ACT Alliance joined representatives from faith communities including ACT member Zimbabwe Christian Council, the private sector, and UN experts for a day-long series of events hosted by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) on the role of faith-based actors towards the 2030 agenda.

“FBOs and Agenda 2030 share a similar goal: to ensure that no one is left behind,” said Rudelmar Bueno de Faria, General Secretary of ACT Alliance on a panel that explored FBO approaches to deliver inclusive, democratic and gender-sensitive development.

Achieving gender equality remains a key priority for ACT’s network. “We will never be able to fully achieve the SDGs if we have not addressed our relationship to each other as human beings,” he said. “If we do not fully reach gender equality, then how can we achieve Agenda 2030 without leaving anyone behind?” he asked. 

De Faria recognized that while some religious leaders and faith communities perpetuate patriarchal social and cultural norms that undermine gender equality and human rights, there is a growing number faith actors, such as ACT Alliance with the dedication and potential to support an inclusive and gender-sensitive agenda to push back against regressive voices. 

De Faria expressed ACT’s added responsibility as an FBO to tackle this issue and to engage with those perpetuating injustices, “we need to not only discuss the issues that unite us, but also those that divide us,” he said. “If we do not make an effort to understand and persuade each other, we will never be able to realize the mandate of our organization or of our Christian principles and values,” he continued. 

Dr Azza Karam, Secretary-General of Religions for Peace highlighted the crucial role of FBOs and noted that 80% of the global population is associated with a religion or a faith.

The words of Dr. Karam resonate with ACT’s network as it serves people and communities that are directly affected by discrimination and exclusion. “As faith actors, we can make a positive difference in the lives of marginalized and poor people, we can inform people to take a positive stance on issues related to poverty, inequality and issues of human rights, ensuring that communities and local groups are promoters of their own development so that no one is left behind,” said de Faria.

Reflecting on the meeting, de Faria pointed at a recent report released by UNDP and ACT Member Centro Regional Ecuménico de Asesoría y Servicio (CREAS) and supported by the Government of Argentina titled, The contribution of FBOs to the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in Argentina. “Although focused on Argentina this publication is a testimony of the work of religious practitioners and responders all over the world who contribute every day to the achievement of the SDGs,” he said.

ACT Alliance will continue to address humanitarian and development challenges in ways that promote gender equality and safeguard human dignity in the rise of social, economic and religious fundamentalism. Most recently, ACT has launched a global gender justice campaign which aims at sensitizing the churches and religious actors in the Alliance on the need for a joint approach towards gender inequality.  ACT is also working towards the engagement of its members in the Beijing + 25 process which will provide all stakeholders the opportunity to lift and progress the agenda on gender equality.

Brazil is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and contains 20% of Earth´s water springs but these natural resources are under threat.

In the west region of Bahia, in the northeast of the country, communities are worried about the negative effects of land and power concentration. The region is home to riverside communities and peasants who for generations respected and lived off the land and water – fishing, harvesting and hunting, while preserving rivers and the cerrado vegetation. However, the arrival of agribusiness industries in the 1970s kindled a silent and dangerous war over land and water control.

Frictions reached a peak two years ago when one thousand people from the municipality of Correntina invaded a local farm business and damaged the machines to denounce the abusive use of water by the property.  

The whole population of Correntina uses approximately 3 million litres water per day, which represents only 2,8% of the 106 million taken from rivers every day by one single farm business. This is what the ranch is legally allowed to use, but there is no enforcement of the legal limit. Public authorities are silent on the matter and are not providing credible answers to the communities, while the rivers are drying, and the population is lacking access to water.

The ACT Alliance Brazil Forum  decided to organise an Ecumenical Mission to assess the impact on the communities and the water resources. The mission, coordinated by Ecumenical Coordination for Service (CESE),  took place between the 3^rd and the 5^th October. A group of 70 missionaries from churches, faith-based organisations, social movements and international development organisations, including ACT members Christian Aid, Koinonia, Fundação Luterana de Diaconia, gathered in the region to: show solidarity with the people affected, raise awareness on the risks represented by the predatory use of rivers; sensitise churches, FBOs and other civil society on the the need to care for our common home, and finally to demand action from the State to solve the agrarian conflicts and protect the rivers.

