Special Edition
September, 2006
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A N G O L A - BENIN - CAMEROON - CONGO - CÔTE D'IVOIRE - DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - EQUATORIAL GUINEA - GABON - GHANA - GUINEA - GUINEA BISSAU - LIBERIA - NIGERIA - SAO TOME & PRINCIPE - SIERRA LEONE - TO G O
Excellencies,
The UNIDO Director General, His Excellency Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella will welcome you formally during the Opening Ceremony to this First Meeting
of the Committee of Ministers responsible for the project taking place in the beautiful city of Abuja, Nigeria.
For now, it is both my privilege and honour to say an initial welcome to you via the medium of this Special Edition of the Newsletter to the first high level
meeting of the project. This issue brings to you snippets of the old (those who signed the Abuja Declaration,1998) and the new (those gathering to sign
the Abuja Declaration, 2006)
With the so many high level meetings going on this week from New York to Malabo, your choice to be at the GCLME meeting in Abuja is both humbling
and inspirational to me and all those associated with the project.
As I welcome you, I wish to recognize your individual and collective genius; I wish to pay tribute to your wisdom; I wish to salute your tenacity. Deriving
from my personal interactions with you, I wish to tell you how lucky I feel to be associated with your Excellencies and how I am encouraged to give the
best I can in an effort not to disappoint the expectations which you have so often reiterated to me at our several meetings both in your countries as well
as at many international fora.
As we begin our march at this meeting towards the long term sustainability of the results and expected outcomes of the GCLME project through the
creation of an Interim Guinea Current Commission( later, the Guinea Current Commission), I wish to re-dedicate myself to the tasks ahead. I am joined
in this determination by my staff at the Regional Coordination Unit (RCU) which is to
become the Executive Secretariat and by the National Project Directors and their
retinue of Experts.
Together with all other stakeholders in the project, including the Private Sector and
non-governmental Organizations, as well as the UN and non-UN Organizations, the
will to succeed has never been stronger.
I am pleased to acknowledge the personal attachment of the UNIDO Director General
to this project. It derives from a long association with, and intimate knowledge of, the
project dating back to the Gulf of Guinea LME pilot phase.
I wish to end by expressing gratitude to our host, the Nigerian Minister of Environment
Chief Mrs Helen Esuene and to the UNIDO Project Manager, Dr Chika Ukwe whose
commitment and untiring energy ensured that we are able to gather in Abuja 21-22
September 2006.
Accept, Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration
Prof Chidi IBE,
Regional Director, GCLME
C o p y r i g h t , G C L M E , 2 0 0 6

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G C L M E N e w s l e t t e r Page 2
Special Edition September, 2006
HE. Salomao Xirimbimbi HE. Okoulou -Kachati Issifou
HE. Shernoh Jalloh
HE. Deolindo Costa de Boa
HE. Fodee Kromah
A n g o l a
T o g o
S i e r r a L e o n e
S a o T o m e & P r i n c i p e
L i b e r i a
HE. Jean Pierre Babatunde
HE. Aristides Ocantes da Silva
B e n i n
G u i n e a B i s s a u
P r e s i d e n t o f N i g e r ia
HE. Pierre Helle
Chief Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo
HE. Mamoudou Keita
C a m e r o o n
C h i e f H o s t
G u i n e a
HE. Henry Djombo
HE. Vicente Rodriguez Siosá
HE. Kandeh Yumkella
HE. Helen Esuene
Congo
E q u a t o r i a l G u i n e a
Dir. Gen., UNIDO
N i g e r i a
H o s t
H o s t
HE. Jacques Andoh
HE. Anselme Enerunga
HE. Georgette Koko
HE. Stephen Asamoah Boateng
C ô t e d' I v o i r e
D. R. C o n g o
G a b o n
G h a n a
C o p y r i g h t , G C L M E , 2 0 0 6

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G C L M E N e w s l e t t e r Page 3
Special Edition September, 2006
First Meeting of the Ministerial Committee
Upon invitation from the Government of Ghana
through Honourable J.E. Afful, Minister of Envi-
ronment, Science and Technology of Ghana, the
first meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the
GOG-LME Project was convened at the Accra In-
ternational Conference Centre on 9th and 10th of
July 1998.
The meeting was chaired by Hon. I.K. Adjei-
Mensah, Ghana's Minister of Works and Housing,
who noted his own Ministry's interest in the
project, in relation to activities on Coastal Erosion.
His introductory remarks were followed by wel-
come words from Hon. J.F. Afful, Ghana's Minsiter
of Environment, Science and Technology, who un-
derlined the need for integrated coastal zone man-
agement strategies at the national and sub-regional
levels, and the important role of the Project therein.
Mr. A. Janneh, UNDP Representative, thereafter
HE Sylvain Akindes,
HE J.E. Afful,
reiterated his satisfaction with the progress made
B e n i n
G h a n a
by the project, and confirmed the commitment of
UNDP and. GEF to continue to offer their sup-
port.
Official opening of the meeting was by His Excel-
lency, the Vice-president of Ghana, Prof. J.EA Mills,
who stressed the importance of the project as an
instrument for regional cooperation.
The Committee of Ministers reviewed the key re-
sults obtained by the project, upon presentation of
the project progress and highlights by the Regional
Coordinator, Prof. Chidi Ibe. Dr. Zoltan Csizer, Di-
rector of the Cleaner production and Environmen-
tal Management Branch of UNIDO, in turn, pre-
sented the deliberations and recommendations of
the Tripartite Review and Steering Committee
Meeting, which after a short deliberation received
the official approval by the Ministerial Commit-
tee.
HE Sylvestre Naah Ondoa,
HE Dr. Adewole Raphael,
C a m e r o o n
N i g e r i a
After Dr. Csizer's presentation, Mr. C.T. Sakho,
UNIDO Representative in Cote d'ivoire, intro-
duced the Draft of the Accra Declaration and let-
ter to the UNDP Administrator and CEO of GEF.
Through signing of the Declaration, the GOG-
LME Project was guaranteed the needed political
direction for it to proceed. A final resolution put
emphasis on some key directions for the future:
# The project should be extended to the other
countries bordering the Guinea Current.
# Priority attention should be given to the coastal
erosion problem.
# The Ministers should be kept well informed,
e.g. through submission of six-monthly
progress reports directly to the Ministers.
HE Albert Kakou Tiapani,
HE Koffi Sany Santy Adade,
C ô t e d' I v o i r e
T o g o
Editor : K e l e c h i I h e m e j e Layout by J o s h u a O k e c h u k u N d u b u i s i, ICT Specialist

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