Stocktaking Conference on Climate Services for Risk Reduction in West Africa

The conference will contribute to a large consultation of the regional and international stakeholders on the CS4RRA joint call, to ensure relevance, excellence, and ownership by the African region. It will equally contribute to the progressive implementation of the recommendations from the Webinars by WASCAL and IRD. Finally, the conference will support exploring synergies, provide the opportunity for networking, and mobilise funders in Africa and EU, and thus, will enlarge the research opportunities for CS4RRA members.

The specific objectives are:

• review the webinars’ outcomes and complete current priorities in research, innovation and capacity building;
• bring together funding agencies, key performing organisations from EU member states, and likeminded African partners interested in developing long-lasting activities on research, innovation and capacity building
• enhance coordination of the existing bilateral activities between European and African countries and existing multilateral initiatives; build-up a consortium of interested parties from Africa and Europe on climate risk reduction challenges (e.g. to prepare of a joint application for EU-calls).
• examine and propose sustainable funding mechanisms for climate and environment services provision,

The Stocktaking conference will scale up to the joint call for project proposals to address the critical issues identified during the webinars. The significance of hosting an inclusive international stocktaking conference in West Africa is to consolidate insights gathered from webinars and foster collaboration among research funders, practitioners, and stakeholders. The conference will equally help attract key institutions and countries beyond the initial CS4RRA circle. There is a significant gap in funding for R&I in Africa, as well as for capacity building in West Africa. By joining forces, the gap shall be closed, strong win-win partnerships built, and relevant research activities undertaken for sustainable development of the region.

The final hybrid (in-situ and online) stocktaking conference will be held in Banjul, the Gambia in 5-6 November 2024. The venue of the meeting is the International Conference Hall, Banjul, The Gambia.

More information here