European Commission (EC)

This Country Strategy Paper (CSP) presents the framework which will govern EU cooperation with the Dominican Republic for the period 2008-2013.

The purpose of this Country Support Strategy is to provide a framework for EU assistance programmes in Dominica under the 10th EDF. It outlines the current status of EU–Dominica relations, sets out a detailed country diagnosis, summarises the Government’s development agenda, reviews past and present EC cooperation and the activities of other major donors, and concludes with the proposed EU response strategy and its corresponding indicative work programme.

A new partnership agreement was signed between the European Union and ACP countries in Cotonou on 23 June 2000. This agreement lays the foundations for the preparation of a country strategy paper (CSP), which will provide the framework for EC support to Djibouti under the 10th EDF. In keeping with the spirit and the principles of the Cotonou agreement, the government of Djibouti (GoD) and the EC have jointly prepared this document in consultation with state and non-state players and main donors, primarily EU Member States.

In view of the requirement to combat poverty set out in the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and in the light of the Government's programme, both of which are included as objectives in the plan of priority actions presented in June 2007, and in line with the recommendations of the European Consensus on Development, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has opted to channel the indicative amount of €514 million allocated under the 10th EDF A-envelope to the following three priority areas:

The Republic of Cuba is the largest island of the grouping of the Caribbean, situated west of Hispaniola island (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and 145 km south of Key West, Florida (US). It has a population of 11 240 000 inhabitants. The HDI for Cuba is high, at 0.863, which means that Cuba ranks 51st out of 182 countries with data.

Since the military coup of December 1999, a major social and political crisis has gripped Côte d'Ivoire. A series of mutinies and forcible takeover attempts marked the ten-month period of transition from military rule that followed the coup. The institutions of the Second Republic that began operating in 2000 were set up at the end of a disputed electoral process marred by bloodshed. Efforts to take power by force continued, and one such attempt, on 19 September 2002, grew into an armed rebellion. Since then, the country has been divided in two.

In view of the requirement to combat poverty set out in the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and in the light of the Government's programme, both of which are included as objectives in the plan of priority actions presented in June 2007, and in line with the recommendations of the European Consensus on Development, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has opted to channel the indicative amount of €514 million allocated under the 10th EDF A-envelope to the following three priority areas:

Situated at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, the archipelago of the Comoros consists of four islands, three of which, Grande Comore (Ngazidja), Anjouan (Ndzwani) and Mohéli (Mwali), covering an area of 1 861 km2, form the Union of the Comoros, while the fourth, Mayotte (Mahoré), remained French when the Comoros gained independence. The country has an estimated population of 600 000 and a very high average population density of 320 inhabitants per km2.

Chad is a landlocked country at the heart of central Africa and is as vast as France, Germany and Poland taken together. The northern half of the country is in the Sahara region and is home to only 1% of the 9 million Chadians. Three-quarters of the population live in rural areas. In terms of human development indicators, the 2006 UNDP report ranks Chad 171st out of 177 countries. In Chad, 55% of the population – and 88% of women - are considered illiterate, life expectancy in the country is 50 years and the infant mortality rate is 12%.

Ranked 171st out of 177 on the Human Development Index, the Central African Republic managed during 2005 to leave behind a long period of political and military tensions by holding internationally recognised elections restoring constitutional order. There are many challenges surrounding security, socio-economic indicators, good governance, human rights and the rule of law, and these challenges can only be tackled in an integrated way.