Issue 23
December 2006
The Mountain Partnership Newsletter
'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 and can be read on-line at www.mountainpartnership.org. Help us share news, information and features with members by sending a message to: info@mountainpartnership.org.
Membership
We wish to welcome four new members to the ‘Major Group’ category of the Mountain Partnership: the Foundation for Environment and Development (FEDEV), the Regional Environmental Centre for the Caucasus (REC Caucasus), Swat Youth Front (SYF) Swat, and the Utah Valley State College and Utah-Russia Institute.
The Foundation for Environment and Development (FEDEV) in Cameroon focusses on the promotion of sustainable development, environmental protection, and respect for human rights via legal and policy instruments. (Contact: Nchunu Justice Sama, Executive Director. E-mail: fedevlaw@yahoo.co.uk, No Web site).
The Regional Environmental Centre for the Caucasus (REC Caucasus), based in Georgia, assists the Caucasus states in solving environmental problems and supports the building of civil society through the promotion of public participation in the decision-making process, the development of the free exchange of information and the encouragement of cooperation at all levels. (Contact: Nina Shatberashvili, Regional Coordinator, ‘Sustainable Development of Mountain Regions of the Caucasus - Local Agenda 21’. E-mail, Web site.
Swat Youth Front (SYF) Swat is a youth organization that promotes socio-economic empowerment of the underprivileged, fosters gender awareness and sensitivity, narrows gender gaps in health, education and economic participation and promotes volunteerism in youth in the Swat valley and district of Pakistan. (Contact: Badar Zaman, President. E-mail: syf@syfswat.org, Web site: www.syfswat.org).
Utah Valley State College (UVSC) and Utah-Russia Institute in the USA promote educational, cultural and technological projects to further understanding and cooperation between the mountainous state of Utah and the countries of Central Asia. UVSC and the Institute are currently organizing the international conference ‘Women of the Mountains’ in Utah in 2007. (Contact: Dr. R.E. Butler, Director, Utah-Russia Institute. E-mail: butlerro@uvsc.edu, Web Site: www.uvsc.edu/russia.)
As of December 2006, there are 142 members of the Mountain Partnership: 47 countries, 15 IGOs and 80 major group organizations.
Update on Partnership Activities
Following the meeting on 'Local Authorities and Decentralized Cooperation for Sustainable Mountain Development' (Peak to Peak, October-November issue), the workshop summary report has been disseminated to participants and work is underway to plan follow-up activities. These revolve around how best to improve the information flow about the activities undertaken by Italian local authorities in the context of decentralized cooperation in mountain areas. The Italian Ministry of Regional Affairs has kindly offered to coordinate this effort while the Mountain Partnership Secretariat is willing to provide a web space to make this information available on-line and to promote further dialogue and debate. Attention is also focussed on the means of increasing information exchange and dialogue within the regions, provinces and municipalities and between the officers responsible for mountain issues and those responsible for decentralized cooperation, in efforts to channel more aid to poor and marginalized mountain areas around the world. In addition, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat and members engaged in decentralized cooperation issues hope to organize other events in 2007 that will initiate a similar process of collaboration within other European countries, such as France and Spain. For further information on this activity, please contact Rosalaura Romeo, Programme Officer, Mountain Partnership Secretariat at: rosalaura.romeo@fao.org.
New on the Mountain Partnership
Web site
Home page - Events this month.
Visitors can now view and access news on current mountain and mountain-related events from the ‘Events this month’ box that scrolls at the top right corner of the home page. Double click on an event to see complete details which are stored in the Mountain Calendar of Events, managed by Mountain Forum.
Funding. New features in the Funding section include free on-line resources and tools that offer tips as well as practical suggestions and guidelines for funding and proposal writing. The section also contains the searchable Funding database which contains information on various thematic and regional areas of mountain development which are supported by financial institutions, foundations, multilateral development banks and donor agencies.
