ACP

Opinion

Photo: Joseph Owona Kono. Credit: La Tribune Afrique

By Joseph Owona Kono

The author is Co-President of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 19 June 2018 in Brussels. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – I have been associated with the Joint Parliamentary Assembly for a while. I have found this assembly to be a great opportunity for parliamentary exchanges on development and democratic processes. As representatives of our various peoples and as policy and decision makers overseeing government functions, we are in a unique position to engage with policy makers in ACP and EU institutions.

OPINION

Photo: Neven Mimica. Credit: EU Commission

By Neven Mimica

The author is EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 June 2018 in Brussels. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – First and foremost, 2018 is a defining year as we get ready to discuss together the shape and direction of the partnership between the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries and the European Union beyond 2020.

Uniting over a hundred countries and around one and a half billion people, our longstanding partnership is unique one not only in terms of its cultural richness and diversity, but also in terms of its geographical scope and potential.

OPINION

Photo: Yuri Sterk. Credit: bnr.bg

By Yuri Sterk

The author is Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement opening the 35th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 18 June 2018 in Brussels. He represented the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The 35th session of the Joint ACP-EU Parliamentary Assembly is of particular importance. The opening of negotiations on our future ACP-EU relations, after the expiry of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, is fast approaching and negotiations are due to start by September 1, 2018. The outcome of parliamentarians' deliberations will feed into the shaping of our future ACP-EU relations.

OPINION

Photo: Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness addressing the ACP Committee of Ambassadors in Brussels on 16 April 2018. Credit: ACP.

By Andrew Holness

Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica delivered a strong message on ACP solidarity in preparation for new relations with the EU when he addressed the Committee of Ambassadors of the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States in Brussels on 16 April 2018. Following are extensive excerpts from his remarks, which are of particular importance as the Cotonou Agreement between the two blocs expires in February 2020 and talks for a follow-up accord are set to begin in August this year. – The Editor.

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The 1975 Georgetown Agreement as well as the more recent Sipopo Declaration of the 7th Summit of 2012, and the Port Moresby Declaration and the Waigani Communiqué of 2016: These jointly agreed documents serve as important guiding principles in our collective efforts towards attaining the principal goal of development for our countries across the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions.

OPINION

Photo: Viwanou Gnassounou, Assistant Secretary General of the ACP Group. Credit: IISD

By Viwanou Gnassounou

ACP Assistant Secretary General for Sustainable Economic Development and Trade.

Fisheries and aquaculture are critical for poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. With this in view, ministers and senior government officials from 79 countries that constitute the ACP Group of States will gather in Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas – the coral-based archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean Bahamas with 700-plus islands – from September 18 to 21, 2017. "The focus will be on bolstering high level shared commitments, sharing national or regional best practices and seeking consensus on priority issues that need multilateral action," says Viwanou Gnassounou, ACP Assistant Secretary General for Sustainable Economic Development & Trade. – The Editor

OPINION

Photo: Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimaram (second from left), and Secretary General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) (second from right), and other members of the ACP delegation after a high level meeting on the margins of the UN Ocean Conference in New York on June 6, 2017. Photo: DEPTFO New

By Dr Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Secretary-General

BRUSSELS (IDN) - Our Ocean, Our Future: Call for Action is the outcome document agreed by Heads of State and Government and High Level Representatives of the 193 member-states of the United Nations that met in New York from June 5 to 9 2017 at the first-ever Oceans and Seas Conference.

With the Republic of Fiji and the Kingdom of Sweden, as co-conveners, the Conference was a widely participatory event aimed at giving concrete support to the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 of the 2030 Agenda that seeks to Conserve and sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources.

