AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION MAKING STRIDES ON EARTH OBSERVATION SYSTEMS FOR AFRICA

Johannesburg, October 25, 2013 - A delegation of the African Union Commission (AUC), led by the Director of Human Resources, Science and Technology, Dr. Abdul-Hakim Rajab Elwaer, participated at the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Validation Workshop that took place in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 24-25, 2013.
The delegates from African Member States and officials from the African Union and European Union Commissions underlined the strategic role and importance that Earth Observation (EO) plays in supporting continental, regional and national policies for sustainable development.
Launched in 2007, within the framework of the Lisbon Process under the AU-EU Partnership, the GMES and Africa Action Plan seeks to strengthen Africa’s capacity and ownership with respect to Earth Observation (EO) technologies and applications, and utilize the full potential of the continent’s space systems through three thematic areas (marine and coastal areas, water resource management, long term management of natural resources) in order to ensure the promotion and protection of the socio-economic interests of Africa and African populations in this era of African renaissance.
This Validation Workshop constitutes a milestone in the continental process of the development of the GMES and Africa action plan. It was preceded by the Marine and Coastal Areas Workshop held in Kenya in October 2012, the Water Resource Management Workshop held in Nigeria in April 2013, and the Long Term Management of Natural Resources Workshop held in Egypt in June 2013.
In view of the cross-cutting nature of the issues addressed during this Workshop, a Call for Implementation was adopted, requesting the AUC to: (1) put in place an institutional arrangement for the coordination of the GMES and Africa initiative and EO projects; and (2) develop an AU Governance Framework for the GMES and Africa initiative in accordance with the overall governance policy of the African Space Policy and Strategy, to be adopted by the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST). In this Call for Implementation, the need for GMES and Africa to build on existing infrastructure and to facilitate access to existing European, African and Global Earth Observation data was strongly highlighted. The Call for Implementation also recommended that, in the next EU-Africa Summit in 2014, emphasis be put on long term cooperation on Earth Observation between Europe and Africa, and to encourage, support and strengthen this cooperation within the framework of the GMES and Africa initiative.

Further details on the Call for Implementation are available at: http://hrst.au.int/en