Central Asia Initiative.The main strength of a livelihoods focus is that it puts poor people at the centre. The approach builds on and promotes poor peoples’ strengths, skills, assets and potential, rather than viewing them as a liability or a drain on resources. A series of case studies and working papers that explore sustainable livelihood approaches in development programmes in the countries of Central Asia, including Armenia, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, are now accessible from the Central Asia Initiative and Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative sections of the Mountain Partnership Web site.
Watershed Management Initiative. During the International Year of Mountains in 2002, FAO and partners, such as the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), and the European Observatory of Mountain Forests (EOMF), undertook a large-scale assessment and global review of the current status and future trends of integrated and participatory watershed management. The review aimed to promote the exchange and dissemination of experiences in implementing watershed management projects from 1990 to 2000, and to help identify the vision for a new generation of watershed management programmes and projects. Experts from four continents contributed to the assessment through four regional workshops in Kenya, Nepal, Peru and France, and an international conference in Italy. All workshop and conference findings are now posted in the Watershed Management Initiative section, along with a resource book, ‘The new generation of watershed management programmes and projects’ which provides a critical summary of the review’s findings and recommendations.
News highlights from around the world
Environmental visionary in the Andes wins UNEP Sasakawa Prize
An environmental visionary recognized for his groundbreaking initiatives to address desertification in the Colombian Andes has won this year’s UNEP Sasakawa Prize. Rodrigo Vivas Rosas is leader of the Inter-institutional Consortium for Sustainable Agriculture (CIPASLA) in Colombia -- an alliance between 16 organizations and nearly 6,500 people in rural districts – which has implemented solutions that are technically viable and environmentally sustainable regarding the use of water, especially rainwater. The partners in this effort include government and non-governmental organizations, a foundation established by ex-guerillas and an association of indigenous people. Mr. Vivas Rosas also heads Red Latinoamericana y del Caribe de Soberanía Alimentaria y Desarrollo Sustentable (Redlayc), a food security and sustainable development regional entity, and is regional counselor for ECOFONDO, a consortium of regional environmental organizations. His activities span the Andean region and his achievements have helped to alleviate poverty that helps to perpetuate local guerilla activity, the production of illicit crops and the flow of migrants to Colombian cities. Mr Vivas Rosas’ integrated models and approaches are considered by many to be a kind of laboratory for sustainably managing hillside environments threatened by desertification and plagued with a lack of resources. For further information, visit the UNEP Sasakawa Prize Web site To find out more about CIPALSA, click here.
Partnership launched to combat land degradation in Central Asia
In November, five Central Asian countries joined with more than a dozen development partners to launch a US$1.4 billion programme to restore, maintain and enhance the productivity of degraded land. Over the next 10 years, the Central Asian Countries Initiative for Land Management (CACILM) will work toward sustainable land management and reversing land degradation in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Agricultural yields are reported to have declined by 20–30% across the Central Asian region since these countries achieved independence more than a decade ago and the livelihoods of nearly 20 million people living in rural areas are threatened due to overgrazing, soil erosion, salt damage to irrigated land, and desertification. CACILM will be lead by the Mountain Partnership member, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) among others. The programme areas and activities will be based on each country's National Programming Framework, as well as carried out within a multicountry framework. National projects and activities will focus on nine issues, including management of biodiversity conservation and protected areas, integrated resources, pasturelands, sustainable agriculture in irrigated land, and forest and woodlands; and capacity-building in land use planning, strengthening the policy environment, and remediation in the region of the former Aral Sea. Multi-country activities will include integrating land management into planning, developing a land management information system, research, and knowledge management and information dissemination. Coordination will be conducted through a task force comprising the members of the CACILM partnership and other international organizations. The other development partners involved are the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), CCD Project of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Global Mechanism, International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and World Bank. Also participating are the Islamic Development Bank and the UNCCD Secretariat. To find out more, visit the Asian Development Bank Web site.
