European Parliament

10 - 12 April: Committee Meeting

Council of the EU and European Council

12 April : Coreper I and II

Senior experts and policymakers presented important lessons and opportunities for African countries to strengthen linkages between rural and urban areas at a Brussels Briefing which took place on Monday 20th March 2017. The event, held under the title of “Strengthening rural livelihoods in the face of rapid urbanisation in Africa”, attracted a wide audience of over 130 participants representing the ACP and EU diplomatic and development communities present at the ACP Secretariat, and an online audience of over 100 following via Webstream. It was organised by CTA, in partnership with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Development Agency (GIZ), the Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation of the European Commission (EC/DEVCO), the ACP Secretariat and Concord (the European NGO confederation for Relief and Development).

The CTA Brussels News Service is providing EU-ACP policy news since 2004, on various key thematic areas. In addition to this news service, we also provide news on ACP intra-regional trade, and south-south cooperation (investments of emerging countries' in agriculture in the ACP regions). The main stories for the week are featured in our newsletter and all stories can be found in our Regional Trade and the South-South cooperation sections.

PACIFIC regionalism plays an important role in effectively addressing the challenges and threats faced in the Pacific Region. This was one of the issues that were highlighted at the European Union Regional Pacific Seminar held in Suva on Saturday. Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat secretary general, Dame Meg Taylor said the Framework for Pacific Regionalism, endorsed by forum leaders in 2014, represented forum leaders' renewed emphasis on regionalism, as a means to achieve regions development goals and aspirations. "We face common threats arising from climate change, ever encroaching sea levels, and more frequent and more intense disasters from natural and man-made hazard risks," she said.

On 20 March, the Government of Ireland announced a contribution of €3 million to the UN Humanitarian Pooled Fund in Sudan. The funding ($3.3 million) to the Sudan Humanitarian Fund (SHF) will be used to provide life-saving assistance through UN and NGO partners, based on the needs of vulnerable people facing conflict, forced to leave their homes, and with insufficient food to feed their families, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan reports in its latest weekly bulletin.