Water Storage - A strategy for climate change adaptation in the Himalayas

Sustainable Mountain Development No. 56, ICIMOD, Winter 2009
Mountain Partnership Secretariat – Asia Paciﬁ c
Decentralised Hub (MPS-APDH)
The Mountain Partnership Secretariat’s Decentralised
Hub for Asia and the Paciﬁ c (MPS-APDH) has been
working towards strengthening the network through
capacity building training and supporting members’
partnership initiatives. A month-long online training
on advocacy was held for participants from thirteen
Asia Paciﬁ c countries with a curriculum adapted from
the training modules prepared by ICIMOD under the
advocacy project. The hub now maintains a Yahoo
discussion group on advocacy for sustainable mountain
development . The joint initiative on Central Asia Outreach (MP
members AGOCA/Kyrgyzstan, Eco-Forum/Uzbekistan,
An e-survey of MPS Asia Paciﬁ c members was carried
and CAMP Kuhiston/Tajikistan) aims to raise awareness
out with technical support from the Mountain Forum
of the concept of sustainable mountain development
Secretariat and had a 93% response rate. It integrated
and the challenges of mountain regions. The project
70 questions which helped to rank and narrow down
facilitates information exchange and communication
the wide range of thematic areas that resulted from
between the mountain regions to disseminate good
the merging of MPS and ICIMOD programme focus
practices. Papers by ICIMOD staff and others on
areas. The highest ranking themes for members were
such topics as mountain speciﬁ cities, climate change
‘funding’ and ‘funders related info’. Also highlighted
impacts, glaciers, and the role of local and indigenous
were the need for information sharing platforms, technical
knowledge are being translated into Russian and
support for proposal development/submission, linkage/
published in national and local dailies and on websites
brokerage with potential donors, the development of
of national information agencies in Kyrgyzstan,
training modules, and the launching of joint initiatives
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Customised radio
for fundraising. Eighty-three percent of respondents were
programmes were designed and broadcast on national
fully aware of the networking tools offered by MPS, and
and local radio channels. A special bilingual blog
seventy-ﬁ ve percent considered them adequate for forging
(Russian/English) at http://www.ca-dialogue.blogspot.
effective partnerships. The survey highlighted a demand
com invites civil society to discuss these papers. The
for further diversiﬁ cation of tools. Members also looked
project plans to hold live sessions and interviews for
for ways to reach out to communities, have member
Q&A sessions.
forums in face-to-face meetings, and provide ﬁ nancial
support to country-based members. Elbegzaya Batjarfal, ebatjargal@icimod.org
South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE)
ICIMOD became the new host of the South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) in August 2009.
SANDEE, launched in 1999, is a regional network that uses economic tools and analyses to address some of South Asia’s environmental
challenges. It is based on the premise that solutions to economic development concerns and environmental problems are integrally interlinked.
SANDEE brings together South Asian researchers and institutes interested in the inter-connections among development, poverty, and the
environment. Its main goal is to build the professional skills required to enable South Asians to address local and global environmental
concerns. SANDEE works in seven countries in South Asia — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Dr Priya Shyamsundar is SANDEE’s Programme Director and for many years has also been a consultant to the Environment Department of the
World Bank, mostly on issues related to poverty and the environment. Priya has a PhD in Environmental Economics from Duke University USA.
Her research interests range over a number of topics within environment and development economic. Dr Mani Nepal is an environmental/
development economist and Senior Environment Economist at SANDEE. Dr Nepal has a PhD from the University of New Mexico, USA, in
resource/environmental and development economics, and an MSc in Policy Economics from the University of Illinois, USA. His research work
has been published in a number of international and national journal. Ms Anuradha Kaﬂ e is SANDEE’S research and communication ofﬁ cer.
She manages the information and research dissemination process, organises regional training workshops, and supports the implementation
of programmes in under-served areas. She has a Master’s degree in Zoology with a major in Ecology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. Her
long-term research and activism interests are in wildlife conservation and natural resource management. Ms Krisha Shrestha joined SANDEE
as an Administrative Associate in November 2008. She has a BSc in business administration from North-Eastern University, Boston. Krisha will
be instrumental in managing SANDEE’s research activities and supporting SANDEE’s growth as an organisation. Her responsibilities include
grants management, organising research workshops, and managing the administrative tasks of the secretariat. The ICIMOD family extends a
warm welcome to the staff members of SANDEE and looks forward to fruitful collaboration in the days to come.
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