Technical Advisory Mission to Burkina Faso

Technical Advisory Mission to Burkina Faso, 17 to 21 November 2008

Facing an ever-increasing number of potential natural disasters and cli­matic change, the government of Burkina Faso requested a UN-SPIDER Techni­cal Advisory Mission to assess and advise on the use of space-based technology and information for disaster management and emergency response. The mission, conducted in Burkina Faso from 17 to 21 November 2008, aimed at identifying po­tential areas where space-based technol­ogy and information could play a greater role, and at proposing recommendations on how to improve Burkina Faso’s access to and use of space-based technology and information.

During COPUOS1 . in June 2008, the Government of Burkina Faso requested a UN-SPIDER technical advisory mission. Technical advisory missions are part of UN-SPIDER’s support at the national level2. UN-SPIDER, being a “facilitator of capacity-building and institutional strengthening” relies on the readiness of Member States and institutions to support each other. Technical advisory missions, which fall under the facilitator function of the programme, make use of the expertise available in the region or internationally to support national activities by inviting external experts to join a UN-SPIDER mission to countries, which requested such missions. It is expected that the participation of external experts will enhance horizontal cooperation in a region and strengthen the links between disaster management and space communities. The team conducting the UN-SPIDER technical advisory mission to Burkina Faso from 17 to 21 November 2008 included Mr. Said Benali, ASAL (Algerian Space Agency), Mr. Mario Hucteau, CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales), Ms. Catherine Lefebvre (UNOCHA Regional Office for West Africa), Mr. Jörg Szarzynski (UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER) and Mr. Martin Raithelhuber (UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER) as head of mission.

Preceding the mission, a preparatory meeting was held at the end of August 2008 in Ouagadougou, with the National Council for the Environment and Sustain­able Development (SP/CONEDD, the governmental focal point for the mission), and other relevant institutions to discuss the mission objective and programme. For the official Technical Advisory Mission in November, a five-member team of experts was put together: one each from the Alge­rian Space Agency, the French Space Agen­cy CNES, the UN Office for the Coordi­nation of Humanitarian Affairs, and two from UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER. It is worth noting that a total of 15 institutions were initially interviewed by the mission team, including nine governmental institutions, four UN organizations (UNDP, OCHA, WFP, WHO), and one bilateral institution (FEWSNET).
 
 
 

• 1. Statement by H. E. Béatrice Damiba, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Burkina Faso to the United Nations in Vienna during the 51st Session of the Committee for Peaceful Uses of Space (COPUOS), held in Vienna from 9 to 20 June 2008.
• 2. The programme for the period 2007 to 2009 for UN-SPIDER (A/AC.105/894, Annex I) foresees technical advisory missions as part of Activity 9 Support to national activities and Activity 10 Support to the establishment of national disaster management planning and policies. The workplan for the biennium 2008-2009 specifies the number of countries targeted with technical advisory mission in 2008 (5) and 2009 (10) (A/AC.105/894, Annex II).