To commemorate International Women's Day, Baudouin Michel, the Director of ERAIFT, warmly received the ten women students from the 5th cohort of ERAIFT, representing five African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Senegal, Gabon, and Benin, for a lunch of enriching exchanges. The Director attentively listened to the diverse perspectives of the students regarding their experiences at ERAIFT, their academic journeys, and their specific professional aspirations.

Additionally, the Director reminded ERAIFT's commitment to positive discrimination in favor of women, a practice upheld by ERAIFT as a UNESCO Category 2 Centre, in the recruitment of both students and doctoral candidates.

Lastly, the Director brought attention to the existence of the Gender Working Group, which will provide a report to the ERAIFT Board of Directors. He encouraged the students to engage in discussions on this matter with the President of the 5th graduating class, who is a member of the group.

ERAIFT expresses its gratitude to UNESCO for its support over the past 25 years and acknowledges the European Union for its financial assistance.

To commemorate International Women's Day, Baudouin Michel, the Director of ERAIFT, warmly received the ten women students from the 5th cohort of ERAIFT, representing five African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Senegal, Gabon, and Benin, for a lunch of enriching exchanges. The Director attentively listened to the diverse perspectives of the students regarding their experiences at ERAIFT, their academic journeys, and their specific professional aspirations.

Additionally, the Director reminded ERAIFT's commitment to positive discrimination in favor of women, a practice upheld by ERAIFT as a UNESCO Category 2 Centre, in the recruitment of both students and doctoral candidates.

Lastly, the Director brought attention to the existence of the Gender Working Group, which will provide a report to the ERAIFT Board of Directors. He encouraged the students to engage in discussions on this matter with the President of the 5th graduating class, who is a member of the group.

ERAIFT expresses its gratitude to UNESCO for its support over the past 25 years and acknowledges the European Union for its financial assistance.

The Friday, February 23rd , at 1:30 PM, by the invitation of Professor Jean-Louis Doucet, in Auditorium G at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech Campus of the University of Liège, the Director of ERAIFT, Special Envoy of the African Parks Network for Francophone Africa, delivered a conference entitled “Protected Areas Management Models: Public-Private Partenrship (PPPs)

Approximately forty Master’s student in Forest and Natural Area Management attended the lecture and posed numerous questions. The speaker, an honorary professor at Gembloux Agro Bio-Tech, emphasized the two essential principles that characterize his alma mater: on-the-ground truth and solidarity.

ERAIFT expresses gratitude to Professor Jean-Louis Doucet and Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech for this invitation and fruitful exchanges.

A networking event took place in the early evening of February 22 at the Pullman Hotel in Kinshasa. The event was part of a series of media networking events organized by JT Diplomatic in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere in the world.

These are high-end meetings organized in Kinshasa, in exclusive venues, to connect international players active in the DRC to the various Congolese socio-economic ecosystems.

ERAIFT, represented by its fundraising director, took an active part in this networking evening. It was an opportunity to make the first public announcement of the next "English speaking days for Nature and Biodiversity @ERAIFT", to be held on April 17 and 18 at the school's Mont Amba site. The DFR also informed the public about the next ERAIFT online course on value chains, at the beginning of March, and the roadmap to the end of the year.

This ERAIFT intervention is part of the roll-out of activities under the project to build the capacity of biodiversity practitioners, scientists and policy-makers for the sustainable management of protected areas and forest ecosystems in Africa. This large-scale initiative in the Congo Basin sub-region and West Africa is funded by the European Union and ERAIFT, a category 2 center under the auspices of UNESCO. The AGRINATURA EEIG and ERAIFT are jointly implementing this project.

ERAIFT would like to take this opportunity to thank the European Union, the JT Diplomatic team and all its partners for making these important interventions possible.

A conference on the theme of the balance between environmental protection and the satisfaction of the socio-economic needs of populations, Challenges and Perspectives, took place in Kinshasa on February 22, at the Wallonie Bruxelles International (WBI) center. This event is part of the "Art d'Eco" exhibition organized by the WBI General Delegation in Kinshasa, from February 22 to March 10, 2024.

ERAIFT, represented by its fundraising director (DFR), took an active part in this conference. Speaking as the first of 4 panelists, the ERAIFT DFR opened the round table. His presentation focused on ERAIFT as a regional school for future protected area managers. He illustrated his remarks with concrete examples such as the Yangambi flux tower, the Luki biosphere reserve and the Ibi village agroforestry carbon sink as a pilot action whose model, if replicated on a large scale, will lead to the creation of the Batéké ecological corridor.

At the end of his speech, the DFR took the opportunity to make the first public announcement of the next "English speaking days for Nature and Biodiversity @ERAIFT", to be held on April 17 and 18 at the school's Mont Amba site. The DFR also informed the public about the next ERAIFT online course on value chains, at the beginning of March, and the roadmap to the end of the year.

This ERAIFT intervention is part of the roll-out of activities under the project to build the capacity of biodiversity practitioners, scientists and policy-makers for the sustainable management of protected areas and forest ecosystems in Africa. This large-scale initiative in the Congo Basin sub-region and West Africa is funded by the European Union and ERAIFT, a category 2 center under the auspices of UNESCO. The AGRINATURA EEIG and ERAIFT are jointly implementing this project.

ERAIFT would like to take this opportunity to thank the European Union and the Wallonie Bruxelles International delegation in DR Congo, as well as all its partners, for making these important interventions possible.

A strategic planning workshop on the theme of Sustainable Development Goals was held this week in Kinshasa from February 20 to 23. This event is part of the United Nations Cooperation for Sustainable Development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (UNSDCF) for the period 2020-2024. The cooperation agreement was jointly signed on December 30, 2019, between the Government of the DR Congo and the United Nations System.

This cooperation partnership serves as a reference document for the collective response of the United Nations to the priorities of the Congolese Government outlined in its National Strategic Development Plan (PNSD). It also outlines the framework for guidance and strategic decision-making for the United Nations Joint Program.

This framework expires in December 2024. Therefore, it is necessary to renew it within the framework of joint strategic planning with the Congolese Government. This planning will be based on the new national priorities of the DR Congo and the recommendations from the final evaluation of the current cooperation framework and those from the United Nations-led Common Country Analysis.

ERAIFT, represented by its fundraising director, actively participated in this strategic exercise of national impact that will define the new framework for United Nations Cooperation for Sustainable Development in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the period 2025-2029.

ERAIFT's involvement in the strategic directions of the DR Congo is part of the deployment of activities for the capacity building project for biodiversity practitioners, scientists, and policymakers for the sustainable management of protected areas and forest ecosystems in Africa. This large-scale initiative implemented in the Congo Basin sub-region and West Africa is funded by the European Union and ERAIFT, a Category 2 center under the auspices of UNESCO. GEIE AGRINATURA and ERAIFT jointly oversee the implementation of this project.

This is an opportunity for ERAIFT to express gratitude to the European Union, the United Nations system, and all partners who make these significant interventions possible.