‘African Voice’ at the 32nd Committee on Fisheries
Rome – Strengthening the ‘African Voice’ on international fisheries at the 32nd Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries (COFI) that took place in Italy, is key in ensuring that Africa as whole takes a position that is beneficial to its citizenry. COFI’s thirty-second session convened on 11 July and drew to a close on 15 July on a high note for Africa, with the election of Mr André Loua from the Republic of Guinea as its First Vice-Chairperson.
The Africa Regional Group, comprising African ambassadors and permanent representatives to the United Nations agencies based in Rome to advocate for continuous improvement in the governance of the fisheries sector in Africa, held daily meetings on the side-lines of the COFI.
African Group at their first meeting on 12 July at the 32nd Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries
Mr Robert Sabiiti, Alternate Permanent Representative at the Uganda Embassy in Italy, reminded the Africa Regional Group at its first meeting that COFI represents a valuable opportunity for Africans to come together to raise concerns, table suggestions and work together to focus on shared areas of priority and build momentum in the field of fisheries and aquaculture.
Speaking at the same meeting, Ambassador Haladou Salha, AU-NEPAD Senior Technical Advisor to the Rome-based African Ambassadors and Senior Liaison Officer UN Agencies, reiterated that COFI as a forum serves as a valuable platform for African members to voice their issues and opinions. Therefore it is imperative that the African Group comes together to discuss areas of common ground and interest in order to provide one other with mutual support throughout the duration of COFI, thus projecting a unified ‘African Voice’ on critical issues.
The Africa Regional Group works together to strengthen the African position in international fisheries fora by setting out a number of activities within both near‐ and long‐term time frames that aim to support African governments in formulating and promoting common positions in these negations. This example of pan‐African collaboration is important in order to ensure that international agreements better take into account African needs and contexts which in turn would provide greater incentives for African nations to ratify and implement the agreements and thereby contribute to sustainable and profitable fisheries in Africa.
Countries recognised for acceding to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing at the 32nd Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries
During the proceedings of COFI on the first day, nine African countries that have acceded to the Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA), were among those that received certificates of recognition from FAO. The countries are Benin, Cabo Verde, Republic of Guinea, Gabon, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa and Sudan.
With the fisheries and aquaculture technical support provided by the NEPAD Agency and the African Union-Inter Bureau for Animal Resource (AU-IBAR), eleven positions were formulated by the Africa Regional Group and taken to the plenary by Gabon, Ghana, Angola, Senegal, Kenya, and Cameroon.
Strengthening the African Voice on improving fisheries governance will bring benefits for the continent in terms of more sustainable livelihoods, increased food security, increased revenues to the national budget and long‐term viability of the fisheries sector.
Source: NEPAD