Regional Office for Africa Newsletter, June 2001 ~ United Nations Environment Programme

8/9/2019 Regional Office for Africa Newsletter, June 2001 ~ United Nations Environment Programme

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Message from the UNEPExecutive Director

his issue of the ROA news comes out

at an oppo rtune time i n the history of

the environmental movem ent in Africa.TIt is a crucial moment because the first flush of

the preparations for the World Summit on

Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in

2002 is nearing its completion. It is a criticalmoment because we must begin to view the

achievements in our quest for sustainable

development since the Earth Summit in 1992 and

the challenges such an analysis poses as well as

the opportunities it offers. Clearly, there is a need

for well deliberated action in support of social

and political, as well as economic changes -

changes tha t can t rans fo rm a d readed

anticip ation of an e cological disa ster into a

constructive re ality.

This is also an opportune time to ask some

searching questions. How have the ecological

concerns evolved in Africa during the last

decade? What lessons have been lea rnt? D oes

Africa face certain special structural problems

that have not been prope rly addressed? Could

the process of formulating and implementing

environme ntal strategies be improved? What are

the environmental prospects for the next

generation in Africa? And more fund amentally,

does a long-term environmental vision that is

both ach ievable a nd cre dible exist?

The imperative need to move from words to

action does not in any way reduce the

importance of words. Programmes of action -

for sustainable development - can only succeed

if they arise o ut o f consensus. And consensus is

no t easily ach ieved . But I am hop eful that

Governments as wel l as other stakeholders will

take full advantage of Africas preparatory

process for the Joha nne sburg Summit. We must

collectively provide significant support to ensure

the regions perspectives are carefully crafted and

integrated into the s ub regional a nd region al

assessment reports to be prepared by the series

of preparatory meetings planned for the last

quarter o f 2001.

Particular attention must be focused on one key

outpu t of the preparatory process, the Africa n

Common Position, a political statement which

will be the guiding principle for putting Africa

back on the sustaina ble developm ent path.

The m essage rema ins that Africa m ust take a

decisive role in determining its future

development paradigm that wil l p lace

environmental consideration and sustainability

high on the agenda for soc io-economic

development. In this regard, UNEP has taken note

of the initiative of African heads of State led by

the Presidents of South Africa (T. Mbeki), Nigeria

(Gen. Obasanjo), Algeria (A.A. Bouteflika) and

Senega l (Maitre Abd oulaye Wade), toward s

African Recovery in the 21st century. This

initiative, wh ich was di scussed at the last Session

of the OAU in Lusaka, is an enco uraging

development which must be supported, as this is

an initiative conceived, led and spearhead ed by

Africans themselves.

This message was cle arly articu lated by the

United Nations Secretary General during the

recent meeting of the Administrative Coordination

Committee (ACC) in Nairobi. In order to facilitate

the implementation of the plan, UNEP stands

ready to provide the requisite assistance through

the Framework of the African Ministerial

Conference on Environment (AMCEN).

The 21 st Century is of particular significance to

Africa. First, developmen t program s must reflect

the in tersect ion between environment ,

developm ent and poverty reduction . Secondly,

opportunities must be exploited to efficiently

utilize the finite natural resources to the best

advantage of the African eco nomies . Thirdly,

recognition must be given to app arently small but

significant steps at local level towards achieving

sustainable devel opment . Finally, we must avoid

duplication of efforts and wastage of resources.

All partners, including Multilateral Environmental

Convention Secretariats and other UN programs,

are encouraged to w ork closely with UNEP. We

should draw on the o rientations prepared within

the framework of the AMCEN Programme of

Action and GC.21 decisions, especially Decision21/15 on Support to Africa for effective and

efficient implementat ion of sustainable

development programs in Africa.

1

Mr. Klaus Tp fer


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T

21ST ME ETING

ImplementationofGoverning Council

decisions

he 21st meeting of the Governing

Counci l of UN E P made many

decisions that touched on Africa.

Implementation of the se decisions is a UNEP

corporate responsibility. However, the

R egional Office for Africa (R OA) has a

particular niche in some of them, but an

overarching interest in all o f them regardless

of the division charged with the principal

responsibility of implementin g them. The

following are the actions proposed to becarried out in collaboration with other

divisions and organizations in implementing

the GC decisions.

The major GC decision is one related to

Support to Africa, namely, GC.21/15.

The key activities by R OA in furtheranc e of

this decision will revolve around regional

consultative process towards the preparation

of a report for the World S ummit on

Sustainable Development (WSS D) in South

Afr ica in 2002. F ive sub-regional

consultative meetings will be held inS eptember 2001, leading to a R egional

Ministerial Conference in October 2001.

The key outputs will be a report on the

activities carried out i n the implementation

in Africa of Agenda 21 since R io Summit

and an Afr ican Common Posi t ion.

Additionally, ROA will address the issue of

capacity building among African negotiators

on issues re la ted to c l imate change ,

biodiversity, desertification, collaboration

with ACOPS in the promotion of the

protection of the African marine

environment, (decision GC.21/13), andwork closely with the Division of

E nvironmenta l Co nvent ion s (D E C) in

strengthening the Nairobi and Abidjan

Convent ion s and Action Plans . Activities

rela ted to Support to Africa will also include

the i mplementatio n o f the AMCEN priority

activities as agreed in Abuja.

Other dec is ions taken for direc t

implementation by Headquarters will be

carried out in close liaison with R O A.

Specifically, the ROA retreat will develop

strategic approaches in collaboration during

the implementation of these decisions inAfrica. Consulta tions in this regard ha ve

begun and will be finalized during the

retreat.

Environmental sustainability is everybodys challenge. But the heaviest

responsibility falls on you w ho have accep ted posi tions of leade rship, whetherin pol itics, business or civil society.

Mr. Kofi Ann an, Un ited Na tions Secretary General to th e 21st Session of the

Governing Council of UNEP.

