New Initiatives under the UNDP-UNEP Partnership
Nairobi, 6 February 2006
UNDP and UNEP are reinforcing the bond between fighting poverty and protecting the environment with the launch of the joint Poverty and Environment Facility in Nairobi during the 24th session of the UNEP Governing Council. The Facility, one of the first tangible examples of UN reform in action, is designed to help developing countries integrate sound environment management into their poverty reduction and growth policies, with an emphasis on Africa and Asia.

The strengthened relationship between the two UN bodies will be practically applied across a wide range of issues. For example, in a few months’ time, the new UNDP-UNEP Climate Partnership, will launch a new joint project designed to help poorer countries navigate the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), beginning with five nations in Africa. Other joint initiatives launched at the meeting included a scaled-up UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative, and a new UNDP-UNEP partnership on chemicals management. More... [Source: UNDP Public Website].

EENet Acknowledges Top Contributors for 2006

From queries to eDiscussions, the 1500+ members of the EENet community have engaged in vibrant discussions over the last year, sharing practical experiences, advice, and perspectives on issues they face in the field and priorities for UNDP's future work. The community has benefited tremendously from these shared experiences and we would like to take this opportunity to thank all members who contributed to this very lively and active network throughout 2006. EENet would like to particularly congratulate our top contributors:

• Abdul Qadir, UNDP Pakistan • Lenni Montiel, BDP DGG, NY • Willard Phillips, UNDP Trinidad & Tobago • Hudha Ahmed, UNDP Maldives • Lisa Singh, UNDP Afghanistan

• Sara de Pablos, UNDP Mauritania • Jaime Echeverria, UNDP Costa Rica • Alvin Chandra, UNDP Fiji • Carlos Linares, BDP EEG, New York • David C. Smith, UNDP Jamaica

World Water Day 2007: 'Coping with Water Scarcity'
22 March 2007
This year's theme highlights the increasing significance of water scarcity worldwide and the need for increased integration and cooperation to ensure sustainable, efficient and equitable management of scarce water resources, both at international and local levels. Equity and rights, cultural and ethical issues are essential to be addressed when dealing with limited water resources. Imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, intersectoral competition, interregional and international disputes, all centre around the question of how to cope with scarce water resources. The WWD2007 official website is now online and provides useful campaign materials, while UNDP's Water Governance site houses the latest information on UNDP's water governance programmes. More... Contributed, with thanks, by Vivienne Caballero, BDP NY

10th Meeting of the Poverty Environment Partnership (PEP): "Country experiences in mainstreaming environment into national development processes."
UN Headquarters, Nairobi, 30 January - 1 February 2007
The PEP is an informal network of development agencies, multilateral development banks, UN agencies and international NGOs seeking to tackle key Poverty-Environment issues “within the framework of international efforts to achieve the MDGs. PEP-10, the first to be held in the southern hemisphere, was attended by approximately 90 participants, including representatives from donor organizations, UNDP, UNEP and international and national NGOs and research institutes. The meeting had two main objectives: to learn from country experiences in mainstreaming environment into national development processes; and to advance harmonization and joint work among PEP member agencies in support of country-led environmental mainstreaming.

For the first time government representatives from developing countries joined the PEP members for this meeting. On the first day, participants heard welcoming addresses by Peter Hazlewood, UNDP and David Smith, UNEP, while in a video message, Olav Kjørven, then-Director, UNDP Environment and Energy Group, highlighted increasing cooperation between UNDP and UNEP in line with the UN system-wide transformation.

