DOCSLIB.ORG

Mano River Basin • Lenght:320 Km

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Prompting and strengthening transboundary water cooperation: Can a benefit focus help? Dr. Alejandro Iza Director, Environmental Law Centre Head, Environmental Law Programme INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Outline • BRIDGE • Practical experiences • Instruments to anchor cooperation INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE BRIDGE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE BRIDGE BRIDGE: (Building River Dialogue and Governance): • Supports capacities of countries in shared basins to adopt effective arrangements to ensure international cooperation • Promotes the achievement and implementation of agreements and institutions for effective water governance at local, national, basin and global levels INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Methodology Demonstration Learning Dialogue Leadership Advice and Support INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Where? INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Mano River Basin • Lenght:320 km • Basin: 8,250 km2 • Shared between: – Guinea(GIN) – Liberia (LBR) – Sierra Leone (SLE) • Population in the basin: 179,952 TWAP INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Mano River Basin: Background • Political unrest and civil wars – 1989-1996, 1999-2003 Civil wars in Liberia – 1991-2002 Civil war in Sierra Leone – 2010 First free and fair election in Guinea its since independence in 1958 • Ebola – Late 2013, Ebola virus was diagnosed in the forest region of Guinea – Mid 2014, the epidemic spread in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone – August 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Ebola was declared a global health emergency – At least, 15,227 people infected and 11,310 people death – The epidemic gravely affected the political stability and security of the region INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Mano River Basin: Legal and institutional aspects • Mano River Union: – 1973, establishment of the Mano River Declaration – A Customs Union between Liberia and Sierra Leone – 1983, Guinea accedes the Union – 2008, Cote d´Ivoire acceded the Union • Objectives: – Promote cooperation in international trade – Ensure fair distribution of benefits from economic cooperation – Secure peace and cooperation INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Mano River Basin: How was cooperation possible? • MRU promoted the establishment of national platforms for dialogue to address issues related to the degradation of water resources, climate change and prevention of conflicts • The national platforms are integrated by experts, civil society, water users, groups of women, religious authorities, etc. and led by National Ministries in charge of the management of water resources • 2015, States established the Transboundary Water Resource Management Committee of the Mano River Basin • The Management Committee serves as a platform to share experiences, find solutions to common problems and implement the Integrated Resource Management activities of the Mano River Basin. • The organs of the Management Commitee are: – The General Assembly – The Eecutive Bureu – The Ad Hoc Committee INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Mano River Basin: BRIDGE Project • BRIDGE has supported the Transboundary Committee to hold the General Assemblies • First session in February, 2016 in Kenema, Sierra Leone • Second session in November 2016 in Monrovia, Liberia • Third session in August, 2017 in Kenema, Sierra Leone INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Mano River Basin: Transboundary Committee Sessions Zoumanigui KOIKOI (Guinea) “We have to work towards the wellbeing of future generations” Ruth K. VARNEY (Liberia) “Women should be more informed and more involved” Augustine A. SANNOH (Sierra Leone) “It is essential that our people cooperate and keep constant dialogue” INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Mano River Basin: Messages • In a scenario like the Mano River Basin, the role of non-state actors becomes a priority to secure the continuum of cooperation. • A fundamental step towards water cooperation has been the work at the local level, strengthening local stakeholder’s capacities. • The National Platforms and the Transboundary Committee have promoted cooperation on shared waters and also contributed to prevent potential conflicts and secure peace INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Zarumilla River Basin • Lenght:62,5 km • Basin: 1,628 km2 • Shared between: – Ecuador (ECU) – Peru (PER) • Population in the basin: 198,291 TWAP INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Zarumilla River Basin: Background • Border disputes since independence from Spain – Ecuador, 1809 – Peru, 1821 • War of 1941 • Paquisha War, 1981 • Cenepa War, 1995 INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Zarumilla River Basin: Legal and institutional aspects • 1942, Protocol of Peace, Friendship and Boundaries (Rio de Janeiro Protocol) • 1971, Agreement for the use of Binational Water Basins – Binational Project Puyango-Tumbes Basin • 2009, Agreement to establish the Zarumilla Basin Commission • 1998, Peace Agreement – Bilateral Agreement for Border Integration, Development and Neighbourhood – Establishment of a Binational Commission, four Technical Committees and a Development Plan for the Border • 2017, Agreement for the establishment of the Binational Commission for the Integrated Management of Water Resources of Transboundary River Basins INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Zarumilla River Basin: Benefits of cooperation • The 1998 Peace Agreement led to create a broad basket of benefits deriving from bilateral cooperation. • Benefits are more visible in border areas which before the Peace Agreement were not a priority in national development plans. • Joint public investment is now being directed into border areas with infrastructure development (bridges, roads, sanitation) all of which triplicated trade and created more opportunities for local communities. • Private sector expanded, particularly in agriculture, electricity, mining and tourism • Trade between Ecuador and Peru before 1998 was worth around USD 300 million; in 2017 increased to USD 2000 million. • Water has been not only a driver of cooperation but also the main beneficiary, as a significant part of the benefits deriving from public and private investment are implemented in those areas. • In the end, borders and water were a source of conflict but also of peace, and ultimately, the main beneficiaries of diplomacy and cooperation. INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Zarumilla River Basin: Messages • Political will has been a key driver of trust between Ecuador and Peru. • Peace was key to increase social, economic and environmental benefits, particularly in the border areas. • Political stability stimulated public, private and international investment in both countries. • The establishment of the Binational Commission constitutes a catalyst for more water cooperation in the region. UNESCO, Transboundary Biosphere Reserve (Bosques de Paz) INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE INSTRUMENTS TO ANCHOR COOPERATION INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Instruments to anchor cooperation • 1997, UN Watercourses Convention – Article 5: Equitable and reasonable utilization and participation – Article 8: General obligation to cooperate – Article 9: Regular exchange of data and information • 1992, UNECE Water Convention – Article 2.6: Cooperation on the basis of equality and reciprocity – Article 9: Bilateral and multilateral cooperation – Article 11: Joint monitoring and assessment • 2000 SADC Protocol – Article 3(5) • 2000 ORASECOM Agreement – Article 7.1 • 1995 Mekong River Agreement – Article 1 • 1973, La Plata Treaty – Preamble INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Instruments to anchor cooperation: Messages • Formal agreements are negotiated between sovereign States reflecting the rules and principles of International Law. • Considering the very nature of water and the multiple relationships that it entails at different levels (local, national, basin, global), it requires more than one type of agreement (treaties) to be effective. • The negotiation of a treaty might not be enough to address all existing and future challenges in a transboundary basin. • Formal agreements serve to anchor cooperation, but cooperation does not depend of a single treaty, it needs to be continuously built. • Transboundary basins are complex. Agreements in this sense, need to be flexible and negotiated at different levels. INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Environmental Law Centre Godesberger Allee 108-112 53175 Bonn Germany Phone: ++49 - 228 - 2692 - 231 Fax: ++49 - 228 - 2692 – 250 Email: [email protected] INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE .
Recommended publications
  • Chapter 3 Transboundary River Basins Indicator Assessment © USDA/Flickr

