UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative

• PEI-Burkina is a joint initiative between PEI, UNDP-Burkina Faso and the Government of Burkina Faso.
• Phase I is being executed by the Government of Burkina Faso through national partner institutions, led by the Ministry of Environment (MECV/SP-CONEDD) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF/DGEP).
• Phase I was launched in August 2010, after a long but successful Preparatory Phase.
• Current budget (July 2010–June 2012) is USD 1.95 million(USD 1.2 Million from UNDP-UNEP PEI;USD 400,000 from UNDP Burkina Faso, USD 262,500 in kind and USD 87,500 from the Government of Burkina Faso).

The context of poverty-environment mainstreaming in Burkina Faso

• In 1995 a National Council for Environmental Management (CONAGESE) was created with the primary mission to provide a forum for consultation to fully integrate environmental considerations into social, economic and cultural development processes. In 2002, SP/CONAGESE was renamed as SP/CONEDD.
• In 2000, Burkina Faso was the first country in the sub-region to develop a PRSP: the CSLP 2000–2003 (key focus was on health and education). In 2003, the revision of the PRSP led to a new document CSLP 2004–2008, which included some efforts to integrate environmental sustainability. The CSLP 2004–2008 became the reference document for all development activities in the country. At decentralized level, regional PRSPs (CSRLPs) were developed for the country’s 13 regions.
• In 2008, an official decree coordinated by SP/CONEDD was published for the creation of Environment Units at Ministerial and regional levels and for public and private companies. Their main mandate is to contribute to the integration of environmental concerns when designing and implementing policies, programmesand projects.
• In 2008, a peer review of the CSLP 2004-2008 was conducted,and concluded that “environment should be strengthened together with the economic and social pillars of sustainable development”.
• The PRSP 2004–2008 revision process officially started in 2009 (revision process was delayed for two years due to implementation delays). The new PRSP willbetitledStratégie de Croissance Accélérée et de Développement Durable pour la période 2011–2015 (SCADD).
• The government’s objective for this revision is to “encourage the acceleration of productivity and growth, and launch a process for sustainable development”.

Main activities

• Substantive support to mainstreaming poverty-environment into the new SCADD 2011–2015.
• PEI-Burkina is supporting MEF’s Division of Sectoral Policies (DPS) to integrate environment and climate change as a cross-cutting issue in their revised guidelines for developing sectoral policies and translating them into Medium Term Expenditure Frameworks.
• PEI Burkina is contributing to the SCADD process by providing documentation and information to the SCADD Secretariat hosted by MEF/DGEP (periodic working sessions between the Secretariat and the national PEI Coordinator).
• Meso studies (cotton and mine) underway in partnership with the UNEP Green Economy Initiative 2010–2011.
• National workshop and training on resource efficiency held in March 2010.
• Development of partnerships with Green Economy initiative, Climate Change Adaptation Programme, UN Habitat, and EC, under the umbrella of climate change and Green Economy.
• PEI supported the national Human Development Report 2010 entitled L’Environnement et le developpementhumain au Burkina,which was released in May 2010.
• Subregional training on environmental fiscal reform conducted with GIZ, with participants from Mauritania, Maliand decisions makers of Burkina Faso.

What has been achieved?

• A National multi-sectoral PEI Task Team (Comité Technique de Suivi – CTS) was officially put in place by a ministerial order in February 2009, co-chaired by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Environment (MECV) and the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
• The Permanent Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development (SP/CONEDD) officially appointed a national PEI coordinator in July 2009, signaling recognition of the relevance and priority of poverty-environment mainstreaming.
• PEI Burkina’s advocacy has led to a ministerial order for the creation of an Environment Unit in MEF’s division responsible for Economic Planning (DGEP), which is leading the formulation process for the SCADD (PRSP, MDGs, etc.).
• PEI Burkina has been integrated into MECV’s three-year plan (PTA/PROTECV PDA), which is an integral part of Burkina Faso’s Rural Sector programme (PROSDRp).A special presentation on PEI was given during the 2^nd conference of CONEDD, demonstrating the increasing recognition of poverty-environment linkages.
• An institutional and organizational audit of the CONEDD has been conducted in order to determine how to improve its efficiency and remove existing barriers in playing its role as national commission for environment and sustainable development. This effort is likely to lead to higher effectiveness for the CONEDD.
• Finalization of study on the contribution of environment and natural resources to the national economy of Burkina Faso 2011, which is an important tool for influencing decision-makers.

Lessons learned

• Changes in the government can lead to significant delays.Since the Preparatory Phase started, the Minister of Environment, Secretary General/MECV and Permanent Secretary/CONEDD have all changed.As a result it took more than five months to create the CTS, and the Preparatory Phase has been significantly delayed.
• It has been difficult to obtain the needed support from Government, as technical staff/focal points in government are overwhelmed by their primary duties.
• The government officially appointed a national coordinator, who is the director of policies and strategies of the Ministry of Environment.
• Mobilizing stakeholders is a long process, especially for key non-environment stakeholders, such as the MEF.
• Convincing environmental institutions of the critical importance to work hand-in-hand with finance and planning institutions is challenging, but critical to ensure the collaboration needed for the success of the mainstreaming process.
• Ensuring collaboration with UNDP’s Poverty Unit at the earliest stages provides better entry points to engage with MEF.

Way forward

• Support the development and implementation of the SCADD
• Launch a strategic study on the investment programme in environment and natural resources management under the SCADD
• Convene a round table to invite donors and the government to implement the SCADD under the investment programme
• Gain the support of the Ministry of Economy on indicators for the monitoring and evaluation of all sectoral policies
• Revision of all sectoral policies; develop a database to monitor and evaluate sectoral policies
• Validation of the economic study with the Green Economy Initiative
• Promotion of environmental fiscal reform to support environmental sustainability initiatives at country level
• Finalization of meso studies (cotton and mine sectors)
• Support the establishment of the Environment Unit in MEF (which will be an active key partner for PEI) and in other ministries
• Support the communication strategies of MECV on environment and natural resources management
• Carry out strategic studies on integrated ecosystem management and economic studies on waste and energy
• Collaboration with UNEP‘s Division of Technology, Industry and Economics – Sustainable Consumption and Production Branch, with a view to integrating SCP into SCADD
• Collaboration with the Green Economy Initiative on economic issues in support of the government