From September 17 to 18, 2014, the third meeting of the Steering Committee (COPIL) of the «National Monitoring and MRVs with a regional approach in Congo Basin countries" Project, was held in Douala. The meeting brought together representatives of 9 COMIFAC countries, FAO, members of the Project’s technical team in Rome, the Representative of ADB-CBFF and of the REDD + COMIFAC Regional Project and national consultants from ten countries invited to attend as observers. The purpose of the meeting was to assess progress achieved by the project.

Chaired by Mr. Raymond Mbitikon, the Executive Secretary of COMIFAC, meeting delegates discussed various items on the agenda, namely: the state of implementation of the recommendations of the last COPIL, deliverables of the national component, the project’s financial situation and the concept note for Phase 2 of the project. It was noted that:

♦ All recommendations adopted at the last COPIL had been implemented,
♦ In terms of the implementation level of activities under the regional component, almost all the objectives had been achieved thanks to the collaboration of partners identified (INPE, OFAC, RIFFEAC, CIRAD etc.)

♦ The project had an overall consumption rate of about 82% (not including budgetary commitments) and remaining funds would be dedicated to implementing preparatory activities for the second phase of the project which would help link the current phase to the next one.

♦ Under the project proposal, the second phase would last for 4 years and cover the 10 COMIFAC countries for a budget of approximately USD 40.7 million divided into 3 components which are the regional, national levels and technical assistance.

The discussions reflected a strong desire on the part of the participants to: ease monitoring of submissions of various products to the FCPF, preserve project gains and prepare Phase 2 and trigger a transitional phase effective from 1/10/2014 to 31/01/2015. It is based on these expressed intentions that recommendations were made to FAO, ADB and the COMIFAC countries. An appeal was equally made to various stakeholders to get engaged in the implementation of this phase which is crucial for the launch of Stage 2.

To guarantee successful completion of the project, the participants developed a chart on which they distributed tasks and set completion deadlines for each activity.

For more detailed information on this third Project Steering Committee Meeting (COPIL), please consult the final communiqué below:

COPIL-MRV-FAO-Communique final COPIL 3 septembre 2014.pdf (636.0 Ko)