Seychelles attends AU meeting on rural development |30 October 2019
The Seychelles delegation: (l to r) Ms Albert, Minister Charlette and Mr Racombo
A three-strong delegation from Seychelles attended the 3rd Extraordinary Session of the Specialised Technical Committee (STC) of the African Union (AU) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment held between October 21 and 25, 2019, at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The session was spanned across two segments, notably the Expert Group Meeting, which took place during the first three days, and the ministers meeting, which followed soon after.
Pamela Charlette, the Minister for Habitat, Lands, Infrastructure and Land Transport headed the Seychelles delegation who successfully pushed for the endorsement of the Continental Blueprint for the Blue Economy Strategy.
It is to be noted that Seychelles, through the department of the Blue Economy, had been actively engaging with the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) to devise this Strategy, and that earlier during the year the director of AU-IBAR conducted a working visit to Seychelles to initiate collaborations and consultations.
Other highlights at the 3rd STC were:
- The election of the new bureau for the STC, with South Africa as the new Chair;
- Progress reports of AU programmes and targets that were approved by the previous STCs; such as the Malabo Declaration, which generally aims to end hunger in Africa by 2025;
- The endorsement of a number of policy instruments, such as: the Continental Framework for boosting Intra-Africa Trade in Agricultural Commodities and Services; the 10-year Action Plan for Aquaculture in Africa; the 10-year Action Plan for Sustainable Small Scale Fisheries in Africa; the Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy; and the Great Green Wall Initiative;
- The approval of the restructuring plans for the African Union Commission (AUC) and for the creation of a subcommittee for Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture.
Also part of the Seychelles delegation were Kenneth Racombo, the principal secretary for the Blue Economy and Phillianne Albert, the head of the policy, programme and research division of the Blue Economy.