Ahead of 2018 Annual Meetings, African Legal Support Facility Management Board reviews its activities and achievements

The ALSF Management Board is composed of (from left to right): Amadou Dieng (Senegal); Stephen Karangizi, the Director and CEO of the ALSF; Dorcas Achapa (Kenya) as Chairperson; Dandi Gnamou (Benin); Mohammed Rafique (Mozambique); and Bruce Montador (Canada).

The African Legal Support Facility’s (ALSF) Management Board held its 24^th meeting at the Facility’s headquarters in Abidjan to consider key matters concerning the ALSF. These included the 2017 Financial Report and Project Implementation Report, to assess recent operational achievements, and to review the draft 2017 Annual Report.

A representative of the African Development Bank Financial Control Department, which manages ALSF finances, provided the highlights of the Facility’s financial status as of December 2017. The Board commended the Facility’s team for attaining a record of US $10.9 million disbursements and for launching 36 new projects in 2017.

Following the assessment of the auditor’s report, the Board proceeded to discuss and review a draft version of its 2017 Annual Report. The Report shows that the ALSF’s operations remain efficient and produce comparatively broad benefits for its end-users and Member Countries. Alongside other significant achievements made in 2017, the Facility provided creditor litigation support and advisory services to Guinea-Bissau, which saved the country over US $45 million by reducing an existing debt with a key creditor by 90 percent.

Additionally, the most recent Annual Report draws the attention of the Facility’s partners to important cross-cutting issues addressed by the ALSF, namely gender-mainstreaming and environmental sustainability. At the project level, the Facility has worked to broaden the access of women to capacity building events and knowledge management products, by encourage female participation and by explicitly designing projects to maximize positive social transformation.

The ALSF Management Board works to ensure the efficient and effective conduct of all operations of the Facility, and is responsible for the approval of the Budget and appointment of the Director. The Board is composed of five members, appointed by the Governing Council for a three-year non-renewable term. The current members of the Board include Dorcas Achapa (Kenya) as Chairperson, Dandi Gnamou (Benin), Bruce Montador (Canada), Amadou Dieng (Senegal) and Mohammed Rafique (Mozambique). Stephen Karangizi, the Director and CEO of the ALSF, is an ex-officio member of the Board.