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Steering Committee

The Programme operates under the guidance, supervision and control of a Steering Committee. The Steering Committee is set up to oversee and validate the overall direction and policy of the Programme. The Programme’s Steering Committee meets twice a year and is composed of:

  • A representative of the Regional Authorising Officer, the contracting authority: The ACP Secretariat.
  • The imprest administrator and the imprest accounting officer for the project designated in the programme estimates, members of the Coordination Unit in Brussels, currently Mr. Gustavo Miranda and Mr Cheik Oumar Tall respectively.
  • Representatives of the European Commission (DG AIDCO, DG MARE, DG Dev) with observer status.
  • Representatives of regional organisations (ECOWAS, SADC, COMESA, CEMAC, CARICOM, Pacific Islands Forum, UEMOA and CEEAC/ECCAS) or mandated representatives working in collaboration with key stakeholders.
  • The 6 Regional Managers and the staff from the Coordination Unit attend the Steering Committee and help its members to follow up the implementation of ACP FISH II Programme.

 

The first Steering Committee of the Programme was held on 29 January 2010, and was chaired by Mme. Hélène Massan Fiagan, of the Department of Sustainable Economic Development and Trade, of the ACP Secretariat. The first Operational Programme Estimate (PE1) was approved.

 

The second meeting of the Steering Committee of the ACP Fish II Programme was held on 5 November 2010, and was chaired by Mr. Olusola Ojo, ACP Secretariat task manager The Steering Committee has approved all the documentation and proposals presented therein. They included the second operational Programme Estimate (PE2) and the six Regional Action Plans. The ACP Fish II PMU, the European Commission and the ACP Secretariat proceeded with the signature of PE2, enabling a smooth transition between Programme Estimates numbers 1 and 2 in the summer of 2011.

 

The third meeting of the Steering Committee of the ACP Fish II Programme was held on 7th November 2011 in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat Conference Hall in Gaborone, Botswana  as the way to ensure increased ownership of the Programme by the Regional Economic Organizations that are permanent members of the Steering Committee.

The session was chaired by the representative of SADC, Mrs Margaret Nyirenda, Director – Food and Natural Resources (FANR) Directorate and by Mr Georges Mba-Asseko, Marine and Coastal Ecosystems and Fisheries Management Expert, Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). Opening remarks were made by the Hon Deputy Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, Edmont Bagaketse Moabi. CARICOM was represented by the Deputy Executive Director of Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism - CRFM, Mr. Milton Haughton.  25 representatives from Southern Africa Fisheries Administration and Regional Fisheries Bodies attended the meeting as observers.

 The Steering Committee agreed with the proposed amendments to the Programme Estimate 2 and Financing Agreement and the mobilization of contingencies and requested the Coordination Unit to expedite the process of approval with the formal bodies of the Commission. The Committee recommended requesting an extension of the Programme Estimate 2 to ensure that the planned projects are implemented to the desired level of quality and in line with the high expectations of the beneficiaries.

 

The forth  meeting of the Steering Committee was held under the auspices of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) in Libreville on May 23th and 24th.

Media  followed closely the opening remarks from the following invitees:  Her Excellency Mrs. Cristina Martins Barreira, Ambassador, Head of the European Union Delegation in the Republic of Gabon, who stated the commitment of the EU to the ACP Fish II Programme. She called for the application of imaginative solutions whilst recognizing the need for participatory approaches able to respond to real needs of the target groups. She closed by emphasizing the importance of Regional Economic Bodies in the development of sustainable improvements in the African Caribbean and Pacific context. His Excellency Mr. Roger Tchoungui, Deputy General Secretary of ECCAS recalled the history of COREP since its foundation in 2007 and outlined a number of national and regional interventions in which Gabon has played a key role. Her Excellency Mme. Celestine Ba Oguewa, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Rural Development, noted the relevance of Programme activities to the future of “Green Gabon”.

The session was chaired by the representative of ACP Secretariat Mr. Olusola Ojo. In all, four regional economic organizations (REOs), SC permanent members were represented: Mr Georges Mba-Asseko, Marine and Coastal Ecosystems and Fisheries Management Expert representing the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Mrs. Maria Luisa Cassamá Ferreira, Department of Livestock and Fishery’s Director who represented the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), Mr. Milton Haughton, Executive Director of Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM), representing the Caribbean Community CARICOM and finally Mr. James T. Movick, Deputy General Director of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) representing the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS).

The Steering Committee provides direction, validates the overall Programme implementation and follows up its activities. PE 1 and PE2 projects and outputs, as well as the underway tendering process were therefore explained to the members.

Preliminary conclusions and recommendations under a mid-term evaluation of the Programme was presented by an independent consultant.

