Crisis in Mali and Somalia on the menu of the ACP-EU parliamentary meeting

The ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) will meet from 27 to 29 November in Paramaribo (Suriname) to debate the current situation in Mali and the response to the political and humanitarian crisis in Somalia. The plenary debates will be preceded over the weekend and on Monday by meetings of the JPA standing committees and the womens’ forum.

The debates will also focus on ICT-based entrepreneurship, the necessity of access to energy and the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals. Members of the European Parliament and their counterparts from national parliaments of African, Caribbean and Pacific states are also set to discuss the instability and insecurity in the Great Lakes Region.

The formal sitting of the 24th ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly will be opened by its co-presidents Louis Michel (ALDE, BE) and Musikari Kombo (Kenya), in the presence of the Speaker of the National Assembly of Suriname Jennifer Geerlings-Simmons.

Media information

Press conference with the Co-presidents of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly - Louis Michel and Musikari Kombo - is scheduled for Thursday, 29 November at about 17.00 after the votes, in the plenary hall.

Venue

Kamer van Koophandel en Fabrieken (KKF) (Chamber of Commerce & Industry), Prof. W.J.A. Kernkampweg 37, Paramaribo – Suriname

Note to editors:

The parliamentarians of the 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific states meet their European Parliament counterparts in plenary session for one week twice a year. The Joint Parliamentary Assembly meets alternately in an ACP country and in the Member State holding the rotating EU presidency.