News

Discussing progress at the World Mountain Forum

31.10.2018

The Mountain Partnership’s Framework for Action was presented by Yuka Makino, Mountain Partnership Secretariat during the Global Perspectives session of the World Mountain Forum 2018 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Countries on the panel, including Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Switzerland and Uganda, were invited to showcase how they were able to integrate mountain development into national policies and practically target mountain development on the ground.

Makino outlined how, according to the Framework, Governments commit to review and update national policies; Governments, Intergovernmental organizations and donor agencies commit, review and update their international development cooperation policy, while Major Groups commit to raise awareness about sustainable mountain development in relevant fora. Makino then introduced the panelists and invited them to respond to a series of questions.

Responding to a question on the importance of mountains in their country, Mary Goretti Kitutu Kimono, Minister of Water Resources, Uganda, noted the importance of mountains as the “water towers” of the country and important parts of cultural heritage, food security, and biodiversity. Manfred Kaufmann, SDC, stated that mountains are an iconic feature of Swiss identity and cultural heritage and a significant contribution to the national GDP.

Highlighting examples of how mountain issues are mainstreamed in national policies, Alamgeer Hussain, Department of Agricultural Livestock and Fisheries Government of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, described how SMD policies are coordinated with local communities and NGOs, particularly through the country’s trophy-hunting incentive programme. Mohammad Rafi Qazizada, Director-General, Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock, Afghanistan, spoke about his government’s ‘citizen charter’ programme, which supports farm-to-market access with a focus on marginalized mountain communities.

On targeted instances of implementation in practice, Ismail Dairov, Executive Director, RMCCA, described a payment for ecosystem services project in the Kyrgyz Republic that links upstream and downstream water users.

Offering some insights on how the issues discussed could be integrated into the global policy agenda, Ivonne Lobos Alva, Stockholm Environment Institute Latin America, offered three suggestions to generate greater support for mountains: using the achievement of the SDGs as “bridges” for SMD; becoming more active in establishing partnerships, platforms and dialogues to raise awareness on mountain issues; and ensuring a “bold and ambitious” outcome document from the Forum.

In the ensuing discussion, participants and panelists identified, inter alia, ways to access financing by supporting the value chain for mountain products, ensuring that development resources are channeled to marginalized and less populated mountain areas, and disaggregating “big data” to be specific to context to ensure leaving no one in the mountains behind.

Earlier in the day, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat held an informal meeting with members to present an update of the Secretariat’s work. Makino presented the work of the Mountain Partnership Products initiative and the forthcoming workshops on PGS certification. She highlighted how the recruitment of two policy officers in the Latin America and in Asia Pacific Region will support countries’ engagement towards sustainable mountain development and the implementation of the Framework for Action. Makino also presented the Mountain Facility, a mechanism through which funds will be channeled to support members’ work on the ground. Sara Manuelli, Advocacy and Outreach officer, presented the plans for the International Mountain Day 2018 and invited all members to submit a photo for the IMD photo contest.

Many of the members highlighted examples of their work. Gobinda Bahadur Shahi, vice chair of the Mountain Partnership Steering Committee, and manager of the Karnali Integrated Rural Development and Research Centre, Nepal, noted their efforts in promoting local mountain economies and advocating for national policies. Manfred Kauffman, SDC, highlighted the new funding agreement from the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture for the MP Secretariat and briefly illustrated the new SDC funded programme on sustainable mountain development focusing on adaptation and resilience to climate change as well as research, global advocacy and policy. Susanne Wymann from Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), mentioned an upcoming issue dedicated to Migration in Mountains which will be published by MRI. Carolina Adler, from Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) also mentioned MRI’s contribution to serve as the Lead for the AR6 Cross-Chapter Paper on Mountains. Marisa Young from Fundacion Agreste highlighted their work on land degradation neutrality and also mentioned the forthcoming global event “Mountains 2018” which will be held in Nova Friburgo, Brazil. Finally, Central Asia members, including the Agency of Development Initiatives, requested to strengthen the network of mountain producers in the region and provide more products with the Mountain Partnership Products label.

Photo by UCA/Alma Uzbekova