Good Governance and Role of Democracy
On 9 January, Riga will host an official ceremony for launching
the European Year for Development 2015 that will be dedicated to
development cooperation. One of the high level panel discussion at
the event will feature a debate on good governance and the role of
effective and responsible institutions in sustainable development
of countries, with participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of Latvia, Edgars Rinkvis, and the Prime Minister of Georgia,
Irakli Garibashvili.
Latvias Presidency of the Council of the EU is a pivotal period
for the new global development policy, as in 2015 the international
community will have to agree on the new global development
framework. Latvia is set out to highlight the role of democratic
institutions in this agenda. Support for institution building and
fundamental principles of democracy are important priorities for
Latvia in development cooperation with its partner countries
Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and others.
Stability and growth, especially in neighbouring regions, are also
of benefit to Latvia, as this means peace, as well as security for
Latvias people.
Beside the Foreign Minister of Latvia, the participants of the
discussion include Neven Mimica, Commissioner for International
Cooperation and Development; Cihan Sultanolu, Assistant
Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and
the Commonwealth of Independent States at the United Nations
Development Programme; Elvira Sarieva, Minister of Education and
Science of Kyrgyzstan; and Tanya Cox, co-chair of the European Task
Force of a civil society campaign Beyond 2015.
The opening event for the European Year for Development will be
concluded with a presentation on the shift in development
cooperation policy and post 2015 development agenda. One of the
most renowned contemporary researchers in the field of development
policy, the Deputy Director for Global Economy and Development
program at the Brookings Institution, Homi Kharas, will discuss
these issues in his Kapuscinski Development Lecture. Please
register your interest in advance at
http://kapuscinskilectures.eu/lectures/transition-to-a-developing-world/.
The event will be officially launched by the Prime Minister of
Latvia, Laimdota Straujuma, and the President of the European
Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker. The event will bring together 250
high-ranking participants: Ministers for Development from EU Member
States, and senior officials from the European Commission and
international organisations etc. The EU and Latvias
non-governmental organisations, project teams and researchers will
also be widely represented at the event.
The participants will exchange views on the significance of the
annual theme, and cooperation among all stakeholders. The
activities planned by EU Member States and NGOs during the European
Year for Development will also be presented.
It will be possible to follow livestreaming from the opening
event at www.eu2015.lv, and on the official EYD2015 website at
www.europa.eu/eyd2015. Students of the Social Sciences Faculty of
the University of Latvia will provide information via social media.
Using the hashtag #EYD2015 on Twitter, all will have an opportunity
to put
