Dear Partner,

The CBFP Facilitation is glad to inform you that the 12^th CBFP Meeting of Partners shall hold in Douala at SAWA Hotel, from 18 to 20 March, 2013.  The meeting is organized with the financial support of the Government of Canada and the technical support of the GIZ, COMIFAC Support Program.  As this MoP shall be organized in a transitional period between the Canadian Facilitation (closed end 2012) and the US Facilitation (beginning May 2013), the invitation is addressed to CBFP members in priority.

The meeting agenda includes three points:

♦ 18 March 2013 is dedicated to the CBFP Thematic Day on gender equality. In fact, gender issues are nowadays one of the emerging and cross-cutting topics whose relevance is more and more established with regard to poverty alleviation, sustainable growth and respect for human rights. Concerning gender equality, many conventions have been ratified; treaties and platforms have been signed at regional and international levels by most of COMIFAC member countries. Unfortunately, it appears that these commitments are not duly considered in policies and strategies and in national legislations. This situation, according to observers, may be due to an underestimation of the commitments taken, on the one hand, and to the limited knowledge of related stakes, on the other hand. It is therefore necessary that the CBFP continue to raise awareness among its partners on the importance of gender integration in designing and implementing programs, projects and policies.

The CBFP Thematic Day is organized by the CEFDHAC Sub-regional Steering Committee and a Team of technical experts mobilized by Canada. An explanatory note and the detailed program of the thematic workshop shall be sent to participants later.

♦ 19 - 20 March 2013, Holding of the CBFP 12^th Meeting of Partners (MoP) with the overall objective of facilitating the continuation of actions carried out by the CBFP during the transitional period. They specifically include: (i) contributing to a better ownership of the CBFP 2007, 2010 and 2012 evaluation results, its Facilitation and to share a preliminary road map of the CBFP transitional period (state of progress of the implementation of recommendations, progress achieved and future prospects) ; (i) contributing to the mobilization and raising awareness of CBFP partners concerning CBFP priority actions, the priorities of its Facilitation and of COMIFAC based on opportunities and constraints in a transitional context; (ii) improving on the coordination and the harmonization of interventions through multi-actors partnerships at regional and international levels; (iii) contributing to capacity building for poverty alleviation and a better management of forest ecosystems in the Congo Basin; (v) agreeing on reformulated ways to carry out Facilitation based on shared responsibilities among various donors on a voluntary basis. Relying on the interest of CBFP partners for the information markets organized by the German and the Canadian Facilitations of the CBFP, a session including Information Markets shall be suggested. These markets contribute to the reinforcement of coordination and foster information exchange, the mobilization of CBFP partners, the follow-up-evaluation of actions carried out by partners and communication on implemented actions, as some CBFP partners who attend CBFP meetings often have a variety of information they wish to share concerning innovations, emerging results, evolutions and lessons learnt. The whole of this operation is likely to encourage synergies between different other initiatives.

 ♦ 21 - 22 March 2013 – The MoP shall be followed by a validation workshop of the State of the Forests (EDF) 2012. The workshop is organized by OFAC (Observatory of Central African Forests), under the supervision of COMIFAC Executive Secretariat, and the financial support of the EU, the GIZ, MAE/France and CIDA. Information concerning this programme shall follow in a subsequent communication. 

 Furthermore, partners who wish to organize side events to the 4^th CBFP Plenary Meeting should make it know as soon as possible.