    Chapter 3 Transboundary River Basins Indicator Assessment © USDA/Flickr

    TRANSBOUNDARY RIVER BASINS INDICATOR ASSESSMENT Chapter 3 Transboundary River Basins Indicator Assessment © USDA/flickr 23 TRANSBOUNDARY RIVER BASINS: STATUS AND TRENDS Chapter 3.1 Socioeconomics Lead Authors Alex de Sherbinin (Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University). Contributing Authors Valentina Mara, Malanding Jaiteh, Marc Levy (Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University). Chapter Citation: de Sherbinin, A., Mara, V., Jaiteh, M., Levy, M. (2016). Chapter 3.1: Socioeconomics. In UNEP-DHI and UNEP (2016). Transboundary River Basins: Status and Trends. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, pp. 25–46. Chapter 3.2 Water Quantity Lead Authors Martina Flörke, Christof Schneider (Center for Environmental Systems Research, University of Kassel); Pamela Green, Charles Vörösmarty (Environmental CrossRoads Initiative, City University of New York) Chapter Citation: Flörke, M., Green, P., Schneider, C., Vörösmarty, C. (2016). Chapter 3.2: Water Quantity. In UNEP-DHI and UNEP (2016). Transboundary River Basins: Status and Trends. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, pp. 47–72. Chapter 3.3 Water Quality Lead Authors Sybil Seitzinger (International Geosphere Biosphere Programme); Emilio Mayorga (University of Washington); Maija Bertule (UNEP-DHI). Contributing Authors Carolien Kroeze (Wageningen UR); Paul Glennie (UNEP-DHI). Chapter Citation: Seitzinger, S., Bertule, M., Mayorga, E., Kroeze, C., Glennie, P. (2016). Chapter 3.3: Water Quality. In UNEP-DHI and UNEP (2016). Transboundary River Basins: Status and Trends. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, pp. 73–86. Chapter 3.4 Ecosystems Lead Authors Pamela Green, Charles Vörösmarty (Environmental CrossRoads Initiative, City University of New York); Kevin Smith, Stefano Barchiesi (IUCN). Contributing Authors David Allen, James Dalton, William Darwall, (IUCN); Irina Dopson (City University of New York) Chapter Citation: Green, P., Smith, K., Barchiesi, S., Vörösmarty, C., Darwall, W., Allen, D., Dalton, J., Dopson, I.
  • Troubled Waters: Climate Change, Hydropolitics, And

