Kenya has handed over the presidency of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) to Angola after two years at the helm of the inter-continental body.
Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Friday, December 9, handed over officially to Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço at the opening of the 10th Summit of the OACPS in the capital Luanda, on behalf of President William Ruto.
Ahead of the opening, the Deputy President held bilateral talks with the Angolan President on common areas of interest in deepening cooperation between the two countries. Mr Gachagua delivered a special message from President Ruto to President Lourenço.
Kenya took over the presidency of the 79-member organisation in 2019 when the 9th Summit was held in Nairobi. The Angolan summit marks the first physical meeting after the disruption by COVID-19.
Delivering the keynote address, Kenya lauded the OACPS for creating a diaspora engagement platform for its respective citizens.
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The diaspora community, the Deputy President said, contributes immensely to development of countries, hence the need for a structured way of engagement under the Diaspora Trade Platform for Engagement. This initiative provides a stage for exchange of ideas and good practices towards improving the socio-economic development back home.
“We welcome the creation of the OACPS Trade Platform for Engagement with the global diaspora initiatives as well as at the Nation-State level. Thank you, Secretary-General (the head of the Secretariat- which implements decisions of OACPS) for taking the necessary steps to establish OACPS global diaspora engagement mechanisms as a strategy which will be key beyond the current challenges,” Gachagua stated.
The platform, which was launched on December 7, 2022 ahead of the Summit, will facilitate interregional and international cooperation on policies, good practices on diaspora engagement for mutual benefit of the Member States.
It will also allow for strengthening of the triangular cooperation programmes for peer learning between and among the members besides facilitating global consultations on social, economic, and cultural fields. In this regard, members will also receive targeted technical assistance.
“The theme of the 10th Summit, “3 Continents, 3 Oceans, 1 Common Destiny: Building a resilient and sustainable OACPS” is a great breather by Member States towards resilience and economic diversification to attain economic independence,” he said.
The Deputy President identified COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine as some of the global challenges which have amplified poverty levels, inequality gaps and debt burden particularly among the lower middle-income countries which require adequate fiscal space.
“We need a mutually agreed upon criterion for categorizing middle income countries noting that majority of them continue to contend with several development challenges and are unable to access the much-needed concessional finance. The imperative of reconsidering the international financial architecture that allow for all developing countries access concessional loans, grants and other forms of financing proportionate to their needs is real,” he said.
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