Reaching the poor in Africa with microfinance
IDRC Photo
The pioneering Grameen Foundation helps lift the poor out of poverty through access to financial services and information. Together with its Technology Centre, the Foundation has now developed free software to revolutionize the way that microfinance practitioners access and use technology. Called Mifos, the new system was launched at the Global Microcredit Summit in Halifax, Canada (12-15 November), where Mountain Partnership member, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) announced that it will support the establishment of an African community of Mifos users and developers. Perhaps the most significant feature of Mifos is that it is open source software. This lowers costs and promotes adaptation: anyone with the right skills can modify the system to meet particular local needs and language requirements. This in turn enables microfinance institutions to better control their information management systems and to use available local technical support. To find out more, visit the IDRC Web site.
Global Change Research in European mountains and adjacent mountain areas
The Framework Programmes (FPs) of the European Union (EU) are the main financial tools through which the EU supports research and development activities covering almost all scientific disciplines. Mountain Partnership member, Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) has been active in the lobbying for the inclusion of mountain topics in the Environment Chapter (including climate change) and is supporting the community of European Global Change Researchers in developing the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) proposals, covering the 2007-2013 period.
The next call for proposals of the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) of the EU (2007-2013) is expected for early 2007 and will cover numerous mountain related topics including climate change impacts on mountain regions and harmonizing avalanche forecasting, risk mapping and warning. The broad coverage provides ample opportunity for research programmes consistent with the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy that identifies the main themes, research goals and specific actions for global change research in mountains. MRI supports the development of competitive research proposals congruent with the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy. As a research coordination office, the MRI can assist you, for example, in developing research partnerships, getting informed about ongoing activities and identifying suitable research sites. The quality of this service depends on the availability of and access to information. Apart from making use of the existing MRI expert database, the MRI is currently engaged in the development and maintenance of the Global Change Research Network in European Mountains (GCRN_EM), which also encompasses adjacent mountain areas such as the Atlas and Caucasas. This network not only consists of scientists and research institutions but also of sites, such as MAB Biosphere Reserves, where related research programmes can be implemented.
If you are interested in joining the Global Change Research Network for European Mountains; are involved in the development of a FP7 proposal that responds to a mountain topic; are searching for research partners or sites for joint projects; or are interested in joining a emerging FP7 consortium, please let MRI know who you are, what you are doing and how the MRI could assist you. Please contact Dr. Astrid Björnsen Gurung, Scientific Project Manager, MRI at: bjoernsen@env.ethz.ch.
World's third highest mountain turned over to local communities
The Government of Nepal has turned over conservation areas surrounding Kanchenjunga -- the world's third highest mountain -- to a coalition of local communities. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was instrumental in the decision and will work with local communities to implement a conservation programme for the area over the next five years. The Kangchenjunga Conservation Area is known for its rich biodiversity, spectacular scenery and vibrant cultural heritage. Launched in 1998, the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area project is designed to conserve globally threatened wildlife species such as the snow leopard and red panda while supporting the local communities through health services, informal education and income generating activities. Since 1998, WWF has invested US$1.5 million in the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Project. In that time, pressure on local forests has decreased while the positive attitude of locals toward wildlife conservation has increased. In addition, wildlife poaching and illegal harvesting of valuable medicinal plants have decreased and committees have been formed to monitor wildlife movement and illegal activities. WWF will support the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area Management Council for the next five years as part of its Sacred Himalayan Landscape. Dr Chandra P. Gurung, WWF's Country Representative in Nepal, stated, ‘The handover will be held up around the world as a positive example of people managing their natural resources and enable others to learn how to make conservation more equitable and sustainable.’
For further information, contact: Trishna Gurung, WWF Nepal at: trishna.gurung@wwfnepal.org.