    Troubled Waters: Climate Change, Hydropolitics, And

    Troubled Waters Climate Change, Hydropolitics, and Transboundary Resources David Michel Amit Pandya Editors Copyright © 2009 The Henry L. Stimson Center ISBN: 978-0-9821935-2-5 Cover photos: Les Penuries D’eau Pourraient Tripler Avec le Rechauffement, India © 2006 STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images; 2007-BG-Noorani-0505, Bangladesh, River Bleeds Black Series © 2007 Shehzad Noorani Cover design by Free Range Studios Book design/layout by Nita Congress All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent from The Henry L. Stimson Center. The Henry L. Stimson Center 1111 19th Street, NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Telephone: 202.223.5956 Fax: 202.238.9604 www.stimson.org Contents Preface ..................................................................................................................................v Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. vii Introduction ........................................................................................................................ ix Climate Change and Water: Examining the Interlinkages ...................................................1 Jayashree Vivekanandan and Sreeja Nair Perspectives from the Regions South Asian Perspectives on Climate Change and Water Policy .......................................17 Ashok Jaitly Climate Insecurity in Southeast Asia: Designing Policies to Reduce Vulnerabilities .......33 Khairulmaini
  • Profile of Internal Displacement : Sierra Leone

    Profile of Internal Displacement : Sierra Leone

    PROFILE OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT : SIERRA LEONE Compilation of the information available in the Global IDP Database of the Norwegian Refugee Council (as of 15 October, 2003) Also available at http://www.idpproject.org Users of this document are welcome to credit the Global IDP Database for the collection of information. The opinions expressed here are those of the sources and are not necessarily shared by the Global IDP Project or NRC Norwegian Refugee Council/Global IDP Project Chemin Moïse Duboule, 59 1209 Geneva - Switzerland Tel: + 41 22 799 07 00 Fax: + 41 22 799 07 01 E-mail : [email protected] CONTENTS CONTENTS 1 PROFILE SUMMARY 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 CAUSES AND BACKGROUND OF DISPLACEMENT 9 BACKGROUND TO THE CONFLICT 9 CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS SINCE INDEPENDENCE (1961 - 2000) 9 HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE FIRST EIGHT YEARS OF CONFLICT (1991-1998) 13 CONTINUED CONFLICT DESPITE THE SIGNING OF THE LOME PEACE AGREEMENT (JULY 1999-MAY 2000) 16 PEACE PROCESS DERAILED AS SECURITY SITUATION WORSENED DRAMATICALLY IN MAY 2000 18 RELATIVELY STABLE SECURITY SITUATION SINCE SIGNING OF CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT IN ABUJA ON 10 NOVEMBER 2000 20 CIVIL WAR DECLARED OVER FOLLOWING THE FULL DEPLOYMENT OF UNAMSIL AND THE COMPLETION OF DISARMAMENT (JANUARY 2002) 22 REGIONAL EFFORTS TO MAINTAIN PEACE IN SIERRA LEONE (2002) 23 SIERRA LEONEANS GO TO THE POLLS TO RE-ELECT AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH AS PRESIDENT (MAY 2002) 24 SIERRA LEONE’S SPECIAL COURT AND TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION START WORK (2002-2003) 25 MAIN CAUSES OF DISPLACEMENT 28 COUNTRYWIDE DISPLACEMENT
  • Productive and Decent Work for Youth in the Mano River Union: Guinea

