Niamey — The proceedings of a workshop for the Western African countries in the production of geospatial information were launched on Tuesday in Niamey, Niger, on the initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). This meeting, which will be held from September 17-19, 2019 was organised in collaboration with the Government of Niger through the National Geographic Institute of Niger.
The objectives of the meeting are to create awareness and enhance the capacity of Member States to produce and utilize geospatial information and enhance the skills of Young Female Geospatial Professionals.
The regional workshop for the Western African countries is organized with the aim of improving and strengthening national geospatial information management, system and capacities, particularly, the production, provision and application of timely and reliable geospatial data for developing countries. The workshop will help in meeting the needs of national strategic and development priorities as well as the national implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Within this overall objective, special attention will be given to the organization and management of national geospatial data and information systems. This will also include institutional and legal frameworks, core or fundamental datasets, geodetic positioning infrastructure and reference frame, sharing and dissemination of quality geospatial information, approaches, methodologies and tools towards strengthening national geospatial information management, systems and capacities. Thus, facilitating an accessible, integrative and interoperable local-to-national-to-global information systems that support the implementation of national development agendas, evidence-based policy and decision-making, measuring, tracking progress and monitoring outcomes.
This three-day workshop will discuss the current status, challenges, and way forward for future implementations.
The recommendations from the meeting will be expected to guide the countries in fast tracking the implementation of their geospatial work and participation in the regional and global effort towards the integrated geospatial information framework.
"Geospatial information tools constitute a new intelligent nervous system that is essentially for any kind of human interaction in the natural world", said the acting Director of the sub regional Office for West Africa of ECA, Ghitu Mundunge.
"The GIS system works like a nervous system that has sensors to bring in new ways of collecting data in the appropriate places and process it as human beings similar to how our brains work and this holds same for organizations", said Ghitu Mundunge.
Heads of National Institutions or Authorities in charge of mapping and geospatial activities within Southern African Countries, high-level experts selected from academia, research institutions, and the private sector, especially young females, partners, and other stakeholders in the sub region actively involved in the area of geospatial information are invited to this workshop.
For more information, please contact:
Tahirou Gouro, Communication Officer, ECA- SRO/WA
Email: gouro2@un.org