From left to right - Klaus Tpfer (UNEPExecutive Director), President Daniel T. arap Moi,Mr. David Anderson (President of the 21st Governing Council)

H.E. Mr. Mohamed Valli Moosa (Minister ofEnvironme nt al Affairs & Tourism, So uth Africa)


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ABUJA

he primary objective of AMCEN is

to strengthen cooperatio n between

African Governments in econom ic,

The AMCEN Processsince the Eighth Session of Abuja(May 2000 - March 2001)

AM C E N, with three vice-pres idents

(S outh Africa , Moroc co a nd Uganda ) and

a rapporteu r (Cam eroon). The 9 th S ession

o f AMC E N wil l be he ld in K ampala ,

Uganda in 2002. As a general rule, the

Inter-S essional Committee (IS C) is to mee t

onc e a year. The Inte r-Agenc y Tec hnic al

Commi ttee (IATC) meets at the reque st of

the IS C or the AMCE N S ecretariat.

O n the issu e of staffing for the AMC E N

S ecreta riat, the S enior Programme Officer

(S ecretary-AMCE N) has been recruited

and has been on board since 1 April

2001. S he (Ms. R ungano K arimanzira -

Zimbabwe ) is being briefed on the sta tus

of p rogre s s made s ince the AbujaMeeting.

The S ec retary - AMCE N is (1) unde rtaking

the prepa ration of funding proposa ls for

the implementation of the clusters of

AMCE N Medium -Term Pro gramme for

2000 -2004, and (2) proc ee ding with the

mobilization of resources, with AMC E N

member S tates, donors and the private

sec tor , for the replenishment of the

AMCE N Trust . The AMCE N S ecretariat

will also be supporting the preparatory

process for the World S u m m i t o n

S ustainable Development (WS S D), to be

held in J ohannesburg, S outh Africa in

2002, and will be looking for ways to

s u p p o r t t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f

Multilateral Environme ntal Agreem ents in

the region.

technical and scientific activities for the

purpose of ha l t ing and revers ing the

degradation of the African Environment.

The E ighth S ession of AMCE N, held in

Abuja in M ay 2000 , in recognition of the

nee d for Africa n Governm ents to bear the

primary responsibility for the means of

impl ementation of the AMCE N policy and

programme , dec ided to e s tab l i sh

conditions that would allow AMC E N to

succe ed and de velop a stronger identity.

The Abuja S ession adopted decisions on(1) policy and institutional changes (2)

m e d i u m - t e r m p r o g r a m m e a n d ( 3 )

measures to bring about stability and

predictability in the financial base of the

Confe rence to enhance and v i t a l i z e

AMCE N.

The Meeting also structured AMC E N

along (1) a main Conference that meets

every two years, (2) an Inter-Agency

Tec hnical Co mmitte e a nd (3) an Inter-

S ess iona l Mini s te r i a l Commit tee ,

composed of a B ureau representing the

five sub-regions of Africa, that is, North

(Tunisia ), West (Ghan a), Central (Congo),

E ast (Tanzania) and S outhern Afr ica

(Malawi).

F or the period 2000- 2001 , Nigeria chairs

T

AMCE N was restructured in Abuja

as follows:

1. The B ureau - President, three

Vice Presidents and a Rapporteur

elected from the five African

subregions (North, S outh, East,

West and Central Africa). The

fol lowing are the e lec ted

members of the Bureau for the

period 2000-2001: President -

Nigeria: Vice Presidents - South

Afr ica , Morocco, Uganda:

Rap porteur - Cameroon.

2. The Inter-sessional Committee

comprises the B ureau plus the

fol lowing:

Congo, United R epubl ic o f

Tan za nia, Tunis ia, Ma lawi andGhana (also reflecting a

a regional balance).

3 . An Inter Agency Technical

Commitee was established to

serve as a technical arm of the

Inter-sessional Committee that is

responsib le for the development

of key issues for c onsideration by

the AMC E N S ession. The

members are drawn from experts

represented on the Inter-sessional

Committee and representatives

from the f ive subregional

organiza t ions , b odies (E CA,

OAU, AfDB ) and five

representative NGOs from the

five subregions .

ABUJA


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REGIONAL OFFICE FOR AFRICA

T

Report of the Meetingbetween UNEP and the

Africa Diplomatic Corps in

relation to the RegionalOffice for Africa

he meeting was held at UN E P

headquarters on 20 th April, 2001

under the cha irmanship of

Mr. S hafqat K akakhel, the Deputy E xecutive

Director.

With regard to the S taffing of the Regional

Office for Africa, Mr. S hafqat K akakhel,

(Deputy Executive Director), informed the

Permanent R epresentatives on the progress

made todate in the recruitment of staff inROA, and in particular of Mr. Sekou Tour

of Cte dIvoire who took office from

1 F ebruary 2001 as the new Director.

Mr. Tour assured the Permanent

Rep resentatives of his full cooperation and

promised to bu ild the necessary supp ort for

the full and effective implementation of

environmental activities in Africa by working

very closely with them in Nairobi. Moreover,

he assured the ADC that he would make

them fully aware of all developments that

will occur in his office to seek their advice

and guidance.

Mr. K akakhel th anked the P ermanent

Rep resentatives for their suppo rt to UNEP

and to the new team of the Regional Office

and assured them that the composition of

the RO A team will be more geographically

and gender balanced as more resources to

hire additional staff is available. He further

assured the Permanent Representatives that

Mr. Tour and his staff were at the disposal

of the Permanent Missions and that

Mr. Tour wi ll atten d the monthly UNEP/

Habitat meetings with the Permanent

Rep resentatives to brief them regularly onthe progress made by R OA. Thereafter,

regular meetings would be convened to

facilitate the communication between the

Permanent R epresentatives an d R O A.

F inally, R OA would publish a quarterly

bull etin (ROANews) to further report on the

progress made in the implementation of

UNEP activities in Africa.

On the Impleme ntat ion o f GC21

Decisions in S upport to Africa, Mr.

