify placing restrictions on democratic processes and the civil space, including limiting humanitarian access, and to oppress minorities; condemns, in particular, censorship, arrests and intimidation of journalists, opposition figures, healthcare workers and other individuals for criticising governments, including over their crisis management; draws attention, more broadly, to the growing negative impact of COVID-19 on all human rights, democracy and the rule of law and calls, therefore, for the strengthening of aid, political dialogue and support for civil society and institution building in all these fields, with particular attention to human rights defenders and civil society activists;

35. Notes that research globally indicates that stigma and discrimination continue to affect people living with HIV, in particular key populations and vulnerable groups; recalls UNAIDS’ conclusions that people and groups associated with COVID-19 have also experienced negative perceptions and actions; highlights that vulnerable and marginalised populations continue to be stigmatised, including through HIV and COVID-19 intersections, such as people living in poverty, the homeless, refugees, migrants, sex workers, people who use drugs, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons;

36. Underlines that the consequences of a combined health pandemic and a global recession will seriously undermine the capability of developing countries, notably least developed countries (LDCs), to achieve the SDGs; recalls the UN’s call for a USD 2.5 trillion COVID-19 crisis package for developing countries, which face unprecedented economic damage from the COVID-19 crisis; calls for a far-reaching policy response based on the core Agenda 2030 principle of leaving no-one behind;

37. Underlines that a state of emergency has negative effects on human rights and fundamental freedoms and must therefore always be limited in time, duly justified through democratic and legal procedures, and proportionate to the emergency, while respecting the constitutional order and international human rights law; insists that health emergencies should never be used as a pretext to undermine the rule of law, democratic institutions, democratic accountability or judicial control;

38. Is concerned about the violent attacks on humanitarian and medical personnel and facilities, as well as bureaucratic obstacles such as unclear, changing requirements to get access or restrictions on staff and vehicle numbers in partner countries; underlines the importance of continuing to address these attacks and obstacles at both diplomatic and political levels;

39. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support parliaments as they continue to play an active role in scrutinising government measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and in assessing the human rights implications of public health measures; stresses that the health sector in many countries is prone to corruption and there is a need to strengthen accountability and oversight;

40. Highlights the particularly severe consequences of COVID-19 lockdowns and the collateral damage that has been suffered by women, girls and children, in particular the rise in gender-based violence, including female genital mutilation, the increasing incidence of child marriage, early and unwanted pregnancies, and limited access to health services, including SRHR services, but also the exposure of women to COVID-19 due to their disproportionately high representation in the global health workforce; notes that in many partner countries women are employed in feminised sectors such as the garment industry which have been hit hard; emphasises the need for the NDICI-Global Europe to stimulate post-crisis opportunities for women’s employment; calls for action to counterbalance the disproportionate care burden borne by women and any potential roll-backs in safety, health, emancipation, economic independence and empowerment, and education, through specific programmes such as the spotlight initiative and the Gender Action Plan III, and by re-focusing European support; calls for efforts to be  stepped up to better prevent and address domestic violence; calls for the meaningful participation of women in the decisions that impact their health and working lives; underlines the need to include the gender perspective in the EU’s COVID-19 response, to advocate for inclusive decision-making bodies and to collect sex- and age-disaggregated data for gender analysis;

41. Recalls that the economic and social effects of the pandemic are disproportionately affecting women and risk reversing decades of progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment; urges the EU and its Member States, with a view to addressing this challenge and ensuring a sustained recovery, to upgrade their external support to actions aimed at enhancing the voice and participation of women in decision-making processes, improving education and training for women, removing discrimination in access to credit and enacting laws against gender-based violence;

Debt service and sound budgets

42.  Welcomes the temporary suspension of debt service payments for the poorest countries announced by the G20 and joins the call on private creditors and state-owned commercial banks to follow suit; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote full implementation of the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) and the G-20’s new Common Framework on Debt Treatments beyond the DSSI; underlines that the magnitude of the economic and social crisis in the developing world requires more profound and far-reaching measures and encourages the Commission to support international efforts in this regard; considers that interest saved thanks to this suspension should instead be invested in the health sector, which is often severely underfunded in developing countries; invites the Commission and the Member States, in this regard, also to support initiatives at international level proposing flexible mechanisms for debt reduction linked to the creation of counterpart funds in local currency to promote investments aimed at achieving the SDGs;

