European Parliament
-23/24 April: Committee on Industry, Research and Energy
-23/24 April: Committee on Foreign Affairs
-23/24 April: Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
-23/24 April: Committee on Fisheries
-24/25 April: Committee on International Trade
-24/25 April: Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
Council of Ministers
-25 April: COREPER I
-25 April: COREPER II
-24 April : General Affairs Council (GAC) (Luxembourg)
ACP Group
-23/24 April: 2nd Meeting of Experts in charge of ACP-EU Dialogue on Migration
-25 April: Meeting of the ACP-EC Development Finance Cooperation
-25 April: W/G on the Future perspectives of the ACP Group
-25 April: African Union
-26/27 April:  SEDT Department
Research events
-23/24 April: 7th Regional Briefing “Building resilience in small island economies: from vulnerabilities to opportunities” (Mauritius)
-23/27 April: The 10th meeting of the International Resource Panel

You can also read our newspaper “CTA Brussels Daily” (fed by our Twitter account), follow our new Facebook group CTABrussels and our Twitter account CTABrussels to receive up-to-date information on EU-ACP events.

Several weeks ago, the Brussels development Briefing on Small Island economies was held with great success. As a follow-up, the CTA and its partners, and in collaboration with the Mauritius Government, are organising the 7th Regional Development Briefing. The event, which  will be held in Mauritius  on 23-24th April 2012, will gather representatives from the Pacific, the Caribbean and Africa to exchange views and identify what urgent and concrete policy actions of common interest need to be in place.
The Briefing will be intended to share knowledge on the main challenges and opportunities of the small island economies, notably in key areas such as trade, climate change and natural disasters, as well as new economic opportunities for rural areas (new markets, green growth, services, ICTS...).
The Regional Briefings are linked to the Brussels Development Briefings that CTA, the European Commission (DG DEVCO), the ACP Secretariat , Concord (the Platform of European Development NGOs) as well as various media partners, organise every two months since 2007 on key issues affecting Rural Development.

The event will be webstreamed live

According to a recent report by European Dignity Watch, two of the world’s largest abortion providers, namely International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and Marie Stopes International, have received funding from the EU’s development aid budget for projects related to Sexual and Reproductive Health, including abortions, among other projects.

According to the European Commission, since the end of the post-election crisis in 2011, new resources have been mobilized to help the EU's total aid for the Ivory Coast reach more than € 600 million, covering the period from 2008 to 2013. The EU has actively supported the country's economic recovery and national reconciliation. Particular attention is being paid to infrastructure-building, transportation, governance, justice, rural development, vocational training and social sectors, notably health and education.

European Parliament
-17/20 April: EP Plenary Session (Strasbourg)
European Commission
-16 April: EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit (Brussels)
Council of Ministers
-18 April: COREPER I
-18/19 April: COREPER II
-18/20 April : Informal meeting of Ministers for Energy and Environment (TTE and ENVI)
ACP Group
-16 April: Management meeting
-17 April: Bureau of the Committee of Ambassadors
-19/20 April: 3rd meeting of the ACP-EU Natural Disaster Facilities

You can also read our newspaper “CTA Brussels Daily” (fed by our Twitter account), follow our new Facebook group CTABrussels and our Twitter account CTABrussels to receive up-to-date information on EU-ACP events.

During the last Brussels Briefing, entitled ‘Small island economies: from vulnerabilities to opportunities’, we met Pierre Encontre, Chief of Special Programmes, Division for Africa, Least Developed countries and Special Programmes, UNCTAD. He spoke to us about the key discussions of the UNCTAD Expert Group that met in December 2011, and which focused on the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).  He points to a specific policy for this group as the main course of action to address vulnerabilities “more effectively”.

Last week, the Brussels development Briefing on Small Island economies was held with great success. As a follow-up, the CTA and its partners, and in collaboration with the Mauritius Government, are organising the 7th Regional Development Briefing. The event, which  will be held in Mauritius on 23-24th April 2012, will gather representatives from the Pacific, the Caribbean and Africa to exchange views and identify what urgent and concrete policy actions of common interest need to be in place.

With the aim of promoting Caribbean and European researchers' mobility, as well as encouraging contacts between research institutions for joint participation in the Seventh Framework Programme, EUCARINET, ("Fostering EU‐Caribbean Research and Innovation Networks") has recently launched a call for proposals for its programme Travel Grant Scheme.

Following the fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa and the EU, held in Adis Abebam,Ethiopia, both parties agreed to grow ties and work together for stability in the Horn of Africa. In particular, they discussed the IGAD's revitalization and reform process, as well as the EU Strategic Framework for the region.

European Parliament
10 April: Committee on Foreign Affairs
ACP Group
13 April: ACP-EU S/C on Trade Cooperation
13 April: 4th meeting on ACP-EU Dialogue on Migration

You can also read our newspaper “CTA Brussels Daily” (fed by our Twitter account), follow our new Facebook group CTABrussels and our Twitter account CTABrussels to receive up-to-date information on EU-ACP events.