If in March I spent the most of my time in Nakuru, April has been totally opposite. I guess I’m just so used to live with people around me, that the company of my small radio didn’t keep off the feeling of walls of my small house falling on me. So I’ve been escaping the reality and work to Tanzania, Mau forest and somewhere in between for the most of the month.

But at least all the travels weren’t just for fun, especially the one to Mau. The week before the Easter Ermis organized a workshop there for five different forest dwelling communities: The Batwa from Uganda, Sengwer from Cherangani in Kabolet forest, Yaaku from Mukogodo forest and Ogieks from Eastern Mau and Mount Elgon. (The Mount Elgon Ogieks called also as Chepkitale) Mamas, bwanas and youth all present. The issue was to bring all hunter-gatherers together and for the Kenyan communities to present for Ugandans how they had used mapping as a tool in their land campaigns and community mobilization.

I had barely arrived from my first travel when I was told to pack up again and prepare myself for sleeping a week in a tent at the Nessuit primary school compound, a place for the meeting regarded as freezing cold for camping. But hamnashida. Catherine equipped me worryingly with the warmest clothes she could find and a double sleeping bag – and I couldn’t have felt better! Chilly bright mornings, full moon above high cypress trees and smooth hills surrounding the landscape reminded me a lot of the nature back home in Lapland.

Unfortunately the Lapland-like feeling faded quickly when exploring the forest outside the school compound closer. I can’t even call it exploring, so narrow was the stripe of trees in front of the devastated landscape of grey dry field growing only stamps. There’s indeed hardly anything left of Mau forest to argue on, but they won’t stop. The farmer-settlers who’s legal rights to any land is absolutely unknown, big economy-boosting and employing land owners, environmentalists willing to conserve vulnerable habitants for wildlife and wildlife only, list goes on..

No wonder why hunter-gatherers saw it so important to share their history of land campaigns thoroughly: discrimination, objection and disappointments after disappointments. It definitely took the fair share of the whole meeting, so some other previously planned activities like group discussions of youth, women and men separate, to improve participation of marginalized groups within the communities, had to be cancelled. In the end the whole wamama-issue was actually brought up shortly by Julius and not the community members themselves.

“Women’s indigenous knowledge? Nobody has studied that.” Chris, a Scottish anthropologist and the worker for the Batwa through Forest People’s Program told me: “I came here to study Indigenous knowledge, too, but it failed. There was so much more important work to do..” referring obviously to the poverty and discrimination that all Batwa are facing regardless of sex or age. But at least I was not the only one interested. Grace pointed out, too, how Batwa women seem so empowered and outgoing compared to our previous experience with the Yaaku for example. Chris told again that the most of the pygmi communities are egalitarian, non-hierarchical. People have different tasks but none of them is of higher value than the other, and people, too, are valued according to their skills in their task whatever it be.

That sounded extremely interesting and I can only hope that in future meetings also such issues could be exchanged between the communities. What matters now is that we had the meeting in the first place. The people had their chance to share the issues they themselves saw relevant as much as they wanted to. Their debate reached from different sweetness’ of honey to Ogiek holding aerial photos and what in earth is an aerial photo anyway. And it was the community members to speak, nobody else.

Of course the big 3D Model of the Ogiek, their ancestral information as a tangible, appreciable form seemed to interest and inspire the participants a lot, too. Map is a strong tool in defining the home of the nation: who does the land belong to and what in there is relevant or important..The communities know this, too, and I believe the Batwa would now like to come together to collect, discuss and present their knowledge the same way, too. At least the knowledge will not die away with the elders now when it can’t be practiced through livelihood without an access to the forest. But I do wonder would it still be valuable for urban-oriented youth, who are in final responsibility of the future of these cultures?

This was yet to be found out, and I know I could have just asked anyway. Instead I ended up using tiring work and my small Kiswahili as an excuse to pumzika during breaks. But at least the language excuse didn’t work for very long. I happily noticed how the elders came talking to me patiently long complicated Kiswahili sentences with lots of hand sings for assistance.

For once I didn’t need to worry neither for being an outsider or not understanding what was going on around me. All the organizing worked very smoothly and I was happy to sneak behind the crowd with my teacups and camera, enabling the others to come together from my own small part, meanwhile learning myself from them, too. Especially much I enjoyed my role as a mediator of their message to outside world with both photographing and filming. It was the first time for me to hold the video camera and I noticed that filming helped me to concentrate on Kiswahili speakers and their message, too. So I really felt being in the right place and right task.