OPINION

Photo: At the opening of the 46th session of the ACP Parliamentary Assembly from left to right - ACP Secretary General H.E. Dr. Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Assistant Secretary General in charge of Political Affairs and Human Development Amb. Léonard Emile Ognimba, Acting Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and 2nd Vice President of the National Assembly of Togo Mémounatou Ibrahima and the Chairman of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors, the Ambassador of Ethiopia Teshome Toga Chanaka. Credit: ACP

By Dr. Patrick I Gomes

The author is Secretary-General of the ACP Group of States. Following are extensive excerpts from his address to the 46th Session pf the ACP Parliamentary Assembly in St Julians, Malta, on June 16, 2017. – The Editor.

ST JULIANS, Malta (ACP-IDN) – In the last two sessions, you have had discussions with the ACP Group and the EU on the ACP-EU relations Post 2020. Today I come to you not only to update you but to also reach out to you as key players of the ACP-EU Partnership.

The Secretariat has just concluded intensive meetings of the ACP Council and ACP-EU Council of Ministers that took place in Brussels from May 3 to 5, 2017. The ACP Council approved a policy framework document entitled the “ACP We Want” that will guide its Members with the preparations of post 2020 negotiations.

OPINION

Photo: The ACP Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes and the Prime Minister of Estonia Jüri Ratas signed a Memorandum of Understanding on May 31 in the margins of the 2017 Tallinn Conference on E-Governance, on behalf of the ACP Group of States and the Government of Estonia.

By Dr Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Secretary-General

Following are extensive excerpts from the opening remarks by the Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) at the high-level E-Governance Conference on 30 May 2017 in Tallinn, Estonia.

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – Many institutions and organizations (public and private) in developing countries, such as ACP (the African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries, have embraced the utilization of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to address the various opportunities and challenges in the context of their respective development strategies.

OPINION

Photo: Dr Richard Munang, Africa Climate Change and Development Policy expert with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Credit: Ngala Killian Chimtom

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Africa’s present is defined by its vast but unexploited potential but the picture could be changed by leveraging catalytic sectors in which the continent holds comparative advantage, through dedicating available resources.

Dr Richard Munang, Africa Climate Change and Development Policy expert with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) believes that these resources – both physical (technological, institutional, financial and demographical, the dividend to be derived from having most of its population under the age of 25) and non-physical (including intellectual, partnerships, policies and networks) – could be utilised for a comparative advantage with a global competitive edge through what he calls “innovative volunteerism”.

NEWS
SDGs

Photo: Dr Patrick I Gomes

By Dr. Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Secretary-General

Following are extensive excerpts from a presentation by the ACP Secretary-General during launch of the book AFTER BREXIT - SECURING ACP ECONOMIC INTERESTS by The Ramphal Institute on February 17, 2017 at King's College London.

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) - Eight months have passed since the British voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. A lot has since been written and debated on the impact and implications of the vote. This is yet another occasion to join the discourse on BREXIT and to acknowledge and appreciate the work done by the Ramphal Institute by this seminal study.

OPINION

  1. Need To Consolidate 2016 Achievements In 2017
  2. The Challenge of Sustainable Industrial Development
  3. Striving For a New and Stronger Africa
  4. Address Multiple Drivers of Migration As ACP, EU Do
  5. EPA Has Never Made Much Sense for Tanzania

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ACP-IDN

This website is a joint project of the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States and IDN, a flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate (INPS) and its partner, the Global Cooperation Council. It serves as a source for development news and monitoring Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

The ACP Group comprises: Sub-Saharan Africa (48), The Caribbean (16), The Pacific (15).

The ACP Group´s main objectives are:

Sustainable development of its Member-States and their gradual integration into the global economy, which entails making poverty reduction a matter of priority and establishing a new, fairer, and more equitable world order;

Coordination of the activities of the ACP Group in the framework of the implementation of ACP-EC Partnership Agreements;

Consolidation of unity and solidarity among ACP States, as well as understanding among their peoples;

Establishment and consolidation of peace and stability in a free and democratic society.

 

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This website – launched on July 1, 2016 – is a joint project of the Secretariat of the ACP Group of States and IDN, a flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate (INPS) and its partner, the Global Cooperation Council. It serves as a source for development news and monitoring Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

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