Senegal: Stakeholders call on President Sall to honor FiTI commitment

Dakar, February 2020. In an effort to further energise the current implementation process of the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) in Senegal, two influental stakeholder groups are calling on President Macky Sall to honor his commitment given at the first FiTI International Conference in Nouakchott, Mauritania, in February 2016 to implement the FiTI.
The “Coalition des Femmes Transformatrices de Produits Halieutiques” as well as the “Coalition nationale de Plaidoyer pour la Transparence dans la Gouvernance des Peches” both issued written statements to the President (and his wife) to speed up the process of completing the sign-up steps process in order for Senegal to submit an official candidate application to the FiTI by the end of this year. Most notably, the statements call upon the enactment of a presidential degree for the Fisheries Transparency Initiative in FiTI, in order to establish a National Multi-Stakeholder Group for FiTI, and designate the FiTI Lead Ministry and FiTI National Lead, in accordance with the FiTI Standard.

According to Samba Gueye, Coordinator of the Coalition for increased fisheries transparency, “The Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) is a global multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to make fisheries more sustainable and accountable by strengthening transparency and stakeholder collaboration. It supports the fight against illegal fishing and corruption and contributes to strengthening Senegal’s leadership in transparency in ocean governance.”
The “Coalition nationale de Plaidoyer pour la Transparence dans la Gouvernance des Peches” was established with support from civil society, most notably the West African Development Artisanal Fisheries (WADAF) and the Regional Partnership for Coastal and Marine Conservation (PRCM). It is an inclusive, unifying, legitimate framework that brings together almost all fishers’ organizations (artisanal and industrial) and national fisheries governance networks: CONIPAS, REFEPAS, RNCLPAS, RNGIEIS, GAIPES, UPAMES.

Letter from Coalition des Femmes Transformatrices de Produits Halieutiques

Letter from Coalition nationale de Plaidoyer pour la Transparence dans la Gouvernance des Peches