43. Points out that many developing countries were already experiencing significant levels of debt before the pandemic, thereby preventing adequate investments in crisis prevention, health systems and social protection; underlines the importance of addressing debt sustainability in partner countries as a priority; calls on the Commission to take new initiatives to tackle the problems of illicit financial flows, tax evasion and tax fraud in order to improve the tax bases of developing countries; urges the EU, to this end, to ensure that its trade, double taxation and investment agreements are consistent with the objective of domestic resource mobilisation of ACP countries and translate into tangible and sustainable development outcomes, in line with the principle of policy coherence for development, as enshrined in Article 208 of the Treaty of Lisbon; calls more broadly for the setting up of a global tax body at UN level to help coordinate tax policies; calls, furthermore, for budget support to be directed towards universal basic services, notably access to basic health, water and sanitation services, and resilience;44.  Calls on the Commission to envisage more support for the most fragile countries to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and provide access to healthcare while not neglecting existing challenges such as extreme poverty, security, access to quality education and jobs, democracy, equal opportunities and climate change;

45. Highlights that reduced inflows of remittances in developing countries will worsen the living conditions of households that rely on this source of income to finance the consumption of goods and services such as food, health care and education; urges the EU and the donor community, therefore, to take decisive action to fulfil their promise to contribute to reducing the cost of remittance fees to close to zero, and at least to 3 %, as called for in SDG 10;

Education and digitalisation

46. Underlines the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented numbers of pupils missing out on months of schooling, constituting a major setback to efforts in the education sector, especially with regard to the education of women, girls and displaced persons; urges governments to use school closures only as a measure of last resort in the fight against the pandemic; supports the continuation and prioritisation of investment in education in emergencies and other humanitarian settings; calls for education to remain a spending priority in EU development policy and for due consideration to be given to the social and cultural function of schools; urges governments, in this context, to prioritise support for the most marginalised children and their families, since economic and social inequalities are deeply linked to early school leaving and poor performance from early childhood, which jeopardise employability prospects through adulthood; stresses that the most at-risk children, especially those with disabilities and those living in conflict-affected areas, are the hardest hit by this pandemic; recommends that the EU support the actions of UNICEF and that EU countries share their approaches to keeping up teaching even in times of crisis, and calls on the EU and its Member States to exploit the potential of remote (offline apps, radio, TV, printed materials) and digital learning in their international support programmes so that no child is left without education; supports, therefore, open, secure and affordable access to the internet (including mobile data) and equal access to and use and creation of digital technology, with a view to bridging digital divides including the digital gender and age gaps, and to including those who are disadvantaged or marginalised by the digital transformation;

 

47. Calls for culture to be considered for its intrinsic value as a fourth standalone, transversal pillar of sustainable development, together with social, economic and environmental dimensions; calls on the EU to integrate cultural sustainability at all levels of development cooperation and to systematically include the cultural dimension in negotiations for Association Agreements, and in the whole set of its external relations and foreign policy instruments;

48. Highlights the importance of lifelong learning and re-qualification, also in the long-term after the COVID-19 pandemic, as it will become not only common practice but also a necessary requirement for working citizens, given how rapidly technology develops;

49. Points out the need to provide support and recognition to teachers, whose pivotal role in education and in building active citizenship has been further underscored by the pandemic; stresses the need to invest in teacher training in order to adequately prepare teachers for new learning models such as e-learning and blended learning, as a requirement to ensure continued education when in-person learning is compromised;

50. Stresses the role of independent media in promoting cultural diversity and intercultural competences, and the need to strengthen such media as a source of credible information, especially through times of crisis and uncertainty;

51. Draws attention to the heavy toll the pandemic has taken on the cultural and creative industries (CCIs), world heritage sites, intangible cultural heritage and heritage tourism around the world, especially in least developed countries, where these sectors are particularly fragile; calls on the EU and its Member States to provide financial aid to these sectors in the context of development cooperation, trough dedicated funds with thematic and geographical priorities, as well as technical assistance, including digital support initiatives to mitigate the negative impacts of lockdown measures, and to exploit synergies between local governments, cultural organisations and NGOs, on the one hand, and EU delegations and overseas branches of cultural institutions of the Member States, on the other;

52. Recalls that the share of education in total development aid has fallen steadily over the last decade; calls on the Member States to invest 10 % of their official development assistance in education by 2024 and 15 % by 2030, including investment in digital education, infrastructure and connectivity, to address the digital gap that exacerbates socio-economic disadvantages;

Resilience

53.  Underlines the importance of exchanging best practices with and assisting partner countries (including capacity building of their local and regional administrations) and of exchanging best practices with and assisting local civil society organisations in identifying vulnerabilities and building up prevention and crisis response mechanisms as well as protecting critical infrastructure in order better to deal with future systemic shocks of all kinds; underlines, furthermore, the importance of adopting a One Health approach from central government down to community level, in order to prevent or combat zoonoses;54.  Is concerned that, due to changes brought about by climate change, extreme whether events will add to the difficulties of the COVID-19 crisis, which will put economies, the functioning of states and the provision of humanitarian aid under additional pressure; demands, therefore, that the recovery strategy must pursue the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change; considers, furthermore, that economic stimulus measures should pave the way towards a zero-carbon and climate-resilient future and calls for support for the conservation of seed varieties under the umbrella of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture to help communities to restore varieties after climate change-induced disasters;