According to both Julius and Francis, our workmate in Ermis who also defined himself as now-retired-professional-Ogiek-activist, these kinds of cross-community meetings are not common. I’m not surprised and it seemed very important experience for the community members, too, to see that they’re not alone with their campaigns and non-recognition. Just coming together and sharing with others of similar experiences is enough to empower anybody, and I want to believe that the people returned home much heads full of future plans for common action.

The work of the first full month with Ermis has been busy as usual. Life in Nakuru has settled into routines nicely and also new things to learn and explore seem to be coming up frequently.

The workplans of the communities arrived in the beginning of the month. After the realistic initiatives from the various suggestions of the community members were chosen, I assisted in typing them. We have also been working with the budgets together with Bancy and Julius. It seems that the communities will not only complete the eco-calendar and cyber – tracking, but they will also work with improving the sustainability of their livelihoods. Another positive progress is that the advocacy process for the Mukogodo forest has been started by another local organization. Forest Management Agreement, which I typed, too, is currently being finalized. In the future also the Yaaku – community will be involved in the planning. All the planned activities will start when the workplans and budgets are finalized.

The work with JUMP is going on, too. I have received many positive responses from Finland supporting the initiative, but commenting that nothing can be started without the final program and budget. Thus, we have been working with them for the last weeks. I am waiting for mine and Grace’s suggestions to be commented on.

Meanwhile, I have also had time to start my bachelor’s thesis project. Before leaving Finland last autumn I agreed with my supervisors in my university that I would complete my bachelor’s thesis during my stay in Tanzania and Kenya, at least to get enough studying credits for the year. However, not before now I finally found both the motivation and possibility to do it. Work with Ermis is very challenging so I feel that determined studying of the subjects I work with helps me with the projects. I will write my thesis about the ways how Indigenous knowledge and the communities have been studied and how the knowledge has been used. I will especially concentrate on the knowledge of women, although I still have to talk about the subject with my professors. So far I have just been reading but I also contacted a few professors here and hope to meet them about research material in the future.

At least I haven’t been ought to stay all the time in the office. Last Saturday I attended another project which Ermis is participating called International Climate Challenge. It was an excellent project on Education for Sustainable Development. Different schools around the country have been challenged to a competition, where the students plan and implement a practical project to mitigate the negative effects of climate change in their region.

I was very positively surprised how practical, creative and effective solutions all the schools have made up. Their projects really emphasized the everyday problems they were facing because of drought, deforestation and other related hazards. So they had really understood what is climate change about and how can their solutions reduce poverty, too, which often is one big reason behind environmental destruction. The competition included also a presentation part, where the drama, dance and other forms of performances presented by the students to illustrate the issues were just enjoyable!

Finally, I received a small task on again another project which deals with improving cooperation between stakeholders within Mau forest area. I have been browsing through all the weblinks of Mau and related issues to be catalogued into a Spatial Data Infrastructure, which Ermis is establishing.

After all these activities, there has not been much time for myself only. On Sundays I have taken a habit of going for long walks to the surroundings, sometimes on my own and sometimes with Julius’ family members, who have been very welcoming for me as a total stranger to the town. They have invited me to their home even on many evenings after work and I really appreciate their hospitality. The children are so funny you can’t stay grumpy no matter how tired you’d be after a long day! And apart from the dust Nakuru seems a very nice place and I’ve found already several nice spots to relax after the long week’s work.

All in all I have enjoyed myself a lot here in Kenya. The work which Erms is doing is very valuable and the other people in the office are just great. Even if all this has been very new to me, I know I can always ask anybody whenever I need support. It also seems that the culture here is closer to Finland than the Tanzanian one, which I experienced for half a year before coming here. I have just been very relieved to get along with kenyans so easily and feel so much like home in here.

The Manila Declaration

of the International Conference on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples

23-25 March 2009

Legend Villas, Metro Manila, Philippines

When all the trees have been cut down,

When all the animals have been hunted,

When all the waters are polluted,

When all the air is unsafe to breathe,

Only then will you discover you cannot eat money.

- Cree prophecy

Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.