U.S swaps Guatemalan debt for forest protection
The United States will forgive about 20 percent of the $122 million debt owed by Guatemala so the money can be used to protect threatened plants and wildlife. The deal is the largest amount of debt forgiven under the 1998 Tropical Forest Conservation Act, which allows debt owed to the United States to be invested in protecting the environment. Over $24 million will be set aside to sponsor conservation projects over the next 15 years in Guatemala's rain forests, mangrove reserves and volcanic mountain chains. In recent years, Guatemala's national parks have been threatened by slash-and-burn agriculture and land grabs. Some scantily patrolled protected areas have also been taken over by illegal traffickers smuggling drugs, immigrants and looted artefacts across the porous border with Mexico. Source: Reuters.
Community information centre opens in Bhutan
The mountainous kingdom of Bhutan is changing rapidly in all spheres of its nation building. Guided by the King’s people-centered development philosophy of ‘Gross National Happiness’, the people of Bhutan will shoulder the full responsibility of determining the nation’s destiny as Bhutan transforms into a democratic constitutional monarchy in 2008. The draft Constitution enshrines ‘freedom of the press, radio and television and other forms of dissemination of information, including electronic’ and ‘the right to information’ as Fundamental Rights of every Bhutanese. Fostering technological innovation is also enshrined as one of the constitutional principles of state policy. Technological progress in the country was recently furthered when the remote village of Tangmachu opened its Community Information Centre, thanks to funding from the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The information centre is equipped with four computers, a photocopier, fax machine, and scanner and is also connected to fast internet connections. During the inauguration of the centre, the Minister of Information and Communications, Lyonpo Leki Dorji, sent a thank you e-mail to IDRC President Maureen O’Neil, stating: ‘We have installed WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) technology phones for the homes and businesses in Tangmachu.. If this pilot project works well and [is] sustainabl[e], it could very well serve as an alternative to “ last mile rural access connectivity’’ in our mountainous terrain, where it would be very expensive to stretch land telephone lines’. He added that the project helped to put in practice Bhutan’s efforts to balanced development and alleviation of poverty, contributing to the vision of Gross National Happiness. Read the e-mail message on the IDRC Web site.
Launch of Online Access to Research in the Environment
In an effort to help reduce great disparities in scientific capital between developed and developing nations, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Yale University, and leading science and technology publishers have launched a new collaborative initiative to make global scientific research in the environmental sciences available online to tens of thousands of environmental scientists, researchers, and policy makers in the developing world for free or at nominal cost. Through Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE), more than 200 prestigious publishers, societies and associations will offer one of the world’s largest collections of scholarly, peer-reviewed environmental science journals to over 1200 public and non-profit environmental institutions in more than 100 developing nations of Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. ‘OARE is a new and inspiring example of international cooperation that can contribute to the reduction of the North-South scientific gap and digital divide, objectives that are both at the top of the UN agenda and the UN Millennium Development Goals’, said Achim Steiner, UNEP Executive Director. For more information, visit the OARE Web site.
Bulgarian mountain areas under threat
Pirin National Park
WWF is conducting a public campaign to save some of Bulgaria’s greatest -- and some of Europe’s last -- natural treasures. As the country heads toward EU membership in January 2007, the campaign has focussed public pressure on relevant authorities to ensure effective protection for the country’s national and nature parks. Despite being officially protected, exceptional nature areas like the Pirin or Rila Mountains or the rare beech forests in the Strandzha Mountains are suffering from illegal or semi-legal construction of villas, hotels, ski runs and other infrastructure as well as logging, hunting and other often illegal exploitation of resources. The construction of a ski resort within the core zone of Pirin National Park in 2004 has opened the gates to a flood of similar projects threatening other protected areas, including the Rila Mountains. Remaining protected areas along the Black Sea coast have come under intense pressure from a variety of tourism development projects. A petition, developed with and supported by a number of Bulgarian environmental organizations, calls on Bulgarian decision-makers and authorities to improve the legislative, administrative and judicial conditions needed to stop the destruction of the country’s natural heritage. Among the issues the petition addresses are amendments to the law on protected areas, as well as measures to prosecute and punish those breaking existing laws. The campaign includes a series of hard hitting public advertisements, including ‘For Sale’ signs on Pirin and Rila National Parks as well as a radio clip with an auction of protected areas. The campaign, which officially ran through to the end of November, is supported by Ogilvy and Mather Sofia and over thirty media and advertising firms. For news of the impact of this WWF campaign and the Fund’s other activities in the Danube-Carpathian region, visit the WWF Web site.