4 main recommendations agreed by the Steering Committee were:

  • A second extension of 6 months to the programme Estimate 2, from 24 to 30 months, to allow 100% of the planned projects to be executed;
  • Regional, rather than a  national approach should be  considered for all projects and Terms of Reference planned in PE 2;
  •   Involvement of beneficiaries at all levels of implementation should be further  increased;
  • There is a need for continued support from the EU (or other partners) to follow up implementation where ACP Fish II has started activities;

The Caribbean Region (through CARICOM) offered to host the next Steering Committee.

Having ECCAS, which holds COREP as a specialized Fisheries body, sponsoring the meeting and CRFM and FFA attending the Steering Committee   stressed the importance of regional coordination of fisheries and justified a stakeholder meeting - on May the 24th - for a discussion on 'The Role of Regional Economic Organisations and Regional Fishery Bodies in fisheries management'.

 More information here 

The fifth meeting of the Steering Committee of the ACP Fish II Programme was held on 5th February 2013 in the ACP Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium. The morning session was chaired by the representative of ACP Secretariat, Ms. Christiane Leong Ho Yng. The afternoon session was initially chaired by Ms. Christiane Leong Ho Yng but the final sessions were under the Chairmanship of HE. Achille Bassilekin III, Assistant Secretary General, ACP Secretariat. Representatives of the European Commission (DG DEVCO and DG MARE) participated joining ACP Fish  II staff and the companies responsible for the Programme implementation. The following Regional Economic Organizations  designated the subsequent attendants : ECOWAS: Mr. Sanon Yacouba, COMESA: HE Mr. Gervais Nkanagu, ; CARICOM/CRFM: Mr. Milton Haughton, CEEAC/ECCAS Mr. Georges Mba Asseko ,UEMOA Mr. Ousmane Kone;  COMESA HE Gervais Nkanagu. The relevance of the ACP working group of Fisheries and the relationship that was established with the ACP Fish II initiatives and projects lead to the participation of HE Mr. Peceli VOCEA, Ambassador of Fiji and President of the working group of Fisheries (WGF) and Mr. Bruce Chapman, ACP Fisheries Adviser

Members analyzed the status of the Programme Estimate 2. Overall 144 projects will be implemented (3 projects overlapping regions) with a total cost of €13.4 million. Of the 144 projects, 38 have been implemented with field activities completed, 30 projects are currently underway with KEs active in the countries concerned, 22 projects have been launched and 32 projects are with DEVCO waiting for approval. In terms of the results of the assignments implemented:

  • 32 projects (out of 74) have produced direct, immediate and measurable results (studies and training, mostly)
  • 64 projects achieved the expected outputs and deliverable; 16 policy and framework documents (out of 22) have been approved at Ministry and/or Parliament level
  • 37 projects results were evaluated by the target groups and beneficiaries, as meeting their expectations; scores over 3 points (out of 5) represent 90 % of the 41 evaluated projects
  •  23 already implemented projects enabled beneficiary countries (and regional organizations) to initiate follow up measures to assure further implementation of studies/policy documents, through submission to donors and to complementary project.

 

It was pointed out that despite of the 2 extension of the PE2  already granted, there is a global concern about the delay in project implementation: 54% of the funds provided by the EU to achieve the Programme objectives (some €7.6 million) remained uncommitted. However, It was also noted the significant achievement of the projects implemented and lauded the stakeholders for the results secured to date. The representative from DEVCO noted that EDF, and particularly decentralized management, procedures are complex. To allow speeding up those procedures, they proposed to start a participatory approach for tender dossiers where common CU-DEVCO analysis would  reduce the time for having Tender Dossier and reports approved, and therefore the maximum number of projects implemented within the 2nd extension period.

The Steering Committee final recommendations were:

  • Additional assistance should be provided by the EU to support the development and management of fisheries in ACP states. This support would ensure that the significant benefits of the ACP Fish II Programme are capitalized on and translated to improved living standards and reduction of poverty in the member states;
  • Outputs of the ACP Fish II Programme must be available to stakeholders in the long term through the programme website which may be hosted through the support of the ACP Secretariat;
  • The PMU should consider the possibility of organising a series of Regional Workshops to assist the private sector in strengthening skills related to preparation of project proposals;
  • DEVCO follow through on the commitments made today to ensure all the documents are approved in a timely fashion thereby increasing the chances that all projects planned in the RAP will be implemented;
  • A Steering Committee to be held in June/July 2013 to assess and monitor progress in implementing these recommendations whereas a final Steering Committee is programmed for October 2013 tentatively in the Caribbean region.

Photo Gallery of Steering Committees here