- Chief Seattle

We, Indigenous Peoples and support organisations from 35 countries around the world and representing many more Indigenous Nations, have gathered together in this International Conference on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples. As Indigenous Peoples we have a unique cosmic vision, diversity of languages, histories, spirituality and territories which have existed since time immemorial. However, we now find ourselves within the borders of States which have established norms and laws according to their interests. On account of this situation, we have suffered disproportionately from the impact of extractive industries as our territories are home to over sixty percent of the world’s most coveted mineral resources. This has resulted in many problems to our peoples, as it has attracted extractive industry corporations to unsustainably exploit our lands, territories and recourses without our consent. This exploitation has led to the worst forms of, environmental degradation, human rights violations and land dispossession and is contributing to climate change.

Environmental degradation includes, but is not limited to, erosion of our fragile biological diversity, pollution of land, air and water, and destruction of whole ecological systems. Extractive industries, and particularly those relating to fossil fuels, also have significantly contributed to the climate change that is destroying our Mother Earth.

Human rights violations range from violations of Indigenous Peoples’ right to self-determination (which includes the right to determine one’s own economic, social and cultural development), rights to lands, territories and resources, as well as displacement and violations of the most basic civil and political rights, such as arbitrary arrests and detention, torture, enforced disappearances and killings.

Our cultural diversity has also been grossly eroded because of the destruction of biological diversity and lands, territories and resources by extractive industries upon which our cultures are based. This erosion of our cultural diversity is also a result of the imposition of colonial systems and the settlement of non-Indigenous Peoples. Corporations enter into our territories with the promise of “development” through employment, infrastructure building and payment of governmental taxes. Despite these promises, there still exists a situation of dire poverty in those living close to extractive industry projects. This situation has fuelled conflicts between Indigenous Peoples and the State and extractive industry corporations, as well as causing divisions within the Indigenous communities themselves.

On 6-16 May 1996, a first “Mining and Indigenous Peoples Conference” held in London produced the “Indigenous Peoples’ Declaration on Mining”. This declaration highlighted conflicts occurring between our communities and corporations. It reiterated that Indigenous Peoples need to be the decision makers on whether or not mining should take place in their communities and under what conditions this may occur.

Almost 13 years have passed since this conference was held, but overall our situation on the ground has not noticeably improved. The opportunities and threats since the 1996 conference include:-

· the welcome adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN DRIP) by the UN General Assembly on 13 September 2007;

· new UN mechanisms for the protection of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, such as the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;

· a greater interest on the relationship between human rights and corporate behaviour, including the work of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises;

· the recognition of corporate social responsibility and a claimed willingness on behalf of corporations to negotiate agreements directly with Indigenous Peoples, although so far much of this seems to be more on paper or promises, as opposed to practice;

· the climate change crisis, coming about mainly because of dependence of the current economy on fossil fuels. These resources are mined on our land and many of our peoples are disproportionately affected by such activities; and

· the global financial crisis, caused by the unregulated liberalisation of finance.

Based on the foregoing observations, we assert that:-

· Indigenous Peoples are rights holders, with an inextricable link to their lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired, and should not be treated merely as stakeholders. We have a right to self-determination of our political condition and to freely choose our economic, social and cultural development (UN DRIP Article 3);

· our rights are inherent and indivisible and seek recognition not only of our full social, cultural and economic rights but also our civil and political rights;

· all doctrines, policies and practices based on the presumed superiority of colonial peoples and worldviews should be condemned;

· we contribute to the diversity and richness of the cultures that make up humanity and believe that we can teach valuable lessons to the rest of the world through our values and world views in how to tread gently upon the earth;

· destruction of Indigenous Peoples sacred sites and areas of spiritual and cultural significance by extractive industries must stop;

· the vulnerable position of women and youth with regard to the impacts of extractive industries, including loss of livelihoods, violence and impacts on health and well-being must be recognized;

· the development model premised on unsustainable consumption and production, and corporate globalisation, which fuels the entry of extractive industries onto our lands, must be rejected;

· respect for the preservation of life on earth, and our right to food, must have precedence over extractive industry projects;

· extractive industry projects must not take precedence over our right to land – regardless of whether our rights are based on legal recognition or usufruct rights;

· there must be an immediate end to the criminalization of community resistance, the violent intimidation, harassment, and murder of our leaders, activists and lawyers, who are working for the defence of our lands and lives;

· extractive industry projects must not take precedence over the human right to water. Water is especially important in our lives and is sacred to us. In addition the major reserves of fresh water are found in our territories;

· the right to water is a fundamental human right which must be recognized. We therefore condemn the conduct of the World Water Council which demotes the right to water a “basic need”;

· negotiations about climate change should not be conducted by States and international organisations unless there is full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, mitigation and adaptation measures related to climate change must be designed and implemented in keeping with Indigenous Peoples’ rights;

· the failure to hold extractive industries to account in host and home countries must be addressed and mechanisms for accountability and enforcement must be created immediately; and

· implementation of interstate infrastructure initiatives – such as the South American Regional Infrastructure Initiative (IIRSA) – that lead to mega-projects on our lands and territories without first obtaining our free prior and informed consent (FPIC) are destructive to our cultures and survival, and a denial of our right to self determination.

