Guyana is among twenty one countries from the African, Caribbean and Pacific group that will benefit from a new European Union Development Programme.

On Tuesday, European Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, and representatives from the 21 countries co-signed the National Indicative Programmes (NIP) under the 11^th European Development Fund for the period 2014-2020 in Apia (Samoa), for a total amount of €339 million.

Guyana will benefit from a EURO 34 Million package. Guyana’s Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett signed on behalf of the Government of Guyana. Guyana’s Euro 34 Million allocation will focus mainly on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction including sea defences.

The signing ceremony took place in the margins of the UN Third International Conference on Small Islands Developing States. The list of signatory countries includes Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados,Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago) from the Caribbean Region.

 Commissioner Piebalgs said: “Today’s signatures mark the official go-ahead to continue strengthening our development cooperation with the concerned countries. These documents lay down the priorities for our joint work for the next seven years and will allow us to move ahead with the preparations of the concrete projects and programmes.”

“For the European Union it is essential that our programmes are drawn up in close cooperation with our partner countries, based on government’s’ own policies and strategies and reflecting their stated needs. This is how we ensure that programming documents really support areas where the EU can add value”, added Commissioner Piebalgs.

According to a release from the EU, the National Indicative Programmes represent an important step in the programming of EU aid. EU Member States agreed in 2013 the overall amount for development cooperation that will be channelled to 78 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries through the 11^th European Development Fund EDF during the financing period 2014-2020 (total amount €30.5 billion). The National Indicative Programmes that have been signed, define the strategy and priorities for EU aid in each particular country. These preparations are done in close cooperation with the partner countries so as to ensure that NIPs support national priorities and reflect the local context.

Filed: 2nd September 2014 

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