BUJUMBURA April 1st (ABP) – The Cabinet, which met on Wednesday March 20 under the chairmanship of the Head of State, Evariste Ndayishimiye, analyzed and adopted the draft decree on the creation, missions, organization and functioning of the national committee of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF), according to the press release from the General Secretariat of State.
The draft decree, presented by the Minister of Trade, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Mrs. Marie Chantal Nijimbere, aims to establish the ZLECAF national committee in order to strengthen a new framework for applying the principles of the agreement establishing the ZLECAF.
With the establishment of the ZLECAF, Africa is on the verge of becoming a unified and integrated market, with 55 member states, with more than 1.2 billion consumers. That will make it the largest free trade zone in the world.
At the national level, the implementation of the agreement establishing the ZLECAF must be monitored by national committees.
The organizational architecture and operating methods of the ZLECAF national committee are based on three bodies. There is the orientation and decision council, which is a body for deliberation on all questions relating to the agreement and for defining negotiation strategies and measures necessary for the implementation of the agreement.
There is also the technical committee, the technical coordination and administrative management body of the ZLECAF national committee. There is also the executive secretariat, which is a technical, administrative and financial management body. After analysis, the draft decree was adopted subject to some substantive and formal observations.
During that meeting, the draft financing agreement relating to preparedness, response and resilience to health emergencies in Burundi using the multi-phase programmatic approach (P504531) as part of phase II of the said program in Eastern and Southern Africa, presented by the Minister of Public Health and the Fight against AIDS, Dr Lidwine Baradahana, was adopted.
The numerous assessments carried out have revealed that Burundi remains insufficiently prepared to prevent, detect and respond to health emergencies. It has also been confronted, over the last two to three years, with the occurrence of several epidemics such as cholera, measles, conjunctivitis, malaria and poliomyelitis.
That project aims to strengthen Burundi’s capacities to prevent, detect and respond to health emergencies, but also to strengthen the health system. The amount of the project for Burundi is 50 million US dollars for a period of 5 years, and the source of financing comes from the International Development Association.