GMES & Africa participates in the MESA 2nd Policy Dialogue Workshop

On 10th to 11th May, the Water and Natural Resources GMES and AFRICA Senior Expert (M Mahama Bachir SALEY) and the Marine and Coastal Resources Technical Expert (M David KIRUGARA) have participated in the MESA 2nd Policy Dialogue Workshop held at the AUC, the Small Conference Hall.
After the plenary session, three break-out sessions were arranged, one dealing with Climate/Water Resources application, Land and Disaster Risk Management Application and, finally on Marine Application.

Key recommendations were made at the meeting in regards to Capacity building, Communication, Products and Services, National Networks and sustainability:

• Communication between technical experts and policy makers is lacking;
• Interaction between the two was less than adequate;
• No synergies within national levels;
• Matured service should continue with GMES and Africa;
• Horizontal and vertical networks created should be strengthened and allow flow of information in both directions;
• Need-based capacity building should be strengthened;
• National bodies should mainstream EO into their national strategies and plans;
• Need for awareness raising and communication for building a dynamic science-policy interface.

Further, policies and strategies were identified that could benefit from MESA and other EO initiatives.


Contacts

• Dr. Mahama Bachir SALEY, BachirS[at]africa-union.org
• Mr. David KIRUGARA, KirugaraD[at]africa-union.org

More information

• Access the Key recommendations
• Pictures on https://www.flickr.com/photos/mesa_program/sets/72157680555434813​