Issue 16
December 2005
The Mountain Partnership Newsletter
Tajikistan.jpg
‘Peak to Peak' is an opportunity to keep you up-to-date with the latest news, activities and events related to the Mountain Partnership. This monthly newsletter, prepared by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat, is sent by e-mail to all members and other interested partners. An expanded, illustrated version can be read on-line at www.mountainpartnership.org. Help us share news, information and features on your activities with members by sending a message to: info@mountainpartnership.org.
Membership
As of December 2005, there are 126 members of the Mountain Partnership: 44 countries, 14 intergovernmental organizations and 68 major group organizations.
Update on Partnership Initiatives
Central Asia
Bishkek
Cooperation among communities and institutions in the mountain regions of Central Asia, the Alps, the Caucasus, the Carpathians, and the Altai was furthered recently at the conference, ‘ The Role of Local Governance in Sustainable Development' (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, 14–18 November 2005) (November issue of ‘Peak to Peak'), organized by the Alliance of Central Asian Mountain Communities (AGOCA) and the Central Asian Mountain Partnership (CAMP).A major outcome of the meeting was the drafting and adoption of the ‘Bishkek Resolution': a document that sets out recommendations for strengthening the role of local (self-) governance through the future exchange of experience among mountain regions, within the framework of the Mountain Partnership. The Resolution calls for the promotion of scientific research and the transfer of technologies and approaches on mountain regions and mountain issues and the promotion of civic education and education in all fields of sustainable development, as a precondition for an active participation in social and political life, for conflict resolution, for local economic development and for the sustainable use of natural resources. Importantly, the Bishkek Resolution requested that the Mountain Partnership promote an initiative for increasing cooperation and exchange among mountain villages, starting with those in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Many interesting experiences and models have been developed to deal with decentralized governance and to promote transboundary cooperation. The Mountain Partnership, through its membership, can facilitate the sharing of this knowledge and promote cooperation among different geographic regions. To find out more about the meeting and Bishkek Resolution, contact Valeria Nikonova, CAMP communications, at : domgora@camp.elcat.kg.
Research
An overview of the research activities being undertaken by all members of the Research Initiative was considered a pre-condition for future joint activities when members met last year at the Cusco Conference (Cusco, Peru, October 2004). Now, the Centre for Development and the Environment (CDE) at the University of Berne in Switzerland, in collaboration with other leading members of the Research Initiative, has prepared and disseminated to Initiative members a simple survey, which will help identify fields of common interest, develop joint activities and create future synergies. In particular, the survey aims to collect knowledge on the thematic and geographic areas of research focus and the groups and organizations involved. It also asks members to consider the roles that fields such as policy advice, extension, training, education, and sensitization would play in the work of members of the Initiative in future. Results of the survey will be communicated to all members of the Mountain Partnership in coming months. To find out more about the Research Initiative, contact Rosalaura Romeo, Programme Officer, Mountain Partnership Secretariat, at: rosalaura.romeo@fao.org.
Watershed management
An on-line discussion on watershed management is now underway, thanks to the support provided by Professor Hans Schreier and his team at the University of British Columbia in Canada. While members of the Watershed Management Initiative are particularly encouraged to participate, this electronic discussion is an opportunity for all members involved in watershed management activities to share experiences and good practices with others. The first topics to be discussed are: What are some of the positive and negative aspects of forming watershed councils? What are your experiences with watershed governance and how can traditional management systems be changed so that management will become more comprehensive, integrated and responsive to the many demands and conflicts involving water resources? If you wish to follow this watershed management discussion, visit www.ires.ubc.caand send an e-mail to Ms Jennifer MacDonald (jennm@interchange.ubc.ca) for password and log-on details.
Re-launch of the Mountain Partnership web site
The Mountain Partnership Web site has been re-launched. Its new design and layout features improved navigation and refined search tools to enable members to access relevant information resources and communication tools related to the Mountain Partnership in particular and sustainable mountain development in general. As requested by members in the Web survey earlier this year, the site includes dynamic open space areas in which members can exchange experiences, share information, identify common areas of collaboration and plan joint activities within Initiatives. Called ‘Discussion on-line' these spaces have been created around existing thematic and geographic Initiatives and additional discussion themes will be added easily at the request of members. It will also be possible for users to post news, features, case studies and links for inclusion in ‘ Peak to Peak'.Although the principal working language of ‘Discussion on-line' is English, members are welcome to post messages in other languages as appropriate. Do you want to propose any topics to motivate lively discussion in your areas of interest? Send your ideas and suggestions to Jane Ross, Communications Officer, Mountain Partnership Secretariat at: jane.ross@fao.org. Go to the Mountain Partnership Web site here: www.mountainpartnership.org.
