National Stakeholders Workshop in Burkina Faso

The SWITCH Africa Green National Stakeholder Workshop, held on 2 March 2016 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, was officially opened by Mr. Rasmane Ouedraogo, Director of the Department of Environmental Policies, Coordinator of the Poverty-Environment Initiative, Permanent Secretary to the National Council on Environment and Sustainable Development (CONEDD) and the SWITCH Africa Green national focal point for Burkina Faso.

The meeting brought together about 70 participants representing the grantees and their partners, beneficiary micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), the National Technical Coordinating Committee, the Permanent Secretariat of CONEDD, the Ministry of Environment, Green Economy and Climate Change, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

There were presentations on the SWITCH Africa Green programme as a whole, the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders, the provisions of the grant support agreement, reporting and monitoring requirements, and the green business development and networking facility components of the programme. The sessions were highly interactive as the participants sought to understand the various roles and the programme objectives, as well as the various tools available for green business development.

Regarding the way forward, it was agreed that a meeting would be held in April 2016 to validate the Country Implementation Plan for Burkina Faso. The grantees were introduced to the national coordinator, who encouraged the participants to attend the upcoming networking forum in Kampala. It was also agreed that a national communication plan would be developed.