The Abidjan-based West Africa Sub Regional Office was established in 2015 to strengthen UN Environment Programme's strategic presence in the regions, in response to the Rio+20 mandate related to strengthening and upgrading UNEP as the global environmental authority. The Office serves to further UNEP engagement with Member States in order to enhance the provision of coherent support in advancing their national environmental agenda, particularly in integrating the three pillars of sustainable development- social, economy and environment - in the context of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and related Goals.
The sub-regional Office covers a block of sixteen countries that have cultural and geopolitical ties and shared common economic interests under the Economic Community of West African States either as members or observer. These include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
The UNEP West Africa Office collaborates closely with other United Nations agencies as well as key partners in West Africa including the African Development Bank, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS) and the civil society.
Core functions:
- Political Engagement: Provides representation and closely engages in policy dialogue through sharing of quality information, analysis and recommendations on sub-regional priorities and policy developments to inform decision-making processes
- Programmatic delivery and coordination platform: Supports the coordinated and coherent delivery of UN Environment Programme's work in West Africa and the development of strategies to facilitate regional policy dialogue and enhance programmatic cooperation on key development issues/challenges in West Africa
- Leveraging strategic and programmatic partnerships: Builds and enhances partnerships to multiply the impact of UN Environment Programme interventions, ensuring that national governments, civil society, environmental and economic groupings, regional and sub-regional development banks and the private sector have better access to UN Environment Programme expertise
- Mobilizing resources: Supports regional resource mobilization from donors and partners in West Africa for the implementation of UN Environment Programme of Work in the region including the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals
- Communication and Outreach: Enhances awareness of environmental issues and promotes the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and contributes to enhancing UN Environment profile and visibility in West Africa
- Delivering as One UN: Ensures UNEP’s participation and contributions to national and sub-regional UN coordination mechanisms and platforms (UN Country Teams, UN Development Groups etc).
Contact:
Mohamed Atani
Head of Office
West Africa Sub-regional Office / Bureau Sous - régional Afrique de l’Ouest
UN Environment Programme
Rue Harris Memel Fotteh- 2 Plateaux-Vallons
01 PO Box 1747- Abidjan 01- Côte d’Ivoire
Tel: +225-22 51 46 20
Email: mohamed.atani@un.org
