The Conference of Parties (COP22) Civil Society Pole is expected to visit Rwanda and other 11 African countries with the goal of strengthening the mobilisation of non-state actors on the continent and encouraging their participation in the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, ahead of the meeting to be held in Marrakech, Morocco from November 7 t018.

The focus of this year’s conference is implementation of the Paris Agreement by strengthening mobilisation of all actors.

The mission will include a series of meetings in each country with NGOs, coalitions and networks active in the climate change and sustainable development space.

The first phase of this mission, prepared in collaboration with and supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco, will also include South Africa, Cameroun, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Swaziland and Tanzania.

"The participation of African civil society at COP22 is essential for several reasons:  Firstly, because international civil society played a key role among researchers and experts in the process that ultimately led to the Paris Agreement,” a statement quotes Driss El Yazami, the COP22 Head of Civil Society Activities as saying.

 "Also, COP22 in Marrakech seeks to address the issues of the "South”, notably the African continent and Small Island Developing States. Finally, the resistance to climate change requires that we act on the international, regional and local levels.”

One of the main focuses of the COP22 Civil Society Pole is to increase awareness and action among non-state actors in Morocco on environmental issues and also to establish strong partnerships with international civil society.

Their work is built on a long-term plan to structurally support the development of an engaged and committed civil society sector to address environmental issues and in particular the fight against climate change well beyond COP22.

Meanwhile, COP22 steering committee for African media will also hold a press trip September 2-11 to raise awareness among the African media community about COP22 issues through their participation in a session of COP Academy: a series of meetings with select members of the COP22 steering committee, the inter-ministerial commission and climate change experts.

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