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Transition Strategies Continue in Partner Countries
The first inception workshop for the Middle East and North Africa took place from November 27-28 in Tunis, Tunisia. During the same week, a similar meeting was held in Rabat, Morocco. Direct support is being provided to Tunisia and Morocco, as a key component of the Global Partnership Programme, a voluntary initiative for countries to work with en.lighten to draft a National Efficient Lighting Strategy. Support is provided by en.lighten, along with its international partners, for the development of policies, strategies and actions for the phase-out of inefficient lighting products. The Global Partnership Programme, including Morocco and Tunisia, aim for the global phase-out of inefficient incandescent lamps by the end of 2016.
The meetings in region introduced the current status of energy efficient lighting initiatives to a wide audience including: local and regional government representatives, non-governmental organizations, utilities, universities, private sector companies and members of civil society. Experts introduced the elements of an integrated policy approach that comprises a National Efficient Lighting Strategy including: minimum energy performance standards; supporting policies and mechanisms to help restrict the supply of inefficient lighting; monitoring, verification and enforcement activities; and, environmentally sound managements such as collection and recycling plans for spent lamps.
At the conclusion of the meetings, the respective National Coordinating Committees captured the opinions and concerns from all of the stakeholders. Priorities for the region include: strengthening lamp monitoring and testing capacities and the development of environmentally sustainable management of spent lamps.
In February, Jordan will be the next country to conduct an inception workshop. For all Partner countries, online support and access to professional resources through email and by telephone will be available for the development of national transition activities. The en.lightened learning site provides a wide range of resources for countries.
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