GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Photo: Tjekero Tweya, Namibia's Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development of the Republic of Namibia, and President of the ACP Council of Ministers addressing the 37th session of ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) in Bucharest. Source: New Era Live.

Post-2020 ACP-EU Partnership Expected to be Unique

WINDHOEK (ACP-IDN) – Namibia has reaffirmed its commitment to the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and European Union (EU) partnership and says it will do all it can to honour and work toward the commitments embodied in the Cotonou Agreement and post-Cotonou when it expires in 2020.

This was the message by Minister of Industrialisation, Trade and SME Development of the Republic of Namibia and President of the ACP Council of Ministers, Tjekero Tweya, when he spoke at the 37th session of ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) March 18-20 in Bucharest, Romania.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 21 March 2019

Photo: The 37th plenary of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) was formally opened on 18 March in Bucharest, Romania. Credit: ACP Press

ACP-EU Parliamentarians Confer on Crucial Issues in Bucharest

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS | BUCHAREST (ACP-IDN) – Migration, rule of law, climate change, ACP-EU relations beyond 2020, renewable energies and education were among issues discussed at the 37th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) in Bucharest.

From March 18 to 20, 2019, the Assembly brought together Members of the European Parliament and representatives from developing countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific in Bucharest, Romania.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 21 March 2019

Photo: Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland addresses parliamentarians from 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) and 28 European Union (EU) countries at the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest.

Commonwealth Offers Closer Cooperation to Help ACP Group Realise ‘Full Potential’

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS | BUCHAREST (ACP-IDN) – Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has reaffirmed the 53-nation group's support for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, while urging deeper collaboration to boost their trade and development potential.

She was addressing the 37th session of the ACP and European Union (EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly on the impact of Brexit on ACP-EU Partnership in Bucharest, Romania. The Assembly aims to promote greater dialogue, cooperation and understanding among ACP and EU countries.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 19 March 2019

Photo: Representatives of countries to benefit from Japan-funded projects with UNIDO Director General Li Yong (fourth from left) and Ambassador Mitsuru Kitano of Japan (fifth from right). Credit: UNIDO

Japan Funds UNIDO Projects in 9 Countries with $5.8 Million

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – Japan will contribute more than US$5.8 million for sustainable development projects in Ethiopia, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, South Sudan, the State of Palestine and Syria. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has welcomed an official announcement to this effect.

“We thank the Government of Japan for the trust placed in us to deliver tangible results in close cooperation with all involved partners,” said UNIDO Director General Li Yong at a joint kick-off ceremony with Ambassador Mitsuru Kitano, the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; UN INSIDER; 18 March 2019

Image credit: The Ouagadougou Pan-African Film and Television Festival (FESPACO)

New ACP-EU Culture Programme Launched at Pan-African Fest

By ACP Press

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – Assistant-Secretary-General of the ACP Group, Léonard-Emile Ognimba, together with the Director General for Development and International Cooperation of the European Commission, Stefano Manservisi, officially launched the new ACP-EU Culture Programme on the occasion of the 26th edition of The Ouagadougou Pan-African Film and Television Festival (FESPACO), on February 24, 2019 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 12 March 2019

Photo: 17th regional meeting of ACP-EU Parliamentarians in Suriname. Credit: European Parliament

Parliamentarians from the Caribbean Confer with EU Counterparts in Suriname

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS | PARAMARIBO, Suriname (ACP-IDN) – Climate change, which is a major concern in the Caribbean, and identifying and implementing effective climate adaptation and mitigation strategies were high on the agenda of the 17th regional meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, from February 28 to March 2, 2019

Parliamentarians from the Caribbean region of the ACP Group and their European counterparts also focused on regional Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), security and the political situation of the region as well as on energy, economic growth and employment.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 05 March 2019

Women Leaders Call for Gender Equality and Inclusion

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the lead up to International Women’s Day on March 8, twenty-six high ranking female officials who have worked across the United Nations have penned an open letter to world leaders calling for greater investment in policies and legal and social frameworks to achieve gender equality and inclusion.

The group notes in the letter that despite progress there are concerns that in some places the basic rights of women are interpreted as direct and destabilizing challenges to existing power structures.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 02 March 2019

'Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change' on International Women's Day

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has stressed the need for "transformative shifts, integrated approaches and new solutions" to achieve gender equality, as envisaged in Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals, the road map for a sustainable future by 2030.

"Current trajectories show existing interventions do not suffice," she said ahead of the celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2019, at which UN Women is celebrating its 2019 theme of “Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change”, along with hosting hundreds of festivities around the world through the organization’s global network.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 01 March 2019

Photo: This mural in Seattle's Chinatown echoes the slogan of the World Social Forum: 'Another world is possible'. CC BY-SA 3.0

The Long Walk from World Social Forum to World Party

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio

The writer is publisher of Other News, a vehicle for "voices against the tide", and founder of IPS-Inter Press Service News Agency. This article is being reproduced courtesy of Other News with the writer's permission. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and his articles and comments can be read on Facebook @robertosavioutopia

ROME (IDN) – I was a member of the world’s first international party – the Transnational Radical Party – founded in 1989 by Italians Marco Pannella and Emma Bonino. The previous year, in West Berlin, I witnessed the mass protest against the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, a precursor of the Battle of Seattle in 1999 where 40,000 protesters disrupted the annual meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

: Roberto Savio; OPINION; 28 February 2019

Photo: A wide view of the room as Secretary-General António Guterres (at podium) makes remarks at the opening of the 40th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 25 February 2019. Credit: UN Photo/Violaine Martin

Powerful Grassroots Movements Boost Hope for Human Rights, Says UN Chief

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – People’s rights are under fire “in many parts of the globe,” but there is no need to lose hope, because powerful grassroots movements for social justice have made great strides, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

While the Human Rights Council was the “epicentre” for dialogue and cooperation on all human rights issues such as civil, political, economic, social and cultural, beyond its doors, other key voices were also demanding their rights and making their voices heard, particularly “youth, indigenous people, migrants and refugees”.