K aka khel informed the me eting that Mr.

S ekou Tour and his team are preparing

a work plan to implement all the GC 21decisions focusing on the activities in

Africa . In th is reg ard, R OA is pla nning for

a retreat to review, with the suppo rt of all

UNE Ps Divisions, the status of current

and future activities.

Mr. Kakakhel informed the meeting of the

project proposal that has since received

support from donor governments to assist

the African negotiators to come togethe r and

highl ight the c r i t ica l issues under

considera tion d uring any o f the forthcoming

COPs. Mr. Kakakh el added t hat it remai ned

the prerogat ive of each government ,

however , to a r t icula te the ir na t ional

positions afte r receiving suc h an opportunity

to consult with other players within theregion.

The Director of the Division ofRegional Co-

operation, UNE P, Ms. Cristina B oelcke

indicated that UNE P is finding positive

support to convene these consultative

processes and the cooperation with

Conventions S ecretariats is encouraging.

E fforts are being made to this end and

particularly within the framework of the

preparatory process for the World Summit on

Sustainable Development to be held in 2002

in South Africa. Ms. Boelcke and Mr. Tour

informed the meeting that efforts will continueto be made to improve the participation of

Africa a t all environment related fora .

Mr. Ahmed Djoghlaf, the E xecutive

Coordina tor of UNE P/G E F informed the

meeting of the role that UN EP/GE F is playing

in Africa, particularly in supporting land

degradation/desertification activities within

the L and and Water Initiative. He informed

the meeting that close to two-thirds of UNEP/

GE F funding is allocated to implementing

projects in Africa, and particularly those

rela ted to land, water and biodiversity.

On the Preparations for the World Summit

on Sustainable Development to be held inS outh Africa in 2002, it is reported that

arrangements are unde rway to develop the

Africa report and the Africa common

posi tion . Consultations were planned for

sub-regional meetings leading to a High

Level meeting of Ministers before the end

of the year. A proposal to hold the High

level s egment was made for October 2001.

Several donors had made commitments for

funding.

A brief report on the AMCEN Meeting held

in New York earlier in the year was given.

The main i ssues of discuss ion there were: a)gender and subregional balance in the

recruitment ofR OA staff, b) financial status

of the AMCEN Trust Fund and c) Africas

response to the US position on the Kyoto

Protocol under the UNFCCC.

United Nations Headquarters in Nairobi


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2002 WORLD SUMMIT

Africas Preparatory Processfor the2002 World Summit

on Sustainable Development

launched in Dakar

Ten years after R io, the General

Assembly of the United Nations hasdecided to hold an Earth Summit in

South Africa in 2002 . In the course of the

preparations for this Summit, Africa haslaunched its o wn process.

The main challenge of the 2002 Earth Summit

is to organize an effective and efficient

preparatory event of high political profile and

visibility. High quality and timely preparationwill be essential to the success of the 2002

event. E ffective preparation should start from

a clear set of ideas about the goals and

substantive focus of the 2002 Earth Summit

as well as the prepa ratory process.

It should also be noted that the United Nations

Conference on E nvironment andDevelopment was convened in order to

discuss the central problems that every nationand community faces, i.e., how to cater for

human needs and how to improve the quality

of life of the millions who endure poverty and

face un certainty. Ge ne ral Assembly

resolution 44/228 of 22 December 1989,which convened the United Nat ions

Conference on E nvironment and

Development in 1992, emphasized that the

Conference had to embrace both the

environmental interests of developedcountries and the developmen tal inte rests of

developing countries, and build an effective

br idge between the two . These

conside ration s should, inter-alia, inform and

inspire the ten-year review process in Africa.

It is against this background that the following

key steps have been/are being undertaken for

Africas Preparatory Process for the 2002Summit.

A high-level stakeholders meeting onsustainable development was held at the

United Nations Conference Centre in Addis

Ababa, from 17 to 19 January 2000. Themeeting was convened to set up a preparatory

process for the 2002 Earth S ummit and the

modalities and means to organize Africas

preparations for the S ummit. The Addis

Ababa meeting was attended byrepre sen tatives of OAU, E CA, UNE P, the

African Centre for Meteorological

Applications to Development, the African

Centre of Technology S tudies, the Regional

Trai ning Centre for Agrom eteorology and

Operational Hydrology and their Application ,AMU, Permanent Inter-state Committee on

Drought Control in the Sahel, COME SA, Earth

Council, Food and Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations, IGAD, InternationalCouncil for Local Environmental Initiatives,

L ake Chad B asin Commission, L udewa

Development F oundation, Network for

Environment and Sustainable Development

in Africa, and SADC.

In order to facilitate a broad consultative

process, an ad hoc high-level stakeholders

meeting established the African Forum for the

2002 Earth Summit (which is open-ended,with its thirty members drawn from

representatives of regional economic

integration organizations, civil society, non-

governmental organizations and othe r major

groups for each of the five African sub-

regions). Also, a supporting Expanded Joint

S ecretariat was established to guide,

spearhead and support the overall preparatory

process in the region .

The first meeting of the Expanded J oint

Secretariat of the African Forum was held atthe Headq uarters of the African Development

B ank, Abidjan, Cote dIvoire, 19-21 June2000. The members of the Secretaria t that

participated in it were ADB , AMU, COME SA,

E CCAS , IGAD, OAU, E COWAS , S ADC,

UNE CA and UNE P the sub-regional and

regional preparatory mee tings; mod ality andschedule for the national assessment; resource

mobiliza tion strategy. The meeting, on the

above-mentioned basis, drew up a work plan,

which was to be implemented subject to the

availability of resources.

It is against this background that the Expanded

J oint S ecretariat resolved to convene its

Second Meeting, in Dakar, Senegal, from 12-

13 March 2001. The UNDP Capacity 21graciously agreed to host the meeting and to

additionally cover the costs of several

participants as well as the key resource

person.

