Lead Partner: Government of South Africa - Eskom (South Africa National Electric Utility)
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Africa Summary: A primary requirement to assist in the electrification of Africa is to complete the interconnectors between the various countries and their respective utilities, so that Africa has one interconnected transmission grid. The transmission interconnectors are predicated on the basis that, while some countries and/or regions have excess generation capacity, others are experiencing shortages, with serious consequences for their economic and social development. While it is technically possible for each country to develop sufficient energy resources to meet their needs in the medium to longer term, this approach ignores the economic and environmental efficiencies possible through regional co-operation. This is viewed as an important first step, as it allows undersupplied countries, or countries supplied primarily by hydro-electricity, who are subject to fluctuations in supply during drought cycles, to have immediate access to a pool of electricity when required, and to contribute to such a pool when water levels are high. This facilitates uninterrupted power supply throughout Africa.
The initiative supports the diversification of electricity sources and socio-economic development. Apart from supporting NEPAD and adhering to best environmental practice, detailed design of the project will take into account synergies with existing sustainable development initiatives, such as the Peace Parks initiative, eradication of land mines and improvement of local infrastructure. The partnership aims include improving capacity for regional and sub-continental electricity trading. [more]
Lead Partner: Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Sub-Saharan Africa Summary: * To identify areas, sites or living resources that are either suffering measurable degradation (i.e. hot-spots) or threatened with future degradation (sensitive areas) and to determine, through root-cause analysis, the leading causes of these impacts, taking into consideration scientific, technical and socio-economic factors.
* To design a programme of interventions, including demonstration projects and pre-investment studies, addressing problems of regional priority. Some projects are regional in scope, and focus on groups of countries united by geographic location or identified common problems. Site-specific projects of priority for the participating countries are also included.
* To strengthen existing regional institutions, in particular the Nairobi and Abidjan Conventions, and to establish synergies with relevant programmes and projects.
* To provide a framework for facilitating the mobilization of resources for the sustainable development of the marine and coastal environment, given that available funds for such projects are very limited.
* To produce a self-sustaining model that can be replicated in other regions or thematic areas in order to develop interventions that contribute to the goals of sustainable development. [more]
Lead Partner: Environment General Agency - Environment General Agency - Environment General Agency
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Africa Summary: The main objectives of the initiative are:
♦ To critically assess successes and failures in implementing Rio decisions in each member AU country
♦ To focus on the identification of accomplishments and areas where further efforts are needed to implement Agenda 21.
♦ To ensure that all members of African Union must have a safer more prosperous future by dealing with environment protection economic development and social development issues inbalanced manner.
♦ Accelerated economic and social development of Africa with better care for environment
♦ Awareness raising at regional, national and local level and further promote Agenda 21 in Africa. [more]
Lead Partner: United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) - International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Africa Summary: In preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and in the framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the partners of this initiative have agreed to jointly develop a capacity building programme on the applications of Information and Communication Technologies for the establishment of Environmental Information Systems for Sustainable Development in Africa.
This partnership aims at initiating a national and sub regional capacity building programme, on the applications of the new information and communication technologies for the establishment of environmental information management and monitoring systems in Africa. It aims at generating adequate conditions for the establishment of a coherent and efficient institutional framework, and the development and appropriation of technological tools for the accessing, exchange and circulation of useful information.
Significant efforts are being made to manage natural resources and the environment, involving scientific and technical research, the implementation of appropriate programmes and projects in the field, and the harnessing of local know-how. The results, in the form of products, information and data, represent a unique scientific, technical and cultural heritage for sustainable development and the fight against poverty in Africa.
However, it has to be recognized that this information heritage is often dispersed on account of sectoral compartmentalization at the inter-institutional level, resulting of an apparent lack of information at the local level which contradicts the existence in reality of an information heritage within national and international institutions or bodies specializing in Africa throughout the world. This loss of "institutional memory" is now recognized as being one of the major obstacles to sustainable development in Africa.
The general objective of this initiative is to provide countries and regional organizations with systems for the validation, circulation and harnessing of relevant environmental information with a view to strengthening the participative approach at the different decision-making and operational levels and thereby promoting enlightened decision-making.
Specific objectives of the partnership are to respond to the needs expressed by a large number of environmental stakeholders in developing countries. As well as being a technological tool, it seeks to encourage the environmental community to share experiences and information heritage, balancing information supply and demand.
