Key Activities Accomplished in Cote d' Ivoire An inception workshop was undertaken on 04/08/2016 to launch the project convening over 100 LEDS policy and operational stakeholders drawn from the government (Policy and technical stakeholders from Ministers of Environment, Agriculture, Forestry, Energy, Transport), academia, private sector, resident UN agencies (UN resident coordinator / UN country teams), NGOs, and key support programs and donors - engaged in relevant LEDS interventions crucial to NDCs implementation to ensure their planned/ongoing initiatives can be complementary and synergistic to the project.

The project was launched by a representative of the Ministry of Environment. In his statement, lauded the project as an opportunity to fine-tune and implement Côte d’Ivoire’s low emissions development vision as captured in its NDCs.

He noted the country is committed to low emissions development at the highest level, noting the participation in COP21 and the presidents signing of the Paris agreement in April 2016. He further reiterated the need to move from rhetoric to action, noting the existence of LEDS plans that lay the foundation for implementation works that this project should support, including key areas like modelling capacity building. He pointed out the comprehensive "sustainable development and the emergence of Africa" publication, prepared by the Ministry of Environment in partnership with the UNDP, and endorsed by the president, a key work that informs the country’s NDCs. He also reiterated key sectors crucial to ensuring simultaneous socio-economic development i.e. food security and job creation and climate objectives, as outlined in their NDCs – agriculture, land-use, energy sector, and water resources (a subset of healthy ecosystems) and that the project should build on these already established progress. He noted that the country takes pride in launching the pilot activities and promised full support. As per the engagement and methodological approach for all the countries, the same was applied here. A day to the workshop, strategic meetings were held with the Minster of Environment and other policy stakeholders from the Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry and Energy who congregated at Environment Ministry as well as with the UN Resident coordinator (UNRC). The aim of the meeting was to introduce the project and get firsthand information on the LEDS progress and priorities in these countries and also as a reminder to these officials to participate in