Cross-cutting

Although this portfolio was not a direct outcome of the ‘communication and education’ workshop featured in this publication, workshop representatives did participate in the Cross-cutting Workshop. The portfolio highlights an intersectoral viewpoint that is particularly relevant for communication and education.

Following two days of deliberations on cross-cutting issues and inter-linkages in the management of Africa’s coastal and marine environment, including linked river basins and catchment areas, participants at the Workshop on Cross-cutting Issues identified priorities for action in the region within the framework of existing national, regional and international institutions and made the following recommendations:

1.	To strengthen the existing institutional and legal framework for integrated management of coastal areas, by:
	(a)	Integrating marine and coastal related issues in national development policies and plans to guide the sustainable management of the coastal areas;
	(b)	Empowering national institutional structures with:
		(i)	Strong mandates for effective actions in dealing with the multidisciplinary and complex challenges of the management of coastal areas;
		(ii)	Responsibilities for promoting multisectoral approaches in the management of coastal areas;
		(iii)	Adequate authority to regulate and facilitate the enforcement of environmental policy as well as to influence national development strategies on which invariably, the protection of marine and coastal environment depends;
		(iv)	Responsibilities for accelerating the ratification of all relevant subregional, regional and international environmental agreements, conventions and protocols;
		(v)	Relevant national legislation and ensuring its conformity with corresponding subregional, regional and international environmental agreements, conventions and protocols.
2.	To ensure the acceptability and sustainability of programmes and projects, by involving all relevant stakeholders, through:
	(a)	Realistic participation of local communities in the formulation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of policies, plans, projects and programmes;
	(b)	Effective involvement of non-governmental organizations, to facilitate the management processes of coastal areas;
	(c)	Involvement of the private sector as partners in the development and conservation initiatives of coastal areas;
	(d)	Ensuring an effective gender balance.
3.	To build and strengthen indigenous capabilities to cope with the full complexity of the problems facing Africa’s marine and coastal environment, by:
	(a)	Building human and technical capacities in natural and social sciences relevant to the needs of the region;
	(b)	Expanding curricula to include coastal and marine environment issues at all levels of education.
4.	To strengthen the collection and dissemination of scientific information as a basis for effective management of coastal areas, through:
	(a)	Enhancement of management-driven marine scientific research;
	(b)	Collection, use and protection of indigenous knowledge;
	(c)	Supporting sustained routine and long-term measurements and monitoring of environmental variables as the basis for forecasting change;
	(d)	Use of appropriate information delivery mechanisms;
	(e)	Sharing of information, data and experience on integrated coastal management programmes and projects;
	(f)	Identification of common methodologies and harmonizing activities in information collection;
	(g)	Periodic assessments and evaluation of integrated coastal management initiatives to propagate learning and exchange of experiences.
5.	To improve cooperation at subregional, regional and international levels, in order to cope with new challenges facing Africa’s coastal and marine environment, by:
	(a)	Reviewing and updating the existing subregional and regional conventions, protocols and action plans;
	(b)	Coordinating and harmonizing projects and programmes to avoid duplication and competition and to ensure cost saving;
	(c)	Using indigenous capacities in implementation of subregional and regional initiatives.
6.	To build confidence and trust and to ensure the successful implementation of integrated coastal zone management, through:
	(a)	Establishment of more demonstration projects and programmes in the region for sustainable integrated coastal management (SICOM), in addition to such successful existing projects as the Tanga Integrated Coastal Management Programme, United Republic of Tanzania, the Large Marine Ecosystem-Gulf of Guinea Project, West Africa, the protection of the coastal areas and wetlands of Hammamet Gulf, Tunisia, and others;
	(b)	Identification and safeguarding of cultural and spiritual sites, as well as biologically diverse areas and geosites;
	(c)	Mitigation of negative environmental impacts.
7.	To institute financing mechanisms, whereby:
	(a)	Governments prioritize SICOM programmes and make adequate budgetary allocation for their implementation;
	(b)	Governments honour their funding commitments to ratified conventions and protocols;
	(c)	Governments provide incentives to the private sector to encourage their financial contribution to the implementation of SICOM programmes and projects;
	(d)	Bilateral and multilateral donor agencies provide support for programmes and projects based on national, subregional and regional priorities;
	(e)	GEF support for the Africa Region is equitably expanded.
8.	To sustain the management process of the marine and coastal environment which has been initiated at (PACSICOM), through:
	(a)	Active participation of all African countries in the PACSICOM follow-up process, in particular, the Cape Town Conference and the Partnership Conference to be held, in 1998 and 1999, respectively, as well as initiating a subregional PACSICOM process;
	(b)	The support of Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Economic Commission for Africa, the African intergovernmental bodies and regional and subregional environmental organizations, United Nations agencies and other multilateral and bilateral organizations in the outcome of (PACSICOM) and the activities envisaged in the follow-up process.

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