GMES & Africa's capacity development training workshop kick starts in Abidjan

Hailu Wudineh

29 November 2017

The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES and Africa), kick starts capacity development training workshop for the thirteen consortia of institutions that have been officially awarded grants to implement the GMES & Africa at regional level in Africa.

The overall objective of the training workshop, that runs from 29 November to 01 December 2017, at Case D'Ivoire Hotel, Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, was to enhance the capacity of the regional implementing centers on the African Union Commission's grant management procedures and processes, to enable them efficiently manage the grants.

GMES & Africa Programme Coordinator, Dr. Tidiane Ouattara welcomed them and briefed them on "how" the GMES & Africa Support Programme operates (the state of play). The workshop also dwelt on the upcoming due diligence missions intended to assess the technical capacities of the regional implementation centers in implementing the grants.

The topics covered includ AUC's financial procedures, procurement procedures and grant management manual. The workshop also addresses the reporting procedures between AUC and Implementing centers, communication and engagement strategy (attached ) and guidelines of the GMES & Africa Support Programme.

Twenty delegates in total attended the workshop.

Attached information (click to download)

About GMES and AFRICA

GMES and Africa Support Programme is a 30 million Euro joint programme co-financed by the European Commission and the African Union Commission.

It will use and adapt the Copernicus Programme data and services to the African context. It is designed to specifically respond to African needs with respect to services related to water, natural resources, marine and coastal areas and to address the global needs to manage the environment, mitigate climate change and ensure civil security. It is to enable the implementation of the African Space Policy and Strategy, formulated to harness the continent’s capabilities in utilizing space science and technology for economic growth and sustainable development. In the implementation agreement, the African Union Commission is the ‘delegated authority’ responsible for the management of the programme.

GMES and Africa Support Programme aims to improve African policy-makers’, planners’, scientists’, business and private sector and citizens’ capacities to design, implement, and monitor national, regional and continental policies and to promote sustainable management of natural resources through the use of Earth Observation data and derived information.

GMES and Africa introduces several key innovations: for the first time, with the inclusion of the North African countries, the Programme is pan African. It is managed entirely by the African Union Commission, through the Human Resource, Science and Technology (HRST) Department. It engages the African private sector and national and regional academia.

28 Nov. 2017: The beginning and end of the Awarding ceremony, Abidjan, 28 Nov. 2017, Maison de l'Entrepreneuriat, Plateaux, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The event was chaired by Her Excellency Mme Anne Désirée OULOTO, Ivory Coast's Minister of Salubrity, Environment and Sustainable Development, and Her Excellency Mrs Sarah Mbi Enow Anyang, the AUC Commissionner for Human Resources, Science and Technology

HW, AF, BM