The African Union Commission is convening the first continental workshop on Coastal and Marine Areas in the GMES & Africa Phase II project, under the theme: Earth Observation for Sustainable Management of Africa’s Water and Natural Resources for 4-6 July 2022 in Accra, Ghana.

The workshop includes participants from University of Ghana (UoG), the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa (who are leading the implementation of the Coastal and Marine Areas component of the project), Regional Fisheries Bodies, Regional Economic Communities and European Technical Institutions. The aim of the workshop is to leverage on experiences of the different consortia to resolve technical issues related to the implementation of the project.

The expected outcomes are the identification of cross fertilization mechanisms among the consortia and the identification of ways to fix technical issues. GMES & Africa phase II expects to build on the achievements of the first phase of the project through investigating mechanisms to produce improvements to existing services, ensuring they become user-driven and sustainable at the technical and financial levels.

The FCWC is playing an advisory role as a member of the Regional Policy Advisory Committee (RPAC) of the project, and will explore areas for collaboration to fight IUU fishing.