Given the above, in order to ensure respect for the rights recognized in the UN DRIP, as well as the ecological integrity of our planet and communities, we call for:-

· a stop to the plunder of our lands, territories and resources;

· a moratorium on further extractive industry projects that affect or threaten our communities, until structures and processes are in place that ensure respect for our human rights. The determination of when this has been realized can only be made by those communities whose lives, livelihoods and environment are affected by those projects;

· due process and justice to victims of human rights violations who are resisting extractive industries;

· review of all on-going projects that are approved without respect for our FPIC and self determination rights; and

· compensation and restitution for damages inflicted upon our lands, territories and resources, and the rehabilitation of our degraded environments caused by extractive industry projects that did not obtain our FPIC.

We call on Indigenous Communities and their Supporters:-

· to actively participate in the global network of indigenous peoples on extractive industries which was established at this international conference and will be aimed at strengthening the capacities of local organization through sharing of information, education and training programmes, research and advocacy in the defence of our rights;

· to coordinate research on mining companies, processes and investment sources to empower communities, build strategic plans and ensure recognition and respect for our rights;

· to assert their right to control the authorization of projects, and where FPIC has been given, the conduct of extractive activities in indigenous lands and territories through the use of indigenous customary laws;

· to create a mechanism to compile legal precedents from relevant court decisions on Indigenous Peoples and extractive industries;

· to build relationships with non-indigenous groups concerned with the problem of extractive industries, nationally and internationally, to find common ground; and

· to establish an International Day of Action on Extractive Industries and Indigenous Peoples.

We call on Civil Society Organisations:-

· to increase their support, and solidarity in a manner that is sensitive to the issues of Indigenous Peoples; and

· especially conservation and other NGOs, not to impose themselves or their views upon us, but respect our legitimate leadership, and also seek the FPIC of communities before intervening; this also applies to academics including anthropologists.

We call on Companies:-

· to respect international standards as elaborated on in the normative framework of indigenous peoples rights, especially the minimum standards as set forth in the UN DRIP, ILO Convention 169 and International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), which includes in particular, the right to lands, territories and resources and attendant right to FPIC. This also applies to consultants;

· to submit to independent and credible monitoring;

· to be accountable for the environmental disasters, destruction and human rights violations as a result of their operations;

· to employ proven technology and adhere to the precautionary principle at all levels and in each project;

· to recognize the specific vulnerability of indigenous women to the negative impacts involved with extractive industries;

· to ensure full transparency in all aspects of their operations, and especially to ensure affected communities have full access to information in forms and languages they can understand; and

· to conduct and implement environmental, social, cultural and human rights impact assessments to the highest international standards ensuring independent review and participation of indigenous peoples.

We call on Investors:-

· to ensure that policies in relation to investments in indigenous territories reflect the rights articulated in the UN DRIP, and that ethical index listings used by them should base their investment recommendations on third party information, as opposed solely to information from the company in which they may invest;

· to ensure access to information and transparency in relation to all investments in extractive industries in indigenous territories; and

· not to invest in fossil fuel related projects.

We call on States:-

· specifically those States that have not done so yet, to endorse the UN DRIP and ratify International Labour Organization (ILO) 169, and for those States who have to uphold the rights articulated therein;

· to establish, in consultation with Indigenous Peoples, clear mechanisms and procedures at national levels for the implementation of international juridical instruments, specifically the UN DRIP, ILO 169 and ICERD;

· to review laws and policies on extractive industries that are detrimental to Indigenous Peoples, and ensure consistency with the UN DRIP and international instruments protecting Indigenous Peoples rights;

· to recognize and enforce the rights Indigenous Peoples to FPIC as laid out in UN DRIP, in accordance with our customary laws and traditional practices;

· to recognize and ensure the demarcation and titling of our ancestral lands;

· to recognize our customary laws and traditional mechanisms of conflict resolutions;

