By Dr Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Secretary-General The following is a slightly modified version of remarks by the ACP Secretary General to the High-Level Forum of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) and the European Union in Brussels on 23 February 2018 on ‘Engaging the OCTs and SDGs and the Post-Cotonou Process’. – The Editor BRUSSELS […]
EU and 79 ACP Countries Plan a ‘Modernised Partnership’
By Reinhardt Jacobsen BRUSSELS (IDN) – As the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP) gear up for talks on future relations between the two groupings after the Cotonou Agreement expires in February 2020, some areas of agreement on their respective stances have emerged. The agreement that was signed […]
Investment Boosts Protected Areas Across 79 ACP States
By Jaya Ramachandran BRUSSELS (IDN | IUCN) – “The protection and sustainable management of biodiversity in ACP countries requires a comprehensive approach that extends beyond the establishment of protected areas,” according to Patrick I. Gomes, Secretary-General of the ACP Group. It is against this backdrop that the ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) Group of States […]
South-South Cooperation Complements North-South Coaction
By Ambassador Galo Yepez Ambassador Galo Yepez is Director of NGOs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility of the Republic of Ecuador. Following are extensive excerpts from his statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China at the High-Level Opening Ceremony of the Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo 2017 on 27 November […]
ACP Greets EU-UN Action To Combat Wildlife Trafficking
BRUSSELS (IDN) – The 79-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States has welcomed the European Union’s decision to launch a coordinated action jointly with the United Nations to counter the illegal killing and trafficking of wildlife in Southern and Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean. As part of a 30 million Euro (35.3 […]
79 ACP Countries Resolve ‘Blue Growth Initiative’
By Jaya Ramachandran
BRUSSELS (IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, constituting the ACP Group of States, are determined to develop the fisheries and aquaculture sector in their countries, and unlock the potential of the ‘blue economy’ through a new 40 million Euro (about US$46.8 million) “ACP Blue Growth Initiative”.
The decision to that effect was announced at the conclusion of the 5th ACP Meeting of Ministers in charge of Fisheries and Aquaculture, who gathered 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.
Conference Calls for Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Becoming International Law
By Jamshed Baruah
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – “A CTBT that is in force would be a milestone on the road to a world free of nuclear weapons. It has the potential to prevent a nuclear arms race and an escalation of regional and bilateral tensions,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He was referring to the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) that bans nuclear testing on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underwater, and underground.
“Make no mistake: we need this Treaty,” said Miroslav Lajcák, President of the UN General Assembly. “I applaud the CTBT Preparatory Commission for raising awareness about the dangers associated with testing and for its partnership with the United Nations,” added Guterres.
79 Countries Gather in the Bahamas to Address Sustainable Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture
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
The G20 Need to Return to their Roots
By Inge Kaul
BERLIN (IDN-INPS) – When the finance ministers of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) proposed the G20 in the late 1990s, a good sense of realism prevailed. They recognized that addressing issues of global finance required the political support from – and involvement of – emerging market economies.
This view proved prescient in seeking policy responses to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. The leaders of the G20 met at their first summit in Washington D.C. in 2008 to agree on measures to resolve the crisis through dialogues among the “systemically relevant” countries.
G20 Leaves Three Billion People Out in the Cold
Analysis by Ravi Kanth Deverakonda
GENEVA | HAMBURG (IDN) – The G20 summit in Hamburg on July 7 and 8 delivered a grand declaration of compromises on “major global economic challenges” and “shaping an interconnected world”, but failed to address the grave economic and existential problems of more than three billion people in poor and developing countries, according to those who attended the meeting.
The 15-page declaration issued by the leaders of the 20 major industrialised and developing countries attempted hard to reverse the tide of opposition against globalisation, asserting that “globalisation and technological change have contributed significantly to driving economic growth and rising living standards across the globe.”