Two days of meetings involving Foreign Ministers from European and African Union states have done little to reduce fears that Europe may be turning its back on the continent to its South.
Since the rise of Donald Trump to the US presidency, many EU and other European states have announced significant and potentially extremely harmful cuts to international aid – some, like the Netherlands, on ‘ideologiical’ grounds, others, including the UK under the claim that they need to spend more on defence.
But what is certain is that these cuts have not been made because need has reduced in the global South. In Madagascar, for just one example, climate change is still ravaging farm produce and causing fertile soil to be washed into the sea, even though Madagascar is one of only four states recognised to be removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits.
Almost 80 per cent of Malagasy people still live on or below the global poverty baseline of £1.73 per day, the impacts of which include widespread hunger and 50 per cent of children suffering stunting because of malnutrition.
And Madagascar remains the fourth-poorest country on the planet, even as its people are expected to – and arguably for the survival of human civilisation actually must – protect and expand what remains of their rainforest and other wilderness areas.
The needs of the Global South – and the wider world – have not changed. But the focus of the world’s wealthiest nations, including those in the EU, seems to have done.
The EU’s foreign ministers met for two days, on Tuesday 20 and Wedenesday 21 May, and were joined on the second by African Union states’ foreign ministers for the third EU-AU ministerial meeting.
Before the meetings, two groups to express concern were the Catholic Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) and the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the EU.
The two bodies had, five years ago, expressed optimism that the EU and Africa could ‘reinvigorate multilateral cooperation by reinforcing their longstanding ties marked by our common roots and geographical proximity.’
But ahead of this week’s meetings, they expressed concern over a: ‘Profound shift in European priorities away from solidarity with the most fragile regions and communities and towards a more narrowly defined set of geopolitical and economic interests.’
The groups’ joint statement continued: ‘Priorities seem to have changed to the patterns of the past, in which European corporate and strategic aims are placed over the real needs and aspirations of African people. The basic foundations of life – land, water, seeds, and minerals – have once again become commodities for foreign profit.
‘African people face hardship not because they lack food, but because we have allowed systems to dominate that put profit above people. The current situation is not partnership. This is not justice.’
The EU-only meeting did not even mention relations with African nations, instead focusing on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Gaza, and Syria.
All of these are of course priorities in international affairs, and the meeting’s pledges to further assist Ukrainian defence, call for aid to be allowed into Gaza to prevent starvation and to end European sanctions against Syria were at the least well-meant, and positive steps.
But even within the EU-AU meeting, the main talking points were ‘mutual defence’, with mention of ‘renewed commitments’ reating to climate change, food security, education and cultural exchange relegated seemingly to foot-notes.
The impact of the new administration in the US has been wide-reaching and threatens – at best – the traditional means by which states and organisations have set and achieved development targets.
But while a change in governmental approaches may be necessary, we must remind leaders of the world’s wealthiest states that all the problems, challenges and threats to human life which existed last November are still present today.
It is not ‘only’ Africa, but the world as a whole, which cannot afford to forget this, or act as if it is not the case.
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