The Secretariat of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the government of 115-island Seychelles east of mainland East Africa are organizing a joint event at the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2018 – enabling Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share experiences in harnessing the blue economy and to identify areas of further development. The event will be taking place one year after Ministers in charge of Fisheries and Aquaculture in ACP countries concluded two days of comprehensive talks in Nassau, the Bahamas on September 21, 2017. They renewed commitment to developing the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in their countries, as well as unlocking the potential of the 'blue economy' through a new 'ACP Blue Growth Initiative'. More than 150 delegates from at least 60 fish-exporting countries and regions gathered to strategize on how to enhance the role of fisheries and aquaculture in their national socio-economic development. "The ACP Group remains determined to play a catalytic role to enhance the sustainable flow of benefits from the fisheries and aquaculture sectors for development of our countries. To this end, it is necessary to enhance capacity building activities, deepen our policy analysis and continuously explore ways to secure funding from our partners for this purpose," said ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick Gomes, reaffirming the important role of the sector in ensuring food and nutrition security, livelihoods, and revenues for ACP states. In the effort to stimulate development of the 'blue economy' – which engages a large range of marine-related activities, in environmentally sustainable ways – ministers agreed to allocate 40 million Euro from the Intra-ACP envelope of the European Development Fund (EDF) to the ACP Blue Growth Initiative.
Source: indepthnews.net
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