The MAMI WATA project was implemented by GRID-Arendal, in partnership with UNEP and the Abidjan Convention, from 2015 to 2022. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.

Working with the Abidjan Convention, the project aimed to strengthen national and regional action to capture the value of marine and coastal ecosystems through Integrated Ocean based Management (IOM). It was implemented in the countries of the Abidjan Convention region, which covers 22 countries and a combined EEZ of approximately 4.8 million km2 in size. It included pilot projects in Benin, Côte D'Ivoire and Ghana which aimed to provide proof-of-concept, and serve as inspiration for upscaling and replication. Three Centres of Expertise were supported to serve as hubs for capacity development - the Centre de Suivi Ecologique in Dakar, Senegal, the International Ocean Institute South Africa in Cape Town, and the Environment Protection Agency in Sierra Leone in Freetown.

The objective for the project at the impact level was to:

• Build institutional and technical capacity enabling countries of the Abidjan Convention region to manage their marine and coastal environments in an integrated, ecosystem-based way leading to the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of marine and coastal resources, for the long-term provision of ecosystem services for human well-being.

And at the outcome level:

• Integrated marine management approaches are adopted by countries of the Abidjan Convention, in order to conserve marine biodiversity, ensure sustainable resource use and long-term provision of ecosystem services.

The purpose of this consultancy will be:

1) To evaluate the results achieved through the MAMI WATA project, following the OECD’s DAC criteria as outlined below, and;

2) To inform the future development of GRID-Arendal’s work on sustainable ocean governance

More information in the attachments.