Dr Paul Engel, Director of ECDPM, is our guest. ECDPM is a Center established in 1986 as an independent foundation to promote ACP-EU cooperation, ECDPM facilitates improved international cooperation between the EU and its Southern partners in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, based in Maastricht (The Netherlands). On the occasion of his participation in the Brussels Development Briefing on opportunities for SMEs in agriculture in ACP countries, Mr. Engel tells of ECDPM, particularly the role played by the Center on a series of arguments all very current: trade, regional integration, governance and research. Mr. Engel also expressed his views on a very important issue in the current policy agenda: the Policy Coherence for Development.

The post is restricted to nationals from the Eastern Africa Region of the ACP States. CTA is an ACP-EU organisation established under the Lomé Convention, now succeeded by the Cotonou Agreement, between the EU and 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states. CTA’s tasks are to develop and provide services that improve access to information for agricultural and rural development, and to strengthen the capacity of ACP countries to produce, acquire, exchange and utilise information in these areas. The Centre is based in Wageningen (The Netherlands). All information and details on the positions are to be found on CTA’s Website: http://www.cta.int

CTA contributed to the 4th edition of the European Development Days (Stockholm, 22-24 October) by organizing a Roundtable on “Global Land Acquisition: trends and challenges”, held on 22nd October 2009. Speakers examined the new challenges posed by global agricultural land acquisitions and discussed the need to promote responsible international investments in agriculture by agreeing a minimum set of principles and measures to coordinate the large-scale transnational land deals. Around 300 people attended the Round table bringing different views, which ranged from multilateral organizations, to farmers organizations, NGOs and food net importer countries like Japan. CTA  also sponsored the participation of 30 ACP experts to the event. Furthermore CTA and ACP partner organisations had the opportunity to showcase their  products and services on 12 stands in the DevelopmentVillage.

The 2971st External Relations Council meeting held in Luxembourg on 27 October 2009 expressed its concern over the security situation in parts of the Sahel region, in particular in Mauritania, Mali and Niger. The Council recognized the serious challenges that the governments of the region face and the need for: strengthening the presence of the State, fostering development and good governance, combating trafficking of arms, drugs and persons and addressing the impact of climate change. Recent events indicate that the region runs the risk of becoming a safe haven for terrorist networks and activities.