During the 3-day mission the participants  took part in a public hearing with the state public prosecutor where local community members voiced their concerns, visited communities affected by droughts and illegal land grabbing to assess the damage and collect data, and held a public ecumenical celebration with clergy from different denominations.

The ecumenical movement is a powerful actor able to catalyse effective initiatives in defence of the poorest and most vulnerable populations in Brazil.  

In the current context, as basic social, economic and human rights are being dismantled by the authorities, it is crucial that the ecumenical movement raises its voice to protect and alleviate the  suffering of the most vulnerable  and demand justice.

Below you can read the final statement of the mission.

##############

ACT BRAZIL ECUMENICAL FORUM PUBLISHES OFFICIAL LETTER ABOUT ECUMENICAL MISSION

1. “Let justice roll on like a river,righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Amos 5.24)

On 03 and 04 October in the west of Bahia, we, representatives of different expressions of faith, provoked by the Ecumenical Coordination of Service (Coordenadoria Ecumênica de Serviço: CESE) and with support from the ACT Brazil Ecumenical Forum, undertook the 5^th Ecumenical Mission in order to provide national and international visibility to water-related conflicts.

Our mission was held during the days when we remember and celebrate the charisma of Francis of Assis, who recognized Mother Earth, our Pachamama, as a living being, deserving of affection, care and love.  This spirituality, which understands that a human being is the smallest part of a complex web of life, is the force that sustains our missionary journey.

We were affected by the prophecy of denunciation at the public hearing from men and women who have suffered the impacts of an anti-democratic, capitalist system which denies traditional communities the right to exist.

The cries that we heard denounced the expansion of the tentacles of an exploitative system that transforms land and water into commodities, annihilating these two forces, which are expressions of the sacred for traditional peoples.

“All of us have the colour of the earth in our skin” remind these women, who suffer the impact of a development project that denies the right to exist of the many cultures that make up the Cerrado region of Bahia.  All of us have the colour of the earth in our skin, which takes us back to our primordial ancestry – ADAM – he who is the colour of earth.

Shootings, land grabbing, harassment, the manipulation of information, the restriction of the right to come and go, pressure to leave your land, are all examples of the denounced violence.  In Barreiras, Correntina, São Desidério, Serra Dourada and other municipalities we identified how agribusiness functions in the region and in many other territories around the nation, in an authoritarian, aggressive manner, incapable of coexistence with the diversity of creation. 

The dignity of those in this struggle, from the geraizeira (pastoralist), artisanal fishing and other traditional rural communities, provides the power that drives these communities’ capacity for resistance.

We do not want charity. We want our right to water and to maintain our traditional way of life.  This claim contrasted with attempts by public agents to provide responses to demands within a context of the absence of the Democratic State and where the prevailing option is for an agrarian policy that does not recognize traditional ways of life.

Given everything that we heard and learnt, it is fitting to share some fundamental challenges for the region:

1. That the public authorities secure land rights for traditional peoples, preventing agribusiness and its private militias from improperly appropriating land that is sacred to traditional peoples;
2. That the competent bodies conduct research into the impact of toxic pesticides on the fish and food consumed by these communities;
3. That they guarantee effective public oversight mechanisms for grant-making procedures;
4. The urgent need to bring together different communities in order to draw up an agenda for common action.

Our cry is the cry of one of the rural workers at the public hearing: Have compassion for rural workers and have compassion for the Earth and the Waters!

“From the springs to the São Francisco River, water for life!” 

Correntina, Brazil, October 2019.

By Gráinne Kilcullen, Christian Aid

Fridays for Future, the international movement calling for action to address the climate crisis, has gained huge momentum in the past year. People across the world, young and old, are calling for oil to stay in the ground and a shift to renewable energy. But they are also calling for something more profound, something that will tackle the root causes of climate change: a different econ
omic system.

Solving the climate crisis is not about sexy technological inventions; it is about re-evaluating the economic system to stop greed and corruption and dismantle the culture of inequality. A vital part of what needs to change is the profit motive, which must shift towards being an expression of collective public interest, rather than being only for the enrichment of companies and businesses.

