The AEWA Plan of Action for Africa (PoAA) 2012-2017 was adopted at the 5th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (France, 2012). Since then the Government of France has established the Technical Support Unit (TSU) which provides support on the ground for the implementation of the PoAA. The TSU consists of experts in various fields and is based both at the Tour du Valat Research Centre in France and at the Department of National Parks in Senegal.

On 10 April 2014 the Acting Executive Secretary of AEWA, Mr Bert Lenten, and the Coordinator of the African Initiative, Ms Evelyn Moloko, met with members of the TSU at Tour du Valat in order to jointly review past PoAA achievements and discuss future activities which could benefit from the support of the TSU and the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat. The meeting also explored possible future challenges to the PoAA and the African Initiative of AEWA.

Meeting participants agreed on the importance of the PoAA for the conservation of migratory waterbirds shared by countries along the African-Eurasian Flyway. Among the most prominent PoAA achievements of 2013 were three successful sub-regional meetings for African National Focal Points, jointly organized by the TSU and UNEP/AEWA Secretariat. For each African sub-region, these meetings identified priority activities from the PoAA, which could best benefit from the support of the TSU, which could best benefit from projects implemented at a sub-regional scale. The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat and the TSU discussed how some of these sub-regional priorities could be addressed in close collaboration with the respective sub-regional Focal Point Coordinators, National Focal Points and other relevant partners. It was also discussed how to support the African sub-regional Focal Point Coordinators in their role to stimulate and guide implementation of priority activities at the sub-regional level.

Among the challenges identified during the meeting at Tour du Valat was the issue of securing the financial and human resources necessary for a) the implementation of the PoAA and b) the coordination of the African Initiative. Currently, only 50 percent of the funds for the post of an African Initiative Coordinator are secured through the AEWA core budget. Coordination of the Initiative therefore depends heavily on voluntary contributions. At the moment, African Initiative coordination is only possible on full-time basis because of generous financial support from the Government of Switzerland. In addition, the Government of Germany is currently providing the necessary funds for a full-time assistant for the African Initiative coordination mechanism within the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat. The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat hopes for a solution that will secure full-time African Initiative coordination within the Secretariat on a long-term basis.

Discussions also recognized the need for further substantial funding in order to enable full and effective implementation of the PoAA. It is hoped that a Fundraising Committee can be set up to assist with this task.