The 2002 WS S D was launched and the

meeting chaired by His E xcellency the

President of the Republic ofSenegal, Maitre

Abdoulaye Wade , who was a member of the

Senegalese Delegation to the 1992 R io EarthSummit.

An update of the Preparatory Process was

given by Mr. Ousmane Laye of the UNECA.

Ms. Ndey Isatou Njie of UNDP Capacity 21informed the meeting that UNDP was

assisting 25 African countries in carrying out

their national preparatory processes.

R esources had yet to be raised for the

rem aining 28. Planning for the nationalassessments as well as the guidelines to be

followed were agreed upon.

Each of the sub-regional organizations (AMU,E COWAS/CIL S S , ECCAS , COME SA/IGADand SADC) will lead the process in their

respective sub-regions, and will work closely

with OAU, UNECA, UNEP, UNDP and ADB

in carrying out the assessments. Draft Terms

of R eference were prepared. E ach sub-regional organization wou ld hire a con sultant

to coordinate the prepara tory proce sses, and

the preparation and finalization of the sub-

regional reports in particular; in con sultation

with the Expanded Joint S ecretariat. A leadconsultant, to be located in UNEP/R OA,

would be hired to coordinate the exercise.

Other issues discussed during this meeting

were : R esource Mobilization,Documentation, the Structure of the African

Common Position and Communication.

Mr. Sekou Tour, Direc tor o f UNEP Regio nalOffice for Africa ( ROA) greet ingMr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal


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Global 500 Award

NE P has a number of Awards that

are issued each yea r to indi viduals

and organ izations that demonstrateUa high level of environmental stewardship

towards sustainable development . One of

these Awards, the Global 500 Roll of Hon our

was launched in 1987. This Award is granted

to individuals (Adults and Youths) and

organizati ons for outstanding achievement

in th e protection of the en vironment. TheGlobal Award has grown over the years and

attracted significant internat ional public and

political appeal. S ince its inception 634

individuals and organizations have been

honoured under the adult category.

O ut of the twe lve finalists for the 2001

Globa l 500 Awards unde r the Adult

Category, ROA is pleased to announce that

Dr. Frederick Gikandi of K enya has been

selected. Dr. Gikandi has demonstrated

beyond dou bt through his activities in a land

reclamation project that he is a worthy

candidate for the Award. For the past 13years has, on a volunteer basis, and at a

personal cost of U S $200,000, he has

undertaken activities to reclaim a large and

neglected quarry in K enyas coastal city,

Mombasa. This has saved the surrounding

urban neighbourhoods from the effects of

air pollution from decomposing refuse that

the municipality intended to dump there.

The Indian Oceans coastal and marine

ecosystems wou ld have been p olluted . With

no training in the field of the environment

and sometimes against great odds, Dr.

Gikandi has rehabilitated the quarry byplanting trees and raising environmental

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDSSteps and Timeframe for Regional

Preparatory Meetings

A UN/ DE SA Africa Round Table ofE minent Persons was held in Cairo

from 25 -27 J une, 2001

____________________________________

Meeting of the Southern African

Region

Date : 3-5 S eptember 200 1

Venue : Ga borone

Lead Institution : SADC

____________________________________

Meeting of the North African

Region

Date : 5-7 September 2001

Venue : Tunis

Lead Institution : AMU

____________________________________

Meeting of the E astern AfricanRegion


Venue : Djibout i

Lead Institution : IGAD____________________________________

Meeti ng of the Central African

Region


Venue : L ibreville

Lead Institution : ECCAS

____________________________________

Meeti ng of the West African

Region


Venue : Abuja

Lead Institution : ECOWAS

____________________________________

High L evel Preparatory Meeting

Date : 15-18 October 2001

Venue : To be advised

Convenor : The Expanded J ointS ecretariat

____________________________________

awareness through a campaign. Ten

different tribesmen have replicated their

home there and it is now an eco-cultural

tourist village nam ed Ngomo ngo. It is

serving as a model for other urban and non-

urban communities, which are affected by

degraded lands.

His work will hopefully be replicated in

many parts of the world to improve the livesof many pe ople.

Under the Global 500 Youth category,

established following the R io Earth Summit,

two organizations have been n omina ted out

of the six finalists and these a re:

1) E vergreen Club of Ghana

F ounded in 1987, as a voluntary

childrens club whos e aim is to beautify

school compounds, E COG is now a

national NGO working with youth

groups and children for environmentalprotec t ion. E COG has been and

contin ues to be involved in a myriad of

activities related to the environment.

ECOG was involved in the preparation

of Ghanas environme ntal plan of action

(1991 and 1994), and organ ized the first

National youth and ChildrensF orum on

E nvironment for the E arth S ummit

(1992). They ha ve been involved in

forest issues and projects and

participated in the Africa R egional

Meeting of the World Commission on

Forests and

Sustainable Development inCameroon and the Youth Forum at the

Dr. Frederick Gikandi Tour ists visit N gomongo Vil lage


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ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS

International Conference on Climate

Change in The Hague. The organization

also publ ishes Evergreen N ew s, a

newsle t te r on environment and

sustainable development. ECOG won

the National Forestry Week competition

in 1996.

2) K hohlooa Matholoana and L ik o boHerdboys ofL esotho

These are a group of herders in village

communi ties in Thupa-Kubu District of

Lesotho . Their involvement in natural

resource management has come about

as a result of their concern over the

limited supply of forage in grazing

areas in their villages, which has

resulted in poo r livestock yields. They

have carr ied out soi l and waterconservation measures, they keep bees

for honey, they have prepared 7,000

holes to plant trees for fuelwood and

shade, and, to-date, have managed to

plant 1 ,300 seedlings. They bui lt a dam

to water their livestock and for irrigation.

They motivated he rders from 21 villages

to do the same and this has brought

about a togetherne ss that was lacking in

the past; reducing trespassing on pasture-

land, q uarrels over co mmunal grazing

areas, and the burning of village grazing

spaces.