55. Considers that the pandemic offers an opportunity to build back better and that the EU’s humanitarian and development policies should support this objective in partner countries; highlights in particular the need to support developing countries in unlocking progress in the digital economy in areas such as health, education and other public services; welcomes the launch of the Digital4Development (D4D) Hub in December 2020 and encourages the EU to make further investments in digitalisation efforts in partner countries, including by leveraging private sector investment;

56. Recalls that resilience is ultimately about both general preparedness and the ability to adapt to new circumstances; recalls, in this context, that communities that lead their own solutions tailored to their particular contexts are more engaged throughout recovery, and ultimately rebuild stronger; stresses that overcoming this crisis in a spirit of solidarity with our partners will strengthen and render more resilient the relations between the EU and developing countries;

57. Recalls that private sector investment could play an important role in contributing to economic recovery and the attainment of the SDGs, given the heightened needs generated by the pandemic; calls for the role of the private sector and blended finance to be further explored as part of recovery and resilience building efforts;

58.  Points out that pandemics are often of zoonotic origin; underlines, therefore, the need to support education programmes regarding the dangers of hunting and trading in wild animals as well as the stricter protection and restoration of ecosystems and habitats, and to address challenges posed by industrial farming; calls for increased support for partner countries in preventing poaching and the trafficking of wild animals, ensuring in particular that local communities are involved in wildlife protection; considers that more EU funds need to be granted to anticipatory research on the links between human health, animal health and ecosystems in order to increase the readiness to respond to future health crises created by virus mutations of zoonotic origin;

59.  Is of the opinion that resilience against future public health crises must also be built upon research into diseases that cause deadly outbreaks in developing countries on a regular basis; regrets that there is currently not enough research into the development of vaccines that effectively prevent diseases that are recurrent in developing countries, such as malaria or zika; calls on the EU and its Member States to fund more research with a view to developing vaccines that prevent future outbreaks of such diseases;

60. Points out that, even in times of crisis, food production and distribution must be an absolute priority; considers that dependence on external sources of food, plants, seeds and fertilisers should be reduced, while local and diversified agricultural production should be increased; welcomes, in this regard, the EU’s support for agroecology, which needs to be further strengthened; calls for support for the sharing of knowledge about new, old and more resilient agro-ecological seeds;

61. Recalls that developing countries are historically vulnerable to external shocks owing to narrow export bases and less diversified economies; stresses, therefore, that one of the main challenges for developing countries is to climb up the global value chain through economic diversification and to shift from an a export-oriented production model towards development based on domestic and regional markets; to this end, emphasises the crucial role of regional economic cooperation, domestic industrial policy and investment promotion to increase national or regional autonomy in the production of essential goods and services; finds it essential, against this background, to harness financing and business practises, with a view to promoting the integration of sustainability standards along the entire investment chain; reiterates that mandatory corporate due diligence on human rights and the environment is a necessary condition in order to prevent and mitigate future crises and ensure sustainable value chains;

62. Underlines that investments in recovery actions need to be responsible, in line with the CFS’ Voluntary Guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security and its Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems, to mitigate climate change and foster the resilience of vulnerable populations;

63. Calls on the EU to better mainstream children’s rights in the fight against climate change and in its actions to promote resilience and disaster preparedness directly in social sectors such as education, health, WASH, nutrition, and social and child protection;

Humanitarian-development-peace nexus

64. Underlines that implementation of the humanitarian-development-peace nexus has to be a priority in the programming of the NDICI-Global Europe in fragile countries; calls on the Commission’s DG ECHO, DG INTPA and DG NEAR to implement complementary programmes suited to local contexts and local opportunities, whenever possible, in order to mutually reinforce the different aspects of the nexus;

65. Underlines the need to work alongside local communities and CSOs in the definition and implementation of the response to the COVID-19 crisis; emphasises the role of the European Solidarity Corps in supporting CSOs on the ground which provide assistance to people in need;

66. Calls for the empowerment of local communities and for their engagement in humanitarian and development actions, along with local CSOs, including churches, faith-based organisations and other local representatives;

 

67. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the President of the European Council, the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the governments and parliaments of the African Union countries, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the World Health Organization.

 

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FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

 

 

 

 

Key to symbols:

+ : in favour

- : against

0 : abstention