Bonn, 8 May 2015 - The AEWA Contracting Parties in Africa recognized the WMBD campaign as an effective tool for increasing understanding of and raising awareness for waterbirds in Africa. They therefore highlighted the need to encourage and support the celebration of the WMBD campaign in Africa, through for example providing seed funding for the organization of activities at the national level, as indicated in Result 4.3.2 of the AEWA Plan of Action for Africa 2012-2017.

To pioneer this activity, the UNEP/AEWA Secretariat secured a generous voluntary contribution from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) to support African Contracting Parties with the planning and organization activities for the 2015 WMBD campaign.

The BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat has kindly engaged in leading the coordination and management of this grant and the activities to be supported in various countries across Africa. Both Governmental and Non-Governmental organizations from the following eligible AEWA Contracting Parties in Africa have been called upon to submit their funding requests to the BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat: Algeria, Benin, Burundi, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

A template is available for the funding request as well as guidelines on the requested information and further details about the grant. It is worth noting that only one activity can be supported per eligible Contracting Party, for a maximum of €500.  Considering that the 2015 WMBD will be celebrated on 9-10 May 2015, all funding requests must be sent to the BirdLife Africa Partnership Secretariat preferably as soon as possible, and by 18 May 2015 at the latest.

All events supported in the framework of this grant will be registered on the WMBD website and the project organizers will be required to prepare a report on the activities conducted as well as provide photo illustrations of their respective activities.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat looks forward to seeing more action in the African region for the 2015 WMBD campaign!