Living in Brussels and working on development, you cannot escape the fact that 2015 has been designated the
European Year for Development. Each year, the European Union decides to focus on a particular subject, supporting a debate around that issue and promoting it in its work in EU member states. In the past, there have been years for things like active ageing, citizenship, and volunteering, among others.
European Year for Development 2015 – time for health!
This year is the turn of development. It is the first time that development has been chosen as a topic. Development has been chosen in recognition of this year as being a landmark one for the future of global development policy – with a decision on the post-2015 agenda, the Addis conference on finance for development, and the December Paris conference on future climate change policy. Got it? Good.
As part of the European Year for Development, each month of 2015 has been set aside for a specific theme, and in April just gone by the theme was health. If you are a reader of the DSW blog, you will know that health – global health research, sexual and reproductive health and everything in between is at the core of our work. We work hard in our advocacy to push for better and stronger health-focused policies in Brussels, Berlin and New York, as well as in our country offices. Empowering young people living in some of the world’s poorest countries to be able to take control of their health allows them to take control of their future. If we can empower these people to liberate themselves of deadly and destructive diseases, they can fulfil their huge and untapped potential.
European Year for Development – Health Matters Bulletin
But, how do we do this? How can we convince policy-makers in this most vital year that health ought to be at the core of the post-2015 agenda? And, what can these decision-makers do to make a serious contribution to the global health agenda? To answer these questions and more, DSW has contributed to a publication by the organisation Action for Global Health as part of Health Month for the European Year for Development. This “Health Matters” bulletin includes articles from the European Commission, Members of the European Parliament, the WHO, civil society organisations and more. The subjects dealt with range from the fight to control Ebola, to the long-term challenge of TB, universal access to SRHR, and the importance of strong health systems in low- and middle-income countries.
You can download it here, and let us know what you think!
