Press release

6th summit of ACP Heads of State and Government

September 30, 2008
StateHouse

A Seychelles’ delegation led by Minister Patrick Pillay is attending the 6th Summit of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries Heads of State and Governments, which is taking place from the 30th September to 3rd October 2008 in Accra, Ghana.

The theme of this year’s summit is “Promoting Human Security and Development”.

> The Minister for Foreign Affairs is being accompanied by Ambassador Barry Faure and Mr. Philippe Michaud, Technical Advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 6th Summit will provide an opportunity for ACP leaders to exchange views on some key issues relevant to the theme, including on recent and ongoing developments of considerable implications for human progress.

These are:
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
– mid-term review; Rising Food Prices (and its impact on the Development of ACP States) Energy, Climate Change and the future of the ACP Group itself.

An important result of this summit is the adoption of the Ghana declaration, which affirms the ACP member States and the EU’s commitment towards Human Security and Development.

The ACP Group of States comprises of 79 member states and was established by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975.

The Group was originally created with the aim of coordinating cooperation between its members and the European Union.

Its main objective was to negotiate and implement cooperation agreements with the European Community.

Over the years, the Group extended its range of activities.

Since then, cooperation among its members has evolved beyond development cooperation with the European Union and covers a variety of fields spanning trade, economics, politics and culture, in diverse international fora such as the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The ACP Summit is one of the largest gatherings of world leaders, besides the United Nations General Assembly.

The ACP Summit brings together leaders from three different continents, and is held every two years.

It is the supreme organ of the Group and defines the Group’s general policy orientation.