This approach aims to create a synergy of both human and financial resources, establishing environmental information systems within national programmes such as national development plans, national environmental action plans, poverty eradication plans, etc. It will also catalyze the development of National and Regional Spatial Data Infrastructures (NSDI and RSDI) for use in planning and decision making for sustainable development [more]
Lead Partner: Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA) - Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA)
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Africa Summary: The objectives of the partnership will be discussed and agreed at the initial partnership workshop, to be held in the last quarter of 2002. The overall objective of the partnership is to bring together universities and governments from Africa and other countries, along with intergovernmental organisations, businesses and civil society groups to design and establish a network of Centres of Excellence for Technological Innovation for Sustainability in Africa (CETISA).
The work done by the centres is expected to include world-class sustainable development related scientific and technological research, collaborations with the private sector to bring technologies to market, and the development of integrated technological innovation strategies for meeting the needs of the poor. African stakeholders will lead the process of setting the specific objectives and identifying the priorities for the individual centres, with strong input and support from universities and other institutions with expertise in technological innovation from both Northern and Southern countries.
Building on existing initiatives and networks, the specific objectives of the partnership are to:
Develop a shared analysis of the potential roles that African universities can play in supporting the development and implementation of effective strategies for technological innovation to meet sustainable development needs;
Develop a shared analysis of the current capacity of African universities to contribute to the development of such strategies;
Develop proposals for strengthening the capacity of African universities to support the development and implementation of effective strategies for technological innovation to meet sustainable development needs, through establishing centres of excellence for technological innovation for sustainability in Africa, drawing on best practice models from around the world, and based on participative assessments of technology needs and opportunities;
Improve African universities' access to world-class expertise and best practice on technology research and policy making through creating strong linkages with universities in both developed and developing countries;
Facilitate the development of research partnerships and other collaborations (e.g. staff and student exchanges, joint implementation projects etc.) between African Universities and other universities and expert institutions in both developed and developing countries;
Engage host and donor governments in the design of the centres of excellence, and encourage investment in building the technological capacity of African Universities. [more]
Lead Partner: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: - Building awareness on the importance of Education for rural people as a crucial step to achieve the Millennium goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education , gender equity and sustainable natural resources management
- Contributing to achieve the Education for All goals,
- Overcoming the urban/rural gap in education.
- Increasing access to basic Education for Rural People
- Improving the quality of basic Education for Rural People
- Fostering the national capacity to plan and implement ERP as part of National Education for All and Rural Development Plans.
- Building awareness on the importance of ERP as a crucial step to achieve all the Millennium Development Goals, and particularly, eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education and promoting gender equity.
[more]
Lead Partner: Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) - Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Southern Africa Summary: The Expanded OUZIT Project is an integrated tourism development strategy aimed at establishing a comprehensive tourism and resource development zone in SADC.
The agreed project roll out would see the Expanded OUZIT project proceed on two parallel tracks:
a) As an integral part of the WSSD - focused on presenting SADC's TFCA's (Transfrontier Conservation Areas) - proposed and existing, as a unifying theme demonstrating the region's commitment and leadership in the preservation of bio-diversity, the conservation of two of the region's last remaining and largely untapped river systems (i.e. Okavango, and Zambezi), and as a vehicle for the upliftment and sustainable development for the rural poor.
b) The second track for progressing the Expanded OUZIT will be project driven and draw upon the TFCA scoping study.
Accordingly the agreed project roll out will:
1. Identify and prepare documentation for at least three (3) new large-scale investments in Resort Hubs around which to network TFCAs.
2. Support Capacity Building in the management and expansion of Gateway/Resort Hubs in participating member states.
3. Identify high profile and active global investors (including airlines and major tour operators) and organize a programme to engage them.
4. Address bottlenecks (infrastructure, policy, financial, load factors) impeding the provision of long haul and inter-regional air transport services. [more]
Lead Partner: National Disaster Management Institute (INGC)
Geographical Scope: National Summary: The overall goal is to strengthen the institutional capacities in Mozambique in the field of Disaster Preparedness and management. The country's weak economic infrastructure is aggrevated by the frequent natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, droughts, bush fires, and various epidemics etc. and Mozambique has to deal with complex emergency situations.
