The European Development Days highlight the interlinkages of the Sustainable Development Goals

Brussels , Belgium – 2016 June 15th – European Development Days – Bilateral Meeting Ban Ki-Moon Secretary General, United Nations and Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe Prime Minister of Ethiopia and David Nabarro, Special Advisor on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Climate Change © European Union

From 15 to 16 June 2016, development professionals, civil society organisations, politicians and experts met for the 10th edition of the European Development Days in Brussels, Belgium. The cross-cutting theme of the 2016 event was “Sustainable Development Goals in Action: Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future”. Delegates focused on how to integrate the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into policy, and emphasised the importance of the integrated nature of each of the 17 goals, with the nexus between nutrition and Agriculture, Food Security, Health, and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) highlighted throughout the event.

A debate titled, “Leave no-one behind” was held to question the European contribution to global food and nutrition security – Is it enough, or can Europe do more? Is it effective, or can we do better? The stellar panel featured David Nabarro, former SUN Movement Coordinator and Gerda Verburg, the incoming SUN Movement Coordinator. The European Union’s current development programming, where there is a focus on specific input to get certain outcomes. But, the complexity of food systems has made it difficult to trace outcomes of development aid – for example, aid aimed at supporting resilient food systems – as it takes a long time to bring about improved nutrition and higher small-holder income levels.

The debate centered around an increased European Union focus on making its food and nutrition security programmes more universal, given its leading role in the global donor community. The speakers stressed that solving the challenges facing food systems requires a broader approach than just addressing farming itself. There is a view that the European Union’s work on advancing food security has improved, but that more should be done. However, in the current context of budget constraints, increased European Union spending is unlikely. Instead, the private sector must step in to ensure more funding for investment in the agricultural sector. The division of labour must be improved because there may be several European Union donors working in the same countries without coordinating their efforts.

Brussels , Belgium – 2016 June 16th – European Development Days – Ending hunger and undernutrition – It can be done faster © European Union

A session titled “Ending hunger and undernutrition – It can be done faster” was held to accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger and Malnutrition). Speakers included Shenggan Fan, Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute and Michael Hailu, Director of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). Key points included the needed for effective existing programmes for tackling hunger to be brought scale and an increased drive for new partnerships, new ideas and new approaches.

Sergio Teixiera, a representative from the SUN Movement Secretariat spoke on the panel “Toilets for Nutrition”, sponsored by the German Toilet Organization. He joined panelists to highlight the multiple pathways between WASH and Nutrition and shared preliminary results of a WaterAid/SHARE study which analysed the inclusion of WASH in Nutrition policies, and vice versa. His presentation highlighted some of the burning questions regarding cross-sectoral collaboration, specifically between Ministries, for fostering better WASH-Nutrition collaboration.

Learn more about the European Develpoment Days at https://eudevdays.eu/

View photos from the event