Parliamentary network on the world bank west africa chapter general constitutive assembly abidjan, july 07

I° Objectives:

The West African Chapter of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank held its first general assembly in Abidjan from July 5-7 2007. The event was hosted by the national assembly of Côte d’Ivoire. Some fifty parliamentarians from 13 out of the 16 countries in the West Africa Region participated in the general assembly. Sierra Leone, Niger and Guinea were unable to send representatives due to conflicts in the own parliamentary calendars.

Following the initial launch of the chapter in June 2006 in Bamako and the installation of the national groups in the various countries, West African participants at the PNoWB annual conference in Cape Town, had decided meet in Abidjan toformalize the chapter with a Constitution, the adoption of an Action plan and election of a board. The opening ceremony was chaired by the Vice president of the national assembly of Côte d’Ivoire Mrs Bouabre Yvonne Abane.

1. 
   The adoption of the Constitution
   

The Action plan is the baseline of the chapter. It is a summary of the ideas developed in Bamako about the main objectives of the Chapter. Hon. Mercy Almona Isei of Nigeria chaired the commission with as a reporter Hon Odette Sauyet Likikouet of Côte d’Ivoire.

Following an intense debate (during which representatives from 10 countries intervened) the following priorities for the chapter were outlined:

HIV/AIDS and Malaria,

1. 
   Education;
   
2. 
   Poverty
   
3. 
   Agriculture
   

The majority of Parliamentarians agreed on a 2 year timeline for achieving the goals. During this 2 year period, the chapter aims at focusing on achieving its goals and activities, including fund raising to a wide range of donors.

In the end, the Moderator recommended that the Board and subcommittee Experts would consult in order to jointly finalize the chapter’s strategic plan.

Members also requested that PNoWB International provides an update to DFID on the functioning and achievements of the chapter for funds to be released.

c) The election of the board

The final step of the meeting of Abidjan was the election of the board since the executive board elected in Bamako was an interim body. Its main mission was to lead the chapter until a constitutive general assembly was held to formalize its organization.

A special effort was made when nominating board representatives to reflect the linguistic diversity of the West Africa region (English, French, Portuguese and Arabic are the 4 major languages) but also gender, 4 out of the 8 members of the board are women.
Adoptions of the strategic plan and by laws were followed by the election of a board comprised of 7 members:

President: Hon. Mercy Amona Isei, Nigeria

Vice President: Hon. Daleba Zozoro Jules, Cote D'Ivoire

Secretary General: Hon. Fernando Gomez, Guinee Bissau

Vice Secretary: Hon. Nana Mint Cheikhna , Mauritania

Treasurer: Hon. Appiah Ofori, Ghana

Vice Treasurer: Hon. Khadidiatou Diedhiou, Senegal
2 additional members of the board are:

Hon. Kuku Dorbor, Liberia

Hon. Paulin Tomadaga, Bénin

The newly elected President Hon. Mercy Almona Isei began her speech by thanking her peers. She committed herself to working for the growth and success of the chapter Parliamentarians paid tribute to the outgoing chair Khalifa Sall of Senegal and praised him for his dedication to the network and outstanding leadership since the chapter was created a year ago. Participating MPs also praised the Bank's support, both the regions' country directors and country teams who have funded all the participants' travel and the Paris based EXT Parliamentary team for coordinating the event and financially contributing. Parliamentarians also made a plea for an office in a francophone country to be preserved in order to ensure balance in knowledge sharing and activities both in Anglophone but also francophone countries within the boundaries of the chapters. This is especially relevant now that the organization is chaired by an MP from Nigeria.

The World Bank as a privileged partner of the network, contributed substantively in the meeting. Staff from the Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania offices and the Paris based parliamentary unit attended the conference which was an opportunity for the Bank to present its re-engagement strategy in Cote d'Ivoire, and to explain the institution's overall mission. Mr. Ousmane Diagana, representative of the World Bank in Niger introduced the topic on "the World Bank and the Members of Parliaments: Common expectations and interests. ".

His presentation was followed by a very interesting debate. The interventions, questions and interpellations of the participants evolved around the following topics:

-Poverty reduction strategies -the role of members of Parliaments in the design of PRSPs

- The role of parliamentarians in budget’s oversight

- Donors’ procedures: aid harmonization and coordination, aid effectiveness

- Capacity building for parliamentarians and the World Bank’s role

- Child beggars on the streets in West African capitals’ and World Bank’s efforts in curbing this pandemic

- Parliamentarians’ involvement in the Governance and anti corruption strategy.

