Panel discussion: Odious Debts vs. International Law
(Bonn / Washington, 02.01.2009) Video of the juridical and political essence of “The Doctrine of Odious Debts in International Law”, a panel meeting in the World Bank.more
AACC asks African Union to intensify pressure on Robert Mugabe
(Geneva / Maputo, 12.12.2008) The AACC Assembly adopted a statement of concern on Thursday 11 December on the crisis in Zimbabwe, expressing displeasure that "President Mugabe is using power-sharing negotiations as a strategy for wasting time" while "acts of violence continue to be committed against those who do not support ZANU-PF", Mugabe's ruling party. The will of the Zimbabwe people as expressed in March 2008 elections has been thwarted, the Assembly said, and international leaders and churches "have failed to bring about an amicable solution".more
Piracy in Somalia: "The international community should also stand to protect small scale fishers against the plundering of their livelihoods"
(Bonn, 09.12.2008) The EU resolution to send a navy mission in the region of the Horn of Africa to fight pirates ignores that one of the causes of piracy is poverty. EED and its partner organizations in Africa point out that small fishers in the region are becoming increasingly impoverished.more
The people of Zimbabwe need more humanitarian assistance
(Bonn/Gaborone, 24.11.2008) The people in Zimbabwe are starving. We cannot wait for a political solution before food aid is going to be provided to the Zimbabwean people. “The world community has to help the people in Zimbabwe,” says Mrs. Claudia Warning, Director International Programmes of the Church Development Service (EED) in Germany.more
The G20s first Global Financial Summit is unlikely to control the financial crisis
(Bonn, 21.11.2008) The G8 are history. This is the first result of the Global Financial Summit of the G20 on 15.11.2008 in Washington. Beyond that, the summit somehow gave all actors what they wanted, the Wall Street and the City of London got the scope for further expansion of their money trade, the Europeans got stronger regulation, the emerging market countries got the blame for the crisis unloaded on to the rich countries and a strong stake in further decision making, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund got their role strengthened. As usual the Low Income Countries got the receiving end; they received affirmative and sympathetic words.more
40 years of Churches' Development Service
(Berlin, 16.10.2008) The Protestant churches in Germany have celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Churches' Development Service in commemoration of the adoption of the resolution of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) from October 1968 that led to the foundation of the Churches' Development Service.more
Making Development more Effective
(Bonn, 28.08.2008) Delegates from about 150 countries are expected to participate in the „Third High Level Forum" (HLF3) on aid effectiveness in Accra, Ghana, from 30.8.-3.9.2008 and to its Civil Society Forum. The HLF3 will elaborate on and release the "Accra Agenda for Action (AAA)". This will be another step in a global aid reform process started in 1999 and well know under the term "Paris Declaration". HLF4 is foreseen for Beijing in 2004. As part of Civil Society's response to this process, EED, the Church Development Service, an Association of the Protestant Churches in Germany in cooperation with the Institute Südwind produced the working paper "Making Development More Effective".more
Demonstration at the Federal Association of German Plant Breeders
(19.05.2008) La Via Campesina, the international movement of farmers demonstrated on the first day of the UN conference on biodiversity in Bonn in front of the House of Plant Breeding against bio-piracy and patents on life.
