Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-15-Speech-4-121"
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"en.20040115.6.4-121"2
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".
Mr President, the Commission is following events in Zimbabwe closely and is deeply concerned at the deterioration of the humanitarian and human rights situation there. In the light of the dire political situation in that country, and as no sign of a commitment from the government of Zimbabwe to take tangible measures to remedy the situation has been forthcoming, there can be no justification for lifting or easing European Union measures against Zimbabwe. The Commission will therefore consider extending those measures for a further year.
The Commission remains fully committed to, and has even stepped up, its provision of direct assistance to the population of Zimbabwe in the form of food aid to cover essential needs. This month an extra EUR 20 million was pledged for food aid operations owing to evidence of continuing significant requirements and the absence of other donors in the critical period up to the harvest in May. This brings our total funding for food and humanitarian aid for the current season to EUR 85 million.
We continue to be very active in providing support to projects in social sectors and in the field of democratisation, respect for human rights and the rule of law. This sort of support was specifically excluded from the measures taken against Zimbabwe in order to protect the population and to promote progress.
To be more specific, and in response to Mr Ribeiro e Castro, I would remind the House that Zimbabwe is a focal country in the context of 2002-2004 European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights funding. That initiative should be viewed as a catalytic instrument for achieving significant results in protecting civil society and ensuring that critical voices can continue to make themselves heard within society.
The Commission continues to provide assistance for capacity building for human rights and democracy NGOs that carry out basic human rights work and for civil society actors by enhancing their capacities to promote internal dialogue. In the last two years – 2002-2003 – almost EUR 2.5 million was allocated to specific projects under the EIDHR.
Finally, the Commission continues to explore all possible avenues to influence the government of Zimbabwe and is pursuing an enhanced dialogue with its neighbouring countries, and notably the Southern African Development Community and the government of South Africa. It will support any peer pressure that the international community, and African heads of state in particular, can bring to bear on the government of Zimbabwe to improve the political, economic and humanitarian situation in that country."@en1
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