EU – Africa Summit - Photo and Interview opportunity

No unfair deals. Let Africa create its own destiny

When:   11.30am, Wednesday 2 April 2014

Where:   Place Luxembourg, (in front of the European Parliament), Brussels

What:   

Activists from Africa and Europe will stage a protest on the first day of the EU – Africa summit with banners and the chanting of slogans to the beat of djembe drums. They are asking the African and European governments to prioritise the rights and interests of the poorest and most marginalised citizens particularly, in EU trade and development policies with Africa.

Why: 

The EU claims that it is taking into consideration the rights of African citizens and communities affected by EU policies but at the same time the EU makes decisions that deprive Africans of their rights and allow multinationals pay very little tax and grab land in African countries. This hypocrisy must stop.

Activists are concerned with land grabbing, unfair trade deals, tax dodging and jobs from mining and raw material exports.

On trade, they are protesting against the deadline imposed by the EU on the Economic Partnership Agreements negotiations which is pushing African Caribbean and Pacific countries into agreeing to unfair trade deals to avoid losing their preferential access to the EU market. The activists congratulate the West-African leaders that decided to take more time for reflection and assessment before entering such a deal.

The following people are available for interview (in alphabetical order):

Economic Partnership Agreements  

From Europe

Burghard Ilge, BothEnds, The Netherlands

Gérard Karlshausen, CNCD-11.11.11, Belgium

Karin Ulmer, APRODEV, Brussels

Lizzie McLeod  , Traidcraft, UK

Liz May, Traidcraft, UK

Marc Maes, 11.11.11, Belgium

Marja Wolpher, Africa groups of Sweden

From Africa

Jane Nalunga, SEATINI, Uganda

Sylvester Bagooro, TWN Africa, Accra

Tetteh Hormeku, TWN Africa, Accra

Thomas Deve  , SEATINI, Zimbabwe

Timothy Kondo, ANSA, Zimbabwe

Tolbert Jallah, FECCIWA, Liberia

Yvonne Takang, ACDIC, Cameroon

Tax Justice

Javier Pereira, ActionAid Brussels

Pamela Chisanga, Country Director, ActionAid Zambia

Members of the formal Africa-EU civil society forum

Gérard Karlshausen, CNCD-11.11.11, Belgium

Karin Ulmer, APRODEV, Brussels

Isabelle Brachet, ActionAid Brussels

Mamadou  Diouf, Mignane, Senegal

African farmers’ representatives and food security campaigners

Kalilou Sylla, Roppa

Amade Sucá, Country Director, ActionAid Mozambique

Cephas Zinhumwe, NANGO, Zimbabwe

Mariam Sow, ENDA, Senegal

Rabeca Mabui, UDACAPM, Mozambique

Background Information

Fifty trade justice campaigners from Europe and Africa are gathering in Brussels for the EU - Africa Summit. They are joined by African farmers’ representatives, food security, and tax justice activists.

At an international seminar “The EPA that the EU imposes vs The trade policy that Africa needs” will assess the EPA negotiations so far and to what extent they meet the economic development and trade needs of Africa, in particular with regard to agriculture, mining, industrialization and regional integration.

The seminar takes place in the context of the 1 October 2014 deadline that the EU has imposed for the ratification of the EPAs and the pressure that this puts on African Caribbean and Pacific countries to rush into concluding EPAs.

Contact for interviews or more information:

Press Officer: Anna Botsoglou, ActionAid, 0473 699 235

Organiser Seminar and Action: Marc Maes, 11.11.11, Belgium, 0497 600 442