Participants heard presentations on mainstreaming environment into national development processes from Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya, including from UNDP's Alex Forbes. These presentations highlighted the successes and challenges of environment mainstreaming in national and subnational policy processes. In ensuing discussions, participants praised the levels of progress demonstrated by the country-level experiences and debated issues including how to encourage cross-sectoral policy involvement, the importance of inclusion of poor peoples’ perspectives and the limited involvement of the private sector in environmental mainstreaming. More... [Source: IISD Reporting Services]

International Women's Day: Celebrate women working on climate change
8 March 2007
UNDP's partner, IUCN, the World Conservation Union marked International Women's Day 2007 by highlighting the importance of incorporating a gender perspective into work on climate change. The Director General, Julia Marton-Lefèvre, stressed that, "existing conditions and existing discrimination determine who is most impacted by natural disasters. Women account for 70% of the poorest populations and 50% of those poor women live in rural areas where their livelihoods are dependent upon healthy biodiversity. There are widespread gender differences in access to resources and information, and women are often responsible for the health and safety of their families. Girls are unable to attend school when they have to spend long hours hauling water and firewood. When swift environmental changes come along, these existing gender-related roles and conditions make women more vulnerable to the impacts. Moreover, emergency situations often increase the demand for basic services, reinforcing traditional and often unbalanced roles and responsibilities." More... Thanks to Nina Kancheva, Equator Initiative, BDP EEG, NY, for sharing this news article.

Regional Practice News:

Turkey Wastewater Treatment Showcases Good Practice in Community Cooperation
Turkey, February 2007
The eastern province of Kars and its 385 villages lie under heavy snow during the long winter months. In most of these villages, access to clean water is not a problem, but sanitation is! Lack of a proper sewerage system is the most serious cause of contagious diseases that frequently result in child deaths.

In Karaurgan, one of the villages, the community decided to tackle the problem themselves by approaching government authorities directly. Every household in the village cooperated in this common cause, helping to build a sanitary sewerage system for their community. The resulting system does not use state-of-the-art technology, instead, wastewater is treated in a biological medium with the help of reed plants and the resulting clean water is used to irrigate agricultural land. More...

Community-based approaches in water supply projects in Crimea
Simferopol, 9 February 2007
An innovative and participatory UNDP programme in Crimea has resulted in active citizen engagement in managing water supply projects. Community-based public service delivery mechanisms, developed by the Crimea Integration and Development Programme (CIDP), rely heavily on full participation of people in decision-making and implementation of projects.

For the multi-ethnic communities of Crimea this approach has been critical in addressing social tensions caused by a lack of access to safe drinking water. During the 1990s the return of over 260,000 Crimean Tatars and other groups deported after World War II to Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, sparked tensions between the returnees and the local population, including over access to safe drinking water.

CIDP has helped these rural populations to organize themselves into community groups, promoting and supporting self-help initiatives and bringing communities and local authorities together in dialogue and decision-making, which has fostered a sense of partnership between citizens and decision-makers in solving common problems. More...

World Wetlands Day - Fish for Tomorrow?
Sri Lanka, 2 February 2007
Among the events to mark World Wetlands Day in Sri Lanka included the opening of an information centre by the Central Environmental Authority [CEA] in Bellanwila, a sanctuary in the suburbs of Colombo where several varieties of migratory birds come to roost. In addition, the CEA, together with the NGO Sri Lanka Nature Forum, (funded by UNDP through the GEF Small Grants Programme), the Wildlife Conservation Department and the 'Nagena Hiru Padhanama’ held a workshop to create awareness about the need to conserve wetlands in Sri Lanka, with the participation of several environmentalists and key decision makers. UNDP Sri Lanka produced a short publication for the event, 'Wetlands! Lost goods and services…Can we bring them back?’, on how to reduce the pressures on wetlands in Sri Lanka. In addition, the discussions at the workshop formed the basis for a feature article carried in The Island, one of the main national newspapers. More... Contributed, with thanks, by Darshani de Silva, UNDP Sri Lanka

Tackling Climate Change Now: GEF project in India’s Karnataka State shows how
Karnataka, India, 24 January 24 2007
In a dramatic example of concerted local action, Koratgere residents have signed a power purchase agreement with the state utility, BESCOM, to supply electricity generated by four gasifier units totaling 500 kW. The Biomass Energy for Rural India (BERI) project has an outlay of $8.62 million, of which the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is funding $4.02 million.

