GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Collage: Ambassador Richard Bernal, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Global Affairs at The UWI (left) and Professor Robert Dussey, the Chief Negotiator ACP-EU Post-Cotonou 2020 by IDN-INPS with photos from public domains.

Lending a Research Hand to CARICOM, Strengthening the ACP

By Desmond Brown

This report is part of a series focusing on the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States working to "modernize" their relations, and in the process giving the ACP Group "a greater presence" at the United Nations. – The Editor.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (IDN) – In the face of a rapidly changing global environment, a top Caribbean diplomat and technocrat strongly suggests the establishment of an independent research institute to supplement and support governments and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secretariat.

: Desmond L. Brown; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 11 May 2019

ACP-UNCTAD Workshop Targets at Ensuring Inclusiveness and Equality

By Ronald Joshua

GENEVA (IDN) – Well ahead of the High-Level Political Forum in July 2019 under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with the focus on "empowering people and ensuring inclusiveness and equality", the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) held an all-day workshop at the Palais des Nations, Geneva on May 2, 2019.

: Ronald Joshua; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 08 May 2019

Photo credit: SDG Global Festival of Action

Global Festival Looks Beyond Promises of Agenda 2030

By Sean Buchanan

BONN (IDN) – The SDG Global Festival of Action, which takes place in Bonn every year, is an occasion for bringing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) campaigners and multi-stakeholder partners together for inspiring and broadening the global movement to take action for the SDGs.

It provides a dynamic and interactive space to showcase the latest innovations, tools and approaches to SDG advocacy and SDG action.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 07 May 2019

Photo: A Sherp crosses flooded plains to deliver 26 tons of food to Buzi in Northern Mozambique. Credit: WFP/Adam Marlatt

International Aid Flows to Southern Africa after Two Devastating Cyclones

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – All that she has now is her 12-year old daughter. Her home, and almost all her belongings were destroyed by Cyclone Idai in March. Over a month ago since the tragedy struck, 35-year old Teresa Chizimu who hails from Chikwawa district in Malawi, has sunken deeper and deeper into desperation since she had an encounter with the cyclone.

Not only Chizimu is in this crisis in the southern hemisphere, but also Mozambique’s 71-year old Aderito Abdala from the port city of Beira, is faced with a catastrophic situation, with all his four grandchildren and wife, killed by Cyclone Idai.

: Jeffrey Moyo; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 04 May 2019

Photo: Sir Ronald Sanders, Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organisation of American States. Credit: Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda, Washington, DC.

79-Nation ACP Group Must Guard Against Lack of Unity

By Desmond Brown

This report is part of a series focusing on the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States working to "modernize" their relations. These involve "a greater presence" of the ACP Group at the United Nations. As a minimum, an ACP-EU coordination unit should have a seat at the UN, said a landmark resolution of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held March 18-20 in Bucharest, the capital of Romania.- The Editor.

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (IDN) – The prospect of Brexit, the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, continues to loom large over the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. If a no-deal Brexit happens in October, this could mean severe consequences for the ACP.

: Desmond L. Brown; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 29 April 2019

Photo (left to right): Neil Paul of Ramphal Center; Sandra Husbands, Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Trade at Government of Barbados; Dr Patrick I Gomes, ACP Secretary-General; Sir Shridath Ramphal, one of the original drafters of the Georgetown Agreement; and Prof. / Ambassador Ibrahim Gambari, Nigeria. Credit: ACP Secretariat.

The Primacy of Institutionalised Unity is Key to the Georgetown Agreement

Viewpoint by Sir Shridath Ramphal

"The truly compelling lesson . . . is how critical it is to pool our resources: political, economic and intellectual in negotiating with countries beyond ourselves: globally, in Europe, in the Hemisphere," says Sir Shridath Ramphal – one of the original drafters of the 1975 Georgetown Agreement that created the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). The following are extensive excerpts from his Opening Remarks on 26 February 2019, tracing the genesis and the process of unification for the ACP at the Inter-Regional High-Level Consultation in Barbados.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; OPINION; 28 April 2019

Photo (l to r): Jamaica's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith; EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica; and Professor Robert Dussey, the ACP’s Chief Negotiator.

Future EU-Caribbean Relations in New ACP-EU Partnership

By ACP Press

KINGSTON (ACP-IDN) – As the EU is working to modernise its relations with 79 countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP), the two groups' chief negotiators Neven Mimica and Robert Dussey met with ACP Caribbean leaders for a dedicated dialogue on the regional EU-Caribbean pillar in the framework of the post Cotonou ACP-EU partnership.

The discussions on April 15, 2019, formed part of broader regional consultations and are focused on the Caribbean’s specific needs and priorities for the coming years. The outcome will guide the negotiators’ work in creating a tailor-made EU-Caribbean partnership within the future ACP-EU agreement.

: Africa & ME Editor; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 24 April 2019

Photo: IDN-INPS collage of pictures by from Commonwealth Secretariat. Left: Aelan Ltd hires local women from the next village to make organic products. Right: Adding value to coconut. Bottom: Vanuatu Deputy Prime Minister Bob Loughman wants the country to focus on value addition and moving up global value chains.

Ensuring the Future of Coconut, the 'Tree of Life'

By Josephine Latu-Sanft

For the eminent American actor and director Dustin Hoffman sunshine and coconut milk are "the two basic items necessary to sustain life". The German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht compared love to a coconut "which is good while it is fresh". In the Pacific, coconut is king, writes Josephine Latu-Sanft.

LONDON | PORT VILA (IDN) – Known as the ‘tree of life’, locals make use of every part of the tree to survive – the fruit for eating, husks for fuelling fires, fronds for making multiuse baskets, and the trunk for building houses.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 18 April 2019

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (on screen) makes remarks at the Financing for Development Forum of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Session 2019 on April 15. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

2019 A Defining Year for Implementing SDGs and the Paris Agreement

By António Guterres

The following are extensive excerpts from opening remarks of the UN Secretary-General to the 2019 ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum on April 15. This, he said, was “critical moment for governments, businesses, and societies to accelerate action for sustainable development”.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – We have the tools to tackle poverty, inequality, climate change and environmental pressures. They were defined in the great multilateral agreements reached in 2015: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 16 April 2019

Inadequate Funding Threatens Sustainable Development Goals

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Much to the United Nations’ dismay, desperately missing funds are imperiling realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Investments that are critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals remain underfunded and parts of the multilateral system are under strain, warned a new report as the fourth Forum on Financing for Development opened on April 15, 2019 at the UN Headquarters.