H.E. Mr Mário de Azevedo Constantino assumes the leadership of the OACPS Committee of Ambassadors
Brussels, 02 August 2021/OACPS: H.E Mr Mário de Azevedo Constantino, Ambassador of the Republic of Angola, took over the mantle of leadership of the Bureau of the Committee of Ambassadors from outgoing Chair, H.E. Mr Moses Kouni Mose of Solomon Islands at the meeting of the Outgoing and Incoming Bureaux of the OACPS Committee of Ambassadors, on 16 July 2021.
Representing the Pacific Region, the Solomon Islands is succeeded by the Republic of Angola, which represents the Southern Region, during the six-month rotating presidency from 1 August 2021 to 31 January 2022. H.E. Mr Téte António, Minister of External Relations of Angola, will concurrently assume the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the OACPS.
Current Bureau
For the period of 1 August 2021 to 31 January 2022, the incoming Bureau, under the Angolan leadership, comprises: the Caribbean -H.E. Mr Colin Connelly, Ambassador of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago;Central Africa – H.E. Dr Daniel Emery Dede of the Central African Republic; East Africa – H.E. Mr Omer Beriziky, Ambassador of the Republic of Madagascar; Southern Africa – H.E. Dr Pontso S.M. Sekatle, Ambassador of the Republic of Lesotho; West Africa – H.E. Mr Abadallahi Bah Nagi Kebd, Ambassador of the Republic of Mauritania; and for the Pacific – Hon. Titilupe Fanetupouvava’u Tu’ivakano, Ambassador of Tonga.
The Bureau of the Committee of Ambassadors, which coordinates the work of the full committee, comprises one representative from each of the six regions of the OACPS, as well as a Troika comprised of the current, outgoing, and incoming Chairs. The current Troika includes the Ambassadors of Solomon Islands, Angola, and the representative of the Central African region, which will be next to hold the presidency.
The Committee of Ambassadors is an important decision-making body of the OACPS, comprising one representative from each of its 79 member countries. It meets at least one a month in Brussels to monitor the implementation of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, and carry out any mandate tasked to it by the Council of Ministers of the OACPS. Much of its work is carried out through six technical sub-committees (on Political, Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs; Trade and Commodities; Investment and the Private Sector; Sustainable Development; Financing and Development; and Establishment and Finance), as well through ad-hoc working groups and task forces.