Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi, March 17, 2023, under the high patronage of His Excellency Major Evariste NDAYISHIMIYE, President of the Republic, Head of State of Burundi, the eleventh ordinary session of the Council of Ministers of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) was held on March 17, 2023 in Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi.

Please download the documents below:

• Final Communique of the 11th Ordinary Session of the COMIFAC Council of Ministers March 2023_Final Version.pdf (357.8 Kb)

• Ministers' document.pdf (1.7 Mb)
• 14a0323_Address_Facilitator_PFBC_ Council_COMIFAC.pdf (152.4 Kb)
• Eleventh Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers Speech by the outgoing Chairman of the COMIFAC Council of Ministers, the Minister of Forests and Wildlife of Cameroon, Jules Doret Ndongo.pdf (424.1 Kb)
• Report of the Meeting Experts Meeting 11th Ordinary Session CM Bujumura_VF.pdf (368.5 Kb)

This session was preceded by the meeting of the Commission of Experts held from 14 to 16 March 2023.

 

The following member countries took part in the meeting: Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Chad. COMIFAC, ECCAS, OCFSA, GIZ, the German CBFP Facilitation, WWF, TRAFFIC, USFS, REPAR, RECEIAC, REFADD and REJEFAC, as well as resource persons also took part.

 

The solemn opening ceremony, presided over by His Excellency Lieutenant General of Police Gervais NDIRAKOBUCA, Prime Minister of the Republic of Burundi, was marked by five speeches delivered namely by Charles BAHIZI, Head of the Cabinet of the Mayor of the City of Bujumbura, Dr. Christian RUCK, Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), Dr. Honoré TABUNA, Commissioner, Head of the Department of Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development of ECCAS, representing the President of the Community Commission, Mr. Jules Doret NDONGO, Minister of Forests and Wildlife of Cameroon and outgoing Chairperson of COMIFAC, and the opening address by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Burundi.

 

In his welcoming remarks, the Head of Cabinet of the Mayor of the city of Bujumbura extended a warm welcome to all the delegations and thanked them for having come to participate in the Bujumbura meeting. He also thanked the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC for having chosen the city of Bujumbura to hold this ordinary session of the Council of Ministers.

 

In his speech, the CBFP Facilitator from the Federal Republic of Germany thanked COMIFAC for inviting him to this session, which is being held six months before the end of the transitional period of CBFP German facilitation. He also thanked the member states of COMIFAC for the good collaboration with the German CBFP facilitation. He recalled the main actions taken during his mandate, which are aligned with the orientations of the COMIFAC Convergence Plan.

 

The Commissioner, Head of the Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development Department of ECCAS, started by apologizing on behalf of the President of the Commission of the Community who was unavoidably absent. He conveyed ECCAS's thanks to the Burundian authorities for the organization of this meeting and paid a well-deserved tribute to His Excellency Major General Evariste NDAYISHIMIYE, President of the Republic, Head of State of Burundi, for his commitment to the sustainable management of forest resources. He welcomed the holding of this ordinary session at a period which coincides with a decisive phase of the restructuring process of the sparing no effort to ensure the success of the process of the ECCAS institutional and organizational reform.

 

In his speech, Mr. Jules Doret NDONGO, Minister of Forestry and Wildlife of Cameroon and outgoing Chairperson expressed his gratitude to the Burundian authorities for their legendary hospitality. He then highlighted the major achievements of his chairmanship during his term of office concerning negotiations, international dialogues in the forest-environment sector, mobilization of funding for the implementation of the Convergence Plan and capacity building of sub-regional institutions. Continuing his remarks, he thanked his peers as well as technical and financial partners, and in particular the Federal Republic of Germany, for the multiform support provided to the countries of the Congo Basin. Finally, he highlighted the priority projects to be pursued by the incoming COMIFAC chairmanship, including the finalization of the process of revising the fundamental texts of COMIFAC, the organization of the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government and making the Member States aware of the need to comply with their obligations towards the Commission.

