In a letter to the Minister of Mines, KP Chair Ambassador G. Milovanovic recommended the deployment of a short-term Technical Adviser to help Côte d’Ivoire prepare and implement a roadmap towards implementing minimal elements of the peer review checklist.In cooperation with the US Department of State, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3) Land Tenure Division responded favorably to this request for technical assistance.
The KP Adviser arrived in Abidjan in March 2013 and was embedded in the KP Permanent Secretariat in Côte d’Ivoire (Secrétariat Permanent de la Représentation du Processus de Kimberley en Côte d’Ivoire [SPRPK-CI]), which though inter-ministerial is housed at the Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy (MMPE). The primary objective of the assistance was to assist the Secretariat develop and implement a roadmap toward KP compliance. In addition, the Adviser was to assist the government adopt best practices for management of the sector, which is primarily artisanal in nature, such as those laid out in the KP’s 2012 Washington Declaration. His task was also to help coordinate various offers of assistance, primarily from FOCDI member countries. However, the role of the Adviser was not to directly implement any specific programs or measures. The assistance completed on June 28, 2013 and this report constitutes its final deliverable.