NEWSLETTER LETTRE D’INFORMATION Delegation of the European Union to the Republic of Mauritius, for the JUNE 2011 - ISSUE 53 Union of the Comoros and the Republic of Seychelles This issue of the newsletter gives an overview of activities and events that took place Inside this issue: in the first semester 2011. Signature of the financing 3 EUROPE WEEK 2011 IN MAURTIUS agreement under the DCP Sixth Joint Experts Group 4 Meeting of the Africa-EU New protocol for fisheries 5 partnership between the Seychelles and the EU As it has been the Mauritian first channel. to the grant benefici- Workshop on the European 6 tradition for the aries (Association Development Fund The week started 6 past years, Europe Pour les Enfants Inad- May with the Signa- EU support to the ecologi- 7 Week was marked in aptés de L'Ile Maurice cal preservation and resil- ture of Financing Mauritius with a se- (APEIM), SOS ience in Seychelles’ World Agreement DCP 2 ries of events and Chidrens Village Mau- Témoignage : mon voyage 8 (covered in more in activities organised ritius, Diabetes Par- au cœur de l’Union eu- details on page 2 of the by the Delegation of ents Support Group Newsletter). In the Surveillance des pêches 9 the European Union and Union Park following week, o n taking place from 6 Women Association). Drawing Contest on Gen- 10 Tuesday 10 May 2011, to 14 May 2011, der equality a special ceremony In order to reach out whereby marking an Trinnex Indian Ocean 2011 12 was organised to to the wide range of important date in the award the grant audiences, the semi- history of European beneficiaries under nar : Strengthening unity – 9 May, the EU thematic the Competitive- Europe Day. programme "Non ness and Sustain- All the events were State Actors and ability of Sugar widely covered by Local Authorities in Cane Industries of the major Mauritian development" at the ACP Countries media. Television Ministry of Foreign Af- through Research crews attended al- fairs, Regional Integra- and Development most all the events tion and International was organised in col- organized by the Trade. 4 grants were laboration with the delegation. Events’ awarded to the non ACP Sugar Scientific coverage was broad- state actors. To mark Advisory Group on casted in the evening the award a symbolic Sugar. The objective ISNN: 1831—1930 news of the MBC – certificate was handled of the event that took Page 2 NEWSLETTER 53—DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION your story’. The participants were invited to submit the stories relating their volunteering experience. The objective of the competition was to highlight the impor- tance of volunteering activities and reward volunteering. The Delegation has received around 25 stories. Five winners have been selected from stories received. The laureates were awarded during a special ceremony which took place at the Institut Francais in Mauritius. The winners have been awarded a special trophy by the guest of honour - Vice President of Mauritius, H.E. Mrs Monique Ohsan-Bellepeau. Another important event which took place in the con- text of the Europe week was the seminar: The role of European Development Finance Institutions. The Visits to the DCP projects seminar focused on the infrastructure related activities (water, energy, transport, ICT). The guest of honour was Hon. Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Vice-Prime Minister, place on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, was to present the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. Other research projects on sugar cane and its by-products guests and speakers of the event were the representa- that have been selected for funding by the Euro- tives from Agence Française de Développement and the pean Union. European Investment Bank. The Delegation also seized the occasion of the The Europe Week was concluded with European fairy European Week context to visit two non- tale readings to the younger public. Two professional governmental and civil soci- story tellers read fairy tales ety organisations that have to two panels of children: received funding under Decen- one composed of children of tralised Cooperation Por- 4-7 years of age and the sec- gramme - Phase I. Xavier Du- ond one from 8 to 13. Euro- val, Vice-Prime Minister and Min- pean maps and books about ister of Social Integration and Europe ‘Discovering Europe’ Economic Empowerment was were provided to the chil- accompanying the Head of Dele- dren. Together with the gation at the visit of the two fol- delegation’s staff they learned lowing projects: Association of names of EU Member states Disability Service Providers and their geography. (ADSP) and Society for the Wel- fare of the Deaf. All in all, the Europe Week 2011 was very successful. In the context of the European The Delegation is looking Year of Volunteering and to forward to the next year and mark the Europe Week, the is already picturing the ideas Delegation has also launched a for new, interesting