Brussels, 30 March 2017/ ACP: The first ever joint prize for film by the European Union and the ACP Group of States was awarded to three African works at the Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso (Festival panafricain du cinéma et de la télévision de Ouagadougou or FESPACO).

Brussels, 28 March 2017/ ACP: Representatives from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the European Union have agreed on several major issues to discuss at the upcoming joint ministerial council meetings, scheduled for 4-5 May 2017 in Brussels.

Ambassadors and officials from both sides met in Brussels in March to elaborate on a common agenda that would guide the highest joint decision-making body in the ACP-EU partnership, during its 42^nd session. The Joint Council is expected to take decisions on the following items:

Brussels, 27 March 2017/ ACP: Climate change remains a major collective concern for African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, which are particularly vulnerable to its negative effects. A special meeting organised by the ACP Sub-Committee for Sustainable Development laid the groundwork for an enhanced ACP role at the COP23 global climate talks in Bonn, Germany this November.

Brussels, 24 March 2017/ ACP: The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the United Nations Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women) have declared their shared intentions for joint engagement and joint programming on women’s economic empowerment in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

Brussels, 24 March 2017/ BB/ACP: Strengthening linkages between rural and urban areas in Africa were the focus of the 48^th Brussels Development Briefings, held earlier this month at the ACP House under the theme: “Strengthening rural livelihoods in the face of rapid urbanisation in Africa”.

Georgetown, Guyana, 24 March 2017/ IOM/ ACP – A three-day inter-regional event brought together 70 delegates and experts from the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States and from the European Union (EU) to look at the most effective means to counter the trafficking in human beings and smuggling of migrants at the local, regional and global levels.

In preparation for the high-level United Nations Oceans Conference, an oceans forum co-organized by UNCTAD, FAO, the ACP Secretariat, COMSEC and International Ocean Institute (IOI) is  to be held from 21 - 22 March 2017,  Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.  The Forum shall be preceded by a briefing session on the Fisheries Regulatory Framework at the Multilateral Level scheduled for the 20 March 2017.

More information

Briefing session:  http://unctad.org/en/pages/MeetingDetails.aspx?meetingid=1297

Oceans Forum: http://unctad.org/en/pages/MeetingDetails.aspx?meetingid=1299

The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Walter Mzembi, who is also the African Union- endorsed candidate for the post of Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), met with the Secretary General of the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. Dr Patrick I Gomes, at the ACP’s Brussels Headquarters on 20 February, 2017.