The pioneering project is testing biomass energy technology for large scale application by providing high quality rural energy services for economic development. Biomass gasification is a process of converting biomass to a combustible gas in a reactor, known as a gasifier, under controlled conditions. The combustible gas, also known as ‘producer gas’ is then cooled and cleaned prior to combustion in internal combustion engines for power generation. More...

Achieving Industrial Energy Efficiency in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14 November 2006
UNDP Malaysia’s new publication 'Achieving Industrial Energy Efficiency in Malaysia', recently launched by the Deputy Minister of Energy [pictured], documents the experiences gained and lessons learned from the implementation of the UNDP-GEF Malaysian Industrial Energy Efficiency Improvement Project (MIEEIP).

This highly successful project is a demonstration of Malaysia’s unique achievements in implementing energy efficiency in industries. The project, executed by the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications with Pusat Tenaga Malaysia (Malaysia Energy Center), began in 2000 and has to-date completed over fifty industry energy audits, trained two thousand industry professionals in energy conservation techniques, carried out five demonstration projects, on-line energy use benchmarking, produced energy efficiency guidelines and submitted various policy recommendations to the government. This publication ensures that Malaysia’s success in managing capacity building and sustainable energy projects is shared internationally for South-South cooperation benefits.

A joint effort by UNDP Malaysia, the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications and the Pusat Tenaga Malaysia project team, the publication also presents five case studies and touches upon the overall energy scenario, taking into account the current 5-year plan period (9th Malaysia Plan), the current available sustainable energy policies and their implementation arrangements. More... Contributed, with thanks, by Asfaazam Kasbani, UNDP Malaysia

24th Session of the UNEP Governing Council meeting: Globalization and the Environment and UN Reform
Nairobi, Kenya, 5-9 February 2007
The UNEP Governing Council, the annual ministerial-level global environmental forum in which participants gather to review important and emerging policy issues in the field of the environment, focused this year on emerging policy issues of globalization and the environment, and UN reform. The Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC-24/GMEF), adopted 15 decisions, including an agreement to establish an ad hoc open-ended working group to assess options for enhanced voluntary measures and new international legal instruments on mercury.

At the meeting, UNDP and UNEP launched a number of joint initiatives (see Feature above), including the joint Poverty-Environment Facility in Nairobi, a scaled-up Poverty-Environment Initiative, and new UNDP-UNEP partnerships on climate change and chemicals management. More... [Source: ENB]

Citizens of the Earth: The Paris Conference for Global Ecological Governance
Paris, France, 7 February 2007
Ad Melkert, UNDP Associate Administrator emphasised at the conference the that, "poverty and environmental degradation feed each other", continuing, "Unfortunately we find that in relative terms the poor rely on environmental assets much more than the rich. A World Bank study in 2005 estimated that 26% of the overall per capita “wealth” in low income countries was tied to environmental assets, mostly in cropland and pastureland. This figure was only 2% in OECD countries. Thus it follows that the degradation of environmental resources will adversely affect [UNDP's] ability to fight poverty.

"Compounded by these challenges is the fact that many earlier results of development have been washed away by man-made conflict or natural disaster. We must find measures to mitigate and adapt to the challenges of climate change and poverty." More...

Second International Workshop on Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 24 - 28 February 2007
This workshop, organized jointly by the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies (BCAS), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and RING Alliance of Policy Research Organizations, consisted of two days of field trips to visit community-based adaptation initiatives, followed by three days of discussions in Dhaka. The workshop aimed to share the latest developments in community-based adaptation programmes, priorities and solutions with a view to integrating the lessons into national and international development programmes. Over 110 policymakers and representatives from NGOs, research and policy institutes, as well as development practitioners and media participated. More...

