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ACP Civil Society Forum

ACP CSF

Our aims are: · To promote, facilitate and enhance the vital contributions of regional and national grassroots, community based and other civil society organizations, who work for the benefit of the people of the ACP states and regions. · To work together with EU actors and organisations in accordance with article 5 of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement, the Cotonou Agreement, in order to provide more information and create greater awareness of the ACP-EU Partnership, encourage partnership and build links between ACP and EU actors, strengthen networking and exchange of expertise and experience among the ACP-EU actors; . according to the Cotonou Agreement articles 4-7: active involvement of ACP civil society as actors of the ACP-EU cooperation, programming and funding, to be provided with financial resources in order to support local development processes and be involved in the implementation of cooperation project and programmes in areas that concern them or where these act (...)

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Marc Angel (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Nov 2025 · Human Rights situation in El Salvador

Meeting with Thomas Waitz (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Oct 2024 · Zivilgesellschaftsstärkung

Meeting with Pedro Silva Pereira (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Mar 2022 · Conference on the Future of Europe

Response to Joint Communication: "The European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean: A renewed partnership"

25 Mar 2018

ACP Civil Society Forum’s Contribution to the EU LAC consultation ‘Towards a renewed partnership’ ACP Civil Society Forum as the official ACP Civil Society organizations platform for the ACP EU cooperation since 2001, representing wide networks of ACP (Africa, Caribbean, Pacific) civil society organizations, would like to raise a few issues that are relevant to Caribbean Civil Society in the EU-Caribbean Civil Society relations, contributing to the consultation about the EU’s review of its relations with Latin America and the Caribbean. We would like to stress that any future EU engagement with the Caribbean should take into account that the Caribbean States are Small and Vulnerable States that have become more vulnerable and fragile over the last 15 years despite the cooperation with the EU and due to environmental/ecological vulnerability, climate change, high exposure to natural hazards, limited land resources, geographic remoteness and isolation, limited diversification and very open economies, high costs of basic infrastructure and air travel. The EPA should be renegotiated, especially in the light of the expiration of the Cotonou Agreement as stated in Article 246 par. 3 CF EU EPA: The Parties agree that this Agreement may need to be reviewed in the light of the expiration of the Cotonou Agreement. The main challenges for Caribbean small states include low growth, high debt and reducing vulnerabilities from natural disasters. Many Caribbean economies face high and rising debt. Free trade agreements such as the EPA are not helping the economies of the Caribbean states, who are classified as middle-income or higher, but in fact are poor and fragile. Focusing merely on national income ratios ignores the extreme vulnerabilities confronting the Caribbean States, which typically have populations of less than half a million, only some more than 1.5 m (Jamaica). The unilateral blacklisting of the Small and Vulnerable Caribbean countries as non-cooperative taks jurisdictions is also hampering the economic growth of the Caribbean countries and should be reviewed. The significant reputational damage inflicted on member states from their inclusion in the list of ‘non-cooperative tax jurisdictions’ published by the European Union Council in December 2017 as well as other unilateral processes which label member states as ‘tax havens’, are actions occurring outside of the established global inclusive processes which CARICOM states have endorsed and in which they continue to participate, often at significant cost, to advance the implementation of agreed international standards domestically. Key component of building the region’s resilience is the strengthening of infrastructure, mechanisms of resilience to the effects of climate change and the management of natural disasters in the Caribbean, Experiences of the Caribbean Civil Society working with the EU Delegations: The EU bilateral and regional relations with Caribbean has been significant over recent years. This support has been seen not only at Governmental levels but also among CSOs as was seen at the recent Human Rights & Civil Society Grants Award Ceremony 2018 and held by the Delegation of the European Union to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean States and CARICOM. Fay A. Best, BSc Policy Advisor, Network Advisor, ACP Civil Society Forum Secretariat Barbados BANGO Address: #10 Garrison, St. Michael BARBADOS Mobile: 1 (246) 841-9690 Email: bango.webmaster@gmail.com Joyce Naar, LLM Global Legal Advisor, Brussels Representative ACP Civil Society Forum Kleine Wouwer 50/10, 1860 MEISE, Belgium. Mob: 00-32-479 612192.
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