Introduction

The 9th Conference of the Parties to the Convention for Cooperation in the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the West and Central African Region (Abidjan Convention) is scheduled to take place from 28 March to 1 April 2011 in Accra, Ghana.

Participants from the 22 countries which have in common the Atlantic Coast of Africa will meet for one week to debate and make decisions on issues which are relevant to the wise use of marine and coastal resources from Mauritania to South Africa.

The last two meetings of the Contracting Parties to the Convention (COP8 and MOP1), which took place in November 2007 and June 2008 respectively, paved the way for the revitalization of the Abidjan Convention. COP9 will give the Contracting Parties the opportunity to review the progress made over the last 2 years to revitalize the Convention and strengthen its Secretariat, and also analyze the challenges ahead to consolidate and reinforce the unique legal and institutional framework meant to support the protection and development of the marine and coastal environmental issues on the Atlantic Coast of Africa.

As indicated in the provisional agenda, the COP9 will be organized around three axes.

• Firstly, progress in the implementation of previous COP’s decisions will be shared with the Convention partners, who will also be given the opportunity to give their opinion on the proposed 2012-2015 Convention Programme of Work. Partners will also be invited to indicate the activities which they are planning to implement in the framework of the Convention during the 4 years to come and to comment on the proposed draft decisions submitted to the COP9 for deliberation and adoption. This session is of paramount importance as it will serve as a platform to reinforce the collaboration between the organizations which play an important role in the sustainable management of marine and coastal resources in the region and the Parties to the Abidjan Convention, as well as its Secretariat.
• The second axe around which the discussions of COP9 will be articulated is the experts meeting, which will bring together experts from Contracting Parties to deliberate on the review of progress made in the implementation of COP8 and MOP1 decisions from a governmental perspective. They will also discuss COP9 draft decisions and 2012-2015 draft Work Programme and other issues relevant to the effective implementation of the Abidjan Convention such as;
  1. issues related to oil exploration and exploitation,
  2. the partnerships needed to revitalize the implementation of the Convention,
  3. the financial matters,
  4. the opportunity to create a body within the Convention which will deal with science and technology issues,
  5. the finalization of the revised text of the Convention and,
  6. the need for additional protocols to the Convention (i.e., LBSA and biodiversity).
• Finally, the last segment of COP9 will be devoted to high level governmental discussions during which the Ministers will decide on the way forward for the Convention and its Secretariat for the four years to come. More...

Pre-session Documents		Previous session
Working Documents  Information Documents   Further resources  Photo gallery: Day 1 Logistics and information for delegates   COP9 Registration form Background   Background: Conference of Parties (COP)  Text of the Convention  Abidjan Convention Protocol		MOP1: Johannesburg, South Africa, 9-10 June 2008   COP8: Johannesburg, South Africa, 5th - 8th November, 2007   COP7 : Libreville, Gabon, 22-23 March, 2005   COP6 : Cote d'Ivoire, Abidjan, 16 - 17 May, 2002   COP5: Accra, Ghana, 20 - 24 March, 2000