OPENING OF THE 7^TH SESSION

OF THE ACP-EU JOINT PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

ADDIS-ABABA, 16 FEBRUARY 2004

Address by Mr. Ramdien Sardjoe

ACP Co-President

Right Hon. Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,

Hon. President of the House of Representatives,

EU Co-President of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly,

Distinguished Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,

Representative of the Commission of the African Union,

Honorable Ministers,

Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the ACP members of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly and on my own behalf, I would like to express to you Right Hon. Prime Minister, the Government and people of Ethiopia, our utmost gratitude for the warm welcome and hospitality accorded us since our arrival in your lovely country replete with millennial history.

I would also like to thank you, Hon. President of the House of Representatives, as well as your parliamentary colleagues, for all your efforts to facilitate our deliberations here today.

Dear Colleagues,

On this my first official engagement, I wish to thank you for the trust you have reposed on my region – the Caribbean – by appointing me co-President of our Assembly.

Madam Co-President,

I also wish to avail myself of this session, the first over which I am co-presiding, to express my delight at being able to contribute, with you, to strengthening ACP-EU cooperation.

With your long-standing commitment to the development of the ACP States, I am convinced our collaboration will be extremely productive.

Right Hon. Prime Minister,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our Assembly is delighted to hold its 7^th session here in Addis Ababa, which hosts institutions that play an eminent role in the development of Africa, such as the Commission of the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. I would also like to salute the presence among us of the Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. Kingsley Yeboah AMOAKO, and the representative of the President of the African Union, Commissioner Said DJINNIT.

After the creation of the African Union, the adoption of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), is a new vision for Africa conceived by African Heads of State. As you are aware, the African Heads of State met in Kigali two days ago to implement the Peer Review Mechanism, which is a pivotal element of NEPAD. This mechanism will be launched next April with the evaluation of the first countries that volunteered in that regard. I would also like to welcome the commitment of African Heads of State who demonstrated their willingness to make good governance a central element of their development strategy.

I equally applaud the imminent establishment of the African Parliament, which constitutes an appreciable progress in the economic and political integration of the continent, who legitimacy will thus be reinforced.

It is with full awareness of the importance of this issue that our Assembly included on its agenda a specific item on regional integration in Africa, and NEPAD.

However, there can be no real prospect for sustainable development in the absence of peace and stability. That is why the issue of conflict prevention and peaceful conflict resolution remains central to our discussions. Indeed, the report that the Political Committee will be submitting to this session bears on conflict prevention and resolution, whose examination will afford the JPA the opportunity to contribute to the various initiatives underway.

Hon. Parliamentarians and Dear Colleagues,

Our Assembly can be justifiably proud of having adopted new Rules of Procedure, thereby completing its transformation into a Parliament better suited to the new tasks assigned by the Cotonou Agreement.

The three Standing Committees that have been set up constitute an appropriate working framework for the actual involvement of parliamentarians in the ACP-EU partnership.

That is why the examination of the conclusions of the report from the Committee on Political Affairs will be one of the issues high on the agenda of this session.

In that vein, after the restoration of peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, I am delighted at the promising prospect looming in other countries. I salute the decisive strides made in Sudan, with the progress achieved in the peace talks, and in Somalia, with the announced return to state institutions representatives of all components of the nation.

I would also like to strongly appeal for a speedy solution to the continuing crisis that has bedeviled Haiti in this year of the bicentennial anniversary of its independence. In that regard, I appeal to all forces involved to consider the superior interest of the nation, put an end to the violence, and embark on constructive political dialogue.

The ACP Group would also like to acknowledge, welcome and support the initiatives taken by CARICOM, the OAS, and the Governments of the United States of America and Canada, to assist in resolving the conflict in Haiti.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Colleagues,

As you are aware, this session is being held at a time when the negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements, EPAs, have either begun or are at an advanced stage of preparation in the ACP regions. Our Assembly must ensure that development remains the central theme of the negotiations.

Indeed, trade can be a major engine of growth in ACP countries. However, trade liberalization alone will not suffice in achieving that goal. It must be accompanied by substantial improvement in production and supply capacities.

The negotiations, which ought to involve all the stakeholders concerned, must seek, at regional level, to identify any constraints and also devise adequate responses to them.

On this score, I would like to recall the Declaration our Assembly adopted at Cape Town on the Economic Partnership Agreements assigning us the task of ensuring a permanent follow-up of the negotiations to enable the EPAs to contribute effectively to the fight against poverty, which is the principal objective of our ACP-EU partnership.

Furthermore, our Assembly ought to follow with vigilance the evolution of the multilateral trade negotiations with a view to ensuring the adoption of fairer rules in international trade. After the failure of the Cancun Ministerial conference, we hope the WTO negotiations will be re-launched as soon as possible in the spirit of the Doha Development Programme whose cycle is due to be completed next year.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Four years after the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals, it is high time we conducted an assessment of their implementation.

Indeed, there is still much to be done to halve the number of the poor in the world by 2015. This is particularly true in several areas, especially that of Health. As a matter of fact, according to the recent report of the World Health Organization, the propagation of AIDS in the developing countries, hence in ACP countries, remains on the increase.

That is why the international community must continue to be further mobilized to help stem this scourge as well as the devastating effects of yellow fever, tuberculosis and other contagious diseases, by facilitating access to all drugs regardless of profit, to enable every human being to enjoy his fundamental right to life.

Since poverty-related diseases contribute to the growing impoverishment rife in developing countries, the examination of the Committee for Social Affairs’ report on these diseases will probably afford us the opportunity to put forward recommendations to enhance the consideration of the Health sector in the use of the resources of the European Development Fund.

Dear colleagues,

At this session, we shall discuss, in the framework of the Seminars, such important themes as:

- Food security and Rural development

- Development and the Private sector; and

- Health, especially AIDS.

The issue of agriculture is essential for achieving, in the ACP countries, an average annual growth rate in order to attain the Millennium Development Goals.

For a long-term response, the ACP countries must themselves develop ambitious agricultural policies aimed primarily at meeting the food security of their populations.

In that regard, I am delighted that the National Authorizing Officers of the EDF have been invited to the next FAO regional conference for Africa to examine the procedures for implementing the Maputo decision regarding the African Heads of State’s commitment to earmark at least 10% of their national budgets for the agricultural sector.

I will not dilate on the importance of the theme, Development and the Private sector, since it has long been acknowledged that the private sector is the engine of growth; being necessary for the creation of wealth and jobs, and even for undertaking a sustainable fight against poverty. That is why, the Cotonou Agreement has specifically established an Investment Facility endowed with a 2.2 billion Euro package to sustain the development of the private sector in the ACP countries.

Dear Colleagues,

As regards the functioning of our Assembly, the creation of three Standing committees is the result of our efforts to strengthen the working structures necessary for the effective involvement of Parliamentarians in the ACP-EU partnership. In that regard, I hope that, during the Caribbean region’s Co-Presidency, the issue of regional assemblies will be examined by the JPA with a view to further strengthen intra-ACP Parliamentary cooperation, on the one hand, and cooperation with the European Union, on the other hand.

Right Hon Prime Minister,

I would like to conclude by once again expressing to the Government and people of Ethiopia our gratitude for the measures taken to ensure that the 7^th session of our Assembly is held in the best conditions.

Dear Colleagues,

I also hope that, as in the past, our proceedings will be held in an atmosphere of serenity, and that we shall arrive at conclusions that will serve our noble cause of ACP-EU partnership.

I thank you for your kind attention.