The event was a great opportunity to promote ROfE’s projects linked to the issue of development: Tematea, Countdown 2010 initiative on Local authorities, the Message from Paris and the Conservation for Poverty Reduction Initiative in Africa.

The European Development Days are organised by the European Commission Directorate General for Development and aim at gathering the various actors of development cooperation: NGOs, development agencies, international organisations, states, individuals from developed as well as developing countries in order to discuss, at all levels, the essential aspects of development policy.

This year’s edition focused on local authorities and governance and witnessed the launch of the new Platform of Local Authorities for Development Cooperation (lead: Council of European Municipalities and Regions) and of the European Charter on Development Cooperation in support of local governance. The research paper "Millennium Development Goals at midpoint: where do we stand and where do we need to go? " was also presented in Strasbourg.

More than 3,000 participants from European and ACP countries attended the event, with some prominent speakers such as the Presidents of Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Madagascar, Mali and Tanzania, Wangari Maathai Nobel Prize, President Jean Ping (AU) and several European ministers.