Article 12 Investing in people

Good health for all:

1. (i)

   fight against poverty diseases targeting the major communicable diseases such as laid down in the European Programme for action to confront HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, in particular:

   • increase the affordability of key pharmaceuticals and diagnostics for the three diseases in accordance with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement as clarified in the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health;

   • encourage public and private investment in research and development for new treatments, new medicines, particularly vaccines, microbicides and innovative treatments;

   • support global initiatives targeting the major communicable diseases in the context of poverty reduction, including the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria;

2. (ii)

   in line with the principles agreed at the ICPD and ICPD + 5, support actions to improve reproductive and sexual health in developing countries and to secure the right of women, men and adolescents to good reproductive and sexual health and provide financial assistance and appropriate expertise with a view to promoting a holistic approach to, and the recognition of, reproductive and sexual health and rights as defined in the ICPD Programme of Action, including safe motherhood and universal access to a comprehensive range of safe and reliable reproductive and sexual health care and services, supplies, education and information, including information on all kinds of family planning methods, including:

   • reducing maternal mortality and morbidity rates, with particular reference to the countries and populations where these are highest;

3. (iii)

   improve equitable access to health providers, commodities and health services by supporting:

   • interventions to address the human resources crisis in health;

   • health information systems with the ability to generate, measure and analyse disaggregated performance data to ensure better health and development outcomes and sustainability of delivery systems;

   • improved vaccination and immunisation coverage and promotion of the availability of, and access to, existing or new vaccines;

   • fair mechanisms for financing equitable access to health care.

4. (iv)

   keeping a balanced approach between prevention, treatment and care, with prevention as a key priority, acknowledging that its effectiveness is increased when linked with treatment and care.

Education, knowledge and skills:

1. (i)

   special attention to actions taken in the context of the MDGs to achieve universal primary education by 2015 and the Dakar Framework for Action on Education for All;

2. (ii)

   basic, secondary and higher education as well as vocational education and training to improve access to education for all children and, increasingly, for women and men of all ages, with a view to increasing knowledge, skills and employability on the job market, contributing to active citizenship and individual fulfilment on a life-long basis;

3. (iii)

   the promotion of high quality basic education, with particular focus on access for girls, children in conflict-affected areas and children from marginalised and more vulnerable social groups to education programmes; the promotion of compulsory and free education up to the age of 15 to combat all forms of child labour;

4. (iv)

   developing ways to measure learning outcomes in order to better assess the quality of education, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills;

5. (v)

   promoting donor harmonisation and alignment to promote universal, compulsory, free and high quality education through international or multi-country initiatives;

6. (vi)

   supporting an inclusive knowledge-based society and contributing to bridging the digital divide, knowledge and information gaps;

7. (vii)

   improving knowledge and innovation through science and technology as well as development of, and access to, electronic communication networks in order to improve socio-economic growth and sustainable development in conjunction with the international dimension of EU research policy.

Gender equality:

1. (i)

   the promotion of gender equality and women's rights, implementing global commitments as detailed in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, activities include:

   • supporting programmes that contribute to achieving the objectives of the Beijing Platform for Action with a special emphasis on gender equality in governance and political and social representation and other actions to empower women;

   • strengthening institutional and operational capacities of key stakeholders, civil society organisations, women's organisations and networks, in their endeavours to promote gender equality and economic and social empowerment, including north-south and south-south networking and advocacy;

   • including a gender perspective in monitoring and statistical capacity building, by supporting the development and dissemination of data and indicators disaggregated by sex, as well as gender equality data and indicators;

   • reducing the adult illiteracy rate, with particular emphasis on female literacy;

   • actions against violence against women.

Other aspects of human and social development:

1. (i)

   Culture:

   • promotion of inter-cultural dialogue, cultural diversity and respect for the equal dignity of all cultures;

   • promotion of international cooperation to stimulate the contribution of cultural industries to economic growth in developing countries to fully exploit its potential for fighting poverty, including addressing issues such as market access and intellectual property rights;

   • promotion of respect for the social, cultural and spiritual values of indigenous peoples and minorities to enhance equality and justice in multi-ethnic societies in compliance with universal human rights to which everyone is entitled, including indigenous peoples and persons belonging to minorities;

   • supporting culture as a promising economic sector for development and growth.

2. (ii)

   Employment and social cohesion:

   • promotion of an integrated social and economic approach including promotion of productive employment, decent work for all, social cohesion, development of human resources, equity, social security and mapping employment issues and enhancing the quality of jobs in the informal sector and empowering labour associations, in accordance with the principles of the related ILO Conventions and the Community's international commitments in these areas;

   • promotion of the ‘decent work for all’ agenda as a universal objective, including through global and other multi-country initiatives to implement internationally agreed ILO core labour standards, assessment of trade impact on decent work, sustained and adequate mechanisms for fair financing, effective functioning — and wider coverage — of social protection systems;

   • support for initiatives to promote the improvement of working conditions as well as the adjustment to trade liberalisation, including an employment dimension in development policies, to help spread European social values;

   • help to promote the positive social dimension of globalisation and the EU's experience.

3. (iii)

   Youth and children:

   • combating all forms of child labour, trafficking of and violence against children and promotion of policies taking into consideration youth's and children's particular vulnerability and potentials, protection of their rights and interests, education, health and livelihoods, starting with participation and empowerment;

   • enhancing developing countries' attention and capacity to develop policies benefiting youth and children;

   • advocacy for concrete strategies and interventions to address particular problems and challenges affecting youth and children taking their best interests into account in all relevant action. Participation by children and youth should be ensured;

   • using the Community's position as the principal donor of ODA among international institutions to urge the multilateral donors to exert pressure for the framing of policies to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, particularly the hazardous ones with a view to promoting the effective elimination of all forms of child labour, combating trafficking of, and violence against, children and promoting the role of children and youth as actors for development.