The primary aim of this partnership is a capacity-building program for prevention and management of natural disasters with the aim to strengthen the institutional capacity of INGC and its cooperating authorities by identifying the training needs of the different target groups and develop awareness-raising programs, knowledge transfer, and training skills for multiplicators. This regional pilot project is based on three pillars: strengthening the coordination and management capacities in terms of awareness, knowledge and skills of national institution; enhancing the existing cross-border cooperation and in the long-run reduce the obstacles and difficulties imposed by different political and administrative cultures ; lead to closer cooperation within the region and contribute to disaster management and prevention; support and strengthen regional assistance such as, information and communications systems with respect to early warning and alert; and mapping risk areas, raising awareness and organizing population, training multi-disciplinary rescue teams, technical assistance and logistical resources for preventing and fighting disaster as well as good network of database centres to analyse pertinent information and act as the source for disseminating information related to impending disasters. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - The World Conservation Union (IUCN) - CESVI- Working for Water
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Limpopo Corridor Summary: This partnership supports participation of communities living in areas adjacent to the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GL-TFP) in the TFP establishment process. The TFP is being establishment by the Governments of Zimbabwe, RSA and Mozambique as a first step in the process of developing a broader TFCA: this in its broad concept encompasses a vast area of almost 100.000 km2, including two National Parks and a Reserved Hunting Area in Mozambique (Banhine NP, Zinave NP and Limpopo NP), Kruger NP in South Africa and Gonarezhou NP in Zimbabwe.
This partnership programme focus on poverty alleviation and the conservation of biological diversity and ecosystem functioning through institutional capacity building, and the involvement and livelihood enhancement of local communities. Its components target selected rural areas mediating nodal ecosystemic and economic fluxes (e.g. wildlife and commercial corridors and buffer zones) within the programmed large scope multipurpose cross-boundary conservation area. the Great Limpopo Trans-frontier Park (GL TFP). Ecosystem management in these areas holds the potential to make or break the GL TFP and, at the same time, to make or break the economic future of its own rural communities. With appropriate land use planning and development, the target areas can act as links between the components of the Transfrontier Park, can enhance their ecological and economic values and can provide an ecologically sound economic engine for the disadvantaged target areas.
The partnership programme will be based on two components:
1. Foundation component: this will build on a pilot project implemented in the southeast lowveld of Zimbabwe (1998-2003) by CESVI in cooperation with the Rural District Councils of Beitbridge, Chiredzi and Chipinge: this pilot component has promoted community-based natural resource management in communal lands in the Limpopo and Save valleys, along the border with South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana. The target areas of the project include, inter alia, rural areas bordering the Gonarezhou National Park which have strong historical and social links with neighboring areas in Mozambique and South Africa.
2. New partnership component: this component will comprise two projects (sub-components), which will address country specific issues in a coordinated manner:
* The South African sub-component, to be implemented in cooperation with the Department of Water Affairs and SANP in areas adjacent to Kruger NP.
* The Mozambican sub-component, to be implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to address the requirements of a vast rural area between the Limpopo NP, Banhine NP, Zinave NP and the border with Zimbabwe. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of Italy - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - University of Trieste - Southern African Development Community Forestry Sector Technical Coordination Unit (SADC-FSTCU)
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional SADC Summary: Building upon regional development potentials and institutional consensus of the SADC Secretariat and its member states, the capacity building and development contribution of the previous DGCS_SADC cooperation project (SECOSUD I) represents a solid foundation for the present partnership initiative.
The general aim of this partnership is to produce and establish a network of management oriented spatial decision support systems (SDSS) to promote the sustainable use of natural resources by private and public stakeholders while ensuring the durable social and economic development of rural areas situated in the SADC region affected by strong growing human pressure. The SDSS will be addressed specifically to Sustainable Management of Biological Resources (SMBR) by promoting the conservation of native plants economically useful compatibly with the long-term equitable economic growth and enhancement of productive capacity in rural areas. The network will comprise informatics tools with nodes located at selected Institutions that will:
- help understand the interactions between economically useful plants and the environment where they spontaneously grow and where they are cultivated,
- provide services to improve plant productivity without compromising the biological diversity of the region. [more]
Lead Partner: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Division of Policy Development and Law (DPDL)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The partners will work to:
- Help developing countries to develop action plans to complete the elimination of leaded gasoline by end 2008
- Start to phase down sulfur in diesel and gasoline fuels, long-term objective to be 50 ppm and below
-Concurrent with the aboveadopting cleaner vehicle requirements;
- Support the development and adoption of cleaner fuel standards and clean vehicle requirements by providing a platform for exchange of experiences and successful practices in developed and developing countries as well as technical assistance;
- Develop public outreach materials, educational programs, and awareness campaigns; adapt economic and planning tools for clean fuels and vehicles analyses in local settings; and support the development of enforcement and compliance programs, with an initial focus on fuel adulteration;
