High Level Conference “Space for the African Citizen” in Brussels

UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER Senior Expert Jörg Szarzynski participated in the High Level Conference “Space for the African Citizen” in Brussels. Organized by the Belgian High Representation for Space Policy under the auspices of the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the main goal of the Conference was to demonstrate the relevance of space technologies as a transversal tool to favor development and growth, to facilitate good resource management, and to contribute to the preparation and the implementation of the policies in various fields, such as health, education, agriculture, and transport. Major discussion points during this meeting were 1.) the concept and establishment of an African Space Agency, 2.) a Pan-African University Institute on Space Science, and 3.) current and future projects in Africa such as AMESD, TIGER and especially GMES for Africa. Mr. Szarzynski was also invited to participate in the preceeding High Level Policy Meeting on Space to present a statement on behalf of UNOOSA. This meeting was specifically intended as a discussion forum between high-level representatives from Europe and from Africa. During this meeting Report No. 26 of the European Space Policy Institute (ESPI), called: “European-African Partnership in Satellite Applications for Sustainable Development - A Comprehensive Mapping of European-African Actors and Activities”, was distributed to the participants. Within this report UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER is mentioned on pp. 56 - 58. The report is available on the ESPI website.

ESPI Report