International Mountain Day
Tourism can only be sustainable and really work for the poor in mountain areas if there is concerted action by all partners at the country level. This is a key message underlying this year's International Mountain Day on 11 December with its theme of 'Sustainable Tourism for Poverty Alleviation in Mountain Areas'. It is countries who have the power to build capacities, implement national strategies, develop policies and pass laws that will create conditions in which tourism can work sustainably and benefit local communities. And this year's International Mountain Day is set to increase awareness and to promote concerted action for sustainable tourism -- particularly at the country level. Bangladesh, for example, is organizing a rally of tribal hill and city populations in Dhaka, as well as a roundtable discussion which aims to generate guidelines for introducing sustainable mountain tourism in the country's hills and mountains. In Italy, the Ministry of Regional Affairs -- who first proposed to the UN that a Day be dedicated to mountains -- has already begun celebrations of International Mountain Day. On 30 November, people and institutions who have made outstanding contributions to sustainable mountain development in the country were honoured by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the President of the Republic of Italy, during a ceremony at the Quirinale Palace in Rome. This was followed by a panel discussion on the theme of sustainable tourism for poverty alleviation at the Rome headquarters of FAO, the UN agency mandated to lead observance of International Mountain Day. Speakers included officials from Italy's Ministry of Regional Affairs, the Turin Olympic Committee (host of the Olympic Winter Games 2006), and representatives of the governments of Kenya, Peru and Thailand who described national initiatives underway to harness mountain tourism so that it benefits mountain people and their environments, while at the same time satisfying the desires of tourists. In addition, Marco Perucca, President of Association Européenne CAP EUROPE (a Mountain Partnership member), reported on the progress of a pilot project in the Savoie Grand Revard region of the French Alps which is promoting sporting and leisure activities in mountain environments for both able and disabled people throughout the year. He concluded by making a plea for potential partners to help develop this innovative CAP EUROPE concept into a Europe-wide network. Watch the presentations made at the FAO event and read what is being done in other countries to observe International Mountain Day by visiting: www.fao.org/mnts/intl_mountain_day_en.asp. If you wish to share an interesting case study, article, news or features on mountain tourism for this Web site, write to: mountain-day@fao.org.
Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
A draft resolution on the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism was recently adopted at the 60 th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). According to the draft resolution (A/C.2/60/L.44), emphasis is placed on the need to promote responsible and sustainable tourism for the protection and safeguarding of natural and cultural heritage that could benefit all sectors of society and the natural environment towards achieving sustainable development. Member states and other stakeholders are invited to support World Tourism Organization (WTO) activities favouring sustainable tourism in developing countries for the eradication of poverty and are also envouraged to consider introducing the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism into their laws, regulations and professional practices.
On-going events
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (Montreal, Canada, 28 November-9 December 2005)
As the world heats up, mountain glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates, while rare plants and animals struggle to survive over ever diminishing areas, and mountain people, already among the world's poorest citizens, face greater hardships. Understanding how climate change affects mountains is vital as partners define strategies to reverse current global warming trends, developing treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The on-going United Nations Climate Change Conference is set to be the largest intergovernmental climate conference since the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997. In signing the Kyoto Protocol, signatories committed themselves to an ongoing process to reduce climate change gas emissions. However, the Protocol expires in 2012, and the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change has organised this current conference to look at actions to combat climate change beyond that date. As Klaus Toepfer, head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) stated: "Tackling climate change is indispensable to meeting all the Millennium Development Goals. Climate-related disasters dramatically diminish the chances of reducing poverty and hunger, improving health for mothers and children and ensuring environmental sustainability. This is why it is important to stress that working to reduce carbon emissions by promoting fuel efficiency, renewable energy and other clean technologies is a no-regrets policy that can work to the benefit of all." Visit the Conference Web site: http://www.montreal2005.gc.ca/default.asp?lang=En&n=CC1988EA-1. View Kyoto Protocol Facts and Figures here: http://www.cop3.org/facts_and_figures.htm . Read about climate change and mountains on the Mountain Partnership Web site at: http://www.mountainpartnership.org/themes/i-climate.html.
Past Events
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) (Tunis, Tunisia,16-18 November 2005)
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) can make a unique contribution to meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Greater access to ICTs can improve farming practices, improve livelihoods, assist micro-entrepreneurs, help prevent AIDS and other communicable diseases, promote women's equality and foster environmental protection. The recent three-day World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) was a multi-stakeholder global effort to share experiences and lessons to date and shape the use of ICTs to bridge the digital divide and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly the 8 th MDG: ‘… make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications technologies …' in the fight against poverty. A wide range of WSIS parallel events (roundtables, presentations and workshops) and the ICT4 ALL exhibit -- organized by the UN system and with the participation of UN agencies, NGOs, the private sector and the media -- focused on themes of direct relevance to the Mountain Partnership and the services provided by its Secretariat, namely: partnerships and financing, e-solutions, development and solidarity. Many of the events were notable for putting people (rather than technology) first: showcasing innovative communication tools, approaches and methods to network and build partnerships at all levels and, in particular, highlighting innovative uses of ICTs to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods in developing countries and countries in transition.
