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Director's Editorial
One of the past month’s highlights was our Strategy and Policy Group (SPG) meeting which was chaired for the first time by our new President Mr. François-Xavier de Donnea. He presented his perception of West Africa and priorities that he plans to pursue during his three-year presidency. The SWAC shall again play a greater role as a platform and facilitator of exchanges between high-level representatives from West Africa and OECD member countries. We are currently exploring opportunities to hold the next SPG meeting in an African country (most likely in Mali where the 25th RPCA Annual Meeting will be held in December 2009). > read on...
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| "God is not a farmer"
Interview with Mr. Mamadou Cissokho
Honorary President of ROPPA
Mr. Cissokho provides us with some key messages from his new book, “God is not a farmer” which recounts the West African farmers’ movement drawing on the experience of farmers’ organisations since independence. The future for the younger generation, Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations, land issues, regional integration, shortcomings of the aid system,… Mr. Cissokho shares with us his perception of society, his fears and his hopes. > read this interview
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Strategy and Policy Group meeting
Paris, 18-19 June 2009
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The SPG meeting provided an opportunity to present results achieved and proposals for future work (2009-2010 work period). Thematic presentations focused on West Africa's responses to the global economic crisis, regional aid effectiveness and SWAC outreach tools. You can download all presentations from our website or listen to them at our new audio-platform at http://swac.mypodcast.com.
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Security implications of climate change in the Sahel region
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Over recent years climate change and its impacts on development and security has become a key concern for policy makers around the world (Solana report, Global Climate Change Conferences in Bali, Copenhagen, etc.). At the UK-France summit held in March 2008, it was agreed to work together on a study of the Sahel region. Co-ordinated by the SWAC, this regional study will identify possible security implications of climate change for the time period 2030 to 2040. > learn more
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Conflict systems and risk assessment in West Africa
ECOWAS/SWAC Experts workshop
Bamako (Mali), 2-5 June 2009
The concept of conflict systems results from conflict analyses and the monitoring of their dynamics and evolutions. In West Africa, examining conflictual situations in the geo-political area of the Mano River countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone) as well as in the Senegambian zones (the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal) can already assume that conflict systems exist. This workshop focused on the usefulness and operational modalities of a systematic and regional approach. > learn more
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Commercial pressures on agricultural land
Fostering policy dialogue in West Africa
Acquisition of large-scale farmland in poor nations, so-called “land grabs”, by developed and emerging countries or companies, is increasingly raising concerns about food security in poor countries. At the G8 Summit in July, the Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso called for responsible farm investment and a code of good conduct with nonbinding principles such as transparent and accountable investments, respect for rights of local people, good practices, etc. The SWAC Secretariat will facilitate a global dialogue on West African land issues involving all relevant stakeholders. By capitalising on existing and ongoing country field studies as well as on views of West African farmer organisations and governments, this process could lead to the development of a code of conduct adapted to West African realities.
Contact: jeansibiri.zoundi@oecd.org
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