AU SAFGRAD actively contributed to STCs Meeting, 24 July 2017, Nairobi, Kenya
On 24 July 2017 was held in Nairobi, Kenya a meeting of STCs back to back with the preparatory meeting of COP13. The session was opened by AU SAFGRAD with UNCCD Secretariat and the Republic of Kenya as the host country. Dr Ahmed ELMEKASS, Coordinator, and Mamadou KOUTOU, Programme Officer represented the Office.
The gathering was chaired by Prof. Klaus Kellener from South Africa. Attended the meeting African STCs, NFPs, AUC, NPCA, UNCCD Secretariat, UNDP, FAO, Africa Forest Forum in addition to the national institutions from the the hosting country (Kenya).
During the session, it has been notably hightlighted a poor/weak participation and contribution of African STCs to the CST of the UNCCD unlike representatives from other regions.
Both UNCCD and the host country (Kenya) appreciated the AU SAFGRAD initiative to bring the African STCs together as well as giving them the opportunity to participate in the preparatory meeting of COP13.
The UNCCD Secretariat presentation highlighted the outputs of the SPI work programme 2016/2017 while AU SAFGRAD focused notably on the proposed criteria for the Centers of Excellency, various studies carried out by the office related to combating desertification, etc.
Several recommendations were made during the session. The recommendations concerned both regular STC meetings, LDN and Centres of Excellence.
