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ECOWAS Ministers to validate regional environmental policy
Lagos, Nigeria - A draft regional policy to improve the management of natural resources and combat environment degradation in West Africa will be validated by ECOWAS Ministers responsible for the environment during a one-day meeting to be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Friday, according to an ECOWAS statement made available to PANA here Wednesday. It said the policy incorporated a vision of the environment, the principles, objectives, action plan and strategies for implementation. The policy, which is focused on those crucial areas that impact on regional integration, was developed jointly by ECOWAS and the eight-member West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), after intensive stakeholder collaboration, and given impetus by the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD). ECOWAS and UEMOA, in consultation with member states, decided to evolve a regional policy that will replace the existing multilayer approach to natural resource management and the protection of the environment. It will strengthen the various initiatives separately and jointly by member states to address the problems of natural resource management and desertification.
Since the ’70’s some member states have been battling to combat the environmental challenge of drought and desertification.
The meeting of the Ministers will be preceded by that of 100 experts drawn from member states.
Lagos - 14/11/2007
Panapress
Posted in Desertification, Ecology - environment, conservation, drought