A chance to change the economic system

Christian Aid and our partners in the ACT Alliance believe that one way that governments can respond to these calls for systemic economic change is to support the development, ratification and implementation of an International UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights.

The UN Treaty is a very welcome attempt to regulate business activities in line with international human rights law. For too long, debates on reducing the harm to people and planet perpetrated by businesses have been dominated by voluntary language, which gently encourages businesses to act responsibly.

For the first time, the UN Treaty goes beyond guidelines. If ratified and implemented, it will hold states and companies legally accountable for respecting, promoting and providing remedy for human rights abuses.

Power imbalances and differentiated impacts

One aspect of the revised draft UN Treaty released in July 2019 that the ACT Alliance particularly welcomes is the recognition of differentiated corporate impacts on groups that are marginalised such as women, children, people with disabilities and indigenous peoples. It recognises the need to analyse existing and underlying power imbalances between genders, which are often reinforced and exacerbated by the economic system and corporate practices. These include, for example, gender pay gaps and gender-based violence in the workplace which are consequences of discriminatory norms and structures that already exist in society.

Yet, recognising the need for analysis on power imbalances is not enough. The treaty must go further to ensure that states and corporations conduct mandatory human rights due diligence and gender impact assessments, and that corporations use their influence with states to prevent abuses.

Transnational corporations are often made up by subsidiaries, affiliates and related entities. It is not unusual for a subsidiary to be involved with or aware of human rights abuses. For example, if modern slavery is practiced within the value chain of a transnational corporation – perhaps clothes sold in London are produced using forced migrant labour in Bangladesh – then that corporation has the obligation to exert influence through its subsidiary to prevent future abuse, by making sure all service providers abide by human right standards.

This is just one example of how corporations need to use their influence to promote an enabling environment for the enjoyment of human rights. Corporations can also work with communities, civil society and the government to make sure violations do not take place.

A good start, but more is needed

Under the UN Treaty there are provisions for the establishment of a committee to review compliance and issue recommendations. However, as the Treaty does not yet recognise corporations as single entities with a legal personality, the jurisdiction of the law is limited to states. This must be changed so that states, under universal jurisdiction or international law, can hold corporations directly to account for rights abuses.

We hope that the development of the Treaty will gain wide-ranging support from governments and corporations in the coming months. If it is ratified and implemented, the international community will be able to look back on this decade as contributing to a fundamental shift in legal standards that support a just economic system and true equality for future generations.

Download ACT Alliance’s briefing paper on applying a ‘Gender Lens to the UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights’ here

On the 10 -11^th of October 2019, the Africa ACT Alliance Gender Justice Community of Practice (CoP) held its first meeting. The meeting was convened and hosted by the Uganda ACT Forum, with the support of Dan Church Aid (DCA).

The main priority for this meeting was to facilitate and support Africa Gender Justice group’s contributions and influence at the regional level. Through the CoP, ACT members in Africa will have a chance to share experiences, learn from each other, contextualize and set priorities on issues of gender justice, and drive joint strategic advocacy campaigns at the national, regional and international levels.

Twenty-three participants from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Somalia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe – shared their frustrations and hopes on gender justice providing an analysis of their contexts and the challenges they are facing. Some of the challenges included exclusion of women and girls, non-compliance to policy frameworks, power inequalities, impunity and the backlash that the broad civil society is experiencing on gender justice. The shared feeling within the group was that unequal gender power structures are normalized within societies, and sometimes even driven by or in the name of faith.

Nevertheless, it was also noted that despite the push backs, some faith actors are breaking the norms and are countering the regressive narrative by courageously addressing gender-based violence, taking actions to overcome silence and providing leadership and a voice to those who are experiencing gender injustice.

From the discussion, it was clear that there is an urgent need for different faith-based voices to come together and speak out against injustice. ACT Alliance provides an excellent platform for its members to define their work in the region, identify common challenges and opportunities and establish new pathways for working together more effectively to advance gender justice. 

The meeting also explored joint international and regional synergies within global frameworks like the 2030 Agenda. UNFPA Uganda country representatives provided participants with information on the upcoming gender-related processes on ICPD+25/Nairobi Summit and the Beijing platform for Action +25, and emphasized the opportunities for faith-based actors in participating in such spaces.

