13.10.2023
The 8th edition of the European Union-Congo Partnership Forum took place from Tuesday October 3 to Wednesday October 4, 2023 at the Espace Mémorial Brazza in Brazzaville. This special edition to mark the 60th anniversary of the EU-Congo partnership was celebrated under the theme "Together, weaving the future".
The aim of the forum was to present and promote the EU-Congo partnership, offering a panoramic view of the rich and diverse portfolio of projects supported by the European Union in Congo.It was a day of visibility for the EU's partner organizations in the Congo and their activities, as well as a forum for exchanging and sharing experience and best practices. In the Republic of Congo, the EU is active in various sectors, divided into clusters. These include justice and human rights; civil society capacity-building; biodiversity and the environment; forest governance; economic diversification and support for the private sector; and the "Global Gateway" cluster launched at last year's EU-Africa summit.
The event brought together a large number of participants, including all the players and partners involved in implementing activities under the collaboration framework. The event featured several activities over two days: thematic workshops on topics relating to development challenges and opportunities in the EU's main sectors of intervention; question and answer sessions with a panel of representatives from various development players; and a project fair organized around 7 poles of intervention, with over thirty stands.
ATIBT took part through the EU-funded Private Sector Support Project (ASP Congo), implemented by its representative office in Congo. This 32 months project focuses on improving the structuring and operational organization of forestry sector trade associations, private sector advocacy to contribute to the process of drafting regulatory texts and the normative framework of the new forestry law (33-2020 of July 8, 2020 on the forestry code in the Republic of Congo), capacity building and training to support the legality and traceability of timber, communication to promote the forestry-wood sector, and information and regulatory monitoring of the private forestry sector. Advocacy is currently focused on two major issues: the production sharing bill and the log export ban.
ATIBT hosted a stand where project documents were presented, including kakemonos, flyers and technical data sheets. Short videos on themes relating to the legality and traceability of wood were also shown. ATIBT was honored by the visit to its stand of the Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Congo, His Excellency Giacomo Durazzo, accompanied by Mr. Augustin Bondo Tshiani, Head of Cooperation. During the brief exchange, the ambassador recalled ATIBT's advocacy work alongside private-sector companies, which he had followed up at the workshop organized by the private forestry sector on September 21, 2023 at the Radisson Blue hotel, on the production-sharing project and the log export ban.
