PEOPLE

Strengthening and promoting democracy and inclusive democratic processes, the rule of law, the fight against corruption, governance and oversight, including transparent, inclusive and credible electoral processes as well as transparent, accountable, effective and inclusive institutions at all levels, including legislative bodies, an independent judiciary, strengthening a meaningful political participation and representation; Strengthening the promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights and fundamental freedoms in compliance with international human rights law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; supporting and protecting human rights defenders; supporting and monitoring complaint and redress mechanisms with regard to human rights violations and abuses at national and local level; contributing to the implementation of global and regional instruments and frameworks, increasing the capacities of civil society in their implementation and monitoring; Fighting against discrimination in all its forms, and promoting the principle of equality and non-discrimination, in particular gender equality, rights and empowerment of women and girls, the rights of the child, persons with disabilities, persons belonging to minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) persons, and indigenous peoples as set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP); Supporting, strengthening and empowering a thriving civil society and its independent, active and multiple roles in political transitions, reform processes and democratic transformations, and promoting an open and enabling space for civil society and citizens’ engagement in political life and in scrutiny of decision-making as well as countering the shrinking of democratic space; supporting and promoting the participation of all in political processes and public life; Improving the pluralism, independence and professionalism of a free and independent media, as well as enhancing media literacy and tackling disinformation; strengthening digital rights, including rights to access information; strengthening the right to privacy and data protection; Building resilience of states, societies, communities and individuals to political, economic, environmental, food, demographic and societal pressures and shocks, natural and man-made disasters and health crises including pandemics; Strengthening the development of democratic and inclusive public institutions at international, national and sub-national levels, including local authorities; strengthening the capacity for gender-responsive budgeting and planning; as well as an independent, effective, efficient and accountable judicial system, the promotion of the rule of law, international justice, accountability and affordable access to justice for all; Supporting public administration reform processes at national and sub-national levels, including through the use of citizen-centred eGovernment systems and other digital solutions for building robust, accountable and transparent public administration and service delivery systems, strengthening legal frameworks and institutional set up, national statistical systems and capacities, including with regard to disaggregating data by income, sex, age and other factors, sound public finance management including external audit, and contributing to the fight against corruption, tax avoidance, tax evasion and aggressive tax planning; Supporting national and local governments and administrations to create the required infrastructure to enable all civil registrations (from birth through to death) to be accurately registered, and officially recognised, and duplicated documents to be published when necessary in order to ensure that all citizens officially exist and are able to exercise their fundamental rights; Promoting inclusive, balanced and integrated territorial, rural and urban policies and development through strengthening public institutions and bodies at the national and sub-national levels, supporting capacity building of local authorities and mobilising their expertise to promote a territorial approach to local development including efficient decentralisation, fiscal decentralisation, and state restructuring processes; Increasing transparency and accountability of public institutions at national and sub-national levels and publicly-owned enterprises and improving access for all to information on public affairs, strengthening public procurement including encouraging the development of environmental, social and economic sustainability criteria and targets and public finance management at regional, national and local level, supporting the development and deployment of eGovernance systems and strengthening service delivery; Supporting the sustainable, accountable, conflict sensitive and transparent management of natural resource sectors and related revenues, and reforms to ensure fair, just, efficient and sustainable tax policies. Eradicating poverty in all its dimensions, including through public services on health, nutrition, education and social protection, tackling discrimination and inequalities and leaving no one behind; Supporting sustainable agriculture, forestry and fisheries to increase food security, create economic opportunities and jobs; Enhancing efforts for the adoption of policies and appropriate investment to promote, protect and fulfil the rights of women and girls, young people and children, and persons with disabilities, to facilitate their engagement and meaningful participation in social, civic and economic life, and to ensure their full contribution to inclusive growth and sustainable development; Promoting the respect, protection and fulfilment of the rights of women and girls and their empowerment, including economic, labour and social rights, land rights, as well as rights referred to in Article 8(4), eliminating sexual and gender-based violence in all forms, including harmful practices such as early, forced and child marriage and female genital mutilation; Addressing the linkages of global demographic growth and demographic shifts to sustainable development in all relevant dimensions including gender equality, health, social protection, social cohesion, education and employment; Paying special attention to those who are disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalised, including children and youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, LGBTI persons, persons belonging to minorities and indigenous peoples, refugees, internally displaced people, persons affected by armed conflict and stateless persons; Promoting an integrated approach to supporting communities, particularly the most marginalised, vulnerable, poorest and hardest to reach persons, including by improving universal access to basic needs and services, including in the health, education, nutrition and social protection fields; Supporting the provision of a safe, nurturing environment for children as an important element for fostering a healthy young population able to reach its full potential. This includes promoting the transition from institutional to community-based care for children. It also includes giving children, particularly the most marginalised, the best start in life by investing in early childhood development and ensuring that children experiencing poverty or inequality have access to basic services such as health, nutrition, education and social protection; Supporting universal access to sufficient, affordable, safe and nutritious food and healthy diets, particularly for those in the most vulnerable situations, inter alia children under the age of five, adolescents, both girls and boys, and women, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as well as strengthening food and nutrition resilience and the continuum of care, particularly in countries facing protracted or recurrent crises; prevent stunting, wasting and other forms of malnutrition; fostering multi-sectoral, nutrition-sensitive approaches to agriculture; Supporting universal access to safe and sufficient drinking water sanitation, and hygiene, and sustainable and integrated water management, in