SWAC News: June-September 2008

DIRECTOR'S EDITORIAL

The Accra Action Plan for Aid Effectiveness will contribute to the implementation of the Paris Declaration. Shortly after the Accra Forum, the attention is already focused on the next step in 2010. We now have two years to promote along with our partners the regional approach within international development aid practices. The revision process of the Food Aid Charter is in my view a concrete example of how aid effectiveness can be improved through regional co-operation. >> read on...

SWAC STRATEGY AND POLICY GROUP MEETING (SPG)

SWAC Headquarters, 16 June 2008

This SPG meeting focused on the SWAC’s role and its financial future. The SWAC’s financial contributors requested the implementation of the SWAC's restructuring plan. They emphasised that this restructuration is necessary to ensure the SWAC’s future within the OECD.

REGIONAL AID EFFECTIVENESS

As a SWAC contribution to the 3rd High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held from 2 to 4 September in Accra (Ghana), the SWAC prepared a proposal for an OECD Pilot Initiative on Regional Co-operation as a Tool for Improving Aid Effectiveness. The SWAC Briefing Note presents nine action proposals that would focus on a pilot region (West Africa), aiming to produce short-term, measurable results. Outcomes could also feed into more general strategic thinking on regional aid effectiveness.

> Accra Forum

TOWARDS A REVISED FOOD AID CHARTER

In response to the Food Crisis Prevention Network's (RPCA) recommendation, the SWAC and the CILSS are facilitating the revision process of the Food Aid Charter. Initially adopted by CILSS member states and SWAC contributing members in 1990, the Code of Good Conduct in Food Crisis Prevention and Management needed to be adapted to the new food security context and expand its geographic coverage to the whole West African region. This draft version will serve as a basis for discussions with various actors in order to reach a consensus and adopt the revised Food Aid Charter.

CHILD LABOUR IN THE WEST AFRICAN COCOA SECTOR

At the initiative of the Belgium Development Co-operation Directorate, in collaboration with several Development Co-operations Agencies, the SWAC has launched collaborative work on “Child Labour in the West African Cocoa Sector”. The initiative shall bring together all involved actors (West African governments, interested OECD countries, private sector representatives, West African producer associations, NGOs, etc.) to stimulate dialogue and seek regional solutions.

MIGRATION

As an input to the Second EU-Africa Ministerial Conference on “Migration and Development” (scheduled from 20 to 21 October 2008 in Paris), the SWAC is preparing two OECD publications on “West African Mobility and Migration Policies of OECD Countries” (October 2008) and “Regional Stakes of West African Migration” (November 2008). By providing information and analyses on migration issues (setting up of a regional database on migration, thematic analyses, mapping studies, etc.), the SWAC is facilitating a strategic thinking process that led to the approval of the "ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration".

SWAC/ECOWAS Workshop

Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), 3-5 June 2008

ECOWAS and the SWAC held a regional workshop launching a process to develop a community post-conflict and development policy in West Africa. The regional policy shall provide the community with an effective response capacity not only to address emergencies but also to define the paths and means for sustainable solutions.

West African Experts Workshop

SWAC Headquarters, 11-12 August 2008

Bringing together various experts, livestock professionals and policy makers from West Africa, the workshop helped prepare the organisation of a Regional Livestock Forum to be held in Niamey (Niger) from 4 to 7 November 2008. Workshop participants also discussed the setting-up of a new joint initiative on the future of transhumant pastoralism scheduled for 2009 and 2010.

EXPERTS' MEETING ON MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Dakar, 9-11 July 2008

Organised by the governments of Spain and Senegal, the EU and the International and Ibero-American Foundation of Public Administration and Policies (FIIAPP), the meeting brought together about 150 African and European experts to provide inputs for the preparation of the 2nd EU-Africa Ministerial Conference on Migration and Development. The SWAC presented together with ECOWAS the "ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration" to promote regional approaches and actions within this strategic thinking process.> SWAC presentation (French) | > discussion topics | > list of participants | > summary record (French) | > Euro-African Dialogue website

WANSED WORKSHOP

Abuja (Nigeria) 23-27 July 2008

The Colonel Mahamane Touré, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, and various technical advisors participated in the West African Network on Security and Democratic Governance (WANSED) workshop aiming to identifying areas of common interest to advance the preparation of a partnership agreement. The workshop also focused on the donors’ role and governance in the security sector. The WANSED is jointly co-ordinated by the SWAC and the National Defence College, Nigeria. > www.wansed.info | > SWAC statement (French) | > ECOWAS presentation

ECOWARN LAUNCHING IN MALI

Bamako (Mali), 30 June - 3 July 2008

Within the framework of the national launching of the Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN) in Mali, the SWAC participated at the ECOWAS workshop to promote this crisis and conflict prevention tool. Participants included representatives of the Malian government, the armed forces, civil society groups, ECOWARN local correspondents and various international organisations. Discussions focused on how to strengthen the involvement of civil society representatives and the role of this early-warning system within the overall architecture of conflict prevention and response mechanisms. The SWAC is involved in the operationalisation process of ECOWARN. > summary record (French)

ACDI/CIDA PREPARTORY MEETING FOR ACCRA

Bamako (Mali), 6-8 May 2008

The Canadian International Development Agency (ACDI/CIDA) organised a Preparatory Meeting for the Accra Roundtable Topic 6 on the “Role of Civil Society Organisations in Advancing Aid Effectiveness” which was co-chaired by ACDI/CIDA. The SWAC contributed to this preparatory process.

> synthesis record (French) | > SWAC presentation (French)

SWAC Briefing Note 1: Regional Co-operation as a Tool for Improving Aid Effectiveness

Proposal for an OECD Pilot Initiative on West Africa

This SWAC Briefing Note outlines nine action proposals, building on the know‐how and various resources of the OECD Development Cluster and the SWAC’s West African partner organisations. The initiative aims to produce short‐term, measurable results in a pilot region (West Africa); outcomes could also feed into more general strategic thinking on regional aid effectiveness.

> SWAC Briefing Note 1 | > summary

SWAC Briefing Note 2: Green Fuels for Development?

Improving Policy Coherence in West Africa

How can green fuel contribute to the development of the West Africa region where food security and strengthening purchase power are still major concerns? This note provides a review of facts and debates addressing opportunities, challenges and risks related to the development of green fuel in the Sahel and West Africa. It presents national and regional policies/strategies and proposes the creation of a Code of Good Conduct defining a “Green Fuel for Development” label that could conciliate West Africa’s commercial, energetic and food objectives to find West Africa's place on the new worldwide energy market.