-(29).png?sfvrsn=a620a7bd_0 "©Brittany Mumma")
Every four years, all members of the Mountain Partnership gather for the Global Meeting to strategize for the future direction of the United Nations mountain alliance. This is accomplished through the adoption of four-year strategies for advocacy and communication and of the revised governance document.
The Sixth Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership was convened in Aspen, Colorado, under the overarching theme “Mountains matter: Ideas to action – Building alliances for resilient mountains”. With the overall objective of promoting sustainable mountain development, the meeting discussed the agenda for the Mountain Partnership going forward, advocating for bringing mountain-related issues to the fore of relevant international processes, as well as for action on the ground.
The meeting was organized around plenary sessions that included panel discussions and special presentations, while numerous side events ran in the afternoon. The meeting elected a new Steering Committee for the Mountain Partnership, updated several of the Mountain Partnership’s strategy documents, and endorsed the Aspen Declaration.
The meeting took place on 27–29 September 2022, with over 200 participants attending. It was the main event of the United Nations International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development 2022 (IYM2022). The meeting was co-hosted by the Mountain Partnership together with the State of Colorado, the City of Aspen, and the Aspen International Mountain Foundation (AIMF).
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Over 220 participants attended the fifth Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership on 11-13 December 2017 at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, under the theme ‘Mountains under pressure: climate, hunger, migration’. Coinciding with International Mountain Day and the 15th anniversary of the Mountain Partnership, the Mountain Partnership Global Meeting brought together high-level representatives from mountainous countries, goodwill ambassadors, and representatives of intergovernmental organizations, the private sector and civil society, in addition to Mountain Partnership members, to raise awareness of the need to place mountain ecosystems and peoples at the centre of international negotiations, policies and investments.
A Framework for Action to support concrete actions, put in place long-lasting processes and establish policies that strengthen the resilience of mountain peoples and environments was launched on the first day of the meeting and endorsed by the governments and civil society. Participants heard high-level statements by founding members of the Mountain Partnership. This was followed by remarks by three Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassadors and a keynote speech given by Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, World Meteorological Organization.
The programme continued with the identifying of work priorities for the next four years, organized around the Mountain Partnership’s functions of advocacy, capacity development, joint action and communication. A Governance Paper, Advocacy Strategy and Communication Strategy were discussed and endorsed by members.
Among the numerous networking and exchange opportunities were a speed geeking session that saw 10 members present their projects or ongoing work and six side-events that took place at lunch time and in the evening.
On the final day of the Global Meeting, the Partnership considered how best to support the implementation of the Framework for Action and “gear up” for the next biennium. A new Steering Committee was elected, and after the meeting closed, the Steering Committee held its first meeting.
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IISD reports
Report of the Fifth Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership
EbA workshop documentation and photos
More than 100 Mountain Partnership (MP) members gathered in Erzurum, Turkey, for the Fourth Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership on 17-20 September 2013. Participants representing governments, intergovernmental organizations, major group organizations and academic institutions approved the four-year strategy and governance document (2014-2017), developed the building blocks of a two-year workplan and selected a 16-member Steering Committee.
The programme included plenary sessions on topics such as ensuring that mountains are included in the Post-2015 development agenda, the sharing of regional mechanisms and a knowledge platform for sustainable mountain development (SMD). On the third day, governments and organizations selected to serve on the Steering Committee were announced and the assembly agreed on the 'Erzurum Conclusions'.
Parallel meetings at the regional level offered a chance for regions to establish priorities and plan how to coordinate their SMD efforts while a second set of parallel meetings substantiated the functions established in the four-year strategy. Moreover, the outputs and activities in the areas of advocacy, joint action, knowledge management and communication, capacity development and technology transfer, innovation and resource mobilization were outlined, providing the foundation for a two-year workplan.
Among the numerous networking and exchange opportunities were a Members' Fair – a speed geeking session that saw 30 members present their projects or ongoing work – and 13 side-events that took place at lunch time and in the evening.
The fourth and final day featured a field trip to an erosion control project site on the southern slope of Kemerlidağ (2700 m) near the Kardeşler Hamlet of Ulubağ Village and Tortum Falls.