In his opening speech, the Prime Minister, Head of Government of the Republic of Burundi welcomed all delegations and wished them a pleasant stay. He then praised the achievements of COMIFAC as regards the implementation of the Convergence Plan and reiterated his country's willingness to fulfill its commitments to this institution. After recalling the objectives of the present session, he mentioned some of his country's achievements in the area of sustainable forest management and the fight against climate change. Finally, he outlined Burundi's mandate as current Chairperson of COMIFAC, including support for the effective inclusion of all COMIFAC countries in the Central Africa Forest Initiative (CAFI).

 

The Prime Minister's speech was preceded by the handing over of the COMIFAC Chairmanship from Mr. Jules Doret NDONGO, Cameroon's Minister of Forests and Wildlife, to his colleague, Prof. Sanctus NIRAGIRA, Burundi's Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock.

During a closed session, the quorum was checked and found to be reached. The bureau, set up to conduct the deliberations, was constituted as follows

Chairperson: Pr Sanctus NIRAGIRA, Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock of Burundi

1st Deputy Chairperson: Dr Rosalie MATONDO, Minister of Forest Economy of the Republic of Congo

2nd Deputy Chairperson : Mr Benjamin TOIRAMBE BAMONINGA, Representative of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development of the Democratic Republic of Congo Rapporteur : Dr Hervé Martial MAIDOU, Executive Secretary of COMIFAC

The Council congratulated the Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock of Burundi on his new position as current Chairperson of COMIFAC. They assured him of his full support and wished him success in his mandate.   

After reading the report of the Commission of Experts, the Council took note of it and congratulated the experts on the quality of their work.

The Council then went through the items on the agenda and took the following decisions and recommendations:

 

1. Regarding the status of implementation of the recommendations and resolutions of the last six sessions of the COMIFAC Council of Ministers,

 

The Council:

(a) Took note of the progress of the implementation of the recommendations and resolutions of the previous sessions of the COMIFAC Council of Ministers ;

(b) instructed the Executive Secretariat to continue monitoring the implementation of pending recommendations and resolutions.

 

2. Regarding the revision of the fundamental texts of COMIFA,

The Council:

(a) Took note of :

• The draft revised fundamental texts (Treaty, Staff Regulations, Internal Rules of Procedure of the Council of Ministers, Internal Rules of Procedure of the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC) with a view to their analysis by the States with the prospect of the next Summit of Heads of State and Government ;
• the amended Headquarters Agreement signed between COMIFAC and the Government of the Republic of Cameroon ;
• the Manual of Administrative, Financial, Accounting and Procurement Procedures (MPAFC) of the Executive Secretariat;
• (b)Instructs the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC to transmit to the Member States the amended Headquarters Agreement and the Manual of Administrative, Financial, Accounting and Procurement Procedures (MPAFC), for their

 

3. Regarding the situation of equal contributions and debts of COMIFAC,

• The Council :
• (a)took note of the proposed payment plan for arrears owed to COMIFAC;
• (b)agreed to take strong actions pursuant to the provisions of Article 20 of the COMIFAC Treaty constituting;
• (c) call each member state upon to include a budget line on equal contributions to COMIFAC in the Finance Law;
• (d)authorized the Executive Secretariat to make proposals for policies and procedures regarding the recovery of arrears.

 

4. Regarding the Financial and Accounting Audit Reports for 2020 and 2021,

The Council :

• (a) decided to address this during the next session
• (b)instructed the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC to resend the audit reports to the Member States

 

5. With regard to the preparation of the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government,

The Council :

• (a)took note of the latest developments in the preparations for the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of COMIFAC ;
• (b)took note of the communication from the Representative of the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of DRC, who is still willing to host the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government ; a new date for the holding of the said summit will be announced  in due time ;
• (c)mandated the current Chairperson of COMIFAC to again reach out to the authorities of DRC in order to announce by official letter a new proposed date within a maximum period of one month and, if need be, to consult with either the authorities of the country where the commission is headquartered or the authorities of the one holding the current chairmanship of COMIFAC.