Representatives from the World Bank provided thorough answers to these queries and confirmed once again the willingness of the institution at the highest level for engaging in a meaningful partnership with parliamentarians. Additionally The African Development Bank sent its regional representative who stressed the importance for the ADB to engage parliamentarians, and its strong willingness to partner with the PNoWB West Africa chapter as well following the outcome of the annual conference of the network attended by the President of the ADB along with the World Bank and IMF’s heads. Seeds for establishing a real partnership between the West African Chapter and the ABD have been planted

Two motions of gratitude were adopted. The first one to the intention of the authorities of Côte d’Ivoire for hosting the event and its outstanding hospitality; the second one was addressed to the World Bank for the support provided throughout the entire process to ensure the success of the conference

We, the Parliamentary network on the World Bank, West Africa Chapter,

conscious of the need to promote and respect democratic values, having the spirit of openness, transparency, independence, gender equity and taking into consideration the need for constructive partnership with the World Bank, IMF as well as bilateral, multilateral and others organisations including civil society and the private sector and academia do hereby give onto ourselves this constitution the 7^th day of July ²⁰⁰⁷
CHAPTER 0NE:

Composition and Objectives

Article 1

There shall be a West Africa Chapter of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank. Its membership will be open to national parliamentarians from the countries of the sub region.

The Chapter will work for PN0WB’s objectives:

• 
  To increase parliamentarians’ knowledge of the World Bank and other international organizations mission and operations.
  
• 
  To deepen parliamentarians’ understanding and influence on the Poverty Reduction strategy process and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
  
• 
  To promote a policy dialogue among parliamentarians and the country and regional offices of the World Bank, IMF and other multilateral organisations.
  
• 
  To mobilise parliamentarians to take concrete action that will reduce poverty.
  

CHAPTER TWO:

Organisation and Structures
Article 3

There shall be a Board of the West Africa Chapter which shall be responsible for the policy of the Chapter.

Each member country of the West Africa Chapter shall form a national group of parliamentarians to carry out activities of the Chapter within their country and elect a national representative.

Article 5

There shall be an Annual General Meeting of the Regional Chapter at which any member of the Chapter can attend and speak but voting powers are restricted to the national representative ( or a nominated member) to the annual meeting.

a) The following members of the Chapter shall constitute the board and shall be elected for two years term renewable for further one term. They are:

- Chairman,

-Vice Chairman

- Secretary

-Vice Secretary

-Treasurer

- Vice Treasurer

- Two others members.

b) Where in the course of tenure, a member of the board loses his seat in the national parliament or in case of resignation, a member of his national group would replace him until the next general assembly.

Article 7

The Board shall appoint a Coordinator who shall be responsible for facilitating links and support for the national groups and for promoting appropriate region wide activities.

The West Africa Chapter will conduct itself according to the rules and principles governing Chapters established by the International Board of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank.

CHAPTER THREE

General provisions

Article 9

a) The Chapter will be expected to submit an annual progress report to the Board of PN0WB International detailing the activities of the past six months and the planned work of the next six months. The Report will include details of the Chapter membership and the governance structure of the Chapter. There will be an annual audited statement of all financial accounts for the past year as well as a budget for the next year.

The Chairman of the Chapter will be an Associate member of the International Board of PNoWB.

DONE THIS SEVENTH DAY OF JULY 2007 IN ABIDJAN

COTE D’IVOIRE

PARLIAMENTARY NETWORK

ON THE WORLD BANK

SUMMARY OF 06 – 07 2007

WORKSHOPS ON THE STRATEGIC PLAN and bi yearly PROGRAM

INTRODUCTION

For African Parliamentarians, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are both a major stake and challenge they can only meet through the development of a Strategic Plan which is translated into a program that meets the needs of populations that by large live in extreme poverty.

Parliamentarians should consider the expectations of populations, the World Bank and other Development partners; to be effective in their action, Parliamentarians must have knowledge and tools(Capacity Building), to identify the needs and challenges faced by the people they represent namely in the areas of health (HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Diabetes etc…), effective budget management and oversight (to better control it management at the level of the field), education (the training of our children, populations), agriculture and many other areas. 2) - Program over 2 years

Agreeing on a program sounds like another daunting challenge for Parliamentarians. At the end of a rich debate (during which representatives from 10 countries intervened) the following priorities were laid out

4. 
   HIV/AIDS;
   
5. 
   Malaria, first cause of mortality rate in our country;
   
6. 
   Education;
   
7. 
   Poverty
   

The majority of Parliamentarians agreed on an average period of 2 years for the implementation of the program and the achievement of its goals. This timeframe will cover the goals’ identification, the development of programs and fund raising.

At this stage, the best option should be to follow recommendations from the Experts’ committee regarding all possible funding opportunities for the chapter, this is paramount for the success of the organization.

In the end, the Moderator recommended that the Board and Experts should jointly consult each other towards developing meaningful strategy.

She also recommended that national groups should seriously consider the general Assembly’s commitments develop programs in their respective Parliaments.