Responding to global challenges
Throughout the world, 2009 was a difficult year. The impact of the 2007-2008 food price crisis was aggravated by the economic and financial crisis which created a world recession. The European Union acted rapidly to soften the negative impacts on its partner countries. It also strengthened its efforts to ensure that the crises did not call into question the progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) achieved in recent years.
The EU Food Facility put in place at the end of 2008 to deal with the food price crisis provided one platform for concrete action. Of the € 1 billion pledged under the facility, € 837 million were allocated by the end of 2009. The aim of the facility is to bridge the critical gap between emergency aid and medium to long-term development assistance. The economic and financial crisis which began in the second half of 2008 made matters worse, especially in the poorer countries.
It is estimated that between 40 million and 80 million people in developing countries will be forced into absolute poverty because of the crises. On the basis of proposals from the European Commission in April 20091, a set of comprehensive, timely, targeted and coordinated measures were agreed.
As a result, € 215 million were already committed by the end of the year under the so-called Vulnerability FLEX (V-FLEX) mechanism to help 11 African and two Caribbean countries reduce funding shortfalls in their 2009 government budgets. € 160 million were paid by the end of 2009 with the remaining € 55 million due in the first quarter of 2010. In addition, the 2009 mid-term review of Country Strategy Papers was particularly timely, enabling the EU to adapt its individual cooperation programmes to evolving realities.