Helping small producers better link to markets
A notable roundtable discussion focussed on the ‘First Mile Project', a pilot project in Tanzania which is being implemented by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and supported by the Government of Switzerland. The term ‘first mile' refers to bridging the connectivity gap between a village with no electricity and no telephone line to the nearest computer that is on-line. The major challenge of this IFAD ‘First Mile' initiative is to determine how a group of smallholder farmers can connect through a series of intermediaries to the Internet, not only to get market information but also to communicate with other farmer groups. Prerequisites for this pilot project are capacity-building, fair trade, and Internet-based learning tools to enhance access. It is clearly an interesting model for other rural communities in Africa and beyond. Read about the ‘First Mile Project' here: www.ifad.org/rural/firstmile.
Building a global community of telecentres
Telecentres and other public access computing initiatives bring the benefits of the information economy to isolated villages and communities on every continent. They provide a community gathering place where people can access computers, use the Internet, learn new skills, tackle local social issues, face common challenges, and empower their neighbours. At the WSIS, a public/private partnership programme -- involving Mountain Partnership members, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), as well as the Microsoft Corporation -- announced the launch of telecentre.org, a collaborative initiative that will strengthen the capacity of many thousands of community-based telecentres around the world. Based at IDRC's offices in Ottawa, the telecentre.org programme will invest in grassroots telecentre networks. Operating at the national or regional level, these networks will provide people managing telecentres with the raw materials they need to succeed, including training, support, marketing, and technology. For further information, visit the telecentre.org site at: www.telecentre.org/latest-items-on-telecentre-org.
Future Events
International Year of Deserts and Desertification 2006 (global)
Desertification affects both the world's lowlands and highlands and is ranked as one of today's major environmental challenges, with serious impacts at the local and global level. Human activities, such as over-cultivation, deforestation and poor irrigation practices, combined with climate change, are turning once fertile soils into barren patches of land. Indeed, arable land per person is shrinking throughout the world, threatening food security, particularly in poor rural areas, and triggering humanitarian and economic crises. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has declared 2006 as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification and invites all countries, international and civil society organizations to support public awareness activities related to desertification and land degradation. The main objective of the year is to get the message across that desertification is a major threat to humanity. While fully addressing the growing threat that desertification represents for mankind, the year also seeks to celebrate the unique ecosystem and cultural diversity of deserts worldwide, therefore establishing a clear difference between the need to protect deserts as unique natural habitat and the fight against desertification as a global sustainable development challenge. The main focal point for the International Year of Deserts and Desertification is the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), whose Secretariat is a member of the Mountain Partnership, i n collaboration with UNEP, UNDP, IFAD and other relevant bodies. For further information about the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, visit the official Web site: www.unccd.int/main.php.
For more information on future mountain-related events around the world, browse the Mountain Calendar, managed by the Mountain Forum.
Publications
FAO. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005 –‘Eradicating Hunger: Key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals'
Hunger and malnutrition are killing nearly six million children each year -- a figure that roughly equals the entire pre-school population of a large country such as Japan -- and are among the root causes of poverty, illiteracy, and disease in developing countries. Thus states FAO in the new edition of its annual hunger report, ‘ The State of Food Insecurity in the World'. The report underlies the critical importance of reducing hunger, an explicit target of the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and also essential for meeting all other MDGs, and states that the fight to eliminate hunger and reach the other MDGs will be won or lost in the rural areas where the vast majority of the world's hungry people live. To achieve agreed development goals and targets, the FAO report calls for a twin-track approach consisting of national and international investments in strengthening productivity and incomes, including investment in small-scale irrigation, infrastructure (roads, water), the promotion of fisheries and agro-forestry, while also providing direct access to food through social safety nets for the poor, feeding programmes for mothers and infants, school meals and school gardens, food-for-work and food-for-education programmes. Download the entire book in PDF (886Kb) or by chapter from the special Web site at: www.fao.org/sof/sofi.
World Economic Forum. ‘Women's Empowerment: Measuring The Global Gender Gap'
The World Economic Forum, a Mountain Partnership member, assesses the current size of the gender gap by measuring the extent to which women in 58 countries have achieved equality with men in five critical areas: economic participation, economic opportunity, political empowerment, educational attainment, and health and well being. As the study asserts, countries that do not capitalize on the full potential of one-half of their societies are misallocating their human resources and undermining their competitive potential. Consolidating publicly available data from international organizations, national statistics and unique survey data from the World Economic Forum's Executive Opinion Survey, the study assesses the status accorded to women in a broad range of countries. Read the report on-line here: www.weforum.org/pdf/.
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). ‘Avian flu and the developing world'
A new briefing paper on bird flu recounts the impacts on the poor, particularly in the developing world, and outlines some feasible means of managing the threat. Produced by the International Livestock Research Institute ILRI -- one of the Future Harvest centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) -- the paper stresses that the potential and actual impacts of disease control strategies on impoverished populations are often ignored or underestimated by disease control planners. The writers outline the action currently underway by countries, UN and intergovernmental agencies and the private sector to tackle avian influenza in the developing world, and identify some potential roles for the CGIAR system in combatting the disease. Click here to read the brief: http://www.ilri.cgiar.org/ILRIPubAware/.
The Mountain Partnership Secretariat wishes to thank the following contributors to this issue: Gutiérrez Claudio Ricardo (Argentina), Antonia Okono (ICRAF) and the Mountain Forum.