|
> 4th Restricted Food Crisis Prevention Network Meeting
> Stakeholders Meeting on the ECOWAS Cross-border Co-operation Programme
> Spatial coherence of aid in Mali
> Press review: the West Africa Report and the SWAC
> Regional Workshop on the African Union's Border Programme
> Territorial prospects in the Senegal river basin region
> The West Africa Observer
|
|
|
> print the pdf-file
Director's Editorial
A lot is being done on Africa within the OECD. The 2009 edition of the African Economic Outlook (AEO) has been released in Dakar at the 44th African Development Bank Annual Meetings; the 9th International Economic Conference on Africa brought together some 500 Africa-development experts; the African Partnership Forum (APF) just hold its 12th APF meeting with political representatives from G8/OECD countries; and the Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) is pursuing, among other dossiers, the monitoring of the impacts of the global economic crisis on West Africa. Key findings are published within our newly launched quarterly review, the West Africa Observer.
|
|
To facilitate access to the various OECD works on Africa and to raise its visibility, the OECD set-up a regional entry point “OECD and Africa” (www.oecd.org/africa) on its website. > read on
|
|
|
The ECOWAS Early Warning and Response Network (ECOWARN)
Mr. Augustin Sagna, Head of Zone Office IV
ECOWAS is criticised for only issuing warnings but not being able to prevent conflict (for example, in Guinea-Bissau). How can this type of crisis be prevented and what responses could ECOWARN provide?
|
 |
|
"It is true that in Guinea-Bissau and Guinea we knew what was going to happen. The question is to know how to respond to these crises. As ECOWAS member countries are not yet ready to give up some of their sovereignty to their regional organisation, we cannot intervene prior to the crises. It is a bit frustrating for an organisation like ours to have the signs of a red alert but no mandate to act. We hope that this can change in the future." > read on
|
|
4th Restricted Food Crisis Prevention Network Meeting (RPCA)
OECD Headquarters, 16-17 April 2009
As a platform for discussions between West African food security actors and the main food aid donors from OECD member countries, the restrictive meeting of the Food Crisis Prevention Network (RPCA) establishes the half-term assessment of the agricultural campaign and analyses the impacts of food security programmes with a view to taking concrete measures for the prevention and management of possible food crises during the lean season. This year, network members also focused on the negotiation and adoption process of the revised Food Aid Charter. > learn more
|
|
|
Stakeholders Meeting on the
ECOWAS Cross-border Co-operation Programme
Abuja (Nigeria)
18-20 May 2009
This meeting brought together the main cross-border co-operation actors active within the ECOWAS region to discuss next steps and priority actions of the ECOWAS Cross-border Co-operation Programme. Discussions focused on i) Institutional and legal framework for cross-border co-operation, and ii) Finance resource mobilisation and partnerships. The Sahel and West Africa Club Secretariat (SWAC) has facilitated the establishment and development of the ECOWAS cross-border co-operation programme since its inception. > learn more
|
Mr. El Hadj Mohamed Daramy:
"Cross-border co-operation could contribute to the achievement of a borderless ECOWAS based on sharing of socio-cultural values among the communities living across the West African borders."
|
|
Spatial coherence of aid in Mali
Within the framework of its initiative on the regional dimensions of development and aid effectiveness, the SWAC aims to emphasise the geographic dimension in aid programmes. A pilot analysis has been launched on the spatial coherence of aid to Mali. This involves in particular identifying aid to local communities within Mali and analysing its coherence from a national geographic perspective. Similar studies will be carried out in Senegal and Mauritania. During an exploratory mission to Bamako, the team met with key technical and financial partners supporting decentralisation and local development in Mali.
Contact : christophe.perret@oecd.org
|
|
Press Review : The West Africa Report and the SWAC
Mr. Jean-Louis Schiltz, Luxembourg Minister for Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Charles Goerens, former SWAC President and Mr. Raymond Weber, West Africa Report Team Leader, presented key findings of the first West Africa Report on Resources for Development. Some feedback was presented within the press review of the government of Luxembourg (21 April 2009) :
> www.oecd.org/swac/westafricareport
|
|
Diplomatie, dossier:
Trade and the geopolitics of raw material : the mining sector and infrastructure in West Africa
by the analysts of the Sahel and West Africa Club
> read the article (French) |
|
|
Regional Workshop on the Implementation of the African Union's Border Programme in West Africa
Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), 23-24 April 2009
This workshop, organised by the African Union, examined the progress made in the implementation of the African Union’s Border Programme (AUBP) in West Africa. Developed with the SWAC Secretariat’s technical support, the AUBP was adopted by the Conference of African Ministers on 7 June 2007. It focuses on three aspects: 1) definition and demarcation of borders (by 2012); 2) cross-border co-operation; and 3) capacity building. The meeting’s aim was to raise awareness among relevant actors, to mobilise their support and develop a regional action plan for West Africa. With a view to promoting the AUBP and facilitating the development of regional action plans, the African Union organises similar meetings within each region of the continent. > learn more
Territorial prospects in the Senegal river basin region
Kayes (Mali), 5-9 April 2009
The Research Group and Achievements for Rural Development (GRDR) is leading prospective territorial strategic thinking on three border regions (Kayes/Mali, Tambacounda/Senegal and Guidimakha/Mauritania). As a partner of the GRDR, the SWAC participated in this training workshop and in the official launch of the forecasting study for Mali. The SWAC provides support to the technical secretariats in order to develop tools and analyses on the trends underway. > learn more (French)
|
|
|
West African Observer
This quarterly review analyses major political, economic and social trends in West Africa from a regional point of view. The first issue summarizes and puts into perspective important events and developments which took place in the first quarter of 2009. > learn more
|
|
