MINISTERS FROM SEVEN AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO MEET IN DAKAR, SENEGAL, TO DISCUSS ENVIRONMENT

Press Release
UNEP/19

MINISTERS FROM SEVEN AFRICAN COUNTRIES TO MEET IN DAKAR, SENEGAL, TO DISCUSS ENVIRONMENT

NAIROBI, 20 November (UNEP) -- African Ministers will meet in Dakar, Senegal, this week to consider legal instruments which, if adopted, will formalize the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment as the region's intergovernmental body on the environment.

The Conference is sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and is hosted by the Government of Senegal. Representatives from more than 40 African governments, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank, United Nations agencies, subregional organizations and non-governmental organizations are expected to attend.

The move to give legal status to the African Ministerial Conference was initiated at its fifth session in 1993, when a new policy direction was agreed upon -- that of providing political leadership for Africa on environmental management.

Discussions will focus on the implementation in the region of three international agreements: the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal; the Convention to Combat Desertification; and the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer.

The Conference will examine proposals on mobilization of financial resources for its secretariat and programmes through the Ministerial Conference Trust Fund. Established in 1991, the Fund has received nearly $1 million in contributions from seven countries, the largest ($700,000) from the Government of Egypt

Other issues to be discussed at the Dakar meeting include water, climate change, forests, conflict resolution, agriculture and food security.

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