| Initiative to improve pastoralists, launched | Send to a friend |
| Wednesday, 11 August 2010 16:56 |
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By Alvar Mwakyusa An initiative aimed at improving living standards of pastoralist communities living in drylands in East Africa has been launched. The initiative, to be coordinated by the MDG Centre for East and Southern Africa in partnership with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), seeks to accelerate development of pastoralist communities living in the drylands of 6 countries in the region. Under the initiative areas such as animal production, infrastructure, health, education, and business projects will receive attention in Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Sudan. A statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting on the initiative in Nairobi last week said the drylands initiative was first unveiled in January 2010 when the two organisations signed a memorandum of understanding. The meeting was attended by African and international government and UN officials, experts, scientists, and civil society representatives. Since the launch of the initiative, different sites have been identified in participating countries and the project is about to move to the implementation phase. In northern Kenya, such field work has been ongoing in Dertu Millennium Village since 2006. Based on the promising progress recorded there, the project is being scaled up to the district and other sites have been selected too. "Poverty levels are extraordinarily high in the drylands of East Africa, and the people who endure that poverty lack access to the most basic services," said Prof Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the Millennium Development Goals. COMESA Secretary General, Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, said; "We are happy to partner with The MDG Centre in this endeavor. Accordingly, our specialized agency, the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA), will work very closely with the Centre to ensure that there are improvements in the livelihoods of communities living in the dry-lands." The MDG Centre director Dr Belay Begashaw said; "Building upon the success of the Millennium Villages Project, the the dry-lands initiative will bring multi-sectoral development to isolated, yet sizeable communities". He was of a view that with the right approaches, such as mobile technology and access to markets, pastoralist communities will be able to integrate into the mainstream economy and record progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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