Gladys Nairuba, Programme Officer, Active Citizenship at Dan Church Aid Uganda was elected Chair of the regional CoP and Zanele Makombe, Programme Advisor, Gender and SRHR  at  ACT Ubumbano as co-chair.  

A new report on the role of faith-based organisations in achieving the Agenda 2030 was released this week by UNDP and ACT Member Creas with the support of the the Government of Argentina. According to “The contribution of faith-based organisations to the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in Argentina”, it is clear that governments cannot achieve the SDGs unless they are able to establish active partnerships with civil society. 

Civilians at risk in North East Syria

ACT Alliance is concerned by the desperate situation of the thousands of civilians in northeast Syria whose safety has been put at risk by the launch of the Turkish military offensive.

Civilians have already been displaced and some vital services have been interrupted, including medical facilities and water supplies. ACT Members and their partners working in the area are concerned by the news that agencies report staff fleeing with their families, while others are on lockdown.

An estimated 450,000 people live within 5km of the Syria-Turkey border and are at risk if all sides do not exercise maximum restraint and prioritise the protection of civilians. According to the latest estimates[1] nearly 200,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of the incursion.The population includes more than 90,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), who have already been forced to flee at least once in Syria’s unrelenting war. Before the incursion Turkey was pressing for a wider buffer zone of 30 km deep and close to 500 km across, which would put even more people at risk[2].

According to UN OCHA, there are at least 1,650,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance in north- east Syria. The life-saving humanitarian response is being threatened as instability forces aid agencies to suspend or relocate their programming and staff. With an ongoing major crisis in Idlib and huge needs across the country, the aid response in Syria is already stretched to the breaking point.

The ACT Alliance JSL Forum is urging parties to the conflict to fully respect International Humanitarian Law (IHL). They must ensure all measures are taken to protect civilians and facilitate safe, unhindered humanitarian access.

Likewise, there must be no forcible returns of any refugees living in Turkey to Syria. According to the Government of Turkey, an estimated 83 per cent of the three million Syrians in Turkey do not originate from the North East. Forced return and resettlement of Syrian refugees in the intended buffer zone would constitute a blatant violation of international law, the principle of non-refoulement, and is anticipated to impact composition of the population in the area, destabilising the current political and administrative landscape with potential for ethnic tensions [3]. The UN is calling for the protection of civilians and the principles of humanity to be respected[4]. It is currently unclear if and how humanitarian access to the area will be facilitated.

The situation in the country is already fragile, and extra care must be taken to ensure that all children are protected and provided humanitarian assistance. Children in North East Syria, who are already living in dire conditions, are extremely vulnerable to the rapid deterioration of the security and humanitarian situation[5].

ACT Alliance Members urge those with power to put additional pressure to ensure the safety of all civilians, knowing that many Christians in the area including Armenians, Syriacs, and Assyrians are particularly vulnerable to displacement due to past incursions from Turkish military in the region.

Urgent action is needed to ensure that the humanitarian situation in northeast Syria does not worsen further, with potentially dire consequences for families and children who find themselves once again caught up in a deadly spiral of violence.

ACT Alliance calls on the international community to ensure the protection of civilians and the end of violence in North East Syria.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-displaced/syrian-kurdish-led-authority-nearly-200000-people-displaced-by-attack-idUSKBN1WR07K

[2] https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=768544535

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/10/11/international-community-must-stop-turkeys-ethnic-cleansing-plans-northern-syria/

[4] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-turkey-un/u-n-calls-for-protecting-civilians-in-northeast-syria-idUSKBN1WM0TH

[5] https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/children-in-immediate-danger-as-fighting-escalates-in-North East-syria/

One year has passed since several regions in Central Sulawesi were affected by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 on the Richter Scale that triggered tsunamis and liquefaction, especially in Palu City, Sigi Regency and Donggala Regency. The emergency disaster relief phase was immediately issued with priority to provide basic living assistance for survivors, such as interventions for managing emergency shelters, fulfilling clean water needs, cleaning and sanitation equipment, improving infrastructure and public services.