    Productive and Decent Work for Youth in the Mano River Union: Guinea

    UNIDO AFRICAN UNION YEN UNOWA Productive and Decent Work for Youth in the Mano River Union: Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and in Côte d’Ivoire 4.5 million youth need employment: An agenda for a multi-stakeholder programme ISSUES PAPER February 2007 CONTENTS Introduction I. Youth Employment - a stimulus to peace and economic stability II. What has been achieved? • Job creation for youth: Past and on-going efforts by Governments and various stakeholders • Gaps and missing links III. The Way Ahead • Balancing demand and supply • Exploring new productive opportunities • Best practices IV. Funding Mechanisms Annexes a. Youth unemployment rates in MRU and Côte d’Ivoire b. Policy initiatives: - Inclusion of youth employment in PRSPs/budgets - Inclusion of youth in national employment policies and other initiatives c. Examples of youth-targeted programmes to increase demand for labour d. Examples of youth-targeted programmes to improve the supply of labour e. Proposed initiatives in the Mano River Union and in Côte d’Ivoire Introduction This Issues Paper is intended to guide the discussions at the UNIDO/African Union (AU) High-Level Consultative Meeting, organized in cooperation with The United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA), and the United Nations Secretary-General’s Youth Employment Network (YEN) on Productive and Decent Work for Youth, in the countries of the Mano River Union (MRU): Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and in Côte d’Ivoire. The Issues Paper: Addresses the urgent need to create employment for 4.5 million youth aged between
  • Memorial for the European Union

    Memorial for the European Union

    Memorial on Behalf of the European Union (EU) INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE REQUEST FOR AN ADVISORY OPINION CONCERNING FRESHWATER RIGHTS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW IN RELATION TO THE POTENTIAL LEGAL PERSONALITY OF RIVERS AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS MEMORIAL FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION THE 1st WCEL INTERNATIONAL WATER JUSTICE MOOT COURT AT THE CONFERENCE OF JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS ON WATER JUSTICE DURING THE 8th WORLD WATER FORUM IN BRASÍLIA, BRAZIL MARCH 2018 AGENT FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION: MATIJA KAJIĆ, LL.M, UTRECHT UNIVERSITY ADVISOR: ANOESKA BUIJZE 1st WCEL International Water Justice Moot Court – 8th World Water Forum – Brasília The agents and organizations in this moot court are participating for educational purposes only and have no actual attorney client relationship. 1 Memorial on Behalf of the European Union (EU) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Anoeska Buijze, Assistant Professor of Administrative Law at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Hendrik Schoukens, Post-Doc staff member at the University of Ghent, assisting with the courses ‘Moot Court Public International Law’ and ‘Diplomatic Law’. Work of researchers at the Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law. Work of researchers at RENFORCE (the Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe). 1st WCEL International Water Justice Moot Court – 8th World Water Forum – Brasília The agents and organizations in this moot court are participating for educational purposes only and have no actual attorney client relationship. 2 Memorial on Behalf of the European Union (EU) I. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 INDEX OF AUTHORITIES 4 II. STATEMENT OF JURISDICTION 7 III. PROBLEM PRESENTED 8 IV. IN CONTEXT: EUROPEAN UNION 10 V.
  • The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone

    The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone

    African Affairs, 106/425, 639–662 doi: 10.1093/afraf/adm054 C The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal African Society. All rights reserved ! THE MEANING OF A MILITIA: UNDERSTANDING THE CIVIL DEFENCE FORCES OF SIERRA LEONE DANNY HOFFMAN ABSTRACT This article is an adapted, narrative version of an expert witness report the author wrote for the Defence of one of the accused before the Spe- cial Court for Sierra Leone. The case against the Civil Defence Forces militia was predicated in part on the argument that the CDF was a mil- itary organization with military-style command and control. Based on a close reading of the Prosecution’s military expert witness report and the author’s ethnographic research with the militia, the article outlines a case for understanding the CDF as the militarization of a social network rather than as a military organization. This framing has implications not only for post-conflict adjudication, but for how we think about and intervene in violent contexts throughout contemporary West Africa. ON 14 JUNE 2005 COLONEL RICHARD IRON TOOK THE WITNESS STAND in the case against the Civil Defence Forces at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The Court was trying those accused of bearing ‘greatest responsi- bility for serious violations of humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law’ during the latter half of the country’s ten-year war. Iron, a British officer, was in Freetown to answer the Defence’s challenge to a report he wrote on behalf of the Prosecution. Iron’s report did not speak directly to the ultimate issue, the Court’s terminology for the guilt or innocence of the accused.
  • The Mano River Union Trade Facilitation Study