funding support
Global Fund for Women
The Global Fund for Women is an international network that advocates for and defends women's human rights by making grants available to support women’s groups around the world. The Fund strengthens women's right groups based outside the United States by providing small, flexible, and timely grants ranging from US $500 to $20,000 for operating and programme expenses. Eligible projects must demonstrate a strong commitment to women's equality and human rights and be governed, directed, and led by women. Over the last three years, for example, the Global Fund for Women has awarded the Women Initiative Group in Azerbaijan two grants totalling US$10,080 to support their inspiring efforts to help displaced women create healthy, stable homes. The country has some 700,000 displaced people who are survivors of a conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mountainous region known as Nagorno-Karabakh. For further information and to apply for a grant, visit the Global Fund for Women Web site.
2007 Twinbasin Project
TWINBASIN supports research and development in the field of integrated water resources management (IWRM) by promoting the twinning of basin organizations (BOs). The aim of twinning is for stakeholders to exchange views, experiences and advice on the administrative, technical and/or institutional aspects of basin management with sister organizations in other geographical, political or economic contexts. The TwinBasin project facilitates these basin organizations' twinning arrangements, by defining a framework for action, enabling the move of staff between twin agencies and by capitalizing the knowledge acquired. Do you want to propose a twinning? If so, Twinbasin invites all basin organizations involved in integrated water resources management to submit their proposals by 18 December 2006. For further details, go to the Twinbasin Project Web site.
Past Events
First World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) (Rome, Italy, 24-27 October 2006)
The recent First World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD), organized by the World Bank, FAO and the Communication Initiative, reinforced the growing recognition that Communication for Development is an essential development tool and needs to be raised on the global agenda.NGOs, multilateral development institutions, bilateral donors, development practitioners and academics extracted the most useful conclusions from the vast array of debates, discussions and exchanges which took place at the Congress and transformed them into a set of simple recommendations for policymakers on, for example, ways to improve how communication is used by governments and communities to produce more tangible results. A concrete set of recommendations was eventually agreed upon and will serve as an advocacy tool to reach policymakers “It is time that leaders give higher priority to communication”, said Garth Japhet, Chair of the Communication Initiative Partnership. For more details, visit the WCCD Web site.
IUCN/WCPA Mountain Biome Group Group Workshop –‘Mountain Conservation Connectivity Management’ (Termas de Papallacta,Ecuador, 14-17 November 2006).
There are measures that can be taken to minimize the adverse effects of climate change in mountains. This was the clear message from a group of over 50 experts in mountain conservation and protected areas, who met in Ecuador last month to explore practical ways to ensure that mountain ecosystems can better adapt to climate change. The core aim of the World Conservation Union (IUCN)/World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) Mountain Connectivity Conservation Management workshop was to discuss how to connect large mountain ecosystems, and therefore increase the resilience of mountains in the face of climate change. Such a management approach, which focuses on ‘connectivity conservation’, is crucial if mountains and the lowland areas that depend on them, are to be spared the extreme impacts of global temperature rise. The meeting was organized by the WCPA Mountains Biome Group –-- a global network of mountain experts -- and concluded with the Papallacta Declaration, in which participants pledged their commitment to working with all relevant stakeholders to engage in connectivity conservation in and around the mountain regions of the world, for the benefit of our planet and humanity. Find out more by visiting the Workshop Web site and
the Mountain Connectivity Conservation Management Web site.
