West African Greens Federation trained party Leaders on Election Campaigns in Mali and made a resolution against the Tienfala Commune landfill waste site.

The West African Greens Federation, with support from the Belgian Groen solidarity fund, trained party leaders on the conduct of election campaigns and the emphasis on green ideology in Bamako, Mali, between 27th-29th May 2016.

The training brought together party leaders and members from: Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Togo, Ivory Coast and Mali.

The training had the following themes:

Sub-Theme 1: Involvement and participation of ecologists in presidential, parliamentary and local elections Sub-theme 2: How to organize an election campaign

Sub-theme 3: How to conduct an election rally

Sub-theme 4: What content for our ideological discourse/Green ideology

Sub-theme 5: Citizenship and Culture of Peace.

In her opening address Dr. Bintou Diallo Fadimata, President of the Ecological Party of Mali welcomed the participants. She clarifies that this was not just a simple meeting but a capacity building workshop for all regional party leaders, party members and environmentalists in the West African region.

The President of the West African Greens Federation, Mr.Napo Nissao Irénée, stressed the need to train party leaders and organize every year this kind of meeting on African soil. He reminded party leaders the importance of winning seats in Parliament, local as well as Presidential elections. The President of the African Greens Federation, Dr.HABINEZA Frank, retaliated the importance of the elections training and gave a progress report for all AGF’s regional federations. He informed the participants that this training would not have been possible without the Support of the Belgian Groen Party. He informed them that AGF has signed a cooperation agreement with the Belgians Greens to support West Africa for the next three years.  He appreciated the Ecological Party of Mali for their hospitality.  He also announced the winning of the Presidential elections in Austria by an Ecologist, Mr. ALEXANDER VAN DER BELLEN, on 23rd May 2016. He was a former leader of the Austrian Greens and the Greens supported candidate. He made history as the first ecologist to be elected President. A congratulatory message was later approved by the meeting.

On the second day of the training, participants made a field visit to the landfill waste site in the rural commune of Tienfala, which is governed by a Green Mayor. All the waste from the Bamako Capital City are brought to this landfill waste site and it’s a big cause for alarm. The land fill is 1 Km away from the trans-boundary river Niger and only 500 meters away from the Commune headquarters.  Several families live around this landfill.

Considering the harmful nature of the discharge of waste from this landfill to the rural community of Tienfala and the environment;

Considering the potential pollution of the water table and subsequent effects on human health; Considering the existence of more efficient technologies;

The participants in the regional West African Greens training in Mali, resolved to:

-           Continue their unwavering support for the Green Party of Mali and the rural commune of Tienfala in this struggle for a healthy environment.

-          They urged the Government authorities to pay particular attention to this citizen problem; -          They advocated for the extension of treatment plants and recovery of waste in different regions of Mali instead of landfills.

-          They encouraged the Local Community of Tienfala to take legal discourse against the state.

The last day of the training involved a press conference, where several issues were discussed and the the resolution regarding of the Landfill waste site in Tienfala commune was communicated to the media.

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