“The Cotonou Agreement remains unique in the world, and whatever form the next partnership takes, it will have to be tailored to today’s world, and include wider civil society participation and stronger parliamentary oversight and diplomacy,” said Michèle Rivasi, EU Co-President ad interim of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA), meeting in Windhoek, Namibia, for its 31st session.

“As a school of democracy, the JPA must set an example. It remains a unique forum where all issues, including delicate ones, can be discussed,” added Ms Rivasi.

At the opening of the 31st session on Monday, 13 June 2016, Netty Baldeh, JPA Co-President for the ACP countries, joined his European counterpart in thanking the National Assembly for its welcome. Ms Rivasi highlighted the “remarkable character of Namibia, a stable multi-party democracy with ambitious renewable energy policies in the context of COP21, sustainable development and conservation of flora and fauna.”

The keynote debate for the 31st session, taking place on Tuesday, 14 June, is entitled “the future of the ACP-EU partnership Post Cotonou” and will focus on the possibilities for a new and reinforced partnership after 2020. An in-depth discussion about how partners see this long-lasting relationship between the ACP and the EU to be embedded in the next decades is timely.

The ACP Members will present their common position to be agreed at the ACP Head of States and Government summit in Port Moresby at the end of May, while the European Commission and the European External Action Service will provide an assessment study, including a scenario for the future, at the end of the year.

Although Cotonou has proven to be an exemplary agreement that has created a rich and equal partnership based on unique institutions like the Joint Parliamentary Assembly, its framework needs to be adapted to a world that has changed a lot in the past 20 years. The debate will address crucial questions such as the need to build on the Cotonou experience or to create a new framework, to enlarge the partnership, to deal more with regional organisations, and to define new goals for the future.

The changing face of conflict and global security threats

The worsening situation in several regions of the world, civil conflicts and their consequences, including massive population movements, was outlined by Ms Rivasi, who called a minute’s silence for the victims of attacks perpetrated in Orlando, USA. “Terrorism is growing dramatically and now indirectly affects Asia, Africa and Europe,” regretted Ms Rivasi. “Only effective international cooperation can put an end to terrorism and I am happy to see a strengthening of this cooperation,” stressed Mr Baldeh.

Rape and violence against women and children in armed conflicts

A country’s democratic credentials can often be judged by the situation of women in its society, suggested Ms Rivasi. “Even though women assumes a key role in the family” and could be a powerful player in “conflict resolution and prevention, this potential is not only often under-exploited” but “systematically wrecked, with the obvious consequences for the chances of lasting peace”. There must be zero tolerance for rape and sex slavery, she insisted.

Economic partnership agreements

Mr Baldeh called for economic partnership agreements between ACP and EU countries that “emphasize the development dimension”. He noted that before the economic partnership agreements (EPAs), “several regional integration initiatives were agreed among ACP countries, broadly addressing regional development requests. Some of these regional bodies have made substantial progress towards customs union,” he said, adding that “EPAs should support and strengthen this regional integration in ACP regions.”

31st ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly

Committee Reports: The Assembly will vote on Wednesday 15 June on three resolutions:

• A continental free trade area for Africa: prospects for fostering intra-African trade and potential benefits for the ACP – The Assembly will debate the project launched by the African Union in 2012 to create by 2017 a large free trade zone at the level of the African Continent, the Continental Free Trade Area. This ambitious project will boost intra-African trade and will allow Africa to take a larger share of international trade (debate on Tuesday, co-rapporteurs: Jean-Marie Bulambo (DRC) and Marielle de Sarnez (FR);

• Improving participatory governance through decentralisation and strengthening local governance – While democratic decision-making is best served through subsidiarity, effective decentralisation is often hampered by the lack of administrative capacity of public institutions. The Assembly will contribute to the reflection on how the exercise of power can best be organised, ensuring accountability of the different levels through transparency (debate on Tuesday, co-rapporteurs: James Kembi-Gitura (Kenya) and Aymeric Chauprade (FR); and

• Migration between ACP countries and EU member states: causes, consequences and strategies for common management – It is an inalienable right of any person to migrate in order to flee persecution or to search for better living conditions for him/herself and his /her loved ones. The Assembly will debate the importance of full integration of migrants, by making them aware and respectful of their new rights and obligations (debate on Tuesday, co-rapporteurs: Magnus Kofi Amoatey (Ghana) and Norbert Neuser (DE).

Urgent resolutions

Two urgent topics will be debated and concluded by resolutions:

• Pre-electoral and security situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (debate on Tuesday, vote on Wednesday), and

• Rape and violence against women and children in armed conflicts (debate and vote on Wednesday).

Women and children are the most adversely affected by armed conflict. The widespread and systematic practice of rape and violence against women and children can amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and in some cases even genocide.

The debate will address this scourge and put forward ways to put a stop to it: by pursuing and prosecuting perpetrators of such crimes, by implementing legislation to better protect women and children before, during and after conflict, and by providing adequate rehabilitation and psychological and physical healthcare support to victims.

The Assembly will debate the pre-electoral and security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo following the worrying pre-electoral conditions and the deteriorating security and human rights situation in that country. It will also echo recent reports of increasing political violence, violation of the rule of law and restrictions of fundamental freedoms and will insist on the need to fight impunity. The respect for the Constitution and the timely holding of transparent, credible and inclusive elections by November 2016 are crucial to the long-term stability and development of the country.

Other topics

MEPs and their counterparts from national parliaments of the ACP countries will discuss, without resolution, the impact of the falling price of oil and other strategic commodities on the economy of ACP countries. The changing face of conflict and global security threats – impact on world peace and stability will also be one of the topics discussed on Wednesday, 15 June.

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The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA ) brings together MEPs and MPs from 78 European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states that have signed the Cotonou Agreement, which is the basis for ACP-EU cooperation and development work.