· to support the efforts of Indigenous Peoples to develop economic alternatives to extractive industries, in order to alleviate the poverty that creates false dependencies on extractive industries;

· to abolish hedge funds and all forms of private equity that are not transparent and well regulated, and which distort the price of minerals;

· to legislate and regulate thorough processes for independently conducted environmental, social, cultural and human rights impact assessments, with regular monitoring during all of the phases of production and rehabilitation;

· to protect indigenous activists, human rights defenders and lawyers working on human rights issues, and where the State is the violator we demand an end to the violations against our peoples;

· to ban particularly harmful extractive practices, including riverine tailings disposal, gas flaring, effluent discharges, submarine tailings disposal, mountain top removal and large scale open-pit mining. Given the risks posed by climate change, serious re-consideration should be given to the construction of tailings containment in low-lying coastal areas and in areas exposed to increasingly severe weather events; and

· to ensure that their development cooperation policies and programmes respect Indigenous Peoples rights’, in particular in the context of extractive industries and our right to FPIC.

We call on the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII):-

· to conduct a study, with the participation of Indigenous Peoples, on the impact of extractive industries on them, by consolidating all recommendations, observations and decisions of UN Treaty and Charter bodies pertaining to the subject and identifying the measures taken by States to adhere with these;

· to elaborate mechanisms and procedures for States to implement the minimum standards set forth in the UN DRIP, including in particular the right to FPIC and to call on other UN procedures, mechanisms, agencies and bodies and other multilateral bodies to do likewise;

· to establish procedures which provide indigenous communities with the opportunity to request the relevant UN agencies to assist them in the monitoring and provision of independent information in FPIC processes;

· to support the proposal that there be an international Mother Earth Day, and encourage all UN agencies, mechanisms and bodies to do likewise;

· to demand the full and effective participation of Indigenous Peoples in all discussions and decisions pertaining to international agreements and conventions that address issues of biological diversity and or climate change;

· to emphasize the need to address the direct and indirect impacts of extractive industry on climate change, including those associated with mitigation measures;

· to emphasize the need for the widespread diffusion of information and critical debate between Indigenous Peoples about the ongoing mechanisms and negotiations relative to carbon trading and the carbon market;

· to request that the Special Representative to the Secretary General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other businesses, John Ruggie, to actively engage with impacted indigenous community through workshops addressing indigenous peoples rights and the extractive industry, and together with other UN procedures, bodies and agencies, promote the enactment of legislation in home states of transnational corporations that provides for extraterritorial jurisdiction in relation to their activities;

· to facilitate dialogue between indigenous peoples, investors, fund managers, extractive industry corporations and consultants;

· to recommend that the World Bank Group and other International Financial Institutions (IFIs) update their operational directives and safeguard policies pertaining to Indigenous Peoples to include the right to FPIC, as required under the UN DRIP. Specifically to recommend to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that it include the requirement to obtain FPIC in its safeguard policies on Indigenous Peoples environment and resettlement;

· to recommend that the World Bank Group and other IFIs immediately stop funding, promoting and supporting fossil fuel related projects and large scale mining and hydro electric projects on indigenous lands, and provide a set timeline for ending of all such funding;

· to recommend that the World Bank and other IFIs stop influencing the design of national policies in developing countries in a manner that promotes the interests of transnational mining corporations over the rights of indigenous communities;

· to recommend that the World Health Organisation consider conducting a study on the impact of cyanide and heavy metals on the right to health of communities impacted by mining;

· to address the urgent need for the genuine recognition of indigenous religious, cultural and spiritual rights, including their sacred sites in the context of extractive projects; and

· to recommend that all bilateral trade agreements should guarantee that Indigenous Peoples’ human rights are respected.

Bonn, Germany
30 March 2009

IPACC delegates from Mali and Chad have come to Bonn to follow up on the UN’s climate negotations. Indigenous peoples from Africa are trying to make their voices heard in the difficult and cumbersome forum. IPACC’s main point is that adaptation is a major issue for Africa. Most of the discussions at the UNFCCC have been about mitigation, emissions and the role of carbon markets. While these talks drag on, Africans are experiencing increasingly extreme weather conditions, not only droughts, but heavy rainfalls, flooding and related problems of diseases, food insecurity, loss of livestock and homes.

The UN reached a serious deadlock in the Poznan Conference of Parties in December 2009. The Bonn meeting in March / April is an important chance to undo the deadlock and move forward to an agreement for the Copenhagen COP at the end of the year. At the heart of the deadlock is the resistance by countries of the South and China to the slow commitments by Western states to fund adaptation and mitigation, and help protect the most vulnerable countries from the effects of climate change.