Team: U. Sprenger / S. Schrade
Video Clip: German / English / Spanish
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Rural community of South Africa stands up against pelargonium-patents and biopiracy
(07.05.2008) The Alice community, living in the Eastern Cape area of South Africa, in close collaboration with the African Center for Biosafety and supported by the Berne Declaration (Switzerland), the Church Development Service (EED) and “Kein Patent auf Leben” (Germany), has challenged two European patents granted to the German company Schwabe Pharmaceuticals. Both patents are based on two pelargonium species that occur in the wild in South Africa. The Patents are seen as an illegitimate and illegal monopolisation of a genetic resource from Southern Africa and the traditional knowledge of the communities in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.more
Churches in Zimbabwe warn against a genocide
(28.04.2008) In view of the aggravating crisis three churches in Zimbabwe warn against a threatening genocide in the crisis-ridden country. In a common appeal they applied to the international community with the urgent request for assistance. This would be the only way to stop the escalation of violence and of the violation of human rights.more
Call upon the government of Pakistan to withdraw all cases against lawyers and activists
(16.04.2008) The Pakistan NGO Support Group urges the new government of Pakistan to immediately withdraw all the cases against lawyers, human rights defenders and political workers, because they were targeted for peaceful protest. Especially after March 9, 2007 and again after November 3, 2007, large numbers of lawyers, judges, human rights activists, journalists and politicians of the opposition parties were illegally detained, put under house arrest, were banned or disappeared, because they took part in the movement for the restoration of democracy and against the emergency.more
Caravan of Fashion Show in Togo, Benin and Ghana
(07.03.2008) CERAD International presents “CERAD Afrik Graphik Textile” (AGT) Clothesmore
Walter Altmann: Increasing will to seek the unity of churches
(26.02.2008) The moderator of the World Council of Churches has appealed in his visit with the Church Development Service (EED) on the 22nd February for reinforced prayer for unity of the Christians. He pledged for a differentiated dialogue with the Pentecostal and evangelical movement.more
Water and Democracy
(17.07.2007) South Asia is a region with rich and diverse traditions of practices in water management. However, in recent times water management is got into crisis, not at least caused by the „Green Revolution“ and by industrialization: Droughts, depletion of ground water, shortage of drinking water, displacement by dams are but a few catchwords for the increasing conflicts over water. EED partner organizations and networks in India, decided to put the issue on top of the agenda and planned a joint initiative of concerned partner organizations at national level.more
"EPAs contradict national development goals and policies"
(25.04.2007) Declaration of the Consultation of Churches from Eastern and Southern Africa on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzaniamore
Kicking for Peace in Cape Town
(22.12.2006) On Saturday 9 December the 1st Kicking for Peace Tournament of the Sport for Peace Project took place in Langa, the oldest township in Cape Town. The Sport for Peace Project is one of the initiatives of the Western Cape Network for Community, Peace and Development, a network with 23 organizations all working in the field of youth development, women, conflict transformation and peace building. Marion Keim and Marius Blümel, two EED-seconded professionals working with South-African partner organisations, participated in the event.more
EED mourns the passing away of Dr. Badal Sen Gupta
(7.12.2006) Yesterday we received the sad news of the demise of Dr. Badal Sen Gupta. He passed away while participating in a workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Badal was a colleague in EED from 1972 to 2002. In his last position he headed the consultancy department of EED.more
Closing the gap between our theory and practice
(10.07.2006) The Gender Strategy to promote equal opportunities for women and men through the programmes of EED and BfdW (2006 – 2010) has been released. Striving to eliminate poverty in its diverse forms and towards a fairer world entails the goal of bringing about equal opportunities for women and men.more
In the Way of Righteousness is Life
(20.05.2006) Annual Report 2005 / 2006: For the churches, the Gospel and Christian faith are the sources of their commitment to human rights and development. This year, the main focus of our report is on development work by churches.more
Will Human Rights in Future Determine Budgets?
(07.04.2006) Pure utopianism, many will think. So far it is thought to be outright nonsense to try and calculate the cost of say the Human Right to Food, let alone to make that right subject of budget planning. And yet 144 countries, many of them from the developing world, have ratified their determination to progressively fulfil this and other Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and 153 are party to the Civil and Political Rights. Why not therefore, try and concretise the realisation of the Human Rights, even by way of costing and budgeting them? An international workshop of 35 participants from 4.-6.4.2006 took place near Geneva in Switzerland responded in the affirmative to this question.more
Brussels counts in seconds, rural areas count in seasons ...
(05.04.2006) … this was only one of the conclusions drawn during a workshop on EU funding and project management held in Nairobi/Kenya, March 20 to 24.more
Prague-Workshop on Sovereign Debt in Eastern Europe- and in the Commonwealth of Independent States
(28.03.2006) The Workshop on Sovereign Debt in Eastern Europe- and in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS and CEE countries) was co-organised by Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Church Development Service, an Association of the Protestant Churches in Germany), the Ecumenical Academy of Prague and by erlassjahr.de, the German Jubilee or debt cancellation movement, in Prague from 24.-26.3.2006.more
"Together let us look forward to a more united humanity where pain and joy are shared."
Homily by Most Rev. Ignatius A. Kaigama, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Jos,(Nigeria)New Year Ecumenical Service at Bonn, Germany, on January 16th
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Biopirates in the Kalahari?
How indigenous people are standing up for their rights - the experience of the San in Southern Africa - a studymore