Op-ed by Dr. Patrick I. Gomes Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP)

Brussels 19 April 2019/ACP: In today’s global situation that bears the features of turbulence, fragility and an increasingly precarious balance between peace and possible nuclear annihilation, the role and relevance of the United Nations Organisation has assumed unparalleled importance.

Brussels 11 April 2019/ACP: The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States welcomed two new arrivals to their midst at the 919th Meeting of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors, H.E. Mrs. Sena Siaw-Boateng, Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana and H.E. Ms. Maria O’Brien, Ambassador of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

Brussels 10 April 2019/ACP: Minister for National Planning and Monitoring of Papua New Guinea, Hon. Richard Maru, has assured the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group that Papua New Guinea will continue to play an active role in the affairs of the ACP Group of States.

Minister Maru met the ACP Secretary General, Dr. Patrick Gomes, at the margins of the ACP-EU Ministerial Meeting in N’Djamena, Capital of the Republic of Chad, Central Africa, on 3 April where they discussed, among other things, Papua New Guinea’s role in the current ACP-EU post-Cotonou negotiations.

Brussels 08 April 2019/ACP: Today the ACP Secretariat joins with the Embassy of Rwanda to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi. And as custom for the ACP Group in the last 15 years, we have made this commemoration a key event in our calendar.  Today our thoughts are with the victims of this atrocious tragedy and our prayers are with the survivors who are true heroes among us as they continue to inspire us with their strength, resilience and determination.

Brussels, 02 April 2019/ACP: This week signals the start of a EUR 12 million project designed to build the resilience of 15 Pacific countries to threats posed by climate change, which Pacific Island Forum leaders have repeatedly identified as the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific. 

Brussels, 02 April 2019/ACP: 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 that took place in Bucharest, Romania. 

Brussels 01 April 2019/ACP:  In a landmark resolution, the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly's 37th Session from March 18-20, 2019 in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, has called for the ACP-EU partnership to have "a greater presence at the UN with, as a minimum, an ACP-EU coordination unit having a seat at the UN."

It also pleads for "permanent ACP-EU working mechanisms across UN special agencies and other global institutions to enhance the global visibility of the ACP-EU partnership."