Brussels, 26 November 2015/ EC/ ACP: African, Caribbean and Pacific countries will have access to €3.6 billion to address shared challenges in the areas of human and social development, environment and climate change, private sector development, and peace and security, with the signing of the Intra-ACP programming strategy under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) (the EU's financial instrument for ACP countries).

European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Mr. Neven Mimica and the President of the Committee of Ambassadors of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, Ambassador Mpeo Mahase-Moiloa of Lesotho, signed off the programme on Thursday 26 November at the ACP headquarters in Brussels.

At the signing ceremony, Commissioner Mimica said: “Today's signature lays down the priorities for our joint work until 2020. The 11th EDF intra-ACP program amounts to €3.6 billon, a 25 % increase compared to the 10th EDF. It reflects our common vision of the dynamics at stake at national and regional levels. More than a third of these resources will be devoted to human and social development."

Ambassador Moiloa emphasised that the intra-ACP envelope has become an increasingly important part of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, as a high performance, transparent development instrument covering a wide array of cooperation areas.

“In order to strengthen its impact, the document we sign today is heavily focused on both vertical and horizontal levels. This focus will allow us to better target the activities to be financed, but above all, it will enable us to make the best use of subsidiarity and complementarity,” she added.

Ambassador Moiloa announced the appointment of the Chair of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors as the Principal Authorising Officer of Intra-ACP funds on behalf of the ACP Group, with the ACP Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General in charge of Development Finance appointed as deputies.

The funds announced will be channelled to four key sectors:

– Human and social development to contribute to ensuring healthy lives and inclusive and equitable quality education

– Environment, climate change and resilience building, providing significant means to reach the targets that are expected to be set during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference to face the challenge of global warming

– Private sector development, with the aim of contributing to achieving sustainable and inclusive growth, creating decent jobs and reducing poverty

– Peace and security, providing substantial and predictable funding to the African Union's and African Regional Economic Communities' efforts in the area of peace and security.

Background

The Intra-ACP programme is the cornerstone of broader cooperation between the European Union and the ACP group of States. The programme aims to address the shared challenges facing ACP States. It supports operations that go beyond the concept of geographic location and benefit many or all ACP States. Intra-ACP action is envisaged when national and/or regional efforts prove impossible or less effective, so as to provide added value in comparison to the operations carried out with other national and/or regional cooperation instruments.

The European Commission and the European External Action Service launched the preparation of the Indicative Programme for intra-ACP cooperation to define the strategy and priorities for EU aid. This preparation work was carried out in close cooperation with the ACP Committee of Ambassadors and the ACP Secretariat so as to ensure that the Indicative Programme contributes to the objectives set out in the ACP-EC Partnership.

In 2013, EU Member States agreed on the overall amount for development cooperation that will be channelled individually to 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, as well as to the ACP regions and to intra-ACP cooperation through the 11th European Development Fund EDF during the financing period 2014-2020, with a total amount of €30.5 billion.

(Photo from left: European Commissioner for Development and International Cooperation Mr. Neven Mimica and the Chair of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors, the Ambassador of Lesotho H.E. Mrs Mpeo Mahase-Moiloa, pictured also with the ACP Secretary General H.E. Dr. patrick Gomes)

For more information, please contact:

Josephine LATU-SANFT, ACP Press Office +32 2 7430617, latu@acp.int

Press contacts for the European Commission:

Alexandre POLACK +32 2 299 06 77

Sharon ZARB + 32 2 29 92256