Jamaica will delay signing a major funding agreement with the European Union amid concerns from a local Christian group that the proposed deal “will bind Jamaica to undefined human rights obligations tied to trade sanction”.

The update from the Foreign Affairs and Foreign Ministry came Friday evening, five days before Jamaica was due to join members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) in inking the Samoa Agreement, to replace the Cotonou arrangement that ended in 2020.

The ministry said the delay is to facilitate ongoing consultations.

In a statement Thursday, the lobby Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society argued that the Government was set to sign the new 20-year- agreement despite repeated calls by several citizens groups “to the glaring danger of multiple clauses” in the deals relating to the broader group and the Caribbean, in particular.

It said one clause would “reintroduce Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) back into schools despite parents’ outrage in 2012 with regards to CSE’s sexualizing content” while another would “demand the acceptance of terms that directly threaten citizens’ freedom of conscience and speech”.

“For 27 months, the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society and seven other Jamaican NGO’s have been impressing upon the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade to take heed of the obvious threats to Jamaica’s national sovereignty in the current language of the agreement,” the coalition’s statement said.

“We are not alone in warning our government about the dangers of this agreement” said coalition Chairman, Dr Wayne West. “The Government of Namibia has this week wisely pulled out of signing the agreement. They cited similar concerns to the Jamaican NGOs as well as their suspicion of the alleged removal by the EU, after negotiations were closed, of a provision allowing reservations by countries. This questionable action needs to be explained and challenged.”

Foreign Affairs and Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said throughout the “challenging” negotiations ,which concluded in 2021, the Government “had taken on board the views of the various stakeholders including members of civil society”.

“The Government was satisfied that the language of the text in the final agreement would not supersede Jamaica’s domestic legislation,” she said, adding that the Government has taken note of continued local concerns.

“So, we will continue consultations with the aim of providing assurances regarding the Government’s unfailing intent to always protect the interest of Jamaica and Jamaicans with the laws of Jamaica as our guide,” the minister said.

The signing of the Samoa Agreement will follow meetings of the OACPS and OACPS-EU Ministerial Councils in Samoa.

“Jamaica, in line with our tradition of active engagement and partnership within the OACPS and with the European Union, will therefore participate in the meetings of the Ministerial Councils as customary, and which are slated to be held in Samoa during the period 14-15 November 2023”, Johnson Smith said.

She further explained that the Samoa Agreement is the successor to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, the principal development framework through which Jamaica and other OACPS states have obtained grant funding from the European Union (EU), since the year 2000.

The EU is Jamaica’s largest multilateral grant donor. Parties to the Samoa Agreement stand to benefit from new financial and technical cooperation programmes.

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