Addis Ababa — The Regional Committee of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management in Africa (UN-GGIM: Africa) opened its fourth session Wednesday with participants applauding the growing interest of African countries in the UN-GGIM initiative.
Participants focused on the need to foster Member States' participation in the UN-GGIM at national, regional and global levels; aligning and prioritizing of the regions work programme with that at the global level and also in line with the UN global agenda.
They also discussed Africa's participation in the work of various Expert and Working Groups and defining the means of implementation of activities outlined in the Action Plan of UN-GGIM: Africa; the need to engage the Working Groups to effectively develop activities on the ground; and how to make effective the governance and functional mechanisms for the management of UN-GGIM: Africa with a clear strategy for resource mobilization.
In the opening session, which was chaired by Mr. Greg Scott, Chief of the UN-GGIM Secretariat in New York, Mr. Sultan Mohammed Alya of Ethiopia, current Chair of the Executive Bureau of UN-GGIM: Africa, said meeting outcomes will encourage every UN Member State in Africa to fulfil their responsibilities and contribute towards the global UN-GGIM vision.
"It is important that there is a growing interest of African countries to the UN-GGIM initiative," he said, adding the foundation had been laid for strengthening the capacity of African countries to leverage the existing capabilities of geospatial information technology to foster sustainable development on the continent.
Mr. Andre Nonguierma, Chief of the Geoinformation and Sectoral Statistics Section at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), underscored that to progress geospatial information and ensure that it is benefiting Africans at every level and contributing to the global perspective, cohesive and coordinated efforts were required from Member States.
Mr. Nonguierma said the ECA had left no stone unturned in ensuring the meeting was a success so Africa could continue to deliver its remit to the global effort.
The meeting received two goodwill messages as follows from the UN-GGIM Secretariat and the African Union Commission (AUC) commending UN-GGIM: Africa for its contribution to the global UN-GGIM effort.
Mr. Tidiane Ouattara of the AUC stressed the need for the necessary linkages between UN-GGIM: Africa and the recently launched Africa Space Policy and its operational programme, GMES-Africa. He said the AUC fully supports the initiative.
Meeting outcomes will help consolidate consensus and drive political will in leveraging the enabling capabilities of geospatial information technology to meet the African development agenda.
Mr. Alya noted that his Executive Bureau had achieved much, including active participation and contribution to the global UN-GGIM activities and events; ensuring Africa's voice was heard in the global arena of geospatial information management as well as strengthening UN-GGIM: Africa interaction with public/private organizations, institutions and individuals involved in the development of geospatial information to effectively support the African geospatial community by raising awareness, funds and learning from the experience of other regions.
Revamping the UN-GGIM:Africa Governance
The meeting also discussed and reached a consensus to renew the UN-GGIM: Africa Executive Bureau and the membership of the Working Groups. The following countries are in the new bureau;
- Chair: Senegal
- 1st Vice-Chair: Botswana
- 2nd Vice-Chair: Algeria
- 1st Rapporteur: Cameroon
- 2nd Rapporteur: Uganda
The ECA continues as the Secretariat of UN-GGIM: Africa.
The meeting also discussed and agreed on the membership and composition of the Working Groups. New chairs for all working were elected as follow; WG1: African Geodetic Reference Frame is chaired by Kenya; WG2: Fundamental Geo spatial datasets and Standards South Africa; WG3: Institutional arrangements and Legal frameworks Algeria; WG4: Capacity and capability development Nigeria; WG5: Integration of Geospatial and Statistical Information for Sectoral Applications South Sudan.
Technical presentations on geospatial information management in Africa were also delivered.
