ACP

Opinion

Image Credit: European Commission

By Phil Pascal

The writer is a Caribbean journalist and Commentator on development issues. This is the second article in a two-part Series on the next stage of ACP-EU relations in the Post-Cotonou Agreement with the EU. In the earlier commentary the writer explained the principles and processes by which the ACP Group has set about establishing the inclusive and participatory inter-governmental framework for negotiations of a Post-Cotonou Partnership Agreement (PCPA).

BRIDGETOWN (ACP-IDN) –The single undertaking of the new Agreement builds on the successes of the present one signed in Cotonou, Benin in West Africa for a 20-year period. But it also shows evidence of being ready to critique weaknesses and adapt seriously to the changing circumstances – political, economic and cultural – of the 21st century.

OPINION

Image source: caribbeannewsnow.com

By Phil Pascal

The writer is a Caribbean journalist and Commentator on development issues. This is the first article in a two-part Series on the next stage of ACP-EU relations in the Post-Cotonou Agreement with the EU.

BRIDGETOWN (ACP-IDN) – The historic partnership agreement between 107 industrialized and developing nations – known as the Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) and the European Union – will expire on February 29, 2020. Negotiations on a successor agreement impacting more than 1.5 billion people of states constituting more than half of the UN membership are set to officially begin on October 1, 2018, according to reliable EU sources.

OPINION

Photo: ACP Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes addressing the United Nations Summit for the adoption of Agenda 2030 for global development on 26 September 2015, United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Amanda Voisard.

By Dr. Patrick I. Gomes

Following is the text of foreword by Dr. Patrick Ignatius Gomes, the Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), to 'Striving for People, Planet and Peace – 2018 Report of the Joint Media Project of INPS-SG-IDN'. Prior to taking up the position of ACP SG, he served as Guyana’s Ambassador to Belgium and the European Community and as Guyana’s representative to WTO and FAO. – The Editor.

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The ACP Group of States, established by the Georgetown Agreement on 6 June 1975, consists of 79 developing countries composed of 48 from Sub-Sharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific/Oceania region, accounting for a population of more than one billion persons.

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

  1. Why Developing Countries Strive to Embrace e-Governance
  2. ‘Innovative Volunteerism’ Key to Africa’s Development Blueprint
  3. Securing ACP Economic Interests After BREXIT
  4. Need To Consolidate 2016 Achievements In 2017
  5. The Challenge of Sustainable Industrial Development

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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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