The Ministers’ meeting followed a meeting of experts in Accra on 25-26 June attended by representatives from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea Conakry, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. Also in attendance were representative of the Secretariats of NEPAD, the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), UNEP and the Interim Secretariat of the NEPAD Environment Programme-Senegal (SINEPAD).

The objective of the meeting of experts was to consider a draft document on the West Africa Sub-Regional Environment Action Plan and submit recommendations for consideration and adoption by the Ministers.

The Action Plan was presented by Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong, Environment Advisor to the NEPAD Secretariat and Coordinator of the UNEP/GEF NEPAD capacity building programme.

She informed the meeting that sub-regional environmental action plans had been developed for each of the five sub-regions of Africa using the same process and similar structures as the continent-wide action plan for the environment initiative of NEPAD adopted by the African Union Summit in Maputo, Mozambique in July, 2003.

After her presentation the meeting discussed the document exhaustively and agreed to submit the resultant draft resolution to the Ministers for endorsement.

In endorsing the resolution the Ministers expressed appreciation to the United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Environment Facility for their support in the development of the NEPAD plan.

They acknowledged the role of the African Union, the NEPAD Secretariat, Regional Economic Communities and the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment in coordinating and facilitating the development of the Sub-Regional Environmental Action Plan. The Ministers urged West African countries to take measures to initiate the implementation of the plan and to integrate it into national development strategies, such as the poverty reduction strategies, as well as in national environment management strategies and action plans.

They called on the countries to provide an enabling environment for the participation of all stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society, and to make adequate national budgetary allocations for the implementation of the priority programmes of the Action Plan.

They also called on the United Nations Environment Programme and the Global Environment Facility to collaborate with the NEPAD Secretariat and the African Development Bank for resource mobilisation to support the implementation of the plan. Source : nepad, august 3, 2007