GLOBAL GOVERNANCE – Page 16

ACP Group of States2016-07-032023-07-10

ACP Group to Engage UK Early On Brexit Implications

By Roland Joshua

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The implications of BREXIT on the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group could be far-reaching and may give rise to many consequences for trade, services, investments and development finance assistance, according to ACP Secretary-General, Dr. P.I Gomes.

In each of these areas, the ACP-UK relations have been longstanding and mutually beneficial, not only for Caribbean countries and other Commonwealth member states, but for the ACP Group as a whole.

For instance, as a contributor of some 17% to the European Development Fund (EDF), the UK has been consistent in its support and has argued in favour of making the EDF less cumbersome in its regulations. “With the UK outside of the EDF Committee the ACP will lose an ally of great value,“ Dr. Gomes said.

CTBTO2016-06-302023-07-10

A Renewed Effort to Push the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Analysis by Sylvia Mishra *

This article first appeared in THE WIRE. It is being reproduced as part of IDN‘s cooperation with the initiative ‘Youth for CTBTO’. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CTBT. – Editor

VIENNA – Twenty years have passed since the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) opened for signature in 1996. Since then, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) has achieved a lot – 183 states have signed the treaty and 164 have ratified it, including some but not all nuclear weapon states.

However, the United States, China, Israel, Iran and Egypt have signed but not ratified the treaty, while India, Pakistan and North Korea have not signed it. A stringent verification regime, in compliance with the treaty’s provisions, has been built and other civil applications of the treaty’s international monitoring systems (IMS) are continuously being developed.

ACP Group of States2016-05-212023-07-10

Papua New Guinea Hosts a ‘Pivotal’ Summit of 79 Diverse States

Analysis by Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – Perhaps it would be an exaggeration to say that the world would never be the same again when leaders from the 79 countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States conclude their three-day “pivotal Summit” on June 1 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG).

But top echelons of the bloc are determined to turn it into “a watershed event” that would discuss the future of the ACP Group as a revitalised cohesive force advocating the interests of its member states in the international arena.

They want it to provide the necessary political mandate to reorient the organisation, and offer a basis for more concrete engagement in discussions on the future of ACP-EU relations after 2020 when the Cotonou Agreement ends. The accord is named after the largest city and economic centre of Benin. Formal negotiations for a follow up framework of the Cotonou Agreement are expected to commence in 2017/2018.

CTBTO2016-04-272023-07-10

UN Chief Calls CTBTO 20 Anniversary ‘a Call to Action’

Addressing a CTBTO Panel in Vienna, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on April 27: “When I was serving as the representative of the Republic of Korea I had the honour of presiding as Chairman of CTBTO. While assuming my chairmanship, I made small talk, saying: “My name is Ban Ki-moon; it is pronounced Ban, it is spelled B-a-n. While I will encourage constructive dialogue, I will ban using my name [for] nuclear tests”. Since then, my nickname has been “Mr. Nuclear-Test-Ban”. So, I will still carry that name, so I will try to ban any nuclear test. So, we ask [for] your strong commitment on this.”

ACP Group of States2016-04-242023-07-10

Trade and Development Finance Top ACP Ministers’ Agenda

By International Press Syndicate

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Ministers representing African, Caribbean and Pacific countries will take key decisions when they gather in Dakar, Senegal, on April 25 to address sustainable economic development, trade and political issues in ACP countries, reports the ACP Press Office.

The Senegal Prime Minister Mohammed Dionne will open the 103rd session of the ACP Council of Ministers on April 26. The three-day programme from April 25 to 27 will include preparatory meetings of the Development Finance Committee, ministerial consultations on commodities (sugar, cotton, bananas), and the plenary session chaired by Leon Raphaël Mokoko, the Minister of Planning and Integration of the Republic of Congo.

The ACP Council of Ministers will lead into the 41st session of the ACP-EU Joint Council of Ministers on April 28-29, which will be officially opened by the President Macky Sall of Senegal.

ACP Group of States2016-04-142023-07-10

EU-ACP – A force for South-South & Triangular Cooperation

Viewpoint by Dr. Patrick Gomes*

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Development cooperation in the 21st century is compelled to move beyond the simplistic paradigm of transferring funds from the developed North to the developing South.

With the global endorsement of Agenda 2030, including new modes of development finance, the proliferation of actors, and the rise of emerging economies, the traditional “donor – recipient” aid paradigm needs to be buried.

The long-standing and comprehensive North-South approach to development cooperation between the 28-member EU and 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, could well have invaluable horizons for innovation and enhanced development effectiveness.

ACP Group of States2016-03-102023-07-10

ACP and EU Pave the Way for a Crucial Meeting in Senegal

BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – The future of relations between the ACP Group of 79 countries and the 28-nation EU after 2020, when the current partnership agreement comes to a close, promises to be a critical issue for the Joint Council of Ministers gathering in Senegal’s capital Dakar on April 28-29.

Though, according to the draft agenda endorsed by representatives of member states of the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on climate change will draw the focus of the upcoming meeting.

The Council is the highest decision-making body of the ACP-EU Partnership under a legally-binding framework encompassing trade, political dialogue and development cooperation between the two groups of countries.

CTBTO2016-02-012023-07-10

Disarmament Talk with CTBTO Executive Secretary Dr Lassina Zerbo

During the symposium ‘Science and Diplomacy for Peace and Security: the CTBT@20’ from 25 January to 4 February 2016 at the Vienna International Centre in Austria, IDN-InDepthNews (IDN), flagship ofthe International Press Syndicate (INPS), interviewed Dr. Lassia Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). The interview focuses on what the CTBT is about, why it has not yet entered into force, and what the CTBTO is doing to overcome hurdles on way to its becoming a de jure global treaty.

CTBTO2016-01-312023-07-10

Nuclear-Test-Ban Debate Focuses on Iran and North Korea

VIENNA (IDN) – Iran and North Korea dominated the landmark symposium ‘Science and Diplomacy for Peace and Security’ organised by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) end of January in Vienna, the capital of Austria.

As chance would have it, ahead of the event, on January 16, U.S. President Barack Obama revoked a 20-year system of sanctions against Iran and Federica Mogherini, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs, announced the lifting of EU economic blockade against Tehran.

International Non-governmental Organizations (INGOs)2016-01-282023-07-10

‘Doomsday Clock’ Shows 3 Minutes to Midnight

SYDNEY – At the most recent annual Doomsday Clock press-conference, held in Washington, the Nobel-prize-winner-heavy advisers of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, itself founded by Einstein and Oppenhiemer in the 1940s, revealed that it had been decided to keep the hands of its iconic and symbolic ‘Doomsday Clock’ at three minutes to midnight. This is bad news for civilisation and humans as a species.