Information in Support of the Electronic Consultation
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Information in support of the electronic consultation Action Plan & consultation process Draft 0 was prepared by 11 pairs of African and European experts who have drafted the different chapters. The chapters are currently under discussion and therefore they do not reflect a formal position of the AU and of the EU. The current version of the Action Plan, Draft 0 has been completed in 8 months of work and after 4 rounds of revision. It is an baseline version of the Action Plan. The consultation process should contribute to substantially improve it before its submission to the Heads of State Summit expected to take place at the end of 2010. For the purpose of the consultation process, each chapter of Draft 0 must be read as an individual chapter. This crucial aspect must be taken into due consideration while reading and commenting the present Draft 0. The consistency among different chapters and harmonization into one consolidated document will be addressed during and following the consultation process. For instance, each chapter includes a section suggesting an organizational scheme to optimize coordination, networking and management of EO information at different levels, continental, regional, national local, to be considered as first reflections. It is worth noting that the pairs of African and European experts were asked to draft also two specific sections on “Cost estimation” and “Timetable” for the implementation of the recommendations according to the priorities identified. However, it has been decided by the African-European joint Coordination Team not to address those issues prior to the actual consultation, as needs deriving from the consultation itself would need to be ascertained and prioritized before any assessment of costs or implementation strategies is made. Those will be dully addressed by the Coordination team in a subsequent stage. Also, important aspects of the current version of the Action Plan (Draft 0) have not yet been discussed in the appropriate fora and will be addressed in the validation phase, both via the electronic consultation and via the regional consultation processes that are scheduled to take place in the following months. In particular, some crucial aspects for the operationalization of GMES&Africa need further reflection, such as: − definition and prioritization of actions under GMES&Africa, − African relevant policies, including access to and utilization of data, − interface with GMES Europe, − governance, coordination and financing aspects, − definition of services (including the generation of tailored information for specific user communities and decision makers). Draft 0 is a baseline document to feed those discussions. The African-European joint Coordination Team of GMES&Africa has now launched the consultation process as we are short before the Africa-EU Heads of State Summit end of 2010 and there is a strong need to further engage discussions both in Africa and in Europe for a consensual plan. AFRICAN EUROPEAN UNION UNION GMES&AFRICA Action Plan Draft 0 Reference document for the consultation process ***** Section I – General considerations 1. Introduction to Draft 0 Section II – Cross-cutting issues 2. Policy and Institutional framework 3. Infrastructure framework 4. Capacity Building framework Section III – Thematic issues 5. Long-term management of natural resources 6. Marine and coastal areas 7. Water resources management 8. Impacts of climate variability and change 9. Natural disasters 10. Food security and rural development 11. Infrastructures and territorial development 12. Conflicts and political crises Towards a GMES&Africa Action Plan Section I 1. Introduction to Draft 0 1. Context Space applications are an important challenge and a great opportunity for Africa in addressing sustainable development and poverty alleviation. In this regard, the 8th Partnership on “Science, Information Society and Space” of the “2008-2010 Action Plan for the implementation of the Africa-EU Joint Strategy” underlines the relevance of space-based technologies for development policies. Following the Maputo declaration on GMES and Africa (April 2006), the EU Portuguese Presidency together with other European and African governmental bodies and organisations1, confirmed their commitment to work on the Lisbon Process for "GMES and Africa" (Lisbon declaration, December 2007)), and called upon the EU to plan an extension of its GMES European initiative to Africa, in order to make available to African decision makers all the data and tools needed for an operational implementation of policies targeting the sustainable management of the African environment. The Lisbon Process, which evolves in the wider context of the Africa-EU Action Plan 2008 – 2010, focuses on the elaboration of a “GMES&Africa Action Plan” to set up a medium/long term strategy for Africa, aiming at making full use of the potential of space systems for sustainable development, locally, regionally and continent wide and to reinforce Africa’s capacity and ownership in using remote sensing techniology, especially by implementing operational services in support to sustainable development . The Action Plan also initiates a long-term structured dialogue between Africa and Europe on Earth Observation related applications. 2 The “GMES&Africa Action Plan” The “GMES&Africa Action Plan” has been identified as one of the two “Early deliverables” of the “2008-2010 Africa-EU Action Plan” for the Space component of the “Africa-EU Partnership n° 8 on Science, Information Society and Space”. 1 The Participating Organisations and Governmental bodies to the Lisbon Decelaration are the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union , the European Commission services, the Commission of the African Union, the Secretariat of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the European Space Agency, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), Economic Commission of the West Africa States (ECOWAS), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development of East Africa (IGAD), the Monetary and Economic Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). 2.1 Objectives of the “GMES&Africa Action Plan” GMES&Africa focuses on Earth Observation applications. The objectives of the “GMES&Africa Action Plan” are as follows: 1) to help decision makers in understanding the importance of Earth Observation for sustainable development and poverty alleviation (increased understanding of situations, trends and dynamics, improved environment and natural resources monitoring capacity and improved design of policies and programs); 2) to identify thematic priorities and priorities to enhance the use of EO in Africa; 3) to outline operational modalities reach GMES&Africa objectives, i.e. allowing África to make full use of the potential of space systems for sustainable development and reinforcing Africa’s capacity and ownership in using and contributing to remote sensing science. 4) to define modalities to establish African-European operational collaboration to make best use in Africa of GMES Europe services As indicated in the “Lisbon process”, the “GMES&Africa Action Plan” shall address: - the identification of European and African users communities and stakeholders to be engaged in ”GMES and Africa”; - a mapping exercise aiming at the identification of relevant past and current activities, infrastructure, capacities and programmes on which “GMES and Africa” can build on (including the work done by the GEO capacity building committee and other international experiences); - an efficient approach for a long-term dialogue among the European and the African stakeholders for the integration of African requirements and needs in the provision of GMES services to Africa. This long-term dialogue should structure the cooperation among the African and the European GMES stakeholders and user communities; - the identification of the necessary elements to provide GMES services to Africa and to develop the complementary regional capabilities, and of a strategy to implement them. Data infrastructure initiatives in Africa, training programmes and capacity building on Earth Observation (e.g., in the context of GEO, AMESD, TIGER or regional initiatives) shall be fully identified and exploited; - prioritization of requirements and actions based on the consultation with, and federation of, the African user communities and on the available portfolio and identified assets resulting from relevant projects, programmes, infrastructures and others; - identification of gaps where action is needed; - identification of suitable programmes and funding instruments and schemes for the “GMES and Africa” partnership (e.g., in the context of GMES, EC research and development programmes, GEOSS, AMESD, ESA and EUMETSAT programmes, EDF, regional initiatives, bilateral cooperation, etc.), when local African capacities and infrastructures are not sufficient and having in view the harmonisation of all assets for the long term sustainable development of services and the regional capabilities. Exploration of the typical communitarian instruments used for the general development of GMES, as well as the typical mechanisms in line with the EU external relation and cooperation policies, shall be pursued; - an approach to the governance and data access policy issues; - the setting of a timetable for long term future actions in the development of “GMES and Africa” partnership. 2.2 “GMES&Africa Action