Citizen Dialogue

A copy of the e-mail from One.org.

Right now, a brilliant proposal is brewing in the European Commission: give €1 billion left over from the 2008 budget—lots of it unspent agricultural subsidy money—to African farmers.

This is an exceptional opportunity to give the right money, to the right people, at the right time. Moving the proposal forward, however, may prove difficult. This is where we come in.

European leaders are gathering in Brussels on 15 October. They’ll have a full schedule with the financial turmoil, but it’s crucial that they also provide momentum to this agriculture proposal. We can help by petitioning French President Sarkozy, who is currently presiding over the European Council, to take the lead in approving the €1 billion proposal.

Click the link below to add your name to our petition:
http://tinyurl.com/3vguz3

Petition text:

Please spend € 1b of unused money in the EU budget as additional development assistance to African farmers.

The World Bank estimates that growth in agriculture is twice as effective at reducing poverty as growth in other sectors. This growth is most needed to help smallholder farmers, the majority of whom are women, who are being hit hardest by soaring food and fuel prices. Since the UN Summit last month didn’t fully answer this need, it is especially important that European leaders pounce on this opportunity to help farmers help themselves in this time of economic uncertainty.

The EU meeting on 15 October is only the first step. The final decision won’t come until early December, but this is a key moment for leaders to give the proposal some momentum. Please add your voice to our petition now, and rest assured that we will continue pushing on this in the coming months:

http://tinyurl.com/44ufe2

Thank you for taking part,

Roxane Philson, ONE.org