Nairobi, Kenya (29 July 2010): The AMESD IGAD Kick off Workshop, which was organized by the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) - an intergovernmental organization of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), took place in Nairobi, Kenya, from 21st - 23rd July 2010 at Intercontinental Hotel. The workshop marks the official start of the regional action on land degradation and natural habitat conservation, and paves the way to the three years implementation, up to the 10th May 2013, of the AMESD IGAD regional action.

The workshop gave the opportunity in officially presenting to the national, regional and international partners the future services and products that they will be using once developed, reviewing in depth the implementation plan and activities and discussing cross-cutting issues such as satellite data access and capacity building.

Participants of the Workshop

Opening ceremony and official launching

Dr. Joseph R Mukabana, MBS, Director of Kenya Meteorological Department and Permanent Representative of Kenya with WMO addressed the gathering and welcomed the Guest of Honour. ASSISTANT MINISTER OF HON. JOHN N. MICHUKI, EGH, MP, MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND MINERAL RESOURCES, addressed the gathering and declared the workshop officially open.


From Left to right: Dr. Hussein Farah, Director, Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD); Mr. Gabindadde-Musoke, Chairman, RCMRD Governing Council and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Republic of Uganda; Dr. Joseph R Mukabana, MBS, Director of Kenya Meteorological Department and Permanent Representative of Kenya with WMO ; ASSISTANT MINISTER OF HON. JOHN N. MICHUKI, EGH, MP, MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT AND MINERAL RESOURCES; H.E Eng. Mahboub Maalim, Executive Secretary, InterGovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD); Dr. Khalil Timamy, African Union Commission; Mr. Daniel Plas, European Union delegation to Kenya.

Participants

The meeting brought together more than 80 high-level participants from the IGAD countries including Secretary General, Ministère de l'Habitat de l'Urbanisme de l'Environnement, Djibouti; Director, RCMRD; Director, Ethiopian Mapping Agency, Ethiopia; Director, National Environmental Management Authority, Uganda; Director, DRSRS, Kenya; Chief Advisor, Swalim, Somalia; Director, Institut Geographique du Burundi (IGEBU); Director, Conservation and Tourism, Rwanda Development Board; Director, Institute National pour l’Environnement et la Conservation de la Nature, Burundi; Director, Remote Sensing Authority, Sudan; All Meteo services directors from IGAD countries and WMO rep; Director, CGIS-NUR, Rwanda; Representatives from University of Addis Ababa, (Ethiopia), Makerere University (Uganda), Nairobi University (Kenya) and Khartoum University (Sudan). In addition to this, representatives of international partners such as JRC, WMO, African Conservation Centre, FAO, UNEP, ITC and IRD attended the workshop.

Inauguration of the 1st AMESD thematic station

The AMESD receiving station installed in June 2010 at the Department of Resource Surveys and Remote Sensing (DRSRS) of the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Kenya, AMESD focal point, was officially inaugurated by the Assistant Permanent Secretary representing the Minister of Environment. A demonstration of the receiving and processing capacity of the e-station was also conducted.


The deployment in the region was primarily targeted in Kenya with the deployment of four AMESD Thematic Stations (DRSRS, ICPAC, SWALIM, KMFRI), two PUMA upgrade (KMD and ICPAC) and the upgrade of the regional training laboratory (IMTR). The following five batches of deployment will cover the remaining IGAD countries and focal point beneficiaries.


Inauguration of the 1st AMESD thematic station

Inauguration of the 1st AMESD thematic station

Objectives

AMESD IGAD THEMA is aimed at implementing a Thematic Action Plan on “Land Degradation Mitigation and Natural Habitat Conservation” in Eastern Africa region. The results of the program directly targets institutions such as national environmental authorities, national meteorological services, disaster management institutions, ministries of water resources, and ministries of agriculture, biodiversity/forestry and wildlife conservation institutions in the region. The program also targets mapping agencies and institutions of higher learning which are found in the region.

The African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD) Programme has been conceived as a Pan African programme to promote the use of Earth Observation monitoring technologies in support of the development of policies in the management of the African environment and for sustainable development of natural resources.

It is to be recalled that the African Union Commission, through the European Union, has awarded a grant contract of EUR 1, 845, 632 to its implementing partner ICPAC. The agreement was signed in May 2010, in AMESD Headquarters in Addis Ababa.

© African Monitoring of Environment for Sustainable Development