IPACC is a partner organisation to SHALIN Finland.

Source Africa Climate Debate

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During these first three weeks I have worked with three major events / activities:

GISEEM

During this time there has not been many activities around GISEEM because we have been waiting for Mukogodo community to finish their work plans for the coming year. The work plans arrived this weekend on the 6^th of March for evaluation.

We received work plans by all groups established in the previous meeting on advocacy, filming and recording, community mobilization and completing both Eco-calendar and cyber traking. Each plan included minimum  information on what, when, where, by whom and on which cost will be done. Information on culturally important sites and natural resources yet to be tracked were quite well included especially in the advocacy plan, although  it didn’t concentrate so much on advocacy itself. However, plans have to be made a bit more detailed and budgets have to be reconsidered. Thus Julius Muchemi, the head of ERMIS Africa is currently visiting the people responsible of completing the work plans to discuss about their editing. In the previous meeting we found out that another organization, Ilmaamusi, is already working with policies concerning the forest management plan of Mukogodo forest. Julius will also meet Ilmaamusi durinDividing work groups in Dol Dol his visit.

During the time of waiting for the work plans, Martha held a GIS training on the 8^th and 9^th of March for Grace shooting mamas’ comments sitting at the back of the group Peter and Simon due to another project they’re undertaking, but which I attended as well. I’m no, in case of need, able to process the spatial data collected with GPS by the communities into maps and other publications. However, according to Martha the most of the digitizing work has been done already. Only certain essential information, such as the border of the Giitune forest and narratives from Mukogodo are missing.

So now we are waiting for the communities to collect the information. From Mukogodo many sites of medicinal herbs, caves, and some other places of cultural importance have been tracked, but as the distances are long, the elders haven’t been able to join the mapping trips to include the narratives with spatial data. Also another ERMIS trainee Grace Mwaura specialized in conservation filming had visited the community in order to film their narratives. But as the elders weren’t prepared, the content was not adequate for filming.

Things to work with from now on include further use of collected information, bringing the information back to the communities and advocacy process of Karima and Mukogodo. These will be discussed as Julius returns from his visit.

Seminar on watershed management of lake Nakuru

On the 24^th and 25^th of February I attended a seminar organized by on management of Lake Nakuru wateshead together with Julius and Grace. Seminar was attended by numreous governmental and municipal stakeholders, NGOs and community representatives. On the both of the days different stakeholders presented their activities and researches concerning water- and waste management of Nakuru town and forest management of the catchment area of the lake. The seminar ended with a group discussion on the issues mentioned above, as well as on improvement of cooperation between different actors within the area.

Ermis’ role in the meeting was to present Mau SDI – project, Mau Spatial Data Infrastructure project. The aim of the project is to develop a Platform for all stakeholders within Mau to keep record of and find out about different activities and researches to ensure coherent and effective cooperation. I found the seminar extremely interesting and useful but it’s effects on better water management remain to be seen.

JUMP -Joint University Mentoriship Program

JUMP is a Joint University Mentoriship Program launched by ERMIS, and now organized together with several Kenyan universities. JUMP is an offshoot from 1^st international Mesa conference organized by Unep on last November in Nairobi. In the conference university students addressed a need for greater career mentorship on the field of education for sustainable development, and JUMP is a response for that need.

During these weeks JUMP has been developed from an idea to a complete 3 month program, which includes participation on different ERMIS projects, mentoring by different relevant mentors such as professors and organizations, networking with students and professionals throught fields of studying and levels of career, and a three-week training on participatroy GIS, documentation and Web 2.0 technologies. My task has been to contact my university in order to include international links into JUMP. So far I have contacted professors and coordinators of international issues of the departments of Geography, forestry, ICT and the whole Unversity. ICT department is willing to send students to JUMP when interested ones appear and the other responses I’m still waiting for.

On the 3^rd of March me and Grace visited three universities in Nairobi to discuss about the coming program with deans and students of the univsersities. We met the students and three professors and their responses were generally very positive. Some questions on institutionalizement of the project and financing have raised, but we’re now working with the program to response these questions. By now a thorough strategy plan and a detailed program and budget for the three week training period for coming august have been written and we’re waiting for applications from students to join the training.

Now Ermis will start negotiations with possible funders and discussions with other universities as well as contact to already started ones will go on.