During the General Assembly of MPs’ Network for the Sustainable Management of Moist Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa (REPAR- CEFDHAC), coupled with MPs’ awareness workshop on the drying up of Lake Chad, participants adopt the 2012-2015 action plan of the Regional Coordination, change some provisions of REPAR-CEFDHAC by-laws, set up a new office for the Regional Coordination, prepare the 3^rd International Conference of MPs scheduled to hold in Libreville, Gabon, in November 2012.

N’Djamena(Chad), 20 to 23 March 2012 – Holding of the General Assembly of MPs’ Network for the Sustainable Management of Moist Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa (REPAR- CEFDHAC), coupled with MPs’ awareness workshop on the drying up of Lake Chad. The meeting was organized with the support of REPAR-Chad’s national Coordination and the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ).

About sixty participants attended the meeting: representatives of REPAR national Coordination MPs, except Rwanda, sub-regional organizations officials in charge of forestry and environmental issues, the president of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, CBFP Facilitation, development partners and Experts. The point during this meeting was to exchange on the actual stakes of both for the functioning and the stimulation of the Network, but also on Lake Chad whose pace of drying up requires the attention of the highest Chadian authorities, and of the sub-region and the mobilization of the International Community.

Deliberations were introduced by a formal ceremony placed under the high chairmanship of the President of the Chadian National Assembly, the Right Honorable Dr Haroum Kabady, marked by eight successive speeches. After the formal opening phase, participants entered the technical phase of the meeting after the general moderator had first reminded the objectives and set up the presidium responsible for the coordination of the deliberations. This helped to listen to a series of communications in two main phases: (1) The presentation of assessment activity reports of the outgoing Coordination by Honorable ZAM Jean Jacques, Regional Coordinator, and (2) thematic exposés on the issue of climate change, the encroachment of the desert and the drying up of Lake Chad then gave the opportunity to grasp the current situation of Lake Chad which is fast and constantly drying up with significant consequences at environmental, social and geostrategic levels.

In order to deepen reflections started after all the exposés, the participants examined 4 major and complementary themes in committees, namely: (1) REPAR 2012-2015 action plan; (2) The organization of the 3^rd MPs’ international conference; (3) REPAR influence strategy for the contribution of States in favour of COMIFAC; (4) Response to the drying up of Lake Chad.

Owing to restitutions in plenary, participants agreed on the need for the REPAR to maintain its efforts for a better contribution to the consolidation of forest and environmental governance in the sub-region. At the end of the meeting, eight important resolutions were taken, concerning among other things, the issue of COMIFAC autonomous funding mechanism, setting up an influence strategy for governments in the sub-region based on a reference document and an approach and concerning the issue of the drying up of Lake Chad, embarking immediately, based on a Declaration by MPs, on an advocacy to governments, the International Community, Partners, Donors and setting up a committee responsible to prepare and lead it.

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The Final Communiqué