These two organizations have

championed the cause of environmental

protection at national level and thus

deserve the recognitio n of UNEP.

It is the vision of R O A th at Africa

continues to promote the work of UNE P

by supp orting and recognizing efforts by

individuals and organizations towards

sustainable development.

ROA wishes to take this opportunity to

congratulate all the winners of theGlobal 500 Award worldwide and

especially the th ree recipients for 20 01

from Africa.

Reclaiming the quarry

The lush veget ation now growing on t he sit e

LAYING THE F OUNDATIONF OR S USTAINABLE AFRICAN DE VE L OPMENT IN THE 2 1ST CENTUR Y

The choice of Support t o Africa as an area of concentration by UNEP is buil t on an apprec iation of the natural po tential of

the continent, the challenges and opportunities w hich its development process presents and the foundation of p artnerships.

UNEP has focused on the ov erall environmental policy conte xt and empow ered the African governments, the business sector

and grassroots communities to participate in global multilateral negotiations to ensure that the African perspective is taken

into account. Regional and sub-regional dialogue on current and emerging environmental issues has been encouraged. This

has lead to a substantive increase of UNEP projects in Africa and an ongoing reorganization of the Regional Office for Africa.A new senior liaison post has been es tablished in Addis Ababa to liaise with the O rganization of African Unity and the

Eco nomic Comm ission for Africa.

From UNEP Annual Report 2000


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CONNECT WITH THE WO RLD WEB OF LIFE

World Environment Day

orld Environment Day (WED) was

established by the United Nations

General Assembly in 19 72 t o markWthe opening of the S tockholm Conference

on the Human E nvironment. Considered by

many to be the most important event on th e

environmental calenda r, WE D is celebrated

every year on 5 J une in more than 100

countries around the world. It is one of the

principal vehicles through which the United

Nations stimulates worldwid e awareness o f

the environment and enhances politicalattention and action.

WE D is a peoples event with colorful

activities such as street rallies, bicycle

parad es, green conce rts, essays and poster

competitions in schools, tree planting, as

well as recycling and clean-up campaigns.

WE D is also a multi-media event which

inspires tho usands of journalists to write and

report enthusiastically and critically on the

environment. It is a visual event with

television documentaries, photo exhibits,

disp lays and even t websi tes, as well as an

intellectual event for those who organize

and participate in seminars, roundtable

meetings and symposia.

Each yea r, UN EP, selects a ci ty as the main

venue for the international celebrations. This

year, for the first time, this special event took

place in two cities, namely Torino, Italy and

Havana, Cuba. In addition there were

significant links to Hue, Vietnam and

Nairobi, K enya. This year s them e, Connect

with the World Wide Web ofL ife, reflectedthe need to make the connect ion, in

whatever way we can, between ourselves

and al l life on Earth. The four cities all linked

their local activities, using both modern

technology and traditional means.

ROA is also working with the World Space

F ounda t ion and hopes to ea se

communication amongst countries in theregion especially for events such as W ED.

A simple receiver, plus a PC adapter, enables

users to download websites via radio in

remote areas where telephone connections

may be unavailable or problematic. As an

Outfitmade from

scratch cards of

mobile ph ones

by

Garan de Mobidr

The MC for the

Plastic Fantastic

wears a coat

made fromold

denimby

Penny Winter

Bustiermade

frominner tub es

of tyres by

Penny Winter

Kenyasmodel to

the M -Ne t Face

of Africa we aring

a dressmade of

plastic bags byKiko Romeo

Water hyacinth

harvesters

in action


9/129

CONNECT WITH THE WORLD WEB OF LIFE

affordable alternative to conventional dial-

up Internet acce ss, this offers great potential

for more effectively disseminating

information i n the African region.

As part of the global celebrations to mark

WE D, UNEPs R egional Office for Africa

(R OA) launched a vigorous community-

based, multi-media campaign to raise public

awareness within the African Region. Most

countries in the region planned and ca rried

out their own national activities andcelebrations. A particular focus however was

on Nairobi, as it was not only one of the

four cities worldwide in which special

celeb rations took place b ut also ho sted the

national event. The media response was

highly encouraging with the event being

prominently featured on bot h the local and

internation al media.

During the week long series of activities to

mark WE D, some ofK enyas top fashion

models, sporting outfits made from recycled

materials took to the ca twalk on the evening

of 4 J une 2001 at the Holiday Inn Hotel,

Nairobi. The main a im of the event entitled

PlasticFan tastic, was to raise awareness,

in a fun and provocative way, on theincome-generating potential for recycling

and reusing waste.

Activities in the city were carried out

throughout the week from 2 - 9 J une with

20 clean up sites involving thousands of

Nairobi residen ts. The main site o f the event

was the Sailing Club next to Nairobi Dam

where teams of participants competed to

remove water hyacinth from the dam. The

aim of this entertaining event was to show

the possibility of manual removal of the plant

as part of an integrated approach to

controlling the water hyacinth infestation. It

also demonstrated that it can be used for

income generating activities. Products, with

a market potential, were on display at the site.

During this week, Na irobians showed their

commitment to the environment and

connection with the World Wide Web of

L ife.

Skirtmade from

banana b ark by

Penny Winter

Trousersmade

fromsackcloth

by Kiko Romeo

Garmentmade

fromstraws and

plastic bags by

Aisha Kasonga

Cocktail dress

made fromsurgical gloves

by Alix Crouz e

Teams of

volunteers

compete t o

harvest wate r

hyacinth at the

Nairobi DamduringWorld

Environment Day

Week


10/121 0

BIOGRAPHIES

ROA Staff Profiles

SE K OU TOUR DIR E CTOR

A national of Cte dlvoire, Mr. Sekou Tour

holds a Ph.D. in Civil E ngineering,

specializing in Environmental Engineering

from the University of New Hampshire,

Durham, NH in the USA. He brings abouttwenty years of professional, academic,

administrative p olitical exp erience to UN EP.

