The Technical Committee of experts at the 8th Ordinary Session of the Great Green Wall, GGW, member countries has suggested the need for well-articulated and actionable strategies for the mobilization of pledged financial resources for the member countries.
Nigeria’s Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Mr Hassan Musa stated this at the Technical Committee of experts meeting of the 8th ordinary session held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Mr Musa said poor financial provision and mobilisation has been a major obstacle to the implementation process of the activities of the Great Green Wall Initiative, GGWSSI, in all the participating member states.
“The recognition of the paucity of financial resources for the implementation of the Great Green Wall initiative led to the several billions of US Dollars pledged by a coalition of Technical and Financial Partners (TFPs) at the 4th Edition of the “One Planet Summit” on Climate Change and Biodiversity held in Paris, France on 11th of January, 2021. The pragmatic efforts of GGW member countries to access these financial resources pledged by the (TFPs) required necessary evaluation which I sincerely believe, would be the centre-stage of the deliberation of this technical committee of experts,” Mr Musa explained.
He noted that the development of impact and transformative programmes and projects to absorb the mobilized resources would no doubt build the resilience of the Sahelian people.
The Director General of the Great Green Wall, Dr Yusuf Maina Bukar, said the technical committee meeting of experts was to deliberate on critical items and issues bordering implementation activities of the Great Green Wall.
He said; “I will like to sincerely appreciate your time taken out to attend this statutory technical meeting of experts to deliberate on our accomplishments, challenges and prospects in the implementation process of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI).
“You would recall that at the 7th Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers held in Nouakchott, Mauritania from 27-29th July, 2021, it was designated unanimously that Nigeria hosts the 8 Ordinary Session.”
The Executive Secretary of the Pan African Agency of the Great Green Wall, Dr. Ibrahim Said noted that the Initiative was one of the most ambitious cooperation tools for solving the environment challenges of the Sahelian strip.
“This initiative is both a challenge and an opportunity, given the multiple environment and ecological issues that are becoming increasingly important and that demonstrate the need for a pooling of resources and joint efforts by countries without which we cannot succeed individually,” Dr Said stated.
He said since inception the agency has focused on the establishment and consolidation of the institutional, legal and organisational bases of the regional and national structures, the development of a strategic framework and implementation action plan and the mobilisation of financial resources.
Dr Said said; “Established on 17 June 2010 in N’Djamena, Chad, the Pan African Agency for the Great Green Wall has just completed its first decade 2010-2020.
The analysis of this five-year period highlights a set of achievements and constraints that need to be addressed.”
He said the project would help constitute, work and bring about corporation for countries to handle environment challenges in the region and also bring different strategies actions plans that would help agency to mobilize resources.
“The overall objective will be to be a decisive step in the operationalization of the Great Green Wall through concrete achievements with high added value and a perfect visibility on the populations and a significant contribution in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Dr Said stressed.
He however urged the technical Committee to treat all documents presented with diligence and make proposals that would facilitate decision-making by the Council of Ministers.
“For this meeting of the Technical Committee of Experts, various documents are submitted for your consideration. In this context, I urge you to treat them seriously. Since January 2021 and the advent of the One Planet Summit, we are re-assured by the long-awaited support and mobilization of resources by our Technical and Financial Partners,” Dr Said added.
The Representative of the Africa Development Bank, AFDB , Mr Arouna Sunmare said AFDB mandate was to support the continent to work for better wellbeing of the people.
Me Sunmare said; “We have to mobilise funding and work together as a partner to support this important process, we have a commitment as a Bank to increase our support as we pledge at World Bank summit in 2021 and most of the partners have also pledged and to foster support for the implementation of the Great Green Wall and if we work together we can support the GGW programme.”
He also reiterated the AFDB commitments to foster effort to fight desertification in the GGW plan, support countries and partners to improve ways of doing business.
Mr Sunmare added that the Africa Development Bank, AFDB, would work together with Great Green Wall, GGW, leverage funding and help design a new policies to support the implementation of its programme.
The Technical Committee of experts is a statutory meeting that deliberates on critical items and issues bordering on the implementation activities of the Great Green Wall.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
