In a debate on 14 May the European Parliament adopted the following resolution on the EU’s aid programme in Eritrea, as part of the debate on the EU Budget.
Calls on the Commission to include clear and transparent human rights clauses in the contribution agreements it concludes with implementing partners (UN agencies, Member State development agencies) in order to avoid situations whereby the Union could indirectly finance projects that violate human rights; points in that regard to the ‘Reconnecting Eritrea and Ethiopia through rehabilitation of the main arterial roads in Eritrea’ project, funded by the EUTF and managed by the United Nations Office for Project Services, which finances Eritrean national construction companies using forced labour via national service;
Calls on the Commission to ensure that no forced labour and conditions of slavery are used at the working sites of Union co-funded projects, in accordance with international and Union legal frameworks; recommends that the Commission implement a transparent and rigid monitoring system for Union co-funded projects, which should include an anonymous complaints procedure and follow-up;
Good