Three anti-rights groups based in the global north are leading an attack on the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement (hereafter, the Agreement)—the governing system of development cooperation for aid and trade between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) group of states. As the ACP-EU countries prepare to finalize the renewal of the economic agreement, Christian Council International (CCI), Family Watch International (FWI), and Political Network for Values (PNfV) are taking issue with EU efforts to include protective language on human rights, and specifically sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). They are also connecting at the national level, particularly on the African continent, with local anti-rights groups to undermine the Agreement by targeting regional bodies like the African Union and the East African Legislative Assembly, as well as relevant line ministries in their countries. Anti-rights organizations have consistently attacked human rights policies and resolutions based on objections to language protecting SRHR. However, their expansion into transnational economic agreements is a new and concerning focus. It signals their ambitions to eviscerate rights and protections in areas where they do not historically work. The mission creep of anti-rights actors falls squarely among the broad, rising tensions in multilateral negotiations, particularly around issues such as gender, SRHR, and LGBTI rights at the United Nations. They are not only attacking progressive language to expand protections for marginalized populations, but, as evinced with this Agreement, are actively working to undermine agreed-upon SRHR language.

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The Other Americans: CPAC Comes to Latin America – in The Progressive

US Christian Right Spend $75 Million Globally on Anti-Abortion and Anti-LGBTIQ Activism Since 2015 – in ByLine Times

US Christian Right Groups Spent $20 Million in Africa Since 2015 – in ByLine Times