EU signs new agreement with OACPS members; Jamaica delays signing

By Kimone Witter    

 

The European Union on Wednesday signed a new partnership agreement with the 79-member Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) that will serve as an overarching legal framework for their relations over the next 20 years.

 

The new agreement succeeds the Cotonou Agreement and will be known as the "Samoa Agreement".

 

It covers areas such as sustainable development and growth, human rights and peace and security.

 

The provisional application of the agreement will start on January 1, next year.

 

Jamaica last week announced that it would delay signing the Samoa Agreement amid concerns from local Christian group, the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society, that the proposed deal will bind Jamaica to undefined human rights obligations tied to trade sanction.

 

The Foreign Affairs Ministry said the delay is to facilitate ongoing consultations.

 

Speaking Wednesday on TVJ's Smile Jamaica, Advocacy Officer for the Coalition, Philippa Davies, said the group and other local non-government organisations have been seeking since 2021, a position statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry on the meaning of the words human rights, gender, sexual and reproductive health and rights, hate speech and non-discrimination in the context of the Samoa Agreement. 

 

"So what we have said to foreign affairs for the last 27 months, can you please say exactly what these words mean? We know what the EU intends. We know what they have said in their various resolutions and policy documents. What do you understand these words to mean? Was there an agreement and or a meeting of a mind? If what you say conflicts with what your partner has said, where is the public statement that this is not going to be brought into Jamaican law and policy?"  

 

Fifteen civil society organisations and 21 individuals have signed a statement urging the government to sign the Samoa Agreement.

 

Civil Society advocate Carol Narcisse argued that the claims of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society are not consistent with the agreement as all the rights are clearly defined. 

 

However, Ms. Davis pushed back, questioning whether in the case of gender discrimination, the term 'gender' was defined as "male and female or is it men who feel that they're women and women who feel that they're men". 

 

The latter, she said, is how the EU defines gender whereas Jamaica's definition is consistent with the former. 

 

Ms. Narcisse conceded this fact, but contended that "that's why we have our own laws". 

 

Still, Ms. Davis maintained that the discrepancy is why the Jamaican goverment must clearly define these terms and declare its position.