8th Eighth African Union Summit: Climate Change and Development
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 22 - 30 January 2007
The summit concluded with the adoption of a decision and a declaration on climate change, as well as a number of other key decisions on Science and Technology in Africa, the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, and the establishment of the African Environment Facility. The inaugural Climate and Society publication: “Climate risk management in Africa: Learning from practice” was officially launched at the Summit by partners including the African Union, the African Development Bank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the Global Climate Observing System, and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society. More... [Source: IISD Reporting Services]

Conferences and Training:

Tackling climate change: An appraisal of the Kyoto Protocol and options for the future
The Hague, Netherlands, 30-31 March 2007
The conference, taking place at the T.M.C. Asser Institute, will focus on the legal and institutional aspects of the Kyoto Protocol implementation and the post-2012 phase, bringing together the most qualified experts worldwide on the subject. Key Topics Addressed Include: Implementation of the flexible mechanisms; Compliance with the Kyoto Protocol; Best practices and national cases; and the Post-2012 agenda. Leading speakers include Julie Raynal, European Commission; Michael Bothe, University of Frankfurt; Charlotte Streck, Climate Focus and Dane Ratliff, Permanent Court of Arbitration. The conference programme, registration form and all relevant information on the event, are available online. Contact e-mail: l.massai@asser.nl. More...

Knowledge Management Workshop - Capacity for African Research Institutes and Networks: Western Africa Call for Applications
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, 11-13 April 2007
The Global Development Network (GDN) is organizing the third in a series of sub-regional workshops across Sub-Saharan Africa aimed at strengthening knowledge management skills of African research institutes and networks, in partnership with the Institute of Economic and Social Policies. Interested applicants should visit our website to learn more about the workshop agenda and participation criteria. Applications deadline is 17 March 2007. More... Thanks to Alvaro Rodriguez, BDP NY for sharing this workshop announcement.

UN System Staff College’s Africa Regional Skills Courses
Nairobi, Kenya. 19 - 23 March 2007
Courses include Human Rights Based Approaches (HRBA), Results-based Management (RBM) Skills and Empowering Media Skills for UN Managers. Read more and enroll at online. More... Contributed, with thanks, by Varsha Redkar-Palepu, UN Staff System College

Coastal Ecology & Bioclimate Summer Course
Maine, United States, 28 May - June 2007
The Shoals Marine Laboratory's course on the effects of climate on the ecology of organisms is worth 4 semester credits with Cornell University. The specific focus is on: (1) the definition, description and measurement of global abiotic factors such as radiation, temperature, atmospheric moisture and precipitation, winds and currents; (2) the fundamentals of dynamic, long-term meteorology and short-term weather prediction from observations of natural coastal phenomena such as cloud and wind patterns; (3) the interaction of coastal environmental factors with plants and animals; (4) the impact of human-caused influences such as the destruction of coastal habitats and consideration of the possible effects on coastal ecosystems that could result from global climatic change. Faculty: Dr. Gerard Courtin, Laurentian University. Application and scholarship information is available online; contact email: Laurie Johnson, SML admissions, Tel.: 607 255-0743, Fax.: 607 255-0742. More...

SIWI Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Training Programmes, Call for Applications
Sweden, Lao PDR and Burkina Faso, August 2007
Applications are now being accepted for two new Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) International Training Programmes run by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). The objective of the training programme is to support and stimulate the development of IWRM in the participants’ home countries, and to encourage the participants to involve in and contribute to networking on IWRM. An English-language course set to begin in Sweden in August and continuing in Laos in November has an application deadline of April 4, 2007. A French-language course beginning in Sweden in August and continuing in Burkina Faso has an application deadline of April 20, 2007. More...

Certificate of Advanced Studies in IWRM in Developing and Transition Countries
Bern, Switzerland, 27 August - 7 September 2007
The Bern University of Applied Sciences is offering a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) on "Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in the context of Developing and Transition Countries". The CAS is endowed with 10 ECTS credits, has a modular structure and consists of a preparatory work, two ten-day courses as class instruction and a project assignment. The class instructions take place during the last week of August and the first week of September 2007 and similarly in 2008. Participants will be trained to consider water-related problems from an integrated and global point of view, derive and discuss possible solutions and propose potential activities in a local context. They will improve their management and monitoring skills with regard to water projects in Developing and Transition Countries. More...

