Weekly Compass highlights – Great Insights, Volume 5, Issue 6 (December 2016 / January 2017)

EU Development Cooperation & Humanitarian Aid in Situations of Fragility & Protracted Crisis Weekly Compass Newsletter, 12 December 2016 This new paper by Alfonso Medinilla and Alisa Herrero Cangas, with the support from Matthias Deneckere, sheds light upon the complexities regarding the coordination between humanitarian aid and development cooperation to tackle the issues of fragility, security, migration and other challenges of Europe’s external action. The new EU Global Strategy, which originated from the need to find a more harmonious EU response to the ongoing crisis context in many developing regions, calls for a “joined-up and truly comprehensive approach” to external policies.This new Discussion Paper analyses the incentives and disincentives and institutional obstacles to joint approaches and presents options to foster more effective collaboration. Joint paper by FAO and ECDPM: Promoting regional trade in pulses in the Horn of Africa Weekly Compass Newsletter, 12 December 2016 The UN declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses, to increase awareness of their nutritional qualities and their benefits for creating more sustainable and climate-resilient food systems. Chickpeas, lentils, beans, etc. are also important as a cash crop for local, regional and international markets, with increasing demand for processed food based on pulses offering opportunities of employment and entrepreneurship for women and youth. These benefits show the strong role that pulses can play for Africa’s goal to feed itself, as voiced in the Malabo Declaration, and its ambitious target to triple intra-African agricultural trade by 2025. This new paper, the first ever joint publication between ECDPM and FAO (the UN agency leading international efforts to defeat hunger), highlights the main challenges in strengthening regional pulses value chains in the Horn of Africa, where intra-regional trade in pulses has particular potential, and points to the importance of effective public-private dialogue at regional level. Stronger together: Amplifying partnerships to finance the SDGs in Africa Weekly Compass Newsletter, 5 December 2016 Last week, the government of Kenya hosted the Second High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation (GPEDC). The focus of the meeting was mainly on the implementation of Agenda 2030 and of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this blog, ECDPM’s Luckystar Miyandazi raises the issue of financing the implementation of the SDGs in Africa. Whilst the continent still heavily relies on external funding and on Official Development Assistance, there is a greater need for Africa and the African Union to seek for strategic partnerships and for greater financial independence. Towards a better Africa-Europe partnership for regional migration governance? Weekly Compass Newsletter, 28 November 2016 Last year in November, European and African Heads of States and Government met in Valletta to strengthen cooperation and deepen partnerships in the area of migration. Since then, efforts have been made to implement agreed actions and the EU has adopted a new Partnership Framework. Yet, the perceptions diverge in terms of whether the current approaches by Europe promote ‘true’ partnerships. In a new ECDPM Discussion Paper, Anna Knoll and Frauke de Weijer contribute to this debate by analysing the narratives, values and beliefs present in African and European frameworks and policy processes on migration, and by exploring convergence and divergence around the perspectives between Europe and Africa.