Beneficiary countries & Stakeholders
All ACP countries are eligible for the Programme's activities. Priority will be given to those countries that have a high economic dependence on the fisheries sector. For the purposes of this Programme, six Regional Facilitation Units (RFUs) are in place, each covering a certain number of countries in Western Africa, Central Africa, Eastern Africa, Southern Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific respectively.
Close collaboration will be assured, furthermore, with regional organisations across the ACP regions, including both Regional Fisheries Bodies (RFBs) and Regional Economic Organisations (REOs).
The stakeholders of the Programme include government departments responsible for marine and inland fisheries and related ecosystems, universities and other tertiary sector research and training establishments, schools, fishers, fish processors and traders associations. Civil society will be involved through professional associations or organizations, local communities and NGOs.
FOCAL POINTS
The Focal Points are the representatives of the fisheries Administrations and Regional Fisheries Bodies (RFBs) and Regional Economic Bodies (REBs). They assure the permanent contact with ACP FISH II, mainly through the Regional Managers (RM), in what concerns institutional arrangements for the Programme implementation, identification of national and regional needs under the Programme 5 Components and, currently as the most relevant task, the follow up of projects implementation.
Under these responsibilities, Focal Points should, in practical terms,
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Support the Regional Managers (in all Regional Facilitation Units of the Programme) in devising project profiles and further Terms of Reference (ToR) for the launching of future (and in most cases already identified) projects;
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Assure the feed-back of fisheries Administrations and RFBs on the process, thus ensuring that their interests are safeguarded;
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Follow up the implementation of the launched projects, through participating in the Technical follow up committees that are set in the inception phase of the projects;
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Evaluate the way the projects are executed, carrying out a critical analysis of their performance and impact, upon presentation of the final technical reports by the Consultants.
The Focal Points structure has been fully operational during the period of the Programme Estimate (PE) 1 after all fisheries Administrations, RFBs and REBs have appointed their representatives. They attended the technical workshops the Programme has organised to confirm and validate the 6 regional action plans and to analyse projects implementation and progress. For the PE2 period, this structure should be able to operate under increased competences and skills, through the use of appropriate technical tools for project devising, monitoring and evaluation.
Although the Focal Points should support the devising of projects and related ToR and follow up their implementation, rather than assuming direct operational responsibilities, their role is still supporting and facilitating ACP FISH II projects in the respective countries or regional fisheries bodies.