The
Executive Committee is made of 15 African countries, drawn from the five subregions.The advisers recommended a minimum contribution of $10,000 from each African country to the AMCOW Trust Fund which was set up by UNEP at the request of the Ministers.
Such a contribution will "underscore ownership and commitment, therefore encouraging positive donor support."
They urged the President of AMCOW, Maria Matagamba (Uganda) to invite selected dignitaries to serve as patrons of AMCOW for the period 2005-2006 and assist in the mobilization of resources in support of AMCOW?s work.
Among the dignitaries proposed are Mr. Macky Sall, Prime Minister of Senegal, Mr. Joachim Chisano, former President of Mozambique, Mr. K.Y. Amoako, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa and Ambasador Salim Ahmed Salim, former Secretary General of OAU and African Union's Ambassador for Water.
The advisers also recommended meetings with the development cooperation ministers of Germany, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Netherlands, as well as representatives of the African Union and the European Union on support for the AMCOW Trust Fund.
They called on the ministers to accept "in principle" the offer of an AMCOW Secretariat by Nigeria but to refer the hosting agreement to legal experts for refining.
Nigeria had donated a landed property, a building to house the Secretariat in Abuja and $500,000 to meet the Secretariat?s operational cost for one year.
The meeting was attended by the Ministers from Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda while Nigeria, Senegal, Lesotho, Kenya, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco were represented by ambassadors accredited to Ethiopia.