Joint media statement

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, which anchors the Africa Marine and Coastal Operations for Southern Africa (MarCOSIO) project under the auspices of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and Africa (GMES and Africa), hosted a regional workshop, from 4 to 6 September 2024, at the PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa in Mombasa, Kenya.

Under the theme, “Enabling Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth Using Earth Observation Technologies Towards Agenda 2063,” the workshop will be co-hosted by the Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) and attended by regional partners and stakeholders from southern Africa. GMES and Africa, which is in its second implementation phase, is co-funded by the African Union Commission and the European Commission.   

The Spatial Information Systems research group leader, Sives Govender, says, “The GMES and Africa Southern African Regional Workshop co-hosted by SASSCAL and the CSIR, serves to highlight the achievements within the Wetlands management and the oceans and coastal management domain for the region.  A key priority of GMES and Africa is ‘cross-fertilisation’, which ensures the consortia work together in different geographic areas and on diverse thematic domains. The regional workshop will address this priority while highlighting the achievements and impacts on Africa’s citizens.”

The workshop will facilitate the promotion and encouragement of mutual exchanges in terms of sharing best practices, knowledge and experiences. The cross-fertilisation of information and knowledge on new and innovative EO technologies developed under the programmes and their alignment with the region’s sustainable development strategies will be showcased. International delegates from Europe and Africa are expected to attend the workshop. This includes the member countries’ policymakers, members from the Southern African Development Community countries, public and private sector stakeholders, technical implementers, basin commissions, researchers and any other stakeholders whose activities are related to coastal areas, rivers and their ecosystems. The co-host, SASSCAL, will also invite its stakeholders to the workshop, which will include experts, policymakers and users from terrestrial domains in southern Africa.      

The GMES and Africa initiative is a programme formed out of cooperation between Africa and Europe, with a focus on Earth Observation (EO) systems. It was formed to respond to the global need to manage the environment, understand and mitigate the effects of climate change and ensure civil security by providing information to policymakers, scientists, the private sector and the public.

GMES and Africa aims to promote the development of local capabilities, institutional capacity and access to technical resources to develop EO-based services for sustainable development in Africa.  

MarCOSIO, a consortium under GMES and Africa, is comprised of southern and eastern African countries with partners drawn from the country’s institutions, including the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute and Cordio East Africa, among others.

“The workshop will have Kenyan Ministers, consortia partners, the user community and student grant beneficiaries in attendance.  The CSIR has successfully driven the coordination of the workshop as well as show casing our services and capabilities to the wider Southern African community, which in turn will lead to being selected to be part of the third phase of GMES and Africa, which starts in 2026,” exclaims Govender.
 

For media queries, please contact:

Kulani Chauke, CSIR Acting Media Relations Manager
Mobile: 071 266 0019
Email: KChauke@csir.co.za

About the CSIR

The CSIR, an entity of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, is one of the leading scientific and technology research, development and implementation organisations in Africa. Constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1945 as a science council, the CSIR undertakes directed and multidisciplinary research and technological innovation, as well as industrial and scientific development to improve the quality of life of all South Africans. For more information, visit www.csir.co.za

For enquiries, contact:

Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute

Jane Kiguta: KMFRI Communications Strategist and Principal Communications Officer
Email: jkiguta@kmfri.go.ke