June 2017 — Sandy Davies (Technical Director), Mark Ssemakula (Project Officer) and Mathew Markides (Research Assistant) attended the Ocean Session of the Environment, Science, Technology and Health (ESTH) Workshop organised by the United States Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES) in Gaborone, Botswana on the 7th June 2017.
This professional development workshop was planned to equip U.S. Embassy staff with diplomatic tools needed to link their ESTH work to wider U.S. interests in the region, with emphasis on the linkages with U.S. and economic and security interests. The workshop was attended by Foreign Service officers from all over Africa dedicated to environment, science, technology, and health policy, and addressed issues such as wildlife trafficking and illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Mr Ssemakula presented FISH-i Africa as an initiative that is making a difference in the Western Indian Ocean. Describing how the Task force functions, he used cases from the recently published Illegal Fishing? Evidence and Analysis to illustrate the various challenges faced by and successes achieved in the fight against illegal fishing and fisheries related crime in the region.
