Afghanistan December 3, 2011 9:58PM
Setting a strong development agenda
Valerie Ceccherini
Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Mercy Corps European HQ
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Ten years after the international intervention in Afghanistan began and the Taliban regime fell, world leaders are this week gathering in Germany to discuss Afghanistan's future. Back in 2001 a similar group signed the international Bonn Agreement that aimed, in its own words, to ‘end the tragic conflict in Afghanistan and promote national reconciliation, lasting peace, stability and respect for human rights in the country’. Important progress has been made since then, but unfortunately for the people of Afghanistan, the commitments and benchmarks set in Bonn ten years ago are still far from having been reached.
Now the international community and the Afghan government are meeting again in Bonn to discuss what may be next for Afghanistan, and this conference comes at a critical time.
March 26, 2010 11:20AM
Make this election count for the world's poor
Valerie Ceccherini
Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Mercy Corps European HQ
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The UK General Election will take place very soon, on May 6, 2010. With a large number of new Members of Parliament (MPs) likely to be elected, Mercy Corps wants to make sure that the fight against poverty as well as the risks of climate change and its impact on developing countries feature highly on the agenda of every political party.
So we have engaged in a joint campaign, and endorsed the International Development Vote Global Manifesto, which asks all political parties to commit to fight poverty worldwide focusing on action in five key areas:
- More and better aid and debt relief;
- Tackling climate change;
- Making the global economy work for the poor;
- Good governance and addressing corruption; and
- Responding to conflict situations
This manifesto, which was endorsed by 150 humanitarian and development non-governmental organisations (NGOs), was presented at each political party conference last September and has already been distributed to over 200 UK MPs and Prospective Parliamentarian Candidates.
YOU CAN ALSO TAKE ACTION:
Visit the http://www.voteglobal.org.uk website to find questions to ask your candidates, a handy map of local events and a lot more information about how you can make this election count for the world’s poor.