- Foster key partnerships between government and industry, NGOs, and other interested parties within a country and between countries to facilitate the implementation of cleaner fuel and vehicle commitments. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of United States of America - U.S. Enivronmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air is bringing together governments, industry and non-governmental organizations to increase the use of affordable, reliable, clean, efficient, and safe home cooking and heating practices. More than 147 Partner organizations are contributing their resources and expertise to improve health, livelihood and quality of life by reducing exposure to air pollution, primarily among women and children, from household energy use. The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air is focusing on four priority areas: addressing social/cultural barriers to adopting improved technology; supporting the development of local business models and markets for improved cooking and heating techniques; improving the design and performance of improved fuels and technology; and demonstrating reduced exposure to indoor air contaminants. [more]
Lead Partner: The Global Mechanism of the UNCCD
Geographical Scope: Sub-regional Southern Africa Summary: This partnership seeks to link inter-governmental processes in Southern Africa with activities of the Non-governmental Organizations and Community Based Organizations. The partners commit to prepare and implement, disseminate information about, and follow-up to, activities supporting the implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification. In particular, the partnership is, on a long-term basis, focusing on activities following-up to the WSSD. The partnership will additionally provide a series of constructive input to the process of establishing the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Specifically, the partners will seek to engage in complementary activities, joint meetings, enhanced communication, information exchange and co-ordination, which will:
* Enhance the resources available for the implementation of the CCD;
* Promote desertification issues following-up to the Legislators'Conference and WSSD in 2002;
* Create awareness among politicians and legislators about the implementation of the CCD in SADC;
* Establish linkages between the three Conventions of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, 1992;
* Assist communities affected by land degradation and poverty in building capacity for resilience and improved livelihood; and
* Enhance capacity within the NGO community to assist in implementing the Sub-regional and National Action Plans of the CCD. [more]
Lead Partner: Government of South Africa - Department of Environment and Tourism (DEAT) - Government of South Africa - Statistics South Africa (StatSA)
Geographical Scope: Regional
- Africa Summary: The Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) system, which is a statistical tool that measures the total economic impact of tourism, was developed by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in 1995 with the objective of defining a new statistical instrument to assist government officials, business executives and stakeholders within the tourism industry to make informed decision.
The benefits of a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) are numerous and enable a country to measure the following:
The proportion of a country's GDP i.e. the total output of all goods and services the country produces annually that are attributable to tourism activity
The size of the tourism industry relative to other sectors of a country's economy
The number of jobs generated by tourism activity
The value of public and private investment related to tourism
The effect of international tourism on a country's balance of payments
The value of government income generated by tourism in the country
The importance of a TSA for African countries is that it will provide the vital information required to assist African countries in policy formulation, decision-making and strategic planning to boost tourism growth on the continent. The information produced from a TSA would also ensure that tourism development on the continent takes place in a sustainable manner.
This initiative will result in:
* Financial investment in establishing appropriate infrastructure for the collection of tourism statistics.
* The knowledge base of officials in African countries would be greatly enhanced in as far as the application of TSA is concerned.
* The measurement of the economic impact of tourism through the provision of accurate information of African countries
* Development of policies and strategies in African countries to boost tourism growth will be informed by accurate information. [more]
Lead Partner: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)
Geographical Scope: Global Summary: The core activity of WASH emphasizes the teaching of basic sanitation and hygiene to communities and school children with a particular focus on girls' education and gender equality, as a necessary complement to the success of water and sanitation infrastructure projects.
This integrated approach to the delivery of basic services is the product of "lessons learned" from the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990). While advancements were made in increasing the access to safe drinking water, less progress was made on the provision of sanitation services and in hygiene education and training. These valuable lessons are now the focus of a global effort to improve the health and productivity of the urban and rural poor in the developing world.
The core activity is complemented by a recent initiative to deliver by 2015, safe, affordable and reliable water, sanitation to over 1.1 billion people who have no access to water supply and to more than 2.6 billion people who have no adequate sanitation. A WASH Partnership, jointly agreed between the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and UNICEF, seeks to contribute towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) seven, target 10, through a combination of actions directed at influencing policy at national level and global level, and effecting behavioural change at the grassroots level. The WASH Partnership supports coalition-building among multi-stakeholders at national and grassroots level. With advocacy at the centre of these main activities, it focuses on demand-creation, behavioural change, capacity building and implementation, to reach 15 million people with sanitation and hygiene by 2015 (â15 by 15 projectâ). [more]
to collapse the Summary of Partnerships.