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In the threshold of the third millennium, despite the advances achieved in the fields

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of medicine, science and technology, one damning observation remains.

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One and a half billion human beings are living below the poverty line on less than one dollar

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a day.

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Today, 49 states belong to what are called the less advanced countries, the poorest of

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the poor.

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Together, these countries are home to over 10% of the world's population, 614 million

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inhabitants trying to survive in extreme poverty.

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Despite the efforts made, the list of less advanced countries has grown.

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In 1971, the United Nations counted 24, today in 2001, there are 49 of them.

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Although the less advanced countries do not represent a homogeneous group, they do share

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some common characteristics.

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Major difficulties in developing their domestic economy and providing decent living conditions

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for their populations, and economies that are extremely vulnerable to extreme crises

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and natural disasters.

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The 49 less advanced countries include 40 member states of the ACP group, Africa, Caribbean,

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Pacific, 35 in Africa, 1 in the Caribbean, and 4 in the Pacific.

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The ACP states are linked to the European Union by the Cotonou Agreements, signed in

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June 2000.

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Europe is one of the most important players in international cooperation.

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It provides 55% of world public aid for development.

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The EDF, European Development Fund, is the Union's main financial development aid tool

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for the 78 countries of the ACP group.

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For the period 2000 to 2005, the 9th EDF has been allocated a budget of 13.5 billion euros,

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plus financial resources still available, making a total of around 25 billion euros.

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Faced with globalization and with the worsening situation in the poorest countries, Europe

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has reviewed its development policy in order to improve the effectiveness of its aid.

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With the Cotonou Agreement, reducing poverty is clearly established as a primary objective

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of any development aid.

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No donor or international institution is in a position to take action on all fronts at

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the same time.

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For this reason, the European Union is keen to target its aid at specific fields.

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In this area, we really have a lot of water problems, because even when we dig a well,

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we have to go up to 80 meters to find water, and it is difficult to feed a population

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70% of the poorest populations live in rural areas that are heavily dependent on agriculture

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and characterized by a fragile ecosystem.

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Access to basic needs such as drinking water, health and education is very limited there.

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Infant mortality and malnutrition rates are very high.

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Rural development is one of the key principles of the European Union's and other backers'

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cooperation programs.

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For all these activities, there have been project interventions, and there has been

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support in relation to basic education, such as schools, class building, support for school

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content, so everything related to feeding students.

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Rural development is a whole combination of different aspects.

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Although agriculture is essential in this, it is equally necessary to ensure that rural

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areas benefit from other sector-related programs such as those aimed at health, education,

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trade and transport.

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Precarious food supplies are a constant threat to some states.

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11 of the 49 poorest countries are sustained by the European Food Safety Program.

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This has a long-term aim and encourages far-reaching changes in the rural economy.

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The European Food Safety Program aims to ensure that rural people are not the only ones

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suffering from winter culture.

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Here, we have malaria cases, and in general, infectious diseases.

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Unfortunately, we also have AIDS cases.

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We also have malnutrition cases and pneumonia cases.

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The most common disease in rural countries is parasitosis.

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In fact, it is the disease that most rural people suffer from.

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Parasitosis is a disease that is most common in rural areas, which is not very correct

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in terms of hygiene and so on.

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Despite enormous progress achieved in medicines, the vast majority of the populations of the

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less advanced countries do not have access to health care or affordable costs.

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Some of these countries are facing a real epidemic of the HIV virus, which is affecting

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only 40% of the adult population.

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In addition, although the rate of school attendance is gradually rising, illiteracy remains one

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of the main obstacles to social development.

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So when the idea was brought up of establishing a community school, we actually got very excited

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because we knew that now our young brothers and sisters are going to have access to education.

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What we have done is that we have identified the problems that the schools have been facing.

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For instance, the distance between the villages, the settlements, and the school.

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That is one of the problems.

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In actual fact, that is the one we are addressing currently, apart from the fact that we are

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trying to improve the infrastructure because many schools were made out of coal mines.

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The 2020 initiative organized by the European Commission is aimed at encouraging developing

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countries which invest in the social and human sectors.

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20% of European aid granted to basic social services against 20% of the national budget

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of the beneficiary country devoted to the same sector.

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The priorities are access to basic education, vocational training, and high level qualifications,

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health care for all, the fight against AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.

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Then, above all, very particular attention is paid to the most vulnerable group of people, women.

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They are the ones who play a vital role in society and who all too often suffer discrimination.

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The vicious circle of poverty cannot be broken without promoting equal opportunities.

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In the past, I used to live poorly and suffered from a lot of problems.

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I used to have fakes, loved from all sides, but now I say those things.

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In fact, I ran away.

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Women have been marginalized a lot up until now.

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In addition, they have little financial resources.

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They have a lot of domestic work,

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which does not give them enough time to do generating activities.

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Although 10% of the world population lives in the less advanced countries,

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those countries account for barely half a percent of world trade.

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Yet trade generates resources and is one of the means of achieving sustainable development.