    The Mano River Union Trade Facilitation Study

    REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST (CONSULTING SERVICES) AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK NEPAD, REGIONAL INTEGRATION AND TRADE DEPARTMENT ATR B, 5th Floor 13 Avenue de Ghana, B.P. 323 - 1002 Tunis-Belvédère, Tunisia The Mano River Union Trade Facilitation Study The African Development Bank invites Consultants to express their interest in undertaking a Trade Facilitation Needs Assessment Study for the Mano River Union (MRU). The services included under this assignment are: A review of relevant background materials on the MRU, including the Treaty and its Protocols that define the legal framework, principles and polices for intra-union trade; A review of state of trade and integration in the MRU; the trends, patterns of trade flows, including informal trade; Identification trade policy handicaps, including human; institutional; non-tariff barriers that hinder movements of goods, services and persons - Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures, Technical Barriers, Regulations and administrative measures etc. A review of relevant trade facilitation regulations; Assessment of critical trade facilitation needs, especially in the areas of transport and transit corridor facilitation, border operations and management, legal issues associated with transit border management; customs procedures, systems connectivity and automation, the legal/regulatory frameworks, This should also be linked to the new concept of the MRU growth triangle programme; Assessment of and situate the MRU roles in the overall trade policy and trade facilitation process vis-à-vis
  • Climate Change Implications on Transboundary Water Management

    Climate Change Implications on Transboundary Water Management

    Master thesis in Sustainable Development 281 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling Climate change implications on transboundary water management in the Jordan River Basin: A Case Study of the Jordan River Basin and the transboundary agreements between riparians Israel, Palestine and Jordan Maisa Young DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES INSTITUTIONEN FÖR GEOVETENSKAPER Master thesis in Sustainable Development 281 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling Climate change implications on transboundary water management in the Jordan River Basin: A Case Study of the Jordan River Basin and the transboundary agreements between riparians Israel, Palestine and Jordan Maisa Young Supervisor: Ashok Swain Evaluator: Neil Powell Copyright © Maisa Young and the Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University Published at Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University (www.geo.uu.se), Uppsala, 2015 Content 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Climate change and water scarcity ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1.1. Transboundary Water Management ............................................................................................................ 2 1.1.2. The Middle East .......................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.3. The Jordan River Basin ..............................................................................................................................
  • Transboundary Water Conflict Resolution Mechanisms

    Transboundary Water Conflict Resolution Mechanisms

    water Review Transboundary Water Conflict Resolution Mechanisms: Substitutes or Complements Ahmed Tayia Centre for Environmental Policy (CEP), Imperial College London, London SW7 1NE, UK; [email protected]; Tel.: +44-7493095757 Received: 21 May 2019; Accepted: 21 June 2019; Published: 28 June 2019 Abstract: This paper examines the transboundary water resources conflict resolution mechanisms. Various academic fields have provided conflict resolution mechanisms that could be used to analyse transboundary water conflicts. These mechanisms include social planner, water market, game theory, static and dynamic systems engineering models, and negotiation analyses. These mechanisms share some common characteristic features. This similarity has led to a general belief that these mechanisms are competitive substitutes. However, closer examination by this research reveals that these mechanisms have more complementarity than similarity. This complementarity permits researchers and practitioners to combine any two or more of them to develop more comprehensive mechanisms with stronger analytical capacity to analyse the different elements of the process of transboundary water conflict resolution. Keywords: transboundary water conflict resolution mechanism; hydro-diplomacy; systems engineering models; social planner; water market; game theory; hydropolitics and critical hydropolitics; hydro-hegemony; Transboundary Waters Interaction Nexus (TWINS); Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR); virtual water 1. Introduction Management of Transboundary water resources is expected be one of the biggest challenges facing human development over the next decades [1]. In general, transboundary water resources can describe water shared across political, economic, or social boundaries [2]. Shared water resources have been always a potential source of competition. The English language, as well as many other Latin-rooted languages, reflects this historical relation between shared rivers and competition, as it uses the word “rival” to refer to a competitor against others.
  • 1 Testimony Before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review

