The Steering Committee of the WTO-FIFA Cotton Initiative held its first meeting since the launch of the “Partenariat pour le Coton” at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in February. The committee pledged to intensify efforts to deliver tangible results for African cotton-producing countries, notably the Cotton Four (Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali) plus Côte d’Ivoire. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) were welcomed as new partners and members of the Steering Committee.
The “Partenariat pour le Coton” was unveiled by WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and FIFA President Gianni Infantino on 25 February. The initiative aims to bolster the WTO-FIFA cotton partnership and enhance African countries’ participation in cotton value chains. The launch marked a significant milestone in the partnership, following the signing of the WTO-FIFA Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2022.
The meeting saw participation from representatives of FIFA, the WTO, IAEA, ILO, African Export-Import Bank (Afrieximbank), Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), Cotton Made in Africa (CMIA), International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), International Trade Centre (ITC), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Officials from the C4 plus countries were also in attendance.
Participants pledged to build on the momentum achieved with the launch of the Partenariat pour le Coton and to enhance multi-agency collaboration. They reviewed the progress made thus far, particularly the work done in West Africa by CMIA, an internationally recognized standard for sustainable cotton.
Discussions were held on potential actions that could drive future measures and investment in the cotton-to-textile production chains in Western Africa, thereby improving economic returns for these countries. The two new partners, IAEA and ILO, provided an overview of how their areas of work can support and be integrated into the technical work for an analysis of the cotton sector in the C4 plus countries.
Ambassador Stephen Fevrier, Senior Advisor to the WTO Director-General, praised the Steering Committee’s commitment to supporting African cotton-producing countries in their efforts to ascend the cotton-to-textile value chains. He urged the Committee to redouble efforts to raise awareness and garner additional support from stakeholders for the Partenariat pour le Coton.
The next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled to take place in Cotonou, Benin, in early June 2024.