Brussels, 11/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The group of 79 ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) countries, linked in partnership with the EU through the Cotonou Agreement, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) agreed in Brussels on Thursday 10 May to join forces in fostering South-South cooperation, promoting inclusive economic growth as a vehicle for sustainable development in developing countries, and providing support to realise the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the exchange of information and views.
The terms of this cooperation were set out in a memorandum of understanding signed by the two parties only a few weeks ahead of the UN sustainable development conference RIO+20 (20-22 June, in Rio de Janeiro), the massive task of which was highlighted by Helen Clark, Chairwoman of the UN Development Group and Administrator for the UNDP, in a special presentation to the ACP Committee of Ambassadors.
“Unless issues of sustainability and equity are addressed simultaneously, the impressive human development gains of recent decades will not be sustained. Economic, social, and environmental objectives are not competing goals to be traded off against each other, but rather are interconnected objectives which need to be pursued together”, she stated.
Noting that the ACP Group “embodies a coalition of most of the poorest countries on earth, striving for a collective voice in the global arena, while sharing and drawing from each other's experiences in the spirit of South-South solidarity and cooperation”, Secretary General of the ACP Secretariat Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas expressed the hope that, through the partnership with the UNDP, “we can leverage on each other's capacities in order to empower our peoples to drive sustainable development in their own countries and engage them as genuine partners in the world economic system”.
Through their memorandum of understanding, the ACP and UNDP have agreed to support regional and intra-regional integration, and contribute to the sustainable development of their mutual member countries through initiatives related but not limited to trade, private sector development, renewable energy and climate change among others. (AN/transl.rt)