particular at local level; Achieving universal health coverage, with equitable access for all individuals and communities to quality and affordable health services, including sexual and reproductive health care services in the context of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Programme of Action of the ICPD and the outcomes of their review conferences, through supporting the building of inclusive strong, quality and resilient health systems that are accessible to all, and enhancing capacity for early warning, risk reduction, management and recovery; complementing action through the Union’s framework programme for research and innovation to tackle global health threats, develop safe, efficient and affordable vaccines, medicines and treatments against poverty-related and neglected diseases, and to improve responses to health challenges including communicable diseases, antimicrobial resistance and emerging diseases and epidemics; Supporting universal and equitable social protection and strengthening social safety nets, support networks and systems to guarantee basic income, prevent lapses into extreme poverty and build resilience; Promoting inclusive sustainable urban development to address urban inequality, focusing on those most in need; Supporting local authorities, including through decentralised cooperation, capacity development and resource mobilisation, to improve in urban and rural areas the localisation of the SDGs through the delivery and responsiveness of basic services and equitable access to food and nutrition security, accessible, decent and affordable housing and the quality of life, in particular for those living in informal settlements and slums, strengthening and promoting accessible participation and complaint mechanisms, especially for disadvantaged and excluded persons and groups; Promoting the achievement of internationally agreed goals in education, with particular focus on strengthening free education systems, through inclusive and equitable quality formal, informal and non-formal education and promoting life-long learning opportunities for all, and at all levels, particularly during early childhood and primary years, technical and vocational training, also in emergency and crisis situations, and with special attention to women and girls; and including through training and professional development for teachers, and the use of digital technologies to improve education teaching and learning; Supporting actions of capacity building, learning mobility between the Union and partner countries or between partner countries themselves, as well as of cooperation and policy dialogue with institutions, organisations, local implementing bodies and authorities, from those countries; Promoting cooperation in the areas of science, technology and research in particular addressing poverty related and societal changes, open data, big data, artificial intelligence and innovation, while preventing the phenomenon of brain drain; Stepping up coordination amongst all relevant actors at all levels to help the transition from a natural or man-made emergency situation to the development phase; ensuring joined-up planning and programming of cooperation interventions, that are coherent with humanitarian aid, and, where relevant, peacebuilding actions, on the basis of joint analysis; Supporting freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, including by means of measures to eliminate all forms of hatred, intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief and by fostering tolerance and respect for religious and cultural diversity within and among societies; Promoting intercultural dialogue and cultural diversity in all its forms, and preserve and promote cultural heritage, and unlocking the potential of creative industries for sustainable, social and economic development; Supporting actions, and promoting cooperation, in the area of sport to contribute to the empowerment of women, young people, individuals and communities as well as to the health, education and social inclusion objectives of the 2030 Agenda; Promoting the dignity and resilience of long-term forcibly displaced persons and their inclusion in the economic and social life of host countries and host communities, including at local level. Strengthening bilateral, regional and international partnerships on migration, forced displacement and mobility based on an integrated and balanced approach, covering all aspects of migration including assistance in implementing Union bilateral or regional agreements, dialogues and arrangements, including those on return and readmission, legal pathways and mobility partnerships, in full respect of international law and human rights obligations; Supporting sustainable reintegration of returning migrants and their families, as well as safe and dignified returns amongst partner countries in full respect of humanitarian and human rights obligations under international and Union law; Addressing and mitigating root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement; Tackling irregular migration and forced displacement; reducing the vulnerabilities in the context of migration including those caused by human trafficking and smuggling, as well as including supporting measures to protect victims of exploitation and abuse; and stepping up cooperation on integrated border management in line with international and Union law, human rights law, humanitarian law and data protection standards; Strengthening scientific, technical, human and institutional capacity for the management of migration, including human rights trainings, support partner countries’ reception, processing, asylum and return procedures; strengthening cross-border cooperation on exchange of information in compliance with data protection standards and obligations related to the right to privacy under international human rights law; and supporting the collection and use of accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence-based policies in order to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility; Supporting effective and human rights based migration policies, at all levels, including protection programmes; Promoting conditions for facilitating, as appropriate, legal migration and well-managed mobility, while respecting competences of the Member States, and people-to-people contacts, including in education, research and innovation, cultural exchange and intercultural dialogue, including by providing accurate and timely information, maximising the development impact of regular migration; Improving a common understanding of the migration–development nexus, recognising that orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility, peace, good governance, stability, inclusive growth and sustainable development are strongly interlinked, and pursuing synergies within these various dimensions; Ensuring the protection, the respect and fulfilment of the human rights of all migrants, refugees, forcibly displaced persons and internally displaced persons, including those displaced due to climate change, paying special attention to vulnerable groups; Supporting development oriented solutions for forcibly displaced persons, internally displaced persons and their host communities, including through socio-economic inclusion with access to labour market, decent jobs, education and services, to promote the dignity, resilience and self-reliance of displaced persons; Supporting diaspora engagement in countries of origin to contribute to sustainable development, including through the involvement of local authorities and civil society organisations, taking into account their potential for investments, supporting their solidarity and entrepreneurial initiatives; Promoting faster, cheaper and safer remittance transfers in both source and recipient countries, thus harnessing their potential for development. Cooperation in this area will be managed in coherence with migration-relevant Union regulations, in full respect of the principle of policy coherence for development.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-02 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.