The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), formerly known as the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), is a group of countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that was created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975.
Map of OACPS Member States
The organisation’s key goals are sustainable development and the reduction of poverty in its Member States and their deeper inclusion into the world economy. OACPS is a group of countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, established in 1975 through the Georgetown Treaty.
Objectives of the OACPS
The ACP Group's main objectives are:
- Sustainable development of its Member-States and their gradual integration into the global economy, which entails making poverty reduction a matter of priority and establishing a new, fairer, and more equitable world order.
- Coordination of the activities of the ACP Group in the framework of the implementation of ACP-EC Partnership Agreements.
- Consolidation of unity and solidarity among ACP States, as well as understanding among their peoples.
- Establishment and consolidation of peace and stability in a free and democratic society.
The Cotonou Agreement
For the exception of Cuba, all Member States join the Cotonou Treaty with the European Union. The ties between ACP and the European Union (EU) began to improve in June 2000, when the Cotonou Agreement was concluded. From 1975 to 1999, Barbados and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations became parties to four economic / trade agreements with Europe, recognised as the Lomé Conventions. The previous one has set up and extended every subsequent agreement.
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The Agreement lays forth a comprehensive ACP-EU ties structure. Social growth, poverty eradication and quick and steady inclusion of ACP countries in the global economy are at the core. The Cotonou Agreement continues to provide trade, economic and financial cooperation.
One of the major differences from the Lomé Convention is that the partnership is extended to new actors such as civil society, private sector, trade unions and local authorities. 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.
Many small island developing states are OACPS states; the fourth Lomé Convention was revised in 1995 in Mauritius and gives special attention to island countries in this agreement. The text of the Cotonou agreement has been updated in 2005 and 2010.
Principal Organs
The ACP has its own unique structure of governing bodies and institutions which direct its priorities and course of work.
The Georgetown Agreement establishes the Summit of Heads of State and Government as the highest political authority of the ACP Group.
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In practical terms, the ACP Council of Ministers is the main decision-making body of the group, meeting twice a year to outline measures to fulfil the group’s general objectives.
Supporting the Council is the ACP Committee of Ambassadors, which also takes decisions for the Group. The Committee monitors the implementation of the Cotonou Agreement, overseeing six sub-committees as well as ad hoc working groups focusing on specific areas.
Finally, the ACP Parliamentary Assembly meets in a consultative capacity twice a year on political issues of concern to ACP countries. The assembly includes a Member of Parliament from each ACP state.
Member States
It is composed of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states, including 48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific. Amongst them, 39 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), 37 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and 15 Landlocked Countries.
List of ACP Countries:
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Angola - Antigua and Barbuda - Belize - Cape Verde - Comoros - Bahamas - Barbados - Benin - Botswana - Burkina Faso - Burundi - Cameroon - Central African Republic - Chad - Congo (Brazzaville) - Congo (Kinshasa) - Cook Islands - Cte d'Ivoire - Cuba - Djibouti - Dominica - Dominican Republic - Eritrea - Ethiopia - Fiji - Gabon - Gambia - Ghana - Grenada - Republic of Guinea - Guinea-Bissau - Equatorial Guinea - Guyana - Haiti - Jamaica - Kenya - Kiribati - Lesotho - Liberia - Madagascar - Malawi - Mali - Marshall Islands - Mauritania - Mauritius - Micronesia - Mozambique - Namibia - Nauru - Niger - Nigeria - Niue - Palau - Papua New Guinea - Rwanda - St. Kitts and Nevis - St. Lucia - St. P.O.