Web-based Training: Wastewater management, treatment and reuse
Hamburg University of Technology, 11 April-6 June 2007
This advanced course for professionals in wastewater management, treatment and reuse from the Mediterranean Countries, run by University's Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection, aims to inform participants of new technologies focused on sustainability and water reuse in rural areas of the Mediterranean countries, including sanitation, and encourage technology transfer between the Mediterranean countries. Application deadline: 31 March 2007. More..

2nd International Workshop on Uncertainty in Greenhouse Gas Inventories
Laxenburg, Austria, 27-28 September 2007
The workshop, jointly coordinated by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria and the Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Poland, aims to bring together scientists, experts and policymakers to discuss a wide range of uncertainty aspects involved in measuring, accounting, modelling and inventorying GHG emissions. The topics discussed will cover among others: Trading emissions; Achieving reliable GHG emission inventories at national, facility and project level; Detecting and analyzing emission changes vis-à-vis their underlying uncertainties; Reconciling short-term emission commitments and long-term concentration targets; Verification and compliance, etc. The event will be composed of presentations by invited lecturers and oral presentations of submitted papers. The deadline for short papers submission and early-bird registration is 15 July 2007 and the abstract submission deadline is 1 April 2007. Contact e-mail: ghg2007@ibspan.waw.pl. More...

More conferences and training opportunities here

UNDP's Equator Initiative announces finalists for Global Biodiversity Conservation Prize
New York, 12 March 2007
The Equator Initiative announced today the finalists for its 2006 Equator Prize, honouring 25 extraordinary efforts to harness the equatorial region’s biodiversity to lessen the widespread poverty afflicting the people who live there. The finalists, whose services range from ecotourism and community fishery cooperatives to sustainable crocodile-egg harvesting and ecoagriculture, demonstrate the increasing global recognition of the strong links between poverty and the natural environment. Biodiversity conservation—the preservation of a broad array of plant and animal life in a given area—helps alleviate poverty by nurturing and protecting diverse ecosystems, and using their resources for long-term, sustainable economic and health benefits. More...

e-Discussion on Pastoralism on HDRNet
12 - 31 March 2007
Members of the EE Practice are invited to join a discussion on the HDR Measurement expert network on presenting data on pastoralism in Africa. To follow the discussion online click here or to join contact Sharmila Kurukulasuriya.
As explained in the concept note for the Report on the State of Pastoralism (ROSP), the ROSP is a policy-oriented research project, which Oxfam GB is facilitating. It is designed to improve the availability and accessibility of quality data from pastoral areas, so as to provide a better evidence base for policy making, planning and monitoring against international targets such as the MDGs. The ROSP is currently being set up in four countries across the Horn and East of Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It is designed as a collaborative venture, working with local research institutes and statistics
bureaux, to help strengthen national capacity to generate and analyse data from pastoral areas. ROSP are interested in hearing of other examples of analyses on specific regions, or sub-populations, and in particular: "How were you able to bring together data from various sources, across different country systems whilst maintaining the credibility of the analysis?; How can we present data which balances the realities of pastoral populations with national monitoring systems, and internationally-accepted frameworks?; What experience do others have in adapting the Human Development framework to reflect the specifics of certain livelihoods, or population groups?" More... Thanks to Sharmila Kurukulasuriy, NHDR Unit, HDRO, NY for sharing this announcement.

e-Discussion: Strengthening Efforts to Eradicate Poverty and Hunger
14 February - 16 March 2007
This four-week moderated e-Discussion on MDGNet is a part of a larger process of global consultation – ECOSOC’s Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) – that assesses the progress in implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs. The knowledge, opinions and ideas shared in the discussion will contribute to focusing the substantive part of the AMR process and will be channelled to the Report of the Secretary-General on this same topic.