In a joint media conference on 9 October 2019, the three ACT Alliance members CWS (Church World Service), Pelkesi (Indonesia Christian Association for Health Services: ICAHS) and YEU (Yakkum Emergency Unit) presented an update on the results achieved and the challenges that the affected communities still face one year after the earthquake.

An impressive video gives an impression about the situation in the area and about the work of the three organisations. For more details, please find here the media releases from CWS, Pelkesi and YEU.

Through a declaration of commitments, ACT Alliance Gender Justice Community of Practice in Latin America and the Caribbean joined the call to “Accelerate the promise for the defense of the rights and freedom to decide of all people”, made by the Nairobi Summit +25, that in November 2019, review the goals of the International Conference on Population and Development – ICPD- of Cairo (1994).

Three goals have been set by UNFPA by 2030 within the framework of the ICPD: 1) zero preventable maternal deaths, 2) zero unmet need for contraception, and 3) zero women and girls victims of violence and harmful practices.

 “As churches and Faith Based Organizations (FBOs), we recognize in this framework, a key platform to promote a dignified life for all people in accordance with our Christian perspective based on the promotion of rights,” the statement reads.  It was shared at the regional preparatory meeting of Nairobi + 25, held in Puebla, Mexico, on September 24-26.

“This statement was supported by a total of fifty-five churches and FBOs– ACT members and their partners– in 9 Latin American countries, which demonstrates the great will and concrete commitment of Christians in the promotion of the rights of women, girls and the LGBTIQ + population. This is a sign of hope in a regional context marked by economic, political and religious fundamentalisms that promote exclusion and inequality,” said Laura Chacón, the chair of the ACT CoP Gender Justice in LAC.

This statement is an input for the drafting of the global declaration, which ACT Alliance will take to the Nairobi Summit +25 in November, and to which other regional expressions will be added to reach these commitments that ACT Alliance endorsed through its Gender Justice Policy, which it adopted in 2017.

In the statement, Latin American and Caribbean ACT Alliance members commit themselves to develop actions to promote and strengthen strategies for pastoral action based on the dignity and rights, which prioritize prevention, detection and care of rights in cases of feminicidal violence, sexual violence, adolescent pregnancy, maternal and child mortality, as well as the promotion and defense of sexual and reproductive rights.

These commitments that aim to accelerate the fulfillment of the pending goals of the Nairobi Summit + 25, are also part of the work plan of the ACT JG CoP in LAC. Download the statement in Spanish and English.

The monsoon rains in South Asia this year were overwhelming. Funded by the ACT Alliance’s Rapid Response Fund, ACT Alliance member organization CASA assists vulnerable people in India to get through this extraordinary situation.

Emergency preparedness and response planning is a key element for the ACT Alliance, a coalition of 155 churches and faith-based organisations working together in over 120 countries. But during the heavy rainfalls this year in many parts of South Asia, the ACT members in India and Bangladesh decided to submit a proposal to access ACT’s Rapid Response Fund. While CASA responded to the needs of the communities in India that were affected, the other members of the ACT India Forum engaged in emergency advocacy.

Searching for a way back to normal life

ACT Alliance’s members support the most vulnerable people in any crisis-affected community. People like Yamuna Kumari[1] for instance, a young woman from Bihar in eastern India. She was expected to give birth in just 15 days, and had lost all hope. Her house in a small village in Bihar where she lived with her children was flooded. All the major rivers had broken their embankments. Dozens of villages were inundated which forced people to flee their homes and seek shelter at safer places. Yamuna was also worried about her other children’s health. Luckily, she and her children were rescued in time and brought to a temporary shelter in a relief camp where CASA provides food.

”My house is in complete ruins; my children had no water or food and I am still not physically strong after the birth of my child. On top of that the heavy rains and flooding added to my misery“, the young woman says about the past weeks. Yamuna realized only after her evacuation that she hadn’t taken any personal belongings with her. “During such a period, there is always a sanitation, food and water crisis. Now at least I’m assured that my children are regularly being given nutritious meals. The relief material provided by CASA will sustain my family’s needs”, she states.

