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International advisory reportREPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY PANEL
August 2011
CONCLUSION
This report has noted encouraging progress on many fronts in the past year. Most noteworthy is the general sentiment expressed by most actors in the region of the need to take proactive measures despite (or perhaps even because of) the enduring political stalemate. Especially noteworthy in this regard are measures that may lead to a reactivated CRD, an updating of the PDR, a positive NGO disposition to development partnerships with the project, and the comprehensive framework that has been prepared to realize the very significant potential of the Port Ehoala.
We have also noted the steps taken by QMM to improve its relations with the many actors in the region, from local authorities to local communities. Undoubtedly spurred by the barricades of October 2010, there has been intensification of dialogue through many different channels. One such initiative that could have most significant impact is the Conflict Prevention Strategy led by an independent and neutral mediator.
But the region’s overwhelming poverty remains little changed and much of the hope for rapid, broad-based social and economic development generated by the project, the regional development plan of 2005 and the growth pole project of 2006 remains frustrated.
The main challenge for QMM remains that of effective communication with its many stakeholders: communication is a two-way street where listening is as essential as explaining; it’s about creating relationships based on mutual understanding and reciprocal respect.
Therefore, the Panel’s main recommendation is to encourage QMM to persist and to continue to adapt the development of its relationships with the community.
The Panel also urges local and regional leaders to redouble collective efforts, especially towards the revitalization of the CRD – in its previous format or in another form, so that the region can regain a clear sense of direction. That remains an essential precondition to encourage priority investments in agriculture, the long-term mainstay of the region, in roads that are essential to the désenclavement of the region and to fuller use of the port facilities at Ehoala. In this respect, we hope that despite the current freeze on external assistance, the World Bank will soon be able to concentrate its many development projects in the region to obtain maximum synergy and specifically to provide support to a revived CRD and an updated PDR.