Contact person:Salome Alweny; Yvonne Bigengimana Email:salweny@arcosnetwork.org; ybigengimana@arcosnetwork.org
Website: http://arcosnetwork.org/index.php/en/
ARCOS is a regional conservation not-for-profit organization established in 1995 with the mission to enhance biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in the Albertine Rift region through the promotion of collaborative conservation action for nature and people. ARCOS is a member of the Mountain Partnership and on 20th February 2013, ARCOS hosted the 3rd African Mountain Partnership regional meeting, a meeting during which the African Mountain Partnership Champions Committee was established and ARCOS was elected to host the secretariat. ARCOS coordinated the development of the Africa Mountain Partnership Work Plan 2013-2015, that aims to promote sustainable mountain development in Africa through networking, information sharing, advocacy, promoting research and community benefits from mountain ecosystem services. With funding support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) under its Sustainable Mountain Development for Global Change (SMD4GC) programme, ARCOS is currently coordinating this programme in Africa, which involves a number of SMD related activities and this African Mountains Regional Forum, the first of its kind on the continent, is one of those.
The Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) supports countries in Africa, Asia, South Eastern and Eastern Europe as well as the Caribbean in their sustainable development. It aims at reducing poverty, conserving natural resources and promoting peace and human security in partner countries. Long-term programmes and projects support help towards self-help with the ultimate goal being to bring about a sustainable improvement in conditions of life.
The East African Community (EAC) is the regional inter-governmental organisation of the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Republic of Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community in Article 112 enjoins the Partner States to cooperate in all issues of Environment and Natural Resources Management and in its article 20, Partner States agreed to protect mountain ecosystems such as critical water catchments, conservation and heritage areas and other areas of common strategic interest at local, national, regional and international levels. In this regards, EAC and ARCOS joined together their efforts in organizing this first African Mountains Regional Forum (AMRF) as a way to enhance collaboration and frame aregional agenda for sustainable mountain development challenges in African mountains.
The Mountain Partnership is a United Nations voluntary alliance of partners dedicated to improving the lives of mountain people and protecting mountain environments around the world. It is a type II partnership established in 2002 during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Mountain Partnership Members are countries and organizations that envision a world with increasing public and private sector commitment, engagement, and investments in sustainable mountain development (SMD) that significantly improve the social and economic well-being and livelihoods of people, empower people in mountain ecosystems to be fully engaged in the decision-making processes that determine the future of mountain communities and ecosystems, and maintain and enhance the health and vitality of mountain ecosystems for their inherent value and for sustainable human benefits.
Website: http://www.deza.admin.ch/en/Home/Projects/Project_Detail?projectdbID=231047
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is an office-level agency in the federal administration of Switzerland, and a part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Climate change, agriculture and food security as well as water being one of the themes of focus for SDC, the Agency recently launched the Sustainable Mountain Development for Global Change (SMD4GC) programme, a programme with the goal to contribute to SMD under uncertain changes in climatic, environmental and socio-economic conditions, focusing on poverty and risk reduction. Under this programme, SDC supports SMD-related events such as the World Mountain Forum (WFM) held biennially and regional forums to discuss issues that are relevant to SMD and provide stakeholders with a platform to exchange, network, and devise solutions.
Established in 1972, UNEP is the voice for the environment within the United Nations system. It acts as a catalyst, advocate, educator and facilitator to promote the wise use and sustainable development of the global environment. Mountains come as a cross-cutting theme under many UNEP's programmes such as climate change, ecosystem management, resource efficiency, etc. Currently, UNEP is producing the first ever African Mountains Atlas, a document that will serve a good reference on various matters concerning African mountains.
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