Nigeria Hosts Fisheries Governance 2 Project Internal Dialogue Meetings

Wed, 22-06-2022 15:00:00
@2022AUIBAR


The Federal Government of Nigeria was host to two meetings held under the Fisheries Governance 2 Project (FishGov Two). The first meeting was the second dialogue held from 13-15 June 2022 between the Fisheries Governance 2 Project implementers (AU-IBAR and AUDA-NEPAD) with the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on the implementation of the Fisheries Governance Project Phase-Two (FishGov-2). The dialogues were officially opened by the Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Dr Abubakar, who reiterated the significance of sustainably managing the fisheries and aquaculture sector in driving job and wealth creation for Africa as a whole, particularly for over 10 million Nigerians.

The objectives of the second dialogue were to apprise RECs of the status and progress made by establishing mechanisms for regular dialogue on emerging issues of the FishGov-2 project and recognizing the role of the RECs in supporting the implementation of the FishGov-2 project.

The specific objectives of the second dialogue meeting included to:
●    Operationalize mechanisms for regular dialogue on issues of fisheries and aquaculture
●    Share and elaborate approved 2022 work plan of the project;
●    Apprise the RECs on the progress of implementation, including lessons learnt and challenges encountered;
●    Encourage RECs and partners to share information on ongoing activities and planned activities to identify areas of collaboration amongst RECs and with FishGov-2; and,
●    Develop modalities for collaboration on implementing related activities.

In addition to the implementing institutions, and host participants from Nigeria, the participants of the dialogue also included the following wide range of participants: Abidjan Convention; Department of Agriculture, Rural Development and Blue Economy; COMESA; University of Cape Coast; NaFIRRI COMHAFAT/ATLAFCO; EAC; ECOWAS; SADC; PESCAO/ECOWAS; ECCAS. The European Union was represented at both meetings and reaffirmed its commitment to working with AU-IBAR and AUDA-NEPAD to realise the ultimate goals of the FishGov 2 Project.

The second dialogue, held from 16-17 June, comprised an internal dialogue between the FishGov 2 Project implementing partners and various other technical offices of the African Union, such as AU-CIDO ; Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security ; Women, Gender and Youth Division; AUC – DESTI . Other institutional representatives included the Fisheries Commission (Ghana) and, the African Union Fisheries Centres of Excellence, Abidjan Convention Secretariat. In participation were also strategic partners such as TrueFish ; FAO/CCLME ; FAO – Sub-regional Officer for West Africa; and the Benguela Current Convention.

In addition to agreeing on roadmaps for strengthened implementation of the project, the dialogues further made collective decisions to establish working modalities and information sharing that would strengthen collaboration between institutions; such as with and between the Regional Economic Communities; the Centres of Excellence; and between the African Union Technical offices with some mandate on fisheries, aquaculture and blue economy. Regular communication and knowledge sharing even via online means was a key consensus reached, with a decision to hold the third RECs Dialogue Meeting hosted by The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and held in Gaborone, Botswana at a date to be communicated by AU-IBAR in coordination with SADC

Photo: Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Dr Abubakar (Centre) during the internal dialogue between the FishGov 2 Project implementing partners.

Media Coverage on events: Access via https://networks.au-ibar.org/show/media-sharing-stories/blog?category=46