To that end, they have agreed on the need to strengthen consultation frameworks and harmonisation mechanisms in the implementation of the regional agenda, according to a joint communiqué released on Saturday at the end of a two-day seminar held in Abuja.
The seminar was held by the the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), whose membership is for French speaking countries, and European Commission to harmonise their positions on regional integration.
Discussions centred, among others, on political and economic challenges of West Africa, issues of coherence between 10th EDF Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) and the National Indicative Programmes (NIP), Economic Partnership Agreement Programme Programme for Development (EPADP) and issues relating to its financing.
They also discussed the presentation of West Africa priorities in the effective and efficient implementation of the regional agenda, the financial and economic crisis as well as the response strategies of the World Bank, ECOWAS and the European Union.
The communiqué said the two parties undertook to increase their efforts with a view to improving the coherence, especially in the framework of support for the management of regional integration under the 10th European Development Fund Regional Indicative Programme (EDF RIP).
It said the meeting also urged member states of the two regions to incorporate the regional programmes in their strategies for national development in order to ensure greater complementarity between the national and regional levels.
On EPADP and its financing, the communiqué said the West Africa region presente d the specific objective of this programme which aims at enabling the region to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the EPA and to mitigate the potential adverse effects.
'The programme presents a coherent framework for implementation of priority activities aimed at providing support to the development component of the EPAs and is an important instrument for delivery of Aid for Trade from the EU and its Member States.'
It said based on the preliminary calculations undertaken by the European Commission Departments, the level of support identified is more than three billion Euros compared to current EU pledges.
'The proposed commitments on Aid for Trade from the European Union Donors are encouraging and may reach 8.5 billion Euros in the next five years.'
The communiqué said in view of providing a coherent implementation framework of the regional strategy, the Meeting emphasised the need to establish a roadmap specifying the regional priorities.
It said in order to ensure regional ownership and in conformity with the principle of aid efficiency, the West Africa region agreed to link the roadmap with priority issues relating to regional economic integration, good governance and regional stability as specified in the 10th EDF and Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) Regional Strategy Document.
The roadmap will identify the priorities and their implementation time frames as well as issues relating to the capacity for implementation and link between the national and regional levels.
It agreed that the finalisation of the roadmap would be by December 2009.
Abuja - 17/10/2009
Pana
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|