PAPFor coordinator meets with WAEMU and the European Union Delegation in Ouagadougou

As we covered in our March 2023 newsletter, WAEMU is the day-to-day regional contact for the PAPFor coordinator and represents the beneficiary countries. The European Union Delegation in Burkina Faso, meanwhile, monitors the regional coordination of both PAPFor and PAPBio.

A visit by PAPFor’s regional coordinator to Ouagadougou was thus organised in November with specific objectives linked to three important developments.

Firstly, as the end of the PAPFor programme nears (mid-2024), it was important to work with WAEMU to define the priorities for the next six months, to agree on the mobilisation of the final support missions, to determine the programme’s capitalisation procedures and to ensure consistency with those of the PAPBio programme.

Secondly, Mr Patrick Houben, the European Union’s focal point for the PAPFor and PAPBio programmes, took up a new post at the end of October and was replaced by Mr Francisco Bellafont. After initial contacts were made online, it was decided to meet the new person in charge and to discuss certain issues further.

Finally, the West African component of the European Union’s new regional programme in Africa, NaturAfrica, is being set up, and the regional coordination team for the initiative has just come into post and was on their first assignment to Burkina Faso. The PAPFor regional coordinator took the opportunity to pass on the first lessons learned and a wealth of information to ensure that the team got off to a good start. The NaturAfrica programme will be presented in more detail in our February newsletter.