On 17th March the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health and EPF organised a conference on "The EU: a global player in health and development?" at the House of Commons, Westminster. The focus of the meeting was global health - including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and population - and how EU Member States will be able to fund the EU's development agenda in times of austerity.

The conference gathered over 30 parliamentarians from across Europe and a range of expert speakers, including Dr. Malcolm Potts, the eminent demographer from Berkeley University (USA) and Peter Colenso, Head of the Human Development Group in the Policy & Research Division of the UK Government’s Department for International Development.

At the meeting representatives of the European Commission, External Action Service and Parliament gave a brief insight into the major political and institutional changes in the EU's approach to global health that have recently taken place, along with their interpretation of the current debate about the future of EU development policy and funding, and the potential opportunities it may present to global health advocates.

Participants agreed that the meeting proved a useful starting point for getting to grips with the sometimes baffling and impenetrable world that Brussels represents to those working in a national context, and hope that they will now be able to play an important role in helping to determine the approach that their government takes in negotiating the EU’s future development assistance.

The meeting was an activity in the framework of Action for Global Health (AfGH), a network of European NGOs based in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, the UK and Brussels advocating for Europe to step up its efforts and their effectiveness to achieve the health MDGs


Concept note:
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Programme:
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Presentations:
Panel II:
How does the EU support Development and Global Health:
Neil Datta - Secretariat EPF

ECA Special Report on EC Health Assistance in Sub-Saharan Africa:
Julian Chapman - European Court of Auditors

Panel III:
The Importance of Global Health:
Caroline Halmshaw - Action For Global Health/Interact Worldwide 

The Importance of GH in EU Dev Policy:
Anje Langenbucher - Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Panel IV:
Global Health Challenges:
Juan Garay - Human and Social Development Unit, DG DEVCO, European Commission