FESS Partners

The United Nations-mandated University for Peace (UPeace), located in Costa Rica, was established in December 1980 as a Treaty Organization by the UN General Assembly. The University's programs are based on the central importance of education, training, and research to build the foundations of peace and progress and to reduce the prejudice and hatred on which violence, conflict, and terrorism are based. UPeace offers ten masters programs, including an M.A. in Environmental Security and Peace.

Since 2007, FESS has taught a graduate-level course entitled, "Environmental Security Assessment: Principle and Practice," hosted an internship program for highly qualified students, and sponsored a scholarship that entails academic support and guidance.

The "Environmental Security Assessment: Principle and Practice" course focuses on the concepts and methods that constitute environmental security assessments. It covers such topics as: the changing definition of security; conflict assessment and theory; environmental indicators; risk assessment; commonalities and differences between environmental security assessments and other environmental assessments; case study research methods; and FESS's Environmental Security Assessment Framework (ESAF).

For further information about UPeace and its masters programs, please refer to:

University for Peace (UPeace)
Apdo. 138-6100
Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica
Tel: +506-205-9000
Fax: +506-249-1929
E-mail:  info@upeace.org
Web:  http://www.upeace.org/

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) was established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN's five regional commissions. ECA's mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its member States, foster intra-regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development. ECA's dual role as a regional arm of the UN and a part of the regional institutional landscape in Africa positions it well to make unique contributions to member States' efforts to address their development challenges. Its strength derives from its role as the only UN agency mandated to operate at the regional and subregional levels to harness resources and bring them to bear on Africa's priorities. The organization focuses on promoting regional integration in support of the African Union's vision and priorities and meeting Africa's special needs and emerging global challenges.

In May 2009, FESS and ECA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperatively advance awareness of environmental security problems and promote solutions to environmental security concerns. Additional information about ECA can be found at:

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Menelik II Avenue
P.O. Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: 251-11-551 7200
Fax: 251-11-551 4416 (Addis Ababa)
1-212-963 4957 (New York)
Email: ecainfo@uneca.org
Web: http://www.uneca.org

Implementing MOU Activities with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Sub-Regional Office for East Africa (UNECA-SRO-EA)

At the invitation of UNECA-SRO-EA, FESS staff participated in the "Enhancing Food Security in the Eastern African Sub-Region" workshop in Kigali, Rwanda from March 15-18, 2010. This event was the 14th Meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) Sub-Regional Office for Eastern Africa of the UN Economic Commission for Africa. During the three-day event, FESS staff organized one of the three working group sessions that met during the workshop. The working group focused on the topic of "Environmental Security as an Emerging Topic for Food Security."

FESS also provided a paper on "Environmental Security as an Emerging Topic for Food Security" as a background discussion note for the meeting. This paper explores how environmental security threats have implications for food security and identifies some potential links between environmental insecurity and food security. Understanding and acting upon these relationships is one route toward addressing some of the fundamental causes of food insecurity and preventing and alleviating the human suffering and conflict that it brings. Environmental security assessments (ESAs) are one tool for identifying and better understanding these problems and for generating practical and effective steps to address them. ESAs provide a systematic way of thinking critically and of generating viable points of entry for program and projects to more effectively address difficult challenges related to environmental scarcity, environmental mismanagement, and food security.

The paper is available here: Environmental Security as an Emerging Topic for Food Security

An immediate outcome of the UNECA-SRO-EA meeting was that experts identified land policy reform, trade and market access, environmental security, and agri-business development as the four key pillars to food security in the Eastern African sub-region. Environmental security was integrated into the sustainable natural resources management component of the Programme on Food Security for Eastern Africa to be implemented in six pilot countries.

During 2010-2012, FESS conducted a series of training workshops on environmental security for government officials from six East African countries for UNECA (Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, DRC, and Burundi), and in March 2012 FESS conducted a three-day environmental security training workshop for the Rwanda Defence Forces.

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) was created in 1996, superseding the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) established in 1986. Member countries include Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea*, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. The organization's mission is to assist and complement the efforts of the Member States to achieve, through increased cooperation:

• Food security and environmental protection;
• Promotion and maintenance of peace and security and humanitarian affairs; and
• Economic cooperation and integration.

Through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2008, IGAD and FESS cooperate to promote environmental security and its integration into development policies and plans with a special focus on:

• Advocacy, awareness raising, and education
• Policy development
• Capacity building
• Research and knowledge management
• Joint programs and projects

In May 2009, IGAD and FESS completed its first major joint activity by conducting the "Environmental Security in the IGAD Region: An Approach for Building Sustainable Development and Peace" workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In the fall of 2009, IGAD and FESS will be working together to develop initiatives to address climate security and climate adaptation in the Greater Horn of Africa.

For more information about IGAD, please refer to:

IGAD Secretariat
Avenue Georges Clemenceau
P.O. Box 2653 Djibouti
Republic of Djibouti
Tel: +253-354050
Fax: +253-356994
Email: igad@igad.org
Web: www.igad.org

*Eritrea has currently suspended its membership.

Partnership for African Environmental Sustainability (PAES)

PAES is a nongovernmental organization established to promote environmentally and socially sustainable development in Africa. The organization’s key activity areas include: sustainable agricultural practices and policy development; sustainable development strategies formulation and evaluation; environmental policy and action plans; water resources management and conservation policy; environmental management for conflict prevention; macroeconomics and the environment; and integrated environmental risk assessment and management.

Partnership for African Environmental Sustainability (PAES)
Gishen Building, 1st Floor, Kirkos Sub-City Kebele 04
P.O. Box 6259 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 662 9703 or + 251 0913 378 189
Email:  info@paes.org
Web:  http://www.paes.org