Maldives (Commonwealth Union)_ During the 10th Summit of Heads of State and Government of OACPS held in Luanda, Angola, OACPS member nations backed the decision to approve the Maldives government’s application to join as a full member of the organization. Accordingly, the OACPS granted the archipelago nation full membership status. Hence, Maldives has joined the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) as a full member.
Maldives became the newest member of OACPS with the agreement of its other members, making the island country the organization’s eightieth member. As the President’s Special Envoy, Abdulla Shahid, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, headed the group of top government officials at the conference. Maldives agreed to the Revised Georgetown Agreement of the OACPS, which details all the commitments needed of its member nations upon ratification of membership.
Foreign Minister Shahid submitted the Instrument of Accession during a ceremony held in conjunction with the conference. The Maldives submitted an application to join OACPS as a full member in November 2021, and the People’s Majlis accepted the application on 23 March 2022. In June 2022, the OACPS gave the Maldives “Observer Status”. Joining the OACPS would provide further opportunity for the Maldives to enhance its diplomatic connections with African, Caribbean, and Pacific nations. It would also enable the Maldives to play a bigger role in international forums on matters of national importance, such as climate change and environmental challenges, and provide additional opportunities to acquire finance for development initiatives.
In addition, joining the organization will boost the Maldives’ relationships with OACPS and European Union (EU) institutions, as well as increase opportunities for the nation. As a result, this will ease the procedure of getting Schengen permits for Maldivians as well as negotiations on the cost of Maldivian fish exports. President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih requested People’s Majlis approval to join OACPS in January 2022 and a total of 29 legislators in the parliament voted in favor of the proposal.
