The Least Developed Countries’ (LDCs) category was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1971 and refers today to 46 countries that are diverse in their economic, social and political structures but which face structural challenges and constraints. These halt their productive capacities and make them particularly vulnerable to external shocks. Macroeconomic instabilities, the volatility of the private sector, the narrow production and export bases hinder trade integration, technological advances and job creation, and inhibit economic self-resilience.

Brussels, 25 November 2021/OACPS: On the occasion of the annual commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November each year, H.E. Mr Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), recalls that violence against women and girls is a violation of human rights that currently knows no borders.

Brussels, 15 November 2021/OACPS: In preparation for 2022, when the new ACP-EU Partnership Agreement will come into force, members of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) have set up a Drafting Committee tasked with the design of new working methods and rules for the future JPA and for three regional parliamentary assemblies. 

Brussels, 5 November 2021/OACPS: The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) and the European Union (EU), supported by the Intra-ACP GCCA+ Programme and the Intra-ACP ClimSA Programme, will host a High-Level Event ‘The EU-OACPS Partnership: strengthened cooperation on climate action and the use of science-based information to build resilience’, in the framework of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference

Brussels, 3 November 2021/OACPS: The Committee of Ambassadors of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) welcomed the newest arrival, H.E. Mr. Obinna Chiedu Onowu, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the 942^nd Session on 29 October 2021.

Brussels, 2 November 2021/OACPS: In the margins of the twenty-sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) released a statement from OACPS Leaders on Climate Action for COP26 on 1 November 2021, in Glasgow.

Brussels, 25 October 2021/OACPS: Every year on October 25, Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observe Anti-Sanctions Day against Zimbabwe to express their solidarity with Zimbabwe and call for the lifting of sanctions and other punitive measures iimposed against Zimbabwe.

Brussels, 24 October 2021/OACPS: On the occasion of United Nations Day, celebrated each year on October 24, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), H.E. Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, recalls that, in the post-war context, peace is the main objective of the United Nations Charter. 

Brussels, 22 October 2021/OACPS: The Committee of Ambassadors (CoA) of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) held a special session to meet with H.E. Dr Stanislav Raščan, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, acting Minister for Development Cooperation of the government of Slovenia and representative of the Slovenian Presidency of the European Union (EU), on Thursday, 14 October 2021 at the Brussels-based Secretariat of the OACPS.

Brussels, 21 October 2021/OACPS: H.E. M. Tete António, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Angola and President-in-Office of the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), on Thursday, 14 October 2021, signed the Host Country Agreement for the 10^th Summit of OACPS Heads of State and Government, to take place in 2022 in the Republic of Angola, during a visit to the OACPS Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium. H.E. Mr Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary-General of the OACPS signed the Agreement on behalf of the OACPS.