Last Quarter Events

Regional Plastic Waste Project

Enterprise Works is making good progress in moving project activities along. Field work was initiated in all three cities (Lome, Niamey and Accra) and a baseline survey has been completed for Accra. Civil unrest in Lome during this reporting period temporarily slowed activities for that municipality.

Ghanaian Mining Sector

The REA joined the Ghana Mission's Program Officer and Democracy and Governance specialist for field visit to Newmont's gold mining site in Asutifi District.

The visit is part of a process initiated by USAID Ghana and Gold Fields Ltd. to develop a "Memorandum of Understanding" with the Ghana Chamber of Mines, which would provide the Mission with an operational framework to move forward with field level collaboration with Newmont and the two other major international gold mining companies (Gold Fields, AngoGold Ashanti) operating in Ghana.

Transboundary Biodiversity Conservation project

The REA assisted USAID Guinea by participating as a Technical Evaluation Committee team member in reviewing a proposal to implement a transboundary biodiversity conservation activity for Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Artisanal Diamond Mining

The REA led a team that completed a draft Environmental Assessment for an artisanal diamond mining credit proposal in Sierra Leone. This report will contribute to the development of a project evaluation of USAID support to the Peace Diamond Alliance that will take place later this year.

Upcoming Events

Strategic Planning

The REA is assisting the WARP Mission Director and the SO Team Leaders with the upcoming strategic planning exercise.

Teambuilding

The REA continues to provide support to the Africa Bureau team of Environmental Officers and Advisors. This initiative began in February 2005 during an Environmental Officer team retreat.

USAID Liberia Forestry Initiative Evaluation

The REA will participate as a team member in the upcoming year end evaluation of the Liberia Forestry Initiative. This work is scheduled for mid September.

USAID Benin Environmental backstopping

The REA is scheduled to assess the portfolio of USAID Benin in light of recent program changes and developments. This work will take place in October.

USAID Guinea and Sierra Leone

The REA is scheduled to assist both Missions by providing technical guidance during the start up phase of a transboundary biodiversity conservation initiative. The REA will also participate in the evaluation of the Peace Diamond Alliance project in Sierra Leone.

Plastic Waste Management

The REA will participate in a regional workshop on plastic waste organized by Enterprise Works. The workshop will be held in Accra September 7 and will be attended by stakeholders from Accra, Lome and Niamey.

Burkina Faso MCA

The REA will be working with the WARP Capacity Development Specialist and GoBF officials to determine modalities for ensuring sound environmental management is integrated into their Threshold Country Plan.