The thematic focus of this year’s AMR is broad. Therefore, the discussion, guided by guest moderators Nora Lustig, Donald Lee and Duncan Campbell, is focussing on the following priority areas:
- Reduction of Jobless Growth
- Innovative National Policies to Reduce Rural and Urban Poverty
- Global Governance of Trade
- Short-term Response to Long-Term Solutions to Hunger
- Scaling-Up the Response
Members are invited to join the discussion on MDGNet. To read all the contributions so far click here or to join contact Andrea Cuzyova. More... Thanks to Andrea Cuzyova, BDP, NY for sharing this announcement.

Staff moves:

Ms. Bongkojmanee Kohsuwan - A warm welcome to the E&E Practice to Bongkojmanee, who has joined the Montreal Protocol Team as Programme Assistant at the UNDP Bangkok Regional Center , as of 1 March 2007. Bongkojmanee, a native of Thailand, completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Kasetsart University in Bangkok. Formerly a Programme Assistant with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bongkojmanee’s experience will be valued in her new assignment assisting the Unit with the implementation of Montreal Protocol Ozone and GEF POPs projects in Southeast Asia. Thanks to Suely Carvalho, BDP EEG, NY for sharing this announcement.

News from Other Practices:

Red Ribbon Award Finalist and Community Leaders Discuss AIDS and Gender
UN Secretariat, New York, 26 February 2007
Award winners Betty Makoni of the Girl Child Network (GCN), Zimbabwe and Mary Simatt, Maasai Women for Education and Economic Development, Kenya met at the 2007 UN Commission on the Status of Women to discuss AIDS and Gender. Betty, a renowned girl child rights activist honored as one of the five Red Ribbon Award finalists and Mary, Chairwoman of Maasai Women for Education and Economic Development, discussed the ways that empowered girl children and women are taking leadership in their organizations and communities.

Members of their groups, who also joined this discussion, are working to dismantle patriarchy, and counteract all traditions where a woman’s voice is a taboo. Successes discussed situations where young girls are standing up against domestic violence for themselves and their mothers. Mary and Betty’s stories highlight that communities lie at the heart of the response to HIV/AIDS and no efforts by the UN, donors and other stakeholders to contain the epidemic can be successful and sustainable without leadership at the grassroots level. More... Contributed, with thanks, by Blerta Cela BDP, NY

Job Vacancies

OHR Tool for Advertising Vacancies and Consultancies.
Human Resources Focal Points can publish new job opportunities (including for Service Contracts and SSAs) by going to http://jobs-admin.undp.org.

Ecotourism Planning and Development (Consultancy)
UNDP Iran. Closing date for applications: asap.

National Consultant / 4th Independent Evaluation of the GEF Small Grants Programme (Consultancy)
Turkey. Start date: mid-April 2007.

Senior Energy Coordinator (Vacancy)
FAO Rome. Closing date for applications: 29-Mar-2007.

Biodiversity Review / Wildlife Conservation Policy and National Parks Act (Call for Expression of Interest)
UNDP Botswana. Closing date for applications: 23-Mar-2007.

Regional Technical Specialist / UNDP-GEF / Capacity Development and Climate Change Adaptation (Vacancy)
UNDP Bratislava. Closing date for applications: 21-Mar-2007.

Technical Advisor / Solid Waste Recycling Project / Micronesia (Consultancy)
UNDP Fiji. Closing date for applications: 16-Mar-2007.

Trainer of Trainers / Environmental Economics / Sustainable Land Management (Consultancy)
UNDP Mauritius. Closing date for applications: 15-Mar-2007.

UNDP-GEF / International Technical Advisor / Biodiversity Project (Vacancy)
UNDP Mongolia. Closing date for applications: 15-Mar-2007.

Click here to consult the UNDP Job Site for further current EE vacancies within UNDP.