Introduction
The Convention for the
Co-operation in the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the West and Central African Region (Abidjan Convention).The Action Plan and the Abidjan Convention were adopted by the Governments in 1981; the Convention entered into force in 1984.
The Abidjan Convention covers
the marine environment, coastal zones and related
inland waters falling within the jurisdiction
of the States of the West and Central African
Region, from Mauritania to Namibia inclusive,
which have become Contracting Parties to the Convention.
The Abidjan Convention countries are: Angola,
Benin, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea,
Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia,
Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe,
Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo
The Contracting Parties
of the Convention designated Cote d’Ivoire
as the Depository, and the United Nations Environment
Programme as the Secretariat. The Regional Coordinating
Unit is based in Abidjan.
The Abidjan Convention
is a comprehensive umbrella agreement for the
protection and management of the marine and coastal
areas. It lists the sources of pollution which
require control:- pollution from ships, dumping,
land based sources, exploration and exploitation
of the sea-bed, and pollution from or through
the atmosphere.
It also identifies environmental management issues from which co-operative efforts are to be made: coastal erosion, specially protected areas, combating pollution in cases of emergency; and environmental impact assessment. There are also articles on scientific and technological co-operation and liability and compensation.
The adoption of the West and Central African regional legal agreements was facilitated by numerous technical surveys, studies and reviews prepared by UNEP with co-operation of UN, UNIDO, FAO, UNESCO, IOC, WHO, IMCO and other organizations.
Secretariat of the Abidjan Convention
The activities of the Abidjan Convention are coordinated directly by the Nairobi-based Joint Implementation Unit of the Nairobi and Abidjan Conventions and the Abidjan-based Regional Coordination Unit will increasingly be coordinated at the regional level through collaborations and partnership between the Convention and the GEF-sponsored Large Marine Ecosystem projects under implementation in the Convention area. The Convention designated Cote d’Ivoire as the Depository, and UNEP as the Secretariat. The Regional Coordinating Unit is based in Abidjan.
Armed with renewed goodwill from the Contracting Parties, together with the opportunities presented through other initiatives such as the African Process for the Development and Management of the Coastal and Marine Resources and the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD).The Abidjan Convention also hopes to learn and benefit from the family of Regional Seas programmes such as the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR) region.
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