Tanzania takes over the presidency of the Bureau of the Committee of Ambassadors of the OACPS
Brussels 08 September 2020/OACPS: H.E. Mr. Jestas Abuok Nyamanga, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania, will lead the Committee of Brussels-based Ambassadors of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) for the six-month period of 1 August 2020 – 31January 2021. Nominated as the representative of the East African region, Ambassador Nyamanga takes over from outgoing chair, H.E. Mrs. Teneng Mba Jaiteh, Ambassador of the Republic of The Gambia. H.E. Prof. Palamagamba John Aidan Mwaluko Kabudi, Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of Tanzania, will also concurrently assume the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the OACPS.
The United Republic of Tanzania will be the first country to assume the leadership of the Bureau since the coming-into-force of the Georgetown Agreement and the subsequent change of name to the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States.
The new Chair took the post as the same time as the Secretariat moved to its temporary location at Rue de l’Aqueduc 118, in order to begin renovations to OACPS House and against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ushered in its own set of challenges and changes. Key items of Tanzania’s presidency, will be the finalisation of the negotiations for the post-Cotonou Agreement and the restructuring of the Secretariat of the OACPS. During the first meeting of the Bureau on 8 September 2020, the new Chair thanked the members of the outgoing Bureau and his predecessor, Amb. Jaiteh and identified the priorities of his presidency [link to article on the new chair which has these outlined].
Current Bureau
For the current term, the Bureau comprises: The Ambassador of Djibouti, H.E Mr. Omar Abdi Said (East Africa); Ambassador of Liberia, H.E. Mr. Isaac W. Nyanabo II (West Africa); Ambassador of the Republic of Congo, H.E.Mr. Léon Raphaël Mokoko (Central Africa); Ambassador of Zambia, H.E. Professor Esther Munalula Nkandu (Southern Africa); Ambassador of Suriname, H.E. Ms. Sieglien Burleson (Caribbean) and the Ambassador of Fiji, H.E. Mr. Deo Saran (Pacific).
The Bureau of the Committee of Ambassadors, which coordinates the work of the full committee, comprises one representative for each of the six regions of the OACPS, as well as a Troika comprised of the current, outgoing and incoming Chairs.The current Troika includes the Ambassadors of The United Republic of Tanzania, The Gambia and Samoa, from the Pacific region, which will be next to hold the presidency.
The Committee of Ambassadors is an important decision-making body of the OACPS, comprising one representative from each of its 79 member countries. It meets at least one a month in Brussels to monitor the implementation of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, and carry out any mandate tasked to it by the Council of Ministers of the OACPS. Much of its work is carried out through six technical sub-committees (on Political, Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs; Trade and Commodities; Investment and the Private Sector; Sustainable Development; Financing and Development; and Establishment and Finance), as well through ad-hoc working groups and task forces.