Future Events
First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians - COP1
(Kyiv, Ukraine, 11-13 December 2006).
The Carpathians are one of Europe's largest mountain ranges, shared by seven Central and Eastern European countries. The Carpathian Convention provides this mountain region with the framework for cooperation and multi-sectoral policy coordination, a platform for joint strategies for sustainable development, and a forum for dialogue between all stakeholders. The United Nations Environment Programme Vienna – Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (UNEP Vienna ISCC) is shortly to convene the First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians - COP1 (Kyiv, Ukraine, 11-13 December 2006). The meeting aims to adopt rules of procedure and financial rules of the Carpathian Convention, as well as to discuss its programme of work, its cooperation with other conventions and international bodies and the preparation of the ‘Carpathian Declaration’. The meeting will also see the launch of the new World Wildlife Fund (WWF) project to support Protected Areas across the Carpathian Mountains, as well as the new Biodiversity Initiative of the Mountain Partnership. For further information, visit the Carpathian Convention Web site or contact Harald Egerer, UNEP Vienna –ISCC at: unep@unvienna.org.
2nd International Workshop on Sustainable Sloping Lands and Watershed Management: Linking research to strengthen upland policies and practices (Luang Prabang, Lao PDR 12-15 December 2006)
Researchers, academics, development practitioners and policy makers are expected to gather later this month at the 2nd International Workshop on Sustainable Sloping Lands and Watershed Management which will explore how research into natural resource management in Asia is actually being applied and used by policy-makers and/or development practitioners and the impacts it has had on improving the livelihoods of upland communities. The Conference is being organized by the National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI) of Laos, in collaboration with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). To find out more about the Conference and read the abstracts that defined its programme, visit the NAFRI Web site.
International Mountain Day (global, 11 December 2006)
‘Managing Mountain Biodiversity for Better Lives’ is the theme of this year’s International Mountain Day -- an occasion to raise awareness about the need to manage mountain biodiversity in a sustainable manner, to highlight promising models and to build partnerships at all levels to promote biodiversity management that will reduce poverty, improve livelihoods, and protect mountain environments around the world. FAO, the organization mandated to lead observance of International Mountain Day, has developed a series of multi-lingual information and communication materials, including a poster, information note, public service announcement (PSA), and a short presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint on the origins, aims and objectives of the Day and ideas on how to celebrate it. All these products are available for downloading at the special International Mountain Day 2006 Web site.
Mountain Partnership member, Resources Himalaya Foundation, based in Nepal, is a regional promoter of “good science” and operates as an independent think-tank for all collaborative efforts on biodiversity conservation in the Himalaya region. On the occasion of International Mountain Day, the Foundation will launch the publication, ‘Conservation Biology in Asia’, a compilation of 29 peer-reviewed papers, published in collaboration with the Society for Conservation Biology (Asia Section). For more information, visit Resources Himalaya Foundation Web site or write to team@resourceshimalaya.org.
How are you celebrating International Mountain Day? Let us know by writing to info@mountainpartnership.org.
For more information on future mountain-related events around the world, browse the Mountain Calendar, managed by the Mountain Forum.
Publications
UNU/FAO. ‘Floods in Bangladesh. History, Dynamics and Re-thinking the Role of the Himalayas’.
