'The World is not enough', blog by Sueli Brodin, 20 november 2009

Pictures | Detailed programme of the 2 days event

A debate on the role of the European Union in the current multiple crises

Time: 4.30 – 6 PM 

Thijs Berman, Chairman of Afghanistan Delegation, Member of European Parliament (Karel de Gucht apologized: he needs to be in Rome for the World Summit on Food Security)

Jack Karhoha, journalist from the Associated Press, Democratic Republic of Congo

Jacques Costongs, Alderman Maastricht, among others responsible for Housing, Health and Education

Moderated by Inge Römgens of Maastricht Debates

Thijs Berman (1957) is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament. Initially studying acting in Maastricht, he turned to psychology. He earned a bachelor degree in psychology from Utrecht University in 1983 and a master's from the University of Amsterdam in 1987. Since, he was a correspondent in Paris and Moscow for the Dutch Public Radio (Radio 1), the Dutch international radio Wereldomroep, the agrarian daily Agrarisch Dagblad, and magazine Elsevier. He presented many radio and television shows, notably for broadcaster IKON. In June 2004 Berman was elected to the European Parliament, in 2009 he headed Dutch Labour in the European elections after winning the party primaries. He is Chairman of the Delegation for relations with Afghanistan and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Development and on the Subcommittee on Human Rights. More about Thijs Berman

African bites by Afrikana, information market, drinks and West-African percussion by Indumbe

Time: 6 - 7 PM

Enjoy Poverty

Film Forum on the development industry

 Time: 7 – 10 PM

Brief introduction of the film by David Deprez, Lumiere Cinema

Featuring the documentary ‘Enjoy Poverty’ (2009)

Discussion with Renzo Martens, director of the movie, Jack Karhoha, journalist from the Associated Press, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Thijs Berman

Moderated by Inge Römgens of Maastricht Debates

Afterwards, drinks and live music by Indumbe

The documentary by Renzo Martens (90 minutes) focuses on the dark side of development with DR Congo as case. Is poverty an economic value? For two years, Dutch artist Renzo Martens travelled around DR Congo, from the capital of Kinshasa to deep into the interior. Employing a casual film style, camera in hand, he makes his way around the poverty-fighting industry in the post-civil war country and regularly appears onscreen himself. He films UN peacekeepers in their SUVs providing security for an international company so it can mine gold; corpses of gold-digging rebels surrounded by Western photographers, white relief workers happily taking pictures of the recipients of their emergency aid, with their logo on every canvas tent they hand out; a large landowner at a photo exhibition looking at pictures of his day labourers, who don't even earn enough to feed their children. It all amounts to one conclusion: poverty is there to stay, and "fighting it" is an industry from which the poor benefit very little. Trailer

This debate will broadcasted on EUX TV.

Short review of the meeting

Debating European money and development

On November 17th and 18th, Maastricht Debates, COS Limburg and the Diaspora Forum for Development organized a two day event on European development aid that combined debates featuring high level speakers with a film screening, musical performances, and an information market. Although both days consisted of distinct events, they formed a larger intercommunication-platform on contemporary development issues about the relationship between those who give and those who receive development aid.

The event was held at the AINSI cultural centre to the south of Maastricht, on the banks of the Meuse river. The programme of the first day was entitled ‘Sending Money Home’ and dealt with the issue of remittances which immigrants send back to their home country. The Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr  Cardozo M. Luna, presented remittances as a crucial financial factor in the economies of many developing nations. After his presentation, the audience participated in a debate with varioug guest experts about the economic and social consequences of this type of money-transfers.

The discussion benefited from the diverse national backgrounds of the audience, and from the set of challenging questions asked by moderator Inge Römgens. The evening was capped off by a well received performance by the latin-music ensemble Astillero Tango from Buenos Aires.

The second day featured an afternoon debate on the role of the European Union in development and an evening screening of the film ‘Enjoy Poverty’ followed by a discussion with its Dutch filmmaker Renzo Martens.

In the first part of the programme, Member of European Parliament and Head of the Afghanistan Delegation Thijs Berman discussed the role of the European Union in development and what changes and challenges it is facing in the future. His knowledge and expertise in the field of development aid were put to the test as the audience and short film clips confronted him with defiant alternatives to the ‘conventional wisdom’ of development aid. Especially the role of the European Union in comparison to China’s approach to development aid was heatedly debated.

Renzo Martens, director of the movie ‘Enjoy Poverty’, described his work rather a piece of art than a movie.  The movie plays on the emotions that are provoked concerning the issue of poverty in order to depict the western exploitation of the developing world and it provided for a discussion afterwards.