The Gambia to chair ACP CoA from February to July 2020
Brussels 07 February 2020/ACP: H.E. Mrs. Teneng Mba Jaiteh, Ambassador of the Republic of The Gambia will preside over the Committee of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Ambassadors in Brussels for the coming six-month period of 1 February – 31July 2020. The rotating leadership of the Committee of Ambassadors fell to the West African region, which designated The Gambia to serve as Chair. The Gambia will also concurrently assume the Presidency of the ACP Council of Ministers.
Gambia previously represented the region on the Bureau from February to July 2019.The new Chair takes the post at a crucial moment of transition as the senior management of the Secretariat will complete their five-year term and the new Secretary General, H.E. Georges Rebelo Chikoti of Angola comes into office on 1 March 2020.
In the handing-over ceremony on the 4th of February 2020, Ambassador Jaiteh thanked the outgoing members of the Bureau as well as the outgoing Chair, Ambassador Joshua Kalinoe of Papua New Guinea for his leadership during the previous six months. She also welcomed the new members of the Bureau of the Committee of Ambassadors.
For the current term, the Bureau comprises: The Ambassador of Seychelles, H.E Mrs. Beryl Shirley Samson (East Africa); Ambassador of Guinea Bissau, Mr. Apolinário Mendes de Carvalho (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 Jamaica, H.E. Mrs. Sheila Sealy Monteith (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 ACP regions, as well as a Troika comprised of the current, incoming and outgoing Chairs.The Troika includes the Ambassadors of Papua New Guinea and The Gambia, as well as the Ambassador of Seychelles, , from the Eastern African region, which will be next to hold the presidency.
The Committee of Ambassadors is an important decision-making body of the ACP Group of States, 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 ACP Council of Ministers. 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.