Daily wage earners are among the worst hit

Daily wage earners like Yamuna who already work on a meagre daily income and do not have any savings cannot earn anything at all due to the floods. What they earn is barely enough in best of circumstances to cover the basic needs, and they do not have the capacity to absorb adverse situations where their income is disrupted by natural calamities.

Being an agrarian economy, the majority of the inhabitants in the affected areas depend on farming for their livelihood. The agricultural lands have been completely inundated by the floods. In this situation, the additional support of lentils, rice, oil, tarpaulin sheets and cooking utensils distributed by CASA strengthens the ability of the people affected to overcome the situation. Moreover, ACT Alliance members consider generating awareness on health and sanitation issues which arrive after such disasters as just as important.

Thinking on a long term

Support from the ACT Alliance through its membership does not stop at providing immediate humanitarian aid. ACT is committed to building the resilience of communities, including Yamuna’s, through strengthening local capacity on Disaster Risk Reduction and the engagement of communities in Disaster Risk Mitigation.

More and more humanitarian catastrophes like the floods in India are related to climate change. Besides humanitarian action and enhancing the resilience of communities, ACT Alliance’s programme also includes advocacy and mobilisation for climate justice with a specific focus on the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. “All countries must contribute to the global transition towards a low-carbon economy, reducing dependence on fossil fuels while delivering poverty reduction, and working with forest communities to conserve forests”, says Isaiah Toroitich, ACT Alliance’s Head of Advocacy and Development Policy.

Ensuring basic needs

By the end August 2019, a total of 1.88 million people had been displaced in India because of monsoon rains causing landslides and flooding in 11 states. The government reported 1,149 fatalities.

In 25 villages of Barpeta District in Assam, CASA’s two-month programme through the ACT Alliance Rapid Response Fund has targeted 3500 flood affected persons. Dry rations help meet families’ basic nourishment needs. People received rice, lentils, oil, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt as well as tarpaulins and ground sheets.

Further to this, CASA extended support to around 1750 families in the flood affected districts of Madhubani in Bihar, Sanghli and Kolhapur in Maharashtra as well as Malapuram and Pathanamthitta in Kerala through its partners.

[1] Name changed for her safety

The UN Summit must amount to more than just another stop in the climate negotiations circuit. It must help to close the ambition gap in reducing emissions, scaling-up climate finance, and addressing climate impacts. 

This year, another record was broken. Sadly, it was a temperature record. July 2019 was the hottest month in recorded history. Across Europe, temperatures were recorded at an all-time high, which reportedly was made up to “100 times more likely” by climate change. The scale of the impact of Hurricane Dorian is unprecedented, costing countless lives, lost livelihoods and could cost $7 Billion in damages. It is highlighting that resilience to climate change is nowhere where it needs to be.

The globalised nature of climate change makes tackling this challenge a global necessity. Many developing countries in the Global South are now experiencing severe loss and damage (climate impacts that cannot be adapted to), despite having contributed the least to climate change. Their capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate change is slowly waning, and the evolving nature of their situation is becoming dire as they experience more and more extreme hurricanes, cyclones and droughts. 

What’s clear is that if developing countries are to be able to address, minimise and avert climate change impacts, they will need support from their developed country allies. That support must come in the form of finance and capacity building and must empower communities to become more resilient.

Resources for developing countries to adapt are at an all-time low, as evidenced in the findings of the Global Commission on Adaptation that concludes that there is a severe lack of funding for adaptation. 

Developing countries need their developed country allies to stand in solidarity with them. All developed countries need to scale-up and commit to predictable, grants-based climate finance for developing countries, thereby improving developing countries’ ability to engage in long-term recovery and development after climate impacts. 

Developed countries, including the EU and the Member States, must act urgently to scale-up climate finance for adaptation and loss & damage. Financing for mitigation cannot be the only priority anymore. The evidence is clear- adapting to climate change is just as important as mitigating it. Pursuing this will give developing countries an opportunity to create long-term frameworks and to plan for and address climate risks in the context of sustainable development.  

The world needs all countries to take bold action to address, avert and minimise climate impacts to put an end to the widespread suffering and loss that communities are facing.

Blog by Leia Achampong, Climate Justice Policy Officer at ACT Alliance EU