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MP members in USA prepare for Global Meeting

18.09.2017

On 9 September 2017, Karinjo DeVore, President of the Aspen International Mountain Foundation (AIMF) and member of the Mountain Partnership Steering Committee, met with Matt Rands, President of the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF), a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University (UVU), Mark Driggs, Vice President of the UIMF, and Dr Baktybek Abdrisaev, UIMF Advisor, in Provo, Utah, United States to discuss UVU students’ suggestions on how to strengthen the activities of the Mountain Partnership. As the Steering Committee member representing Major Groups in North and Central America and the Caribbean, DeVore listened to their suggestions, strategizing how to incorporate these ideas at the upcoming Mountain Partnership Global Meeting, to be held on 11-13 December in Rome, Italy, where members will discuss how to place the sustainability and resilience of mountain ecosystems and communities at the centre of international processes, policies and investments of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

DeVore and the members of the UIMF had a productive discussion on how the UIMF could be a more active contributor to the Mountain Partnership’s activities. The UIMF will continue promoting the United Nations (UN) sustainable mountain development agenda in North America and globally by hosting a roundtable of NGOs with UN Economic and Social Council consultative status at UVU on 2 October 2017. The purpose of the roundtable will be to discuss how to better work together at the UN in 2018 to make the voices of mountain communities and particularly of mountain women heard, especially during the 62nd session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW62) in March 2018. On 11 December 2017, the UIMF will also hold its seventh annual celebration of International Mountain Day at UVU. This year, their celebration will focus on the impact of climate change, poverty and migration on mountain communities in Utah and globally.

Furthermore, the UIMF representatives presented to their distinguished guest the major results UVU students’ sustainable mountain development advocacy initiatives in the state of Utah and North America, including the benefits the initiatives have had for students’ professional growth. They also provided DeVore with recommendations and suggestions for the North and Central America and the Caribbean’s report to the Steering Committee, to be discussed at the Global Meeting.

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News and photo by UVU