events. contest ‘Volunteers, tell us ‘Volunteers, tell us your story’ Awards Page 3 DECENTRALISED COOPERATION PROGRAMME PHASE II The signature of the financing agreement for the Decentralised Cooperation Programme ‘I look forward to this project contributing to (DCP) took place 6 May 2011 at the Ministry of Social Integration and Economic Develop- make a real difference in ment in presence of the Vice Prime Minister (VPM) and Minister of the Social Integration, the lives of vulnerable Xavier-Luc Duval, the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Pravind Jugnauth and groups in Mauritius and I am pleased to inform the Ambassador of the European Union, Alessandro Mariani. The agreement between the that the Government of EU and the government of Mauritius refers to the second phase of the DCP programme Mauritius and the EU to fight against poverty in the Republic of Mauritius with the support of non-state actors. are already looking into The second phase is funded by the European Union to the tune of EUR 5.5 million. the possibility to further increase the financial In his speech, the Vice Prime Minister recognised that the fight against poverty is not only allocation of 5.5 million euro’, said Alessandro a national prob- Mariani in his speech. lem but also an international chal- lenge. He acknowledged the role of the development partners such as the EU, the World Bank or the UNDP who offer their support and commitment to the fight against poverty and social ex- clusion. The implementation of the second phase of the DCP will last four years. The first phase of the DCP, which ended after four years of operation in 2010, was granted a great response from the Non-State Actors (NSAs) and made important contributions towards poverty alleviation in Mauritius. Some Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of finance, Pravind Jugnauth, Vice Prime 240 NGOs received funding to facilitate Minister Minister of the Social Integration, Xavier-Luc Duval and the Ambassador their commendable work. It has allowed of the European Union, Alessandro Mariani the implementation of nearly 340 com- munity-based projects both in Mauritius and Rodrigues, focusing on poverty alleviation, good governance, im- proved business services for small businesses and natural resource management specifically in Rodrigues. Priority areas in the new DCP will include empowerment and solidarity, support to vulnerable groups like women and children in distress, people facing special challenges and those with special needs. The programme also seeks to strengthen the capacity of NSAs to design, implement and manage and monitor community based projects according to high standards. Therefore, in his speech, Ambassador Alessandro Mariani, encouraged all NSAs to fully seize the opportunities offered under the DCP II. A substantial part of the EU funds will be provided in form of direct grants to the NSAs for the projects fighting for alleviation of poverty on the local level. Call for proposals and a ‘Small Grant Window’ will be launched in- viting the NSAs to submit their proposals. Page 4 NEWSLETTER 53—DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION PUBLIC EXPENDITURE FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR MAURITIUS The Public World Bank and the African Development Bank. Expenditure In 2010, the second PEFA assessment was carried out by and Financial a team led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Accountabil- comprising the World Bank and an expert funded by the ity (PEFA) EU. This second assessment spanned over the period assessment is a standard methodology used to as- October 2010 to February 2011. The Ministry of Fi- sess the soundness and quality of public finance nance and Economic Development and the EU organised management. It is a tool used by the European Un- jointly in February 2011, a workshop comprising all main ion (EU) partner countries and development part- stakeholders involved in public finance, as well as other ners. development partners, where the preliminary findings of In 2007, the first PEFA assessment for Mauritius the second PEFA assessment were presented and vali- had been funded by the EU. The report and its dated. findings had been instrumental in determining the The findings of this second PEFA assessment will be used EU budget support operations in Mauritius as well to support further reforms in public finance management as those of the other key development partners like over the next three years. the Agence Française de Développement, the SIXTH JOINT EXPERTS GROUP MEETING OF THE AFRICA-EU ENERGY PARTNERSHIP The Africa-EU Energy Partnership is one of the eight jointly defined strategic partnerships under the wider political umbrella of the 2007 Joint EU-Africa Strategy. The latter was agreed at the second Africa-EU Sum- mit held on 8 and 9 December 2007 in Lisbon. The Africa-EU Energy Partnership provides a structure for dialogue among African and European actors.