Experts meet to develop an agenda for action for effective environmental impact assessment in Africa


Addis Ababa, 9 April 2007--- African experts will begin a two-day workshop on April 12 in Addis Ababa to deliberate on specific practical and feasible process to improve environmental impact assessment (EIA) in Africa.

Organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and Capacity Development and Linkages for Environmental Assessment in Africa (CLEAA), the workshop will consider the recommendations contained in ECA's seminal study on the application of EIA in African countries, "Review of the Application of Environmental Assessment in Selected African Countries"

It will also develop an agenda for action around the key elements of EIA which African countries have found most challenging --- EIA review and the implementation and follow-up of Environmental Management Plan (EMP), which, experts say, require a combination of expertise, sufficient financial capacity and well performing institutional and regulatory mechanisms.

ECA and CLEAA say African countries have generally found it difficult to meet these challenges, resulting in adverse impacts on the effectiveness of EIA systems.

The two organizations say workshop participants would "advance beyond problem identification and general recommendations" and concentrate on developing concrete action plans and broader dissemination of specific, practical and feasible measures for improving the quality and financial sustainability of EIA review, enforcement and compliance.

The workshop will be preceded by a meeting on April 11 with the common partners of the two organizations.