Are the recurring and devastating monsoon floods in Bangladesh the fault of the deforestation and land use practices of Himalayan farmers? ‘Floods in Bangladesh’ presents new evidence to debunk the myth that deforestation creates big floods and that mountain dwellers are to blame for flood catastrophes. Using data from a research project on floods in Bangladesh in the context of highland-lowland linkages, the authors, Thomas Hofer (FAO) and Bruno Messerli (former Director of the Institute of Geography and Rector, University of Berne, Switzerland) show how floods in Bangladesh are caused by a combination of simultaneous discharges from big rivers, high runoff from the Meghalaya Hills, heavy rainfall, high groundwater tables and spring tides. Lateral river embankments and the disappearance of natural water storage areas in the lowlands seem to have a significant impact on the flooding processes. Research in this book originates from the United Nations University (UNU) Mountain Programme, a long-standing network of natural and social scientists, development practioners and stakeholder communities that seeks sustainable solutions to the urgent local problems facing mountain people and ecosystems, while mitigating their wide-ranging regional and global implications. The programme encompasses targetted research and capacity-building activities in vulnerable mountain areas in South and East Asia, Latin America, and Africa and more recently in the countries in transition in the Balkans and Central Asia. To read a sample chapter or order a copy of ‘Floods in Bangladesh’ and learn more about the UNU Mountain Programme, visit the UNU Web site.
UNFPA. ‘Moving Young’
Mountain Partnership member, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has published a special report on youth migration. ‘Moving Young’ explores the lives of young women and young men who have ventured into new lands to chase their dreams or to escape oppression, war, poverty or misfortune. It profiles the lives of young people from ten countries – Burkina Faso, Colombia, India, Kenya, Liberia, Moldova, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Suriname and Zambia. Some have never migrated, but their lives are marked by the experiences of spouses or relatives who have moved abroad. Read ‘Moving Young’ on-line.
Web site
UNAIDS. Re-launch of Web site
Coinciding with World Aids Day (1 December), UNAIDS has launched a new version of its Web site complete with new navigation, branding and logo. The Web site, which will also shortly be available in French, Spanish and Russian, provides content specifically chosen for specific audience groups, ranging from business and labour, to civil society, donors, media, people living with HIV/AIDS, policymakers, researchers, the UN family, and women. Notable publications on the UNAIDS site include the annual UNAIDS/World Health Organization (WHO) AIDS Epidemic Update Report which highlights the latest developments in the global AIDS epidemic. With maps and regional summaries, the 2006 edition provides the most recent estimates of the epidemic’s scope and human toll, and explores new trends in the epidemic’s evolution. Visit the UNAIDS Web site.
Panos UK. Mountain Voices
‘There is no substitute for first-hand narratives’. That was the view of one of the respondents to the survey conducted earlier this year about Panos’ Mountain Voices Web site -- a series of oral testimonies of over 300 people who live in mountain and highland regions round the world. The recent survey demonstrates the continuing value of these resources to an ever wider readership, from teachers to researchers, to community and development workers and even screenplay writers. Panos London has been pioneering the use of oral testimony collection in the development context since 1991. But through this recent survey, Panos aimed to discover from the Mountain Voices audience why (or why not) they think it is important to record and communicate personal perspectives. All those who responded felt that oral testimony was important. Some of the reasons given to support this view included the fact that testimonies are a means for communities to document their (otherwise unrecorded) history and to amplify voices of marginalized individuals and communities. Moreover, oral testimonies were perceived as a more democratic way of collecting information from people compared to other methods of data collection. Read the Panos oral testimonies, and find out how they are used, by visiting the Mountain Voices Web site.
Calls for papers, case studies and
lessons learnt
Kyrgyz National Center for Development of Mountain Regions and Utah Valley State College. ‘Women of the Mountains’ International Conference.
‘Women of the Mountains’ International Conference (7-10 March 2007) will aim to strengthen the involvement of North American mountain communities in the activities of the Mountain Partnership in support of sustainable mountain development worldwide, as outlined in the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit (2002). Sponsored by the Kyrgyz National Center for Development of Mountain Regions and Utah Valley State College (a new Mountain Partnership member), with support from the United Nations and the World Bank, the conference will address wide-ranging issues critical to women and children of developing mountain nations, from health and education to human trafficking and exploitation for sexual and economic purposes. Conference organizers have launched a call for papers and requested that abstracts of 250 words and a short CV be submitted by 15 December 2006 electronically to abdrisBa@uvsc.edu. If accepted, the full paper is due 15 February 2007. The conference will publish the final version of papers in an edited volume. For detailed information, visit the dedicated Web site.
