Global Partnerships

From Nairobi to Brussels with New Impulses for ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

By Devendra Kamarajan

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Members of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly from the East Africa Region of the ACP Group and their European Parliament counterparts have called for aiming at "stronger South-South and triangular cooperation and maintenance of the ACP Group’s unity and solidarity" in a successor treaty to the Cotonou Agreement that expires in 2020.

The communiqué emerging from the 15th Regional Meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) from April 11-13, 2018 in the Kenyan capital Nairobi stressed agreement among JPA members from the East Africa region that "a future agreement should build upon the acquis of Cotonou and integrate new global realities and in particular regional specificities, including for small island developing states."

: Devendra Kamarajan; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 25 April 2018

Commitment to Renewed ACP-EU Partnership Welcomed

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS | NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – The co-presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) have welcomed the commitment of the 79-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the 28-nation European Union (EU) to negotiate a successor Agreement to the ACP-EU Cotonou Partnership Agreement. The 15th Regional Meeting of the JPA took place in Kenya's capital Nairobi from April 11-13, 2018.

The Agreement, signed in Cotonou on June 23, 2000, was concluded for a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020. It is the most comprehensive partnership agreement between developing countries and the EU. In 2010, ACP-EU cooperation was adapted to new challenges such as climate change, food security, regional integration, State fragility and aid effectiveness.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 24 April 2018

Photo: The walkway of the UN Headquarters in Nairobi. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Africa Grapples With Financing Climate Change Programmes

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – African countries are faced with the huge challenge of funding climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes to ensure sustainable development. Hard hit by the impacts of climate change manifested in persistent droughts, floods, storms, rising sea levels and other forms of disasters, they are linking actions on tackling climate change as key to attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A joint project of the 79-nation African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States is providing support for the purpose as part of a joint project with the Global Climate Change Alliance+ (GCCA) by way of offering technical assistance, promoting knowledge sharing, initiating regional dialogue, and facilitating regional partnership on climate change issues.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 23 April 2018

Donors Spend Less on Refugees, More on Poorest Countries

By Rita Joshi

PARIS (IDN) – Foreign aid from 30 opulent nations, designated as "official donors", totalled USD 146.6 billion in 2017, signifying a small decrease of 0.6% from the previous year in real terms because they spent less money on refugees hosted by them. But countries most in need of aid received more funds.

Aid, formally labelled as Official Development Assistance (ODA), constitutes over two thirds of external finance for least-developed countries. The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is pushing for ODA to be better used as a lever to generate private investment and domestic tax revenue in poor countries to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Global Partnerships; 13 April 2018

Photo: This picture, taken at Ankor Wat and depicts the Hindu influence in Mekong/Cambodian architecture, shows the 'churning of the ocean' (samudra manthana in Sanskrit), which is one of the best-known episodes in the Hindu mythology. It explains the origin of the nectar of immortality (amrita). Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Ganga Initiative Brings Culture Into New Asian Trade Routes

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 23rd in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BANGKOK (IDN) – A recent conference at Thammasat University in Bangkok brought together Indian and Southeast Asian scholars to discuss re-building cultural links along two major rivers in Asia – the Ganges and the Mekong – that in ancient times provided transport links to build great civilizations influenced by Hindu and Buddhist philosophies and promote cultural flows.

The celebration of the New Year April 14 in the region based on astrology and harvesting cycle epitomizes these cultural links.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 April 2018

Photo (left to right): ACP Secretary-General P. I. Gomes; President of Guyana, Brigadier David A. Granger addressing the ACP Committee of Ambassadors; and Ethiopian Ambassador Teshome Toga Chanaka, Chair of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors for the period 1 February 2017 - 31 July 2017. Credit: ACP

ACP Group Looks Forward To Becoming 'Effective Global Player'

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – While preparing for talks on future relations with the European Union (EU) after the Cotonou Agreement expires in February 2020, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) is engaged in concerted efforts to reshape itself into "an effective global player" serving as a catalyst and an advocate for defending, protecting and advancing multilateralism, within the overarching framework of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

An important factor for this objective to be achieved, as the ACP Secretary-General, Dr. Patrick I Gomes, told IDN's 'UN Insider', is the Revision of the Georgetown Agreement named after the capital of Guyana, where it was signed in 1975. The Revision would allow the ACP Group to deepen and widen its foundations.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 08 April 2018

Photo: Flags of CARIFORUM Member States. Credit: SKNIS

Caribbean States Share Common Values & Interests with Other ACP Countries

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – As the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP) girds up its loins for talks on future relations with the European Union (EU) after the Cotonou Agreement expires in February 2020, the Caribbean Forum of the ACP States (CARIFORUM) has resolved that a new pact must take into account "the inherent and exogenous vulnerabilities" of the Caribbean region as critical elements in the negotiations.

The ACP Group of 79 States, constitutes 48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean region and 15 from the Pacific. Together they make up nearly 41 percent of 193 member countries of the United Nations. Besides, Africa with a population of 1.28 billion is home to 16.64 percent of the world population and accounts for more than 87 percent of 55 members of the African Union. Nearly 44 million people who live in the Caribbean countries make up 0.58 percent of the world population.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 01 April 2018

Photo: Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed visits a rehabilitation centre for disabled children in Belarus. © Egor Dubrovsky/UN Photo

Realising the SDGs Will Require Action in Five Key Areas

By Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

This article first appeared in Sustainable Development Goals: Delivering Change, UNA-UK publication providing analysis and recommendations in achieving Sustainable Development Goals on 19 March 2018. – The Editor

LONDON (IDN-INPS) – In this third year of global efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, there are encouraging signs of momentum. The hope that accompanied the Agenda’s adoption in 2015 is still with us. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have captured the imagination of leaders and general public alike. Member States are showing strong ownership – including through personal engagement by heads of state and government – and are aligning their plans and strategies accordingly.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 31 March 2018

Photo: UNIDO Director General LI Yong and Ambassador Mitsuru Kitano, the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna. Credit: UNIDO

Japan Supports Human Security Projects in Eight Countries

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – Japan has announced that it will support eight UNIDO projects aimed at ensuring human security for the most vulnerable populations in Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic.

Ambassador Mitsuru Kitano, the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, affirmed on March 28 that the projects will "help individuals to live under healthy conditions, consolidate their livelihoods and with all of this gain optimism for their future."

: Reinhard Jacobsen; SUSTAINABILITY; Global Partnerships; 29 March 2018

Social activities with NGOs - GBSH Consult - Johannesburg (South Africa)

The Role of NGOs in Africa: Are They a Force for Good?

By Sally Matthews

Dr. Sally Matthews is Senior Lecturer in Politics, Rhodes University, South Africa. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – Non-governmental organisations have become key actors in responding to poverty and related suffering. In Africa, NGOs play a leading role in providing health care and education.

The non-profit sector continues to grow rapidly in Africa and around the world. In South Africa alone, there are more than 100,000 registered non-profit organisations and in Kenya the number of NGOs grew by over 400% between 1997 and 2006. And for most observers, they seem to be well-intentioned actors who do a lot of good on the continent.