He has held several important positions in the

Government of Cte dlvoire. Among others

he was High Commissioner for Hydraulics,

Special Advisor to the State Minister in charge

of Development Planning and Special Advisor

to the Prime Minister. He has provided

extensive technical assistance to the

Government of Cte dIvoire on a wide range

of environmental issues, projects, training,

and on matters related to international

negotiations. Mr. Tour brings also several

years of research and tea ching experience in

the USA (University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati,

Ohio, University of New Hampshire,

Durham, NH) and in Cte dIvoire (Ecole

Nationale Suprieure des Travaux Publics,

now Institut Polytechn ique F lix Houphouet

Boigny, Y amoussoukro, Universit dAbobo

Adjam).

He has conducted several major

environmental related projects

(environmental action plan of Cte dIvoire,

climate change, waste management,hydraulics engineering, water resources),

made more than twenty scientific and

technical publications and is an editor of a

scientific journal and a book.

Mr. Tours international experience includes

contribution to the work of the IPCC, UNEP,

Habitat, the World B ank, the African

Development B ank, regional expertise

development and consultations for several

well established institutions. He is a Member

or Chairman of numerous organizations

involved in environmental management, has

chaired several important African and global

technical environmental gatherings. Mr. Tour

is well known for his advocay role in the

commun ity of NG0s in Africa. Among o thers,

he is the Chairman of the E xecutive

Committee of the B oard of Directors of the

His recent pursuits have included issues

related to lin kages b etween environmental

issues at the scientific level and how this

could inform the various Multilateral

E nvironmental Agreements in exploiting

ident i f ied synergies in the ir

implem entation at various le vels.

R UNGANO P.

K AR IMANZ IRA

AMCE N S E CR E TARY

R ungano K arimanzira is a Zimbabwean

N a t i o n a l w h o h o l d s B S c a n d M S c

degrees in Applied Mathem atics (UK ), a

post graduate Diploma in Meteorology

(Australia) and curren tly reading for an

MB A (University of Zimbabwe, 1999-2001). Ms. K arimanzira served under

the Gove rnment of Z imbabwes

Meteorological De partment from 1980 to

date and rose through the ranks to the

position of Director in November 2000.

Ms. K ar imanzira has served in many

international negotiations pertaining to

the protection of the environment. S he

was Zimba bwes principa l negotiator for

the Agenda 21 Climate Chapter during

the R io preparatory process towards the

E arth S ummit. In addition, she served as

Vice Chairman of the IPCC fro m 198 8 to1992 also serving as the co-chair of the

sub-group on F orestry, Agriculture and

Other Human Activities. S he organized

and hosted the IPCC E ighth S ession in

Harare. S he was elected to the B ureau

of the INC from its tenth session and

served as the rappo rteur of the CO P1 of

the UN F CCC. S he was the spec ia l

advisor to the President of the UNF CCC

during COP2 and the inter-sess ional

period (1996-1997).

Ms. K arimanzira has contributed to thebroader understanding of climate and its

impacts particularly in Africa. In that regard

she has contributed a lot through her

publications in many national, regional

and international bulletins.

F rom 1998-1999, she was appointed to

serve on the United Nat ions IDND R

S cientific and Tec hnic al Committee that

prepared th e future direction o f thi s process

beyond the decade (1989-1999) towards

sus ta inable management of na tura l

disasters for all nations.

Ms. K ar imanziras contr ibut ion and

advocacy in the area of environmental

protection has therefore been registered

at international, regional and national

levels.

Network for Environment and Sustainable

Development in Africa (NE SDA).

AL EXANDE R L ICHINAAL USADE PUTY DIR E CTOR

Mr. Alusa, a national of K enya, holds a

Bac helor ofScience degree in Mathematics

from O regon S tate University, USA and a n

MS c. degree in Atmospheric S c ience

(Cloud and Prec ipit ation Physics) from the

S tate University of New York in Albany,

N. Y ., USA.

He c omes to the Regional Office for Africa

from UNE Ps Division of E nvironmental

Conventions where he was Chief of theAtmosphere Unit responsible for

Atmosphere related Conventions - the

Montrea l Protocol , Cl imate and

Desertification Conventio ns. His work has

centred on Climate Impacts Assessment

an d R esponse S t ra tegies to reduce

vulnerability.

B efore joining UNEP in 1989, Mr. Alusa

had he ld sen ior pos i t ions in the

Government ofK enya, first as Director of

Meteorological Services, then as Deputy

Permanent S ecretary in the Ministries of

Transpor t and Communica t ions , and

E nvironment and Natural R esources. He

was for many years K eny a Gove rnments

principa l del egate to various organ s of the

World Meteorologica l Organiza t ion

(WMO) and was a member of the Executive

Counc il of WMO , Vice President of the

WMO Commiss ion for Atmospher ic

S ciences, and a member of the WMO

Working Group on Cloud Physics and

Weather Mod ifica tion . He has been

K enyas delegate to UNE P Governing

Council in the past.

Mr. Alusa has publis hed extensively in the

field of meteorology and e nvironment an d

received the WMO Research Award for

Young Scien tists in 19 78 for hi s paper titled

The R ole of Drop B r eakup in the

Deve lopment of R a indrop- S iz e

Distributions.

His international experience has included

representing UNEP in negotiations of the

Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee

for the Climate Convention, and later in

the various meetings of the S ubsidiary

B odies and Conferences of the Parties ofthe ratified Climate Convention, WMO

Congress and E xecutive Councils, and

Commission for Sustain able De velopment.

He has been UNE Ps Task Manager for

Chapte r 9 of Agenda 21 on Atmosphere.


11/121 1

REGIONAL OFFICE FOR AFRICA

HAME D HAIDARAPROGRAMMEDE VE LOPME NT OFF ICE R

A national of Mauritania , Mr. Hamed Haidara

has recent ly joined the Regional O ffice on 1

February 2001, coming from UNEPs Division

of Regional Cooperation where he was in

charge of the Divisions coordination activities

in the Africa and West Asia Regions. Mr.

