By Ramesh Jaura NEW YORK (IDN) – 2019 is slated to be an exceptional year for the State of Palestine, not least because it will preside over the Group of 77 (G77) – the largest bloc at the United Nations – comprising 134 developing countries representing some 80 percent of the world population. Though 71 […]
A Critical Year Ahead For EU’s Ties With 79 ACP Countries
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – 2019 will be a crucial year for relations between the European Union (EU) and 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) – uniting more than half of all UN member countries and representing over 1.5 billion people. The current partnership, governed by the Cotonou agreement, is […]
Towards an Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – As negotiators inch towards updating the most comprehensive but 20-year old partnership agreement between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, they have a broad array of issues on their plate. These include the name change to the ‘Organisation of African, Caribbean and […]
G20 Leaders Keep the Multilateralism Torch Alive
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK | BUENOS AIRES (IDN) – Going by the 31-point G20 Leaders’ declaration titled ‘Building consensus for fair and sustainable development’, a plenty more drew the focus of the November 30-December 1 summit than preoccupation with shadow-boxing between the champion of ‘America First ‘ and the rest of the world. […]
ACP Steps in to Rescue Africa from Climate Change Impacts
By Jeffrey Moyo MASERU (ACP-IDN) – Three years ago, Lesotho, Southern Africa’s small mountain kingdom surrounded by South Africa, was hit hard by the drought that led to the driest season in the region in 35 years. In the tiny dynastic nation, the El Niño driven-phenomenon resulted in a fall in maize production, the country’s staple […]
New Study Calls for USD 2.3 Billion Support to ACP Countries
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – A new study finds that the 79-nation African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) Group of States can boost climate action with technical and financial support amounting to a minimum of USD 2,317 billion. Capacity building, an important aspect of efforts to halt climate catastrophe, is expected to draw considerable attention […]
ACP Fights Human Trafficking, Migrant Smuggling in Africa
By Jeffrey Moyo BEITBRIDGE (ACP-IDN) – At the age of 39, Ndikonyaga Muleya hailing from Beitbridge, Zimbabwe’s border town with South Africa, has found illegal crossing into South Africa convenient. Over the years he became experienced crossing into the neighboring country looking for casual jobs in Musina, also a South African border town with Zimbabwe, […]
Wanted a Geographically Diverse and Gender-balanced UN
Viewpoint by Karim Ismail on behalf of G-77 The following are extensive extracts from the statement on behalf of the “Group of 77”, comprising 134 member countries including China, by Karim Ismail, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations, at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) of the UN General Assembly on […]
EU-ACP Initiative Leads to Natural Disaster Risk Reduction
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Program (ACP-EU NDRR) launched in 2011 has worked to build climate and disaster resilience in ACP countries, where the impacts of climate change are increasingly visible, says a new report. The Program is an initiative of the African Caribbean […]
Verification is Key to Denuclearization of North Korea
Viewpoint by Lassina Zerbo “The CTBTO and its technological tools are uniquely placed to provide adequate verification and to monitor an end to nuclear tests in North Korea,” writes Lassina Zerbo, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization. This article first appeared on Arms Control Association website on November 1, 2018. – […]