ACP

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) - The first ever joint prize for film by the European Union and the ACP Group of States was awarded to three African works at the Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso (Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou or FESPACO).

The prize, valued at 15,000 € (nearly 9,850,000 FCFA) is intended for the promotion and distribution of the awarded films as well as promoting their directors. The award will cover the costs of subtitling and/or dubbing of the films in several European and African languages, and the invitation of the directors to a European festival.

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Image credit: ACP

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) - Representatives from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the European Union have agreed on several major issues to discuss at the upcoming joint ministerial council meetings, scheduled for May 4-5, 2017 in Brussels.

Ambassadors and officials from both sides met in Brussels in March to elaborate on a common agenda that would guide the highest joint decision-making body in the ACP-EU partnership, during its 42nd session. The Joint Council is expected to take decisions on the following items:

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Photo: Ambassador Johnson Weru of Kenya chaired the special session of the ACP Sub-Committee on Sustainable Development. Credit: ACP

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) - Climate change remains a major collective concern for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, which are particularly vulnerable to its negative effects. A special meeting organised by the ACP Sub-Committee for Sustainable Development laid the groundwork for an enhanced ACP role at the COP23 global climate talks in Bonn, Germany, November 6-17, 2017.

The Special Meeting on the UN Climate Change Conference COP23 held at the ACP House on March 14-15 sought to assess the outcomes of the previous climate conference (COP 22), and identify follow-up actions, with an emphasis on key issues for the ACP Group including mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology development and transfer, capacity building and REDD+.

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Photo: Members of the Tambourine Army during their March 11 protest. The radical social-justice movement is fighting gender violence and rape culture in Jamaica.

By Desmond Brown

KINGSTON, Jamaica (ACP-IDN) – In the wake of an alarming upsurge in domestic violence and abuse of women and girls, a new group has emerged here with the promise of a revolution for social change, combating gender-based violence in particular – the “Tambourine Army”.

On its Facebook page, the Tambourine Army describes itself as a radical social-justice movement committed to uprooting the scourge of sexual violence and safeguarding the rights of women and girls.

The group first came to public attention on Sunday, February 8, when 14 women staged a peaceful protest at the Nazareth Moravian Church in the central parish of Manchester, rallying support for a 15-year-old St Elizabeth school girl allegedly abused by the pastor of the congregation.

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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”.

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Photo: EPAs are trade and development partnerships being negotiated between the EU and the 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and regions. Credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT

By Samantha Sen

LONDON (ACP-IDN) - The Brexit question as seen by the small and poor group of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries is far simpler – and potentially far more lethal – than those the more usual Brexit debate engages with. It belongs less to debate on knock-on effects rolling into the future than to questions of physical survival here and now. When a fifth of Fiji exports head for the UK, when a Caribbean island lives off bananas sold to Britain, new spokes in buying and selling can hit the people, and even all of the people, of a small nation.

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Photo: Representatives of the CARICOM Secretariat and senior environment officials of the Caribbean Community at the CARICOM Regional Workshop on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity beyond Areas of National Jurisdiction

By Desmond Brown

BELMOPAN, Belize (ACP-IDN) – The countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been fine-tuning their positions ahead of the next United Nations preparatory meeting to establish an international legally-binding agreement on sustainable use of marine resources.

The UN meeting is scheduled for March 27 to April 7 and senior environment experts from CARICOM held a two-day workshop here from February 20-22 to discuss the issue.

United Nations negotiations for the new treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological resources in the world’s oceans – nearly 64 percent of which lie beyond national jurisdictions – began in 2016.

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Photo: 67-year old Meleli Sibanda, a member of the Khoisan tribe in Zimbabwe's Tsholotsho district sits outside her home with her one year old granddaughter who is leaning on the granny's shoulder. The tribe has fallen prey to the blame of fuelling climate change impacts here. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo | IDN-INPS

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (ACP-IDN) – Ndliso-Ndliso Sibanda, a descendant of Southern Africa’s ancient Khoisan tribe, still practises a semi-nomadic life style in Zimbabwe despite his 75 years, and is constantly on the move looking for wood to construct shelter, and wild fruits and tubers when they are in season.

Ndliso-Ndliso, who lives with his family in Tsholotsho, a district in Matabeleland North Province, has continued his life style despite the stringent rules enacted by the government country to protect the environment as it wages war against the impact of climate change.

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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

Photo: Mrs. Ayanna Webster-Roy, the Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, holding the portfolios of Gender and Child Affairs, Ecclesiastical Affairs and Central Administration Services is joined by Dereck Springer - Director of the PANCAP Coordinating Unit (third from left), Dr. Kevin Harvey - Caribbean Regional Director for the AIDS Healthcare (right); Dr Edward Greene, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for AIDS in the Caribbean (fourth from left), with Caribbean Faith Leaders.

By Desmond Brown

KINGSTON, Jamaica (ACP-IDN) – Efforts to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Caribbean by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), received a much-needed boost from faith leaders across the region when they met from Feb. 1-2 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, to find ways to reduce and eliminate spread of the virus.

The Caribbean is one of the most heavily affected regions in the world, with adult HIV prevalence about one percent higher than in any other region outside sub-Saharan Africa.

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  1. Blood-Delivering Drones to Save Mothers, Babies in Tanzania
  2. Caribbean Countries Strive For Energy Security
  3. Southern Africa’s Women Wrestle Climate Change On Their Own
  4. Caribbean Setting Ambitious Renewable Energy Targets
  5. Community Volunteers Help Tanzanian Widows Access Land Rights

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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