Haidaras assignment to ROA is in line with

the Executive Directors efforts to further

strengthen the office . He will be dealing with

programme and project development, follow-

up/reporting as well as contributing the

resource mobilization efforts for R O As

activities.

While working with UNEP from 1992 to

present, Mr. Haidara held several positions

dealing with technical cooperation, resource

mobilization, and programme coordination.

He has also previously worked with the United

Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS)

where he was in charge of the International

Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

projects in Rwanda, Burundi, Comoros and

Lesotho. Prior to working with UNEP, Mr.

Haidara worked for several years at the field

and senior levels on environmental

management - particularly forestry and

desertification control - with the Ministry of

E nvironment and R ural Development of

Mauritania. He is the past Chairman of the

Mauritania National Committee on the United

Nations Conference on Environment and

Development (UNCED) that prepared his

countrys report for the 1992 R io Summit.

Mr. Haidara holds a Master ofScience degree

in agricultural and resource economics with

additional training in forestry and

development studies.

J R MY BOUBI B AZY R E GIONAL NE TWORKCOORDINATOR ,

ODSONE T/ AF (OzoneOfficers Network for

Africa)

Mr. J rmy B oubi B azy a national of

B urkina- F aso holds a B S c degree in

Environmental Engineering from University of

Savoie (Chambry, France) and a MSc degree

in Environmental Engineering from University

ofJussieu (Paris7, France). He also acquired

a post-graduate certificate in Environmental

Management from the Internat ional Academ yfor the E nvironment (Geneva, Switzerland).

Mr. B azy joined UN E P OzonAction

Programme in 1996 and was posted to the

R eg iona l O ffice for Africa as a regional

coordinator for the ODS Officers Network for

the Africa region in 19 96 (ODSONET/AF ).

B efore joining UNE P Mr. B azy held the

position of Director of Pollution and Nuisance

Control in the Ministry ofEnvironment of

Burkina-Faso. He also held the function o f

ODS Officer for his country. He played an

active role in the development of a national

policy for pollution control and sanitation,

and was the national coordinator for

preparation of the Country Programme of

Burkina-Faso for the implementation of the

Montreal Protoc ol. Among other functions,

he was the secretary of the committee that

prepared the Environmental Code ofBurkina-

Faso (law).

Mr. Bazy was a key member of delegation

ofBurkina-Faso in th e negotiations prior andduring the Earth Summit (UNCED) held in R io

in 1992 and actively participated in the

preparation of the African Position on

sustainable development. He participated in

various meetings of parties to the Montreal

Protocol and represented the African

countries in the Implementation Committee

of the Protoc ol in 1994 and 1 995 .

His activities as Regional Network Coordinator

in UNEP include facilitating exchange of

experience among Ozone Officers in the Africa

region through the organization of regular

meetings of the network and other regionaland subregional workshops on the phase-out

of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) and

also through the internet (E -forum for Ozone

Officers). He facilitates bilateral consultations

between O DS Officers and Implementing

Agencies of the Montreal Protocol (UN EP/

DTIE , UNDP, UNIDO and the World Bank).

On a daily basis, he assists in the

implementation of UN E P OzonAction

Programme in Africa and advises African

countries on the implementation of their

country programmes for ODS phase-out

under the Montreal Protocol.

VAL ER IE ANN FR ASE RL EAK E Y COOR DINATORNAIROBI R IVE R B ASINPROJ E CT

A native S cot, Valerie Ann F raser Leakey has

been a citizen ofK enya for the last thirty years.

In the early years she was involved in teach ing

and research in o ral tradition at the University

of Nairobi, set up a travel business with the

sole purpose of visiting other parts of Africa

and taught at a loca l school.

Later her work took her to Oldu vai Gorge near

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, to assist with a

project funded by the National Geographic

Society. After that she lived with her husband

in a remote part ofK enya, near Lake Natron,

where she helped to establish a ho rticultural

farm based on an ancient Sonjo irrigation

system. It was here tha t they brought up the ir

first daughter, born in 1974. Their other

daughters were born in 1978 and 19 83.

Over a period of time she was involved in

voluntary work with the schools and

communities in Lan gata, Nairob i. This wa s

to stand her in good stead for the work to

follow. A graduate ofEdinburgh University

with an MA in Psychology and Philosophy

and a teaching qualification from Moray

House College ofE ducation, Edinburgh,

Valerie Leakey combined her interest in the

community and environment with her

education training. This enabled her to work

in the following areas over a period of almost

ten years:- on the Public F orum on theE nvironment (O E D, UNE P); on training

workshops (R esearch and Training Division

UNCHS); on developing a programme for

the dissemination of environmental and

health materials (Environmental Education

and Training Unit, E ETU, UNEP); on initiating

and coordinating the Outreach Project with

Television Trust for the E nvironment (TVE ),

World Wildlife F und (WWF ), New York

University; and the Information and Public

Affa irs Division ( IPA, UNEP) fol lowed by an

interim period working in the same division

on World E nvironme nt Day (WED).

In the mid-nineties, a growing interest in micro-

enterprise led to the e stablishment of income-

generating projects advocating the eco-friendly

use of forest and wetland products training

many local artisans to establish their own

bu sinesses using natural African raw materials.

Valerie Leakeys current responsibilities as a

Programme Officer with the R egional Office

for Africa, UNE P focus on developing a

strategy and action plan whereby UN EP can

provide technical assistance to the

Government ofKen ya to support sustainablemanagement of the Nairobi R iver Basin. Areas

being tackled are pollution, waste

management, urban greening, communi ty

participation, public awareness and

legislation. She has been working on Phase

One of the Nairobi R iver Basin Project and

public awareness events, such as World

Environment Day and Clean up the World,

for the past two years. As coordinator of the

project for 200I-2, she is working on Phase

Two, involving a section of the Mtoine /Ngong

R iver and the Nairobi Dam. This will include

public awareness activities, education

programmes, dissemination of information,waste management projects, demonstration

of methodologies to address water pollution

and creating income -generating

opportunities in the informal urban

settlements a long that part of the river basin.


