On 9 January in Riga, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrius Krivas attended the launch of the European Year for Development 2015. The event focused on development cooperation achievements. The participants also exchanged views on the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
The event also highlighted the importance of transparency, accountability and capacity building of effective institutions and partner countries. The aim is to deliver sustainable economic growth for developing countries and to integrate them into the global economy.
Laimdota Straujuma, Prime Minister of Latvia’s EU Presidency, and President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker welcomed the participants. The event was attended by about 300 high-level officials from the EU and its member states.
The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union have designated 2015 as the European Year for Development. This year should draw attention of the general public and demonstrate benefits of the EU’s development cooperation to both partner countries and the EU citizens, and show that everyone can contribute to addressing today’s global challenges.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the Lithuanian institution implementing the European Year for Development, organised the conference marking ten years of Lithuania’s development cooperation in December 2014. The conference started a series of events and activities, dedicated to the European Year for Development. In 2015, a variety of activities throughout Lithuania will aim to promote the public interest in development cooperation, raise awareness of important issues related to development cooperation and its benefits, promoting the sense of shared responsibility and solidarity among Lithuanian citizens.
For more information about the European Year for Development 2015, please see http://europa.eu/eyd2015
