border projects on border management that involve more than one Member State that aims building capacity, combat irregular migration and establishing border management information systems; and (e) Establishment of the COMESA Women’s Empowerment Fund Decisions 24. Council made the following decisions: Member States should strengthen inter-ministerial coordination on migration issues and establish cross-border immigration task forces; and report back at the subsequent meeting. (a) That the COMESA Women’s Economic Empowerment Fund should be established by the next Council and Summit; (b) That upon the establishment of the Fund, the manager should develop an operational manual that would contain the following principles: GENDER AND WOMEN AFFAIRS th 7 Meeting of the COMESA Technical Committee on Gender i) An organogram be developed in order to illustrate the relationship between different levels of management and the Fund structures. ii) The size of the Fund should be determined after the feasibility study and the COMESA Secretariat should organise a forum of women entrepreneurs at country level to collect information and recommendations on the size of the fund. (b) That adequate staffing and financing of the gender programmes was necessary so that the Secretariat can effectively implement the programmes generated from the technical and ministerial meetings; iii) The apex level of the Fund should establish mechanisms for collaboration with co-operating partners and NGOs for implementation of the Fund in a transparent manner. (c) That national gender machineries should lobby line ministries responsible for finance, agriculture and environment; and co-operating partners to fully implement the COMESA policy, which champions the view that 80 percent of beneficiaries of agriculture programmes should be women and female headed households; and iv) The apex level, in collaboration with the intermediary financial institutions, should establish reasonable tenure, interest rates, and grace period to create an enabling environment for women to benefit from the Fund. v) National gender machineries, in collaboration with the COMESA Secretariat, should intensify civic education to demystify the cultural perceptions that discredit women entrepreneurs. Decisions 23. Council made the following decisions: (a) That Djibouti and any other Member State wishing to establish a FEMCOM chapter should contact the FEMCOM Secretariat directly for technical advice; (d) The COMESA Secretariat should liaise with the ministries of agriculture to sensitize extension workers so that they give civic education on conservation agriculture to the rural communities because it is a low cost activity. 10