Thomas Hofer

The Mountain Partnership is supported by a Secretariat which acts as a networking and liaison point for members, connecting institutions and activities in mountain development to ensure greater participation, coherence and impact. It does this by delivering key services: advocacy, capacity building and knowledge management.

In particular, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat plays a facilitating role in helping members build and develop joint activities.

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat helps to link existing activities in mountain development and foster synergies and complementarities to promote closer collaboration, avoid duplication and achieve greater coherence and better results in terms of sustainable development. It connects people and activities across countries to ensure greater participation, coherence and impact.
 
Structure 

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat now operates in a decentralized manner, in order to make the best use of existing networks and institutions and to more effectively provide services and support to members at the regional level.

The new Secretariat structure consists of central and decentralized hubs hosted respectively by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO in Rome (Central Hub), the Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion - CONDESAN in Peru (Latin America Hub), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development - ICIMOD in Nepal (Asia/Pacific Hub), the University of Central Asia - UCA in Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia Hub) as well as the United Nations Environment Programme - UNEP in Nairobi and the Environmental Reference Centre hosted by UNEP in Vienna.

Even though hosting of the Secretariat is provided by different institutions throughout the world, the Secretariat operates as one mutually supportive team, dedicated to the service of Mountain Partnership members.