REGIONAL GAWA AND CEC-IUCN MEETINGS

We, the Green Actors of West Africa and National Animators of the World Conservation Union’s Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) having met in Freetown from February 1 – 5, 2010,
1. Guided by the drive for sustainable development which means “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs;”

2. Motivated by a common interest/vision to collectively and conscientiously work towards attaining sustainable development through education and networking on the vexing issues of natural resource management;

3. Convinced that our mutually reinforcing actions in the West and Central African regions will have a spiral up effect of gaining a sustainable development momentum;

4. Reaffirming our commitment to the GAWA aspirations which are to: develop ways of enhancing cooperation and coordination between and among various donors and environmental (nature conservation) actors in the sub-region, and the CEC
mandate, stated as: Facilitating the Co-creation of Sustainable Solutions; Creating Strategic Communication Platforms; Leveraging New Learning for Professional Development;
5. Recalling that driving change for the co-creation of sustainable solutions through leading communication, learning and knowledge management in the regions and the wider conservation community can generate positive results in natural resource management;

6. Conscious of the fact that the work ahead is daunting and challenging for GAWA
and CEC National Animators;

7. Declare the following:

That after a week of meeting, and deliberations on the state of the environment in West and Central Africa, we confirm that the regions are faced with critical environmental problems ranging from unsustainable use of natural resources, especially forests, to land degradation. We further confirm that Climate Change is already having an impact and will have devastating consequences on the region, given the already daunting challenges caused by poverty, conflict and social deprivation in Africa.

We therefore recommend the following

To IUCN

- Invest in the organizational structure of CEC’s West and Central African National
Animators
- Assist in the capacity building needs for CEC National Animators in West and Central Africa;
- Contribute to operational activities of CEC National Animators in West and Central Africa;
- Support fundraising efforts for CEC National Animators
- Enable CEC PACO to help National Animators realize their goals.

To IUCN – CEC

- IUCN needs better visibility at national, regional and global levels.
- Ensure visibility of CEC in West and Central Africa region;

Note: CEC is a key structure which has been ignored.

- CEC is made up of grassroots NGOs/experts with valuable experience who are engaged with all the stakeholders.
- CEC is capable of attracting partnerships, particularly amongst youth; (primary –university level; vocational schools – media/journalists)/CBOs/women.
- A draft action plan needs to be elaborated during CEC meeting in Sierra Leone, taking into consideration the year of biodiversity and climate change (increase capabilities in terms of capacity and experience)
- There are strong links with existing networks (GAWA, RAM).

RECOMMENDATION OF WORKING GROUPS:

- The need to support efforts of regional partners to undertake baseline study on status of environmental education and communication in order to identify gaps for developing well informed education and communication toolkit;

Commitments

- As GAWA members and CEC National Animators, we commit ourselves to ensure that strategies developed in this meeting will be implemented in our respective countries; for example, CEC members commit themselves to building alliances in country and within their regions and GAWA members commit themselves to strengthening their national networks to increase GAWA’s visibility and capacity.
- Encouraged by the outcome of the meetings, GAWA and CEC members pledged their support to the strategies defined during the meeting. For example, SOTE (State Of The Environment) reports will be compiled by GAWA members and submitted to the secretariat to be included in a final report.
- We further commit ourselves to commemorate the Year of Biodiversity and raise its profile in our respective countries.