Intergovernmental organization on sustainable development and poverty reduction
The
Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States
(
OACPS
,
French
:
Organisation des Etats d'Afrique, des Caraibes et du Pacifique
) is a group of
countries
in
Africa
, the
Caribbean
, and the
Pacific
that was created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975. Formerly known as
African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
(
ACP
), the organisation's main objectives are sustainable development and
poverty reduction
within its member states, as well as their greater integration into the world's economy. All of the member states, except
Cuba
, are signatories to the
Cotonou Agreement
with the
European Union
.
The
Cotonou Agreement
(signed in
Cotonou
,
Benin
, in June 2000) is the successor to the
Lome Conventions
. One of the major differences from the Lome Convention is that the partnership is extended to new actors such as civil society, private sector, trade unions and local authorities. These will be involved in consultations and planning of national development strategies, provided with access to financial resources and involved in the implementation of programmes.
Many small island developing states are OACPS states; the fourth Lome Convention was revised in 1995 in
Mauritius
and gives special attention to island countries in this agreement. Combined the EU and the members of the OACPS represent over 1.5 billion people and more than half of the seats at the United Nations.
[1]
Member states
[
edit
]
Africa
[
edit
]
The African OACPS countries negotiate in five
Economic Partnership Agreements
groups
[2]
(West Africa,
CEMAC
,
Southern Africa Development Community
,
East African Community
, Eastern and Southern Africa) with the
EU
.
"West Africa group" (
ECOWAS
plus Mauritania)
"
CEMAC
plus Sao Tome and Principe, DR Congo group" (
ECCAS
related)
|
EAC
group
"Eastern and Southern Africa group" (
COMESA
related)
SADC
group
|
Caribbean
[
edit
]
All countries of the
Caribbean Community
plus
Dominican Republic
group negotiate in the
CARIFORUM
Economic Partnership Agreement
(EPA) with the
European Union
(EU).
The Caribbean-bloc is sometimes co-represented at
EU-LAC
(Latin America and the Caribbean).
Pacific
[
edit
]
All developing member states of the
Pacific Islands Forum
group
[4]
and
Timor-Leste
negotiate in the Pacific EPA with the EU.
North Atlantic EU OCTs
[
edit
]
In this region are located the
EU overseas countries and territories
(OCTs) of
Greenland
and
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
, but there are no OACPS states.
[5]
South Atlantic dependent territories
[
edit
]
In this region are located the U.K. overseas territories of
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
and
Falkland Islands
, but there are no OACPS states.
[5]
Nevertheless, Saint Helena is developing links with the SADC EPA group.
[6]
Uninhabited territories
[
edit
]
The uninhabited EU OCT does not participate in regional integration and does not receive development funding from the EU.
The uninhabited U.K. overseas territories are not OACPS states and do not receive development funding from the EU.
Special designations
[
edit
]
The Cotonou agreement recognises the specific challenges faced by less developed countries, land-locked countries, and islands in their economic development. Therefore, those countries are granted a more favourable treatment than other OACPS member countries. The text of the Cotonou agreement has been updated in 2005 and 2010, but the lists have not, despite the fact that the actual list of LDCs as defined by the United Nations has changed:
Cape Verde
has graduated from LDC status in December 2007, while
Senegal
has acquired the status in 2001 and
Timor-Leste
in 2003. The following lists should thus not be considered as the actual lists of OACPS LDCs and islands (a few islands are also not listed).
Annex VI of the Cotonou agreement lists the following designations:
Least-developed OACPS states
[
edit
]
Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Tuvalu, Togo, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia.
The Least developed OCTs are the following: Anguilla, Mayotte, Montserrat, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands, Wallis and Futuna, Saint Pierre and Miquelon.
[8]
Landlocked OACPS states
[
edit
]
Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Island OACPS states
[
edit
]
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Kiribati, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.
Organs
[
edit
]
Trade and legal framework
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Gomes welcomes new agreement"
.
The Daily Nation
. 17 April 2021
. Retrieved
8 June
2021
.
Together, the EU and the members of the OACPS represent over 1.5 billion people and more than half of the nations at the United Nations. Gomes, who stepped down as secretary general of the 79-member grouping in February this year, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that the initialed text will now go to all the member states and can be treated as a public document to await a signing ceremony, possibly before the end of this year as the life of the Cotonou Agreement has been extended to December 31, 2021.
- ^
EPA Groups
- ^
Economic and technical cooperation : agreement between the United States of America and South Sudan, signed at Juba, September 11, 2012
. U.S. Dept. of State. c. 2012.
OCLC
815531434
.
- ^
That is: all member states except
Australia
and
New Zealand
.
- ^
a
b
OCT regional groups
Archived
September 24, 2009, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Saint Helena
Archived
July 4, 2010, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
TAAF
Archived
September 28, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
The islands of the TAAF are located in the southern Indian Ocean and thus if applicable would be associated with the SADC EPA group. The antarctic territory is also located near the south-eastern edge of the Indian Ocean
- ^
Overseas Association Decision, Annex I B
External links
[
edit
]
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