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The European Union is a significant potential market for the less advanced countries.

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Yet they still have a trade deficit with respect to Europe.

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As part of the Cotonou Agreement, important reforms were made to the system of trade

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in order to help the developing countries to integrate into the world economy.

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These reforms were accompanied by measures intended to help the states to define policies

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to encourage trade, investment and the development of the private sector,

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as well as to improve human resources and access to new technology.

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We currently have five flights a week of 40 tons each.

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That roughly gives something like just slightly over 200 tons of exports for fresh produce to Europe every week.

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On an annual basis, the industry exports around 8,500 tons of fresh flowers and vegetables.

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That figure can be divided into 50-50 between flowers and fresh vegetables.

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Given the level of productivity in this country,

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we still have room to think that with the improvement of quality,

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there is a possibility to advance even on the international market,

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where more and more varnish is being developed.

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This year, the Everything Except Arms initiative came about at the instigation of the European Commission.

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It gives exports from less advanced countries, except of course arms and munitions,

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completely free access to the European market.

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The European Union is also actively involved in reopening World Trade Organization, WTO, negotiations

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and ensuring that the interests of developing countries are taken into account.

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It also supports regional trade partnerships in furthering multilateral trade

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and establishing the position of the poorest countries within the WTO.

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Lack of transparency and poverty make an explosive cocktail

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that may be at the root of conflicts in the less advanced countries.

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Peace, stability and good governance are therefore vital conditions for eradicating poverty.

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European development policy supports transparency

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and the strengthening of the state's ability to manage public matters.

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From this point of view, the involvement of society can be an asset.

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Organized and structured, it is asked to play a decisive role in development.

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It is important that people are involved, that people take charge of the management,

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that people ask fundamental questions,

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even if in terms of technique we can always rely on qualified personnel.

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We think now that we have already committed to the disengagement of any execution

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and to do only the comparison.

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That is to say, we have had today, with the support of the European Union,

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to focus mainly on those who could support the support and training of the community.

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I am a farmer, a member of the cooperative Sainte-Hélène-de-Carris, COSAEC,

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and I am an animator in community development.

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That is to say, we work in the community with all the groups of farmers,

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the basic organizations, the institutions.

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We work in the training to help them understand their projects, to train them.

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Conflict prevention and peace consolidation now form an integral part of development strategies.

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Europe can also offer its mediation services,

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as it did recently in the Lusaka peace process,

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or in resolving the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

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Most of the poorest countries are also being crushed by unbearable foreign debt.

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The European Union supports the easing of that debt

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through the initiative launched by the IMF and the World Bank

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for the most heavily indebted countries.

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We all live on this planet, and we all contribute to this planet.

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Obviously, if we want to protect it, if we want to continue to have a decent quality of life,

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we would need to ensure that the quality of life in the North and in the South is the same.

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More or less equal.

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Often underestimated, the quality of the environment has a direct impact

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on the lives of people in the less advanced countries.

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These people depend on natural resources, which provide them with food, energy and income.

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We have a lot of problems.

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We have a lot of problems.

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We have a lot of problems.

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We have a lot of problems.

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We have a lot of problems.

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We have a lot of problems.

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Sustainable environmental management is a crucial issue for the less advanced countries.

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Their population also has the skills and desire to protect the countryside around it

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by fighting desertification, encouraging planting and reforestation,

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organizing irrigation and protecting biodiversity.

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Nigeria is a Sahelian country, a large majority,

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and a country that is threatened by the desert.

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We have said that in the fight against the desert,

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it is very useful to adopt this wood-building technique

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that reduces the extraction of plant cover.

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Environmental aspects now form an integral part of European development policy

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for sustainable and integrated development.

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The economies of less developed countries are dependent on transport.

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The lack of inefficiency of transport fragments the market,

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marginalizes landlocked regions, impedes exports and trade,

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discourages foreign investment and restricts the mobility of workers, goods and services.

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Often, the development of a country is heavily dependent

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on a suitable or well-maintained transport system.

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I am a merchant.

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I travel 60 kilometers a day.

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I travel three hours a day.

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I travel three hours a day.

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I travel three hours a day.

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I travel three hours a day.

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I travel three hours a day.

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I travel three hours a day.

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I travel three hours a day.

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I travel three hours a day.

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Through its cooperation, the European Union is paying particular attention

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to supporting the creation and maintenance of sustainable transport systems.

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It has made this one of its cooperation priorities.

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In order to take into account all the socio-economic needs of the less advanced countries,

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it encourages integrated transport strategies at national level,

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encompassing road and rail, air and waterways.

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The United Nations have set themselves the objective of reducing by half

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the number of people living below the poverty line by 2015,

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an objective also pursued by the European Union.

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In order to achieve this aim, a vast amount of work has to be done.

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Only a firm partnership between the less advanced countries and the backers

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will make it possible to devise coherent collaboration mechanisms

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and to establish closer international cooperation

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designed to speed up the development of the less advanced countries.

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