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ACP states want to intensify focus on the rights of women and children
Monday, February 13th, 2012

Brussels: In a speech on Thurday, 9 February 2012, the Secretary General of the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), H. E. Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, presented a list of key priorities for the organisation, setting the tone in the lead up to the ACP Heads of State Summit to be held this December in Equatorial Guinea.

Dr. Chambas declared 2012 to be a “year of restoration”, underlining plans to enhance the ACP as a “forward-looking international organisation.” In 2012, the Group will focus on strengthening South-South solidarity and collaboration, intensifying attention on the Millennium Development Goals, advancing sustainable development programmes in ACP communities, and boosting the collective voice of ACP countries and their role as a group in the global arena. This includes 48 countries from Africa, 16 from the Caribbean, and 15 from the Pacific.

“We shall intensify our focus on the Millenium Development Goals, keeping in mind the recent World Bank Reports that show the dire effects of the global financial crisis on low-income developing countries, such as ours,” he said. “These effors will include a focus on good governance, the rights of women and children, and the right to a decent standards of living.”

Since early last year, an ACP Ambassadorial Working Group on the Future Perspectives of the ACP Group began its work to consolidate a long term direction for the Group. With support from the UNDP, a report is being prepared outlining alternative future scenarios for the ACP family of nations.

The ACP includes 79 member states with a combined population of around 980 million. Forty are Least Developed Countries (out of 48 globally) and 36 Small Island Developing States. All but one are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement (ACP-EC Partnership Agreement) with the European Union.

Read full speech here.