2 Euro Proof

The European Year for Development (Europäisches Jahr für Entwicklung) was an information and participation initiative of the European Union (Europäische Union). It was intended to inform the public about how European development cooperation works, what political objectives it pursues, and what responsibility the EU and its Member States assume towards poorer countries. At the same time, citizens were encouraged to engage with global poverty, inequality, human rights and sustainable economic activity. The motto was “Our world, our dignity, our future”.

Development policy encompasses more than financial assistance. Its areas of activity include education, healthcare, food security, democratic institutions and the promotion of economic opportunities. It also includes measures intended to strengthen the long-term independence of partner countries. European policy combines these tasks with the principle of reducing poverty and overcoming it as permanently as possible.

The choice of 2015 was part of a broader international context. At that time, the period envisaged for the Millennium Development Goals (Millenniumsentwicklungsziele) of the United Nations (Vereinte Nationen) came to an end. These goals, formulated in 2000, concerned such issues as extreme poverty, primary education, child and maternal mortality, and access to clean drinking water. At the same time, negotiations were under way on a new global development agenda. In September 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda (Agenda 2030) with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung). Unlike the earlier Millennium Development Goals, these goals are directed at all states and link social, economic and environmental issues.

The initiative thus fell within a transitional phase of international development policy. It provided an opportunity to take stock and to discuss the new objectives publicly. Belgium (Belgien) taking up the occasion on a commemorative coin can also be explained by the European dimension of the topic and the role of Brussels (Brüssel) as the seat of key EU institutions. The coin made an initiative otherwise conveyed primarily through political programmes and events visible in everyday payment transactions.