EU-Indonesia Blue Book 2017. Summary of EU cooperation work

CONTEXT

EU welcomed the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted by the international community in September 2015.

The 2030 agenda identified the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) along with other international summits, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda for  enhancing development, the Paris COP21 and finally the Marrakech Climate Conference as the new framework for all countries to cooperate together to face the most pressing global challenges. 

The EU and its Member States have played an important role in shaping this new agenda, and are fully committed to it. To achieve sustainable development in Europe and around the world the EU has set out in 2016 a strategic approach – the New European Consensus on Development .

This consensus addresses in an integrated manner the main orientations of the 2030 Agenda by focusing on the 5P: 

People–Fostering human development in a healthy environment by tackling poverty, hunger, discrimination and inequalities. 

Planet–Managing natural resources and tackling climate change by promoting resource e ciency and sustainable consumption and production to protect the planet from degradation. 

Prosperity–Achieving socially inclusive and sustainable growth and technological progress to enable all human beings to enjoy prosperous lives. 

Peace–Promoting the universal values of peace, justice, non-discrimination and human rights to build societies that are free from fear and violence. 

Partnership–Improving e ectiveness and impact of development cooperation with participation of all stakeholders through greater coordination and coherence to address the pressing needs of the most vulnerable.

EU-INDONESIA RELATIONS
Indonesia is an important partner for the EU globally and in South East Asia and plays an active role in promoting regional integration by hosting the ASEAN Secretariat and promoting the region’s emerging political, security and economic architecture.

EU and Indonesia have started in April 2016 negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). So far, two rounds of negotiations have taken place. Once concluded, the CEPA will enable the free flow of goods, services and investments in a common market of 750 million people.

In this context, the EU has identified three priorities for its relations with Indonesia:

• Strengthening economic ties
• Deepening the political partnership
• Cooperating on regional and global challenges.

 The CEPA will complement the EU-Indonesia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), which entered into force in 2014.

THE REPORT

The report provides detailed information on all initiatives carried out in Indonesia by the EU or development agencies of its member states, already implemented or under implementation, developed, according to the mainstreams listed here:

1) Gender equality, human rights and good governance.

2) Climate change and environment

3) Economic cooperation

4) Education

5) Health

GIZ project on communal protected areas - new strategy to preserve rainforests and their biodiversity

In occasion of the upcoming celebration of the International Day of Biodiversity on 22nd May, focusing this year on biodiversity and sustainable tourism, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH published an interesting article on a project under implementation in Peru.

The project, centred on the collaboration between the indigenous population and the local authorities, aims at developing new forms of sustainable development by encouraging the use of forest products, like for instance, Copaiba oil, extracted from plants used to develop drugs to fight leishmaniasis, or syringes (natural rubber), achiote (a natural dye), wood and cocoa.
The project in Peru was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB)
. So far the initiative has been implemented for some 65,000 hectares of forest, resulting in more than 30 native communities improving their employment and income opportunities.

Further information:
International Day of Biodiversity: in Peru, indigenous groups are working with state authorities to manage communal conservation areas, thereby preserving biodiversity. 
Conservación de la biodiversidad en áreas protegidas comunitarias de la región amazónica

New 2017 India philanthropy report launched

 Bain & Company launched the 7th edition of its India Philanthropy Report.

The focus of this year’s report is the growing importance of the individual philanthropist in the overall landscape of funding for the development sector. It goes beyond analysing how much philanthropists are giving and instead focuses on the evolving approaches that givers are adopting to maximise their philanthropic impact.

 

Despite the country registered annual average economic growth rates at 6.10% within the 1951-2017 period (tradingeconomies.com), part of the population, especially in rural areas, still encounters problems of underdevelopment and this report provides interesting information for stakeholders in the development sector. 

The document focusing on philanthropists habits contains interesting hints relevant to maximise synergies among givers, IGOs and NGOs and facilitate the setting up of new projects otherwise lacking the necessary resources for their implementation.

 

WIPO - Annual celebration of #worldipday 26th April

Every April 26, WIPO celebrates the World Intellectual Property Day to enhance public awareness on the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity.

The 2017 theme focused on the importance of innovation in making lives of human beings healthier, safer, and more comfortable.

As WIPO website states, "Innovation means doing something new that improves a product, process or service". Innovations can be protected through intellectual property (IP) rights.

Inventions are the bedrock of innovation. An invention is a new solution to a technical problem and can be protected through patents. 

Patents protect the interests of inventors whose technologies are truly groundbreaking and commercially successful, by ensuring that an inventor can control the commercial use of their invention. 

An individual or company that holds a patent has the right to prevent others from making, selling, retailing, or importing that technology. This creates opportunities for inventors to sell, trade or license their patented technologies with others who may want to use them. 

The criteria that need to be satisfied to obtain a patent are set out in national IP laws and may differ from one country to another. WIPO Lex is the unique archive gathering together legislative texts of national laws and international treaties on intellectual property.

But generally, to obtain a patent an inventor needs to demonstrate that their technology is new (novel), useful and not obvious to someone working in the related field. Further information on the role of innovation and on the way WIPO protects novel technologies through he registration of patents can be found on the WIPO website here.

More of 300 events have been held worldwide to celebrate the #WorldIPDay