|
Aims and Outputs of
COP 5
|
The main direct outputs from
the Joint COPs will be decisions from each of
the Convention’s Conference of Parties,
the adoption of protocols for land based activities
and sources of pollution, and the adoption of
work programmes for 2008-2012 for each Convention.
The work programmes will be action-oriented agendas
that give a holistic overview for eco-system based
coastal and marine management in sub-Saharan Africa,
to be implemented by governments and partners
from civil society, intergovernmental agencies,
projects and the private sector.
In addition, there will be a Joint Declaration
issued to NEPAD from the Joint Heads of Delegations.
This declaration will cover the common thematic
areas that were discussed during the Conferences
and will assist in renewing and maintaining governments’
commitment to the implementation of the two Conventions
in the context of NEPAD.
Political Commitment : Gathering momentum
There is a burgeoning commitment to the Conventions,
as demonstrated by the number of ratifying countries.
By 2005, fourteen out of twenty-two countries
had ratified the Abidjan Convention. Sierra Leone
and Liberia ratified as recently as 2005, and
another three countries (Sao Tome, Mauritania,
and Cape Verde) are currently in the process of
ratifying. All of the ten countries that are signatory
to the Nairobi Convention have ratified the Convention.
The Republic of South Africa, which had been excluded
in 1985, ratified both the Nairobi and Abidjan
Conventions in 2002. The governments therefore
still see the Conventions as suitable frameworks
for managing coastal and marine issues. The Joint
COPs provide an important opportunity to reaffirm
and strengthen that political will and to increase
the visibility of the Abidjan and Nairobi Conventions,
as well as the marine and coastal component of
the NEPAD Environmental Action Plan
For further explanation regarding the rationale
behind the Joint COP, please view Introduction to the Joint COP
|
