The 79-member African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States on Wednesday urged “vigorous support” for the United Nations in what it regards a “turbulent” global environment. ” Vigorous support for the United Nations to advance multilateralism will loom large in all the programmes and projects of the ACP in 2019,” ACP Secretary General, Dr. P. I. Gomes told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). The Guyana-born Secretary General said that in a turbulent global environment and increasing violence of regional and civil conflicts, “strong and unequivocal action by the UN system is needed now more than ever. “This will require multilateral institutions and organisations to put their house in order and have clearly-defined goals that are pursued in strategic and systematic ways,” he added. The diplomat said that areas such as peace-keeping and the fight against terrorism, for instance, in the Sahel region in Africa, should result in UN efforts geared to engaging in collaborative and complementary actions with regional and national initiatives. Late last year, the ACP Council of Ministers condemned the growing spread of armed conflict against innocent civilians, especially women and children, in countries such as Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. The Council also called for urgent attention to the economic, social and cultural needs of the impoverished communities. Gomes said that the ACP, with assistance from the European Development Fund (EDF), will mount development finance projects for job creation, skills development and cultural activities of film making and music in the Sahel region that complement military and security interventions. He said the ACP also intends in 2019, to join forces with like-minded countries in concerted actions at the global level to redress the illicit financial flows from exploitation of commodities and enterprises in developing countries.

Source: ACP Secretariat