    1 Testimony Before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review

    Date of the hearing: January 26, 2012. Title of the hearing: China’s Global Quest for Resources and Implications for the United States Name of panelist: Brahma Chellaney Panelist’s title and organization: Professor of Strategic Studies, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi. Testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission China has pursued an aggressive strategy to secure (and even lock up) supplies of strategic resources like water, energy and mineral ores. Gaining access to or control of resources has been a key driver of its foreign and domestic policies. China, with the world’s most resource-hungry economy, is pursuing the world’s most-assertive policies to gain control of important resources. Much of the international attention on China’s resource strategy has focused on its scramble to secure supplies of hydrocarbons and mineral ores. Such attention is justified by the fact that China is seeking to conserve its own mineral resources and rely on imports. For example, China, a major steel consumer, has substantial reserves of iron ore, yet it has banned exports of this commodity. It actually encourages its own steel producers to import iron ore. China, in fact, has emerged as the largest importer of iron ore, accounting for a third of all global imports. India, in contrast, remains a major exporter of iron ore to China, although the latter has iron-ore deposits more than two-and-half times that of India. But while buying up mineral resources in foreign lands, China now supplies, according to one estimate, about 95 per cent of the world’s consumption of rare earths — a precious group of minerals vital to high- technology industry, such as miniaturized electronics, computer disk drives, display screens, missile guidance, pollution-control catalysts, and advanced materials.
  • Final Declaration of the Sub-Regional Meeting on Lassa Fever Control in the Mano River Union Countries, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 13-14 September 2004

    Final Declaration of the Sub-Regional Meeting on Lassa Fever Control in the Mano River Union Countries, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 13-14 September 2004

    Final Declaration of the Sub-Regional Meeting on Lassa Fever Control in the Mano River Union Countries, Freetown, Sierra Leone, 13-14 September 2004 The Ministers of Health of the Mano River Union Countries, namely, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, held a meeting in Freetown on 13-14 September 2004 with the goal to adopt a joint Sub-Regional strategy for Lassa fever control in the MRU countries, 2004-2008. The Ministers of Health of the Mano River Union Countries: Alarmed by the continued endemic and epidemic transmission of Lassa virus in the Sub-Region Concerned about the recent epidemics in Sierra Leone and Liberia Recognising the need to protect 58 million population potentially at risk of contracting Lassavirus infection in West Africa The Ministers of Health of the Mano River Union Countries adopt the following Declaration on Lassa fever prevention and control in the Mano River Union Countries and commit themselves as follows: 1. Implement the adopted “Sub-Regional Strategic Plan of Action for Lassa Fever Prevention and Control, 2004-2008.” 2. Convene annual Sub-Regional meetings, to be rotated among MRU and other interested countries. 3. Encourage the inclusion of additional, potentially affected countries. 4. Convene periodic meetings of the technical groups to address specific issues The Parties will jointly pursue the following objectives: 5. Among others, the technical groups will collaborate on the following issues: a. Exchange of scientific information and materials. b. Address cross-cutting activities 6. Collaboration in the area of patient management, namely— a. Adopt a standardised clinical case definition b. Common treatment guidelines c.
  • Guinea Côte D'ivoire Liberia

    Guinea Côte D'ivoire Liberia

    Mount Nimba Ecosystem Roger W. Luke and Saye Thompson [email protected] +231777397418/+231886576131 and +2317770242935 Liberia, Ivory Coast and Guinea Size: Total 3 countries: 29,093 ha (290,93 km2) Guinea: 12,540 ha, Côte d'Ivoire: 5,000 ha, and Liberia: 11,553 hectares Côte d'Ivoire Guinea Liberia Page 1 of 5 Participants in coordinating the ongoing transboundary cooperation: National Government: • Liberian (Forestry Development Authority (FDA)) • Guinean (CEGENS) • Ivorian Government Local Government: • Nimba County Protected area administration: • East Nimba Nature Reserve Management (ENNR) • ENNR Co-management Committee International NGOs: • Conservation International • Fauna and Flora International National NGOs: • East Nimba Nature Reserve Co-management Committee (CMC) • Skills and Agriculture Development Services (SADS) • Rural Integrated Center for Community Empowerment (RICCE) Local NGOs: • Agriculture Relief Services (ARS) Intergovernmental organizations: • Mano River Union (MRU) Multi-National Corporations: • United National Development Program (UNDP) Community-based Organizations: • Gbalay-geh Youth Association Objectives: The Transboundary Collaboration is characterized by a composition of natural ecosystems evolving from several ecological and geo- physical processes that have obtained to the creation of many habitat types such as montane gallery forest, secondary thickets, or woody grass land, secondary hill forests, moist evergreen forest, swamp or wetter secondary forests. As a result of the diverse vegetative uniqueness of the site, accommodation is provided for many species of conservation relevance including the endemic Nimba Toad, endangered Nimba Otter Shrew, and African Swallow-tail butterfly; socially the area main habitants are the Mano and the Gio. Despite of the three countries they have the same culture and are intermarriage. Very common and spongy borders and conduct their local trade by frequent crossing and transacting their economic activities.