 

6. Concerning the draft organizational chart of the Central African Forest Observatory (OFAC),

The Council :

• (a)adopted the draft organizational chart of OFAC, subject to a reduction in the number of staff ;
• (b)instructed the Executive Secretariat to take steps to set up a unit in charge of the centralization and governance of forestry and environmental data.

 

7. Regarding the Mid-Term Evaluation Report of the Convergence Plan (2015-2025),

The Council :

• took note of the Mid-Term Review Report of the Convergence Plan (2015-2025);
• called the Member States upon to take ownership of the data collected and validated at the national level and to officially forward the national reports to the Executive Secretariat;
• called COMIFAC member states upon to implement the recommendations resulting from this evaluation;
• called COMIFAC member states upon to go on with the popularization of the Convergence Plan;
• instructed the Executive Secretariat to follow up on the implementation of the recommendations of this evaluation.

 

8. Regarding the 2021-2025 Operational Plan of the Convergence Plan and the 2023-2024 Biennial Action Plan of the COMIFAC Executive Secretariat,

The Council :

(a) adopted the 2021-2025 Operational Plan of the Convergence Plan and the 2023-2024 Biennial Action Plan ;

(b) instructed the Executive Secretariat to transmit the said plans to the Member States for their information and to mobilize the necessary multiform support for their implementation.

 

9. Regarding the furnishing needs of the new COMIFAC headquarters building, 

The Council :

(a) congratulated Cameroon, the headquarters country, for this achievement ;

(b) approved the request for an exceptional grant aimed at furnishing this building, provided that costs are optimized and the environment is respected ;

(c) instructed the Executive Secretariat to propose and make an equal distribution of the grant to be paid by country ;

(d) Instructs the Executive Secretariat to formally submit a request for subsidies to the member countries.

 

1. Concerning the draft budget for the financial year 2023 and the draft indicative budget for the financial year 2024 of the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC, 

The Council :

(a) approved the draft budget for the financial year 2023 with revenue and expenditure balanced at CFAF 2.06 billion, i.e. USD 3.35 million

(b) approved the draft indicative budget for the 2024 financial year, with revenue and expenditure balanced at CFAF 1.70 billion, or US$2.72 million

(c) took note of the fact that significant financial resources are being mobilized by the Executive Secretariat from partners;

(d) instructed the Executive Secretariat to initiate and have approved a budgetary regulation that provides a framework for the budget;

(e) instructed the Executive Secretariat to proceed with the recruitment of experts and, if necessary, to encourage member states to make experts available to COMIFAC on a temporary basis in order to increase the efficiency of the organization's operations, as an alternative measure

(f) called the partners upon to continue their support to COMIFAC in accordance with the budgetary provisions.

1. With regard to the financing strategy for the implementation of the convergence plan and the COMIFAC business plan, 

The Council :

(a) adopted the financing strategy for the implementation of the Convergence Plan and the COMIFAC business plan

(b) instructed the Executive Secretariat to implement the actions and recommendations of the said strategy with a view to diversifying the resources needed for the implementation of the Convergence Plan

(c) instructed the Executive Secretariat to mobilize the partners and resources necessary for the implementation of the economic options selected in the Business Plan

(d) instructed the Executive Secretariat to involve the Ministries in charge of finance, budget and cooperation in the implementation of the financing strategy of the Convergence Plan.

 

12. Concerning the COMIFAC Implementation Manual,

The Council :

(a) adopted the Implementation Manual

(b) instructed the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC to operationalize the processes, procedures and tools of the said Manual with a view to their implementation in COMIFAC countries and at the sub-regional level

(c) Instructed the Executive Secretariat of COMIFAC to make the said manual available to member states.

 

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