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Extraordinary Meeting of the Contracting
Parties to the Abidjan Convention |
The Extraordinary Meeting
of the Contracting Parties to the Abidjan Convention
held at the International Convention
Centre, Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa
It is well known that the Abidjan Convention
area covers some of the most productive coastal
and marine ecosystems in the world, rich in oil,
gas and mineral resources and with a great potential
for tourism. The coastal zones of the convention
area are hubs for intense socio-economic activities,
centres of human settlements, transport, industrial
and commercial activities.
In November 2007 the Abidjan Convention held
its 8th Meeting of the Contracting Parties (COP
8) in Johannesburg South Africa. During COP8,
the Contracting Parties to the Abidjan Convention,
adopted decision CP8/8 to revitalize the Convention
to ensure its effective implementation and established
a Working Group comprising the members of the
Convention Bureau, namely: South Africa, Gambia,
Senegal and Ghana, to oversee the revitalization
process. The Contracting Parties also requested
the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) to facilitate the preparation
of a set of recommendations and an action plan
for a phased transfer of the Secretariat to the
Convention from Nairobi to Cote d’Ivoire
which would ultimately lead to full ownership
by the Contracting Parties.
The Contracting Parties further agreed to hold
an Extraordinary Meeting of the Contracting Parties
Session back-to-back with the 12th Session of
the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment
(AMCEN) in Johannesburg in June 2008 to consider
and decide on the recommendations for revitalizing
the Abidjan Convention.
Final Report of the Report of the first extraordinary
meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Abidjan
Convention held in Johannesburg, South Africa,
9-10 June 2008
English
Background information to the Extraordinary
Meeting
In response to the request UNEP, in collaboration
with the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Senegal
Office undertook a study and consulted on the
revitalization of the Convention.
Stakeholders Meeting, Dakar, Senegal
Between 1 and 3 April 2008, UNEP organized a
stakeholders meeting in Dakar, Senegal to review
the findings of the study and make appropriate
recommendations. The 3 Commissions of the large
marine ecosystems projects, namely, Canary, Benguela
and Guinea and other key stakeholders implementing
marine and coastal programmes and projects in
the Convention area were widely consulted and
involved in making the recommendations.
Bureau Meeting to the Convention, Dakar,
Senegal
Subsequently, the Bureau to the Convention held
a meeting in Dakar on 10 May 2008, reviewed the
recommendations and prepared draft decisions for
consideration by the Extraordinary Meeting of
the Contracting Parties.
The draft decisions are focused on:
- enhancing institutional arrangements and collaboration,
- promoting ratifications/accessions to the
Convention,
- reviewing the mandate and objectives of the
Convention,
- transferring the Secretariat functions from
Nairobi to Abidjan,
- improving contributions to the trust fund
and funding for the Convention, and
- an action plan for the revitalization process.
Extraordinary Meeting, Johannesburg,
South Africa
This Extraordinary Meeting therefore considered
the draft decisions from the Bureau as well as
agreed on measures to transform the Convention
into a tool for sustainable utilization of coastal
and marine resources for socio-economic growth
in the Convention area. The outcome of the Extraordinary
Meeting will serve as the framework for revitalizing
the Abidjan Convention.
An Extraordinary Experts Meeting attended by
National Focal Points to the Abidjan Convention
and further reviewed the draft decisions prepared
by the Bureau and the mentioned Extraordinary
Meeting of the Contracting Parties was held at
the International Convention Centre in Committee
Room 2 on 10 June from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm.
The Republic of South Africa was the Chair of
the Bureau to the Convention. The Ministers of
Environment from the Contracting Parties countries
of Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Congo, Cote d’Ivoire,
Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Togo attending
the 12th AMCEN Session attended the Extraordinary
Meeting. Also invited to attend and participate
were the Ministers of Environment from the 8 non-contracting
Parties countries of Angola, Cape Verde, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau,
Mauritania, Namibia and Sao Tome and Principe.
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