New York, 24 September 2019: The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union will issue a joint declaration in support of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on 24th September on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

ACP and EU countries combined account for more than half of the UN membership and unite over 1.5 billion people, so the joint declaration carries significant weight in terms of demonstrating a commitment to Agenda 2030. As stated last year, at the beginning of the negotiations for the new Partnership Agreement, the ACP-EU partnership “seeks closer political cooperation on the world stage to tackle major global challenges, aiming to be a shining example of multilateralism as the cornerstone of a rule-based world order. In concrete terms, this will notably mean working jointly towards the Sustainable Development Goals.” Representatives from the three ACP regions will speak at the high-level event as well as Neven Mimica, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development and ACP Secretary General, H.E. Patrick I. Gomes.

The ACP will also host a joint side event with the European Commission (EC) and the Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS). The Side Event, themed, “ACP Countries leading by example: Supporting 1.5 to Stay Alive”, is intended to share and exchange information on efforts undertaken at national levels to enhance Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), taking into account the special Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report on limiting global warming to 1.50C by 2020. The event is also organized to identify the financial, technological and capacity building resources needed to contribute to the implementation of NDCs and identify gaps, needs and possible areas of support needed to update and/or revise the NDCs.

With respect to the ongoing post-Cotonou negotiations which began in the margins of the United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) in New York a year ago in 2018, the ACP and EU groups will again meet to advance the negotiations, which are expected to be concluded in 2020. The ACP will hold a meeting of the 6th ACP Ministerial Central Negotiating Group, which will be followed by a joint meeting of the Chief Negotiators. Neven Mimica is the Chief Negotiator on the EU side, and Professor Robert Dussey, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Togo, is the Chief Negotiator for the ACP Group.

Click here for a copy of the Declaration

For further enquiries, contact Karen Hackshaw, Media and Communications Officer at Tel: +32-2-743 0617 or email: karen.hackshaw@acp.int