CSD. Case studies of lessons and best practices
The Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) invites case studies of lessons learned and best practices in addressing barriers and constraints in the thematic areas of energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere, and climate change -- the issues currently on the agenda of the CSD. The case studies will be considered by the Secretariat for inclusion into the CSD Matrix. The Matrix is an information tool developed by the CSD Secretariat which aims to provide user-friendly information on practical experiences in implementation of the above thematic areas, based on information submitted by governments, including through national reports, and by UN agencies and ‘major groups’. The Matrix takes into account information contained in Secretary-General’s reports and provided by those Partnerships for Sustainable Development registered with the CSD Secretariat, such as the Mountain Partnership. For further information, visit the CSD Web site.
Resource Alliance. African, Asian and Latin American case studies in fundraising
The Resource Alliance is an international network working to build the capacity of not-for-profit organizations to mobilize funds and local resources for their causes. This is achieved through training, knowledge sharing and networking activities worldwide. In 2007, the Resource Alliance will begin publishing a series of booklets -- both in print and online -- that will help fundraisers in the South to meet some of the biggest challenges they face. Each booklet will discuss one topic, usually a particular fundraising technique. And each will feature three case studies, one from Africa, one from Asia, and one from Latin America, to illustrate how small non-profit organizations in those regions have put that technique to work. The first two booklets are tentatively titled ‘Raising Money from Organizations’ and ‘Making Your Case for Support’. The Alliance is now actively seeking case studies from the South to show how smaller NGOs have successfully raised money from organizations (such as religious or social groups, embassies, and women’s funds) or have developed a powerful case for support that has helped them raise funds. The Alliance is also interested in case studies that explore why efforts in these areas might have been unsuccessful and discussing the lessons from the experience. At this stage, the editors seek brief descriptions (200-500 words) of the fundraising activity, the outcome (how much was raised as against target), some of the key points that you would highlight when explaining why it succeeded (or failed), and any lessons learned. Please e-mail your summaries directly to Mal Warwick, Series Editor and Resource Alliance Board Member at: mal@malwarwick.com.
Employment opportunity
The Banff Centre - in Banff, Alberta, Canada - is currently recruiting for the position of Executive Director, Mountain Culture. The closing date for this competition is Friday, 15 December. The Executive Director, Mountain Culture is responsible for providing the overall leadership and program philosophy, strategic direction, program framework and delivery of mountain programming at The Banff Centre. This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a passion for the planet, whose career to date has been focused on developing environmental sustainability, especially in relation to the world's mountain places.
Set in Canada's first National Park, a designated UNESCO World Heritage site, The Banff Centre is uniquely positioned. A globally respected arts, cultural, and educational institution and conference facility, The Banff Centre is mandated to provide environmental programming, which the Mountain Culture department is charged with the responsibility of creating and delivering. Throughout its rich 31 year history, the Mountain Culture department has created and grown annual festivals and competitions that bring together world-class mountaineers, enthusiasts of extreme sport and committed conservationists to celebrate the mountains, and people's place within them, through films, books and photography. Through its World Tour, the Banff Mountain Film Festival takes the best of the film festival around the world, with 450 screenings in 30 countries each year.
The Mountain Culture at the Banff Centre, a Mountain Partnership member, is also the proud host of the North American node of Mountain Forum, a global community of people and organizations in more than 95 countries who work toward equitable and ecologically sustainable mountain development. In addition to the Executive Director post, The Banff Centre is also seeking to fill the position of Associate Director with an individual with complementary skills and experience, especially in the areas of mountain film and literature. This individual will work in partnership with the Executive Director in delivering an exciting repertoire of programs. For more information on these opportunities or to apply online please visit www.banffcentre.ca or contact Trevor Tyre, Recruiting and Training Manager at Trevor_Tyre@banffcentre.ca.