12/12

THE NAIROBI DAM INITIATIVE

TheNairobi River Basin

Project

n February 2001, Phase II of the

Nairobi River Basin Project was

laun ched by UNEPs Regional Offic eI

for Africa under the Project Title of The Nairobi

Dam Initiative.

Phase I, which ended in 2000, included a

situation assessment demon strating alarming

levels of pollution throughout Nairobis

r ivers. This puts enormous stress on the

a qua t i c e c osys t e m s a nd ha s d i r e c timpl ication s for the health and wellbeing of

the residen ts of Nairobi as well as for all the

commun ities do wn stream of the Nairo bi and

Athi river basins to which this water system

flows.

The Gove rnment ofK enya , realizing the

magnitude of the problem facing it due

t o u n c o n t r o l l e d s e t t l e m e n t s w h i c h

continue to exist and expand along the

r i v e r s , t h e u n a b a t e d d u m p i n g o f

unwanted substances (liquid and solids)

into the rivers and the weakness in law

enforce ment agencies to curb the above,

has embarked on va r ious ou t reach

campa igning s t r a teg ie s to c rea te

awarene ss on environmenta l degrada tion

of the river b asin. At polic y level, K enya

has ena cted sectoral legislation inc luding

the adoption of the 199 9 E nvironmental

Management and Coordination Act.

U N E P, in turn, promo ted the N airobi

Initiative, started in April 1999 with the

a im of address ing problems such as

pol lut ion, waste management , urban

greening , communi ty pa r t i c ipa t ion ,public awareness and legislation. This

initiative evolved into the Nairobi R iver

B asin Project, focusing on the above

elem ents as they rela te to the m ain rivers

compr i s ing the Na i rob i R iver B asin

(Nairobi, Ngong/Motoine and Mathare

R ivers).

Phase I of the project involved not only a

situation assessment of pollution bu t also t he

development of community outreach and

education programmes to enable capacity

building amongst stakeholders. Sustainable

manageme nt of the ri ver basin was add ressed

through edu cation p rogrammes, de veloping

an Environmental Management InformationSystem (EMIS) and promoting awareness of

ava ilable legal mechanisms.

Specifically, the outputs of Ph ase I includ ed:

A database wi th socio-economic and

environmental information on the Nairobi

River Basin

Environmental Management Information

System (EMIS) fo r computerizedmapping

An alysis and assessment o f po llution levels

at 24 sampling po ints throu ghou t the river

basin

A review of p ollution co ntrol legislation

ident i fy ing pol icy gaps in relat ion to

sustainable management of the N airob i

rivers

A report on previous experiences from

commu nity activities in the riv er basin

Ou t r e a c h a n d e d u c a t i o n a i d s f o r

community ca pacity b uilding

Repor t s on s takeholder s workshop,

repo rting w orksho p, and edu cation and

training wo rksho p

Promotional p ackage includ ing b roch ures,

posters, new sletters, etc. as well as an

enhanced CD

Profile of a River photographic exhibition Wid e media coverage of the project ,

espe cially p ublicity even ts such as parades,

clean-u ps, spo rting even ts, competitions,

concerts, exhibitions

Work has now begun on Phase II of the

proj ect The Nairob i Dam Ini tiative. This

focuses on a section of the river basin

upstream of Nairobi Dam on the Motoine/

N g o n g R iver, the Dam itself, and

downstream to the confluence with the Athi

R iver. The aim of this phase is not only to

address the problem o f pollut ion in Nairobis

rivers but to put in place community

education and information programmes to

enable capaci ty bui lding amongst

stakeholders.

Six project components are proposed with the

main aims of showing the value of proper

sanitation and waste management practices,

demonstrating the utility of wetlands systems in

improving the quality of impacted water

systems, and promoting community

involvement in safeguarding and monitoring the

river basin as a vital resou rce.

The objectives of Phase II are, firstly, to

improve the health and wellbeing of the

residents of the Na irobi R iver Basin , and in

particular in the Motoine/Ngong R iver area,by increasing the avail ability and qualit y of

the water supply entering and emanating

from the Nairobi Dam to the communities

downstream. F urthermore, the value of

proper sanitation and waste management

prac t ices wil l be demonstra ted in a

community pilot project upstream of the

Nairobi Dam, while other demonstration

projects aim to show the potential of

artificially con structed w etlands for reusing

water and improvin g the quality of polluted

water systems. Promo ting commun ity

involvement and providing training in

safeguarding and monitoring the Nairobirivers as a vital resource remains key to th e

success of this phase.

Fundi ng for Phase II has been secured from

donor agencies including the GE F S mall

Grants Programme (UNDP), the B elgian

Government, the French Government and

other agencies. On the 11 and 12 of April

2001, representa t ives of the B e lgian

Government visited proposed project sites

with Valerie Leakey, the Project Coordinator.

The third and final phase of the Nairobi RiverBasin Project is scheduled to begin in 2003.

Replicating successful strategies identified

through the dem onstration an d pilot projects of

Phase II on a larger scale, this p ha se will cover

the entire river basin area and, it is hoped , inspire

similar p rojects throughout Africa an d the world .

Further information and details may be obtained

from the project website, www.unep.org/ROA/

Nairobi_River, or from the Regional Office for

Africa, U NEP.

UNEP, RegionalO

ffice for AfricaHYPERLINK h ttp ://www.unep.org http://www.unep.orgTel: 254 2 6 2 42 85 Fax: 254 2 62 39 28Email: HYPERLINK mailto :ROA.Information.Officer@ unep.org ROA.Information.Officer@ unep.org

A sect ion of the Nairobi River

Documents

Regional Office for Africa Newsletter, June 2001 ~ United Nations Environment Programme