Over 70 representatives of governments, IGOs and NGOs sat together as equals at the Third Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership held on 19 June 2012, in the spirit of the type 2 initiative that was established 10 years ago in Johannesburg by the United Nations. Participants in the meeting filled up the auditorium of the Mountain Pavilion, set up at the Athletes’ Park in Rio de Janeiro.
Held eight years after the Second Global Meeting in Cusco (Peru) in 2004, some members found the moment historic, in light of the momentum generated by the sustainable development talks at Rio+20 on the future we want. “Three paragraphs on mountains now form part of the outcome document, and that is largely our collective achievement as members of this Partnership,” said Ambassador Acharya of Nepal’s Mission to the United Nations in his keynote speech.
Finding common ground at Cusco
The former Inca capital of Cusco in the Peruvian Andes was the dramatic backdrop for the 'Cusco Conference' (28 -29 October 2004), an event which attracted 126 participants from national governments, intergovernmental agencies, NGOs and major groups from as far afield as Kenya, Switzerland, the Philippines and Nepal.
The two-day Conference featured a series of plenary sessions, working groups and informal roundtables which gave Partnership members the opportunity to exchange experiences, to review progress made in the year since the first ever global meeting of members (Merano, Italy, October 2003) and to chart the future course of the Mountain Partnership and its dynamic core—the 'Partnership Initiatives'.
Sharing common goals
Working together on shared needs, priorities and concerns underlies the Partnership Initiatives — an umbrella term describing joint projects, programmes and areas for action with specific thematic and regional focus.
The Cusco Conference included breakaway sessions (or 'working groups') on each of the 12 Mountain Partnership Initiatives: those with thematic focus such as education, gender, policy and law, research, sustainable agriculture and rural development in mountains (SARD-M), sustainable livelihoods, watershed management; and those with regional focus such as the Andes, Central Asia, East Africa, Europe, and Hindu Kush Himalaya.
These 90-minute breakaway sessions on individual initiatives brought members of Initiatives (as well as interested observers) together to prioritize areas of potential action, generate programme and project ideas, map out workplans and assign roles and responsibilities in their joint activities. The results and conclusions that emerged from these sessions will lay the foundations for much of the work on Partnership Initiatives that will be carried out and developed amongst members in the coming months and years.
One new Partnership Initiative was launched at Cusco. At the final Plenary session, Mexico with the support of Cuba, Jamaica and UNDP called for the creation of a Partnership Initiative for Central America and the Caribbean. This proposal was wholeheartedly welcomed by participants.
Moving ahead
The Cusco Conference endorsed three key documents which underline that Partnership members have a solid and dynamic framework in which to work on collaborative activities. During a Plenary session at the Cusco Conference, members endorsed the governance of the Partnership — set out in the 'Organization, Membership and Governance' paper — and adopted the 'Cusco Framework for Action'. Participants also affirmed their collective commitment to the goals of sustainable mountain development through the Declaration of the Andes. Prepared initially by the Government of Peru, this document recognizes the increasing awareness of the importance of mountains to life, and the alliance of commitment and will towards sustainable mountain development that has grown at all levels since the Rio Earth Summit (1992) when Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 — the blueprint for sustainable mountain development — was adopted. The Declaration re-affirms the common vision of partners to improve mountain lives and environments, and concludes with a call for members to develop initiatives and implement the Cusco Framework for Action. Participants were invited to provide input and comments to the document in the final session of the Plenary. These contributions were subsequently integrated into the final version of the Declaration of the Andes.
Building knowledge
Networking, information sharing and the exchange of experience were a marked feature of the Cusco Conference. While plenary sessions included presentations on thematic areas, each day of the Conference concluded with informal roundtable discussions on a wide variety of topics, ranging from enhancing connectivity in remote mountain communities through broadband technologies, to building and sustaining partnerships for geographic learning, regional cooperation between mountain ranges for sustainable development (including the example of the Alpine-Carpathian Partnership), the potential of debt relief to enhance sustainable mountain development and the role of microfinance in improving lives and livelihoods in mountains.
A presentation on the Global Mountain Programme of the International Potato Center (CIP) —Cusco Conference co-organizers—illustrated the advances being made through the network of CGIAR agricultural research centres in using science-based solutions to foster collaborative efforts for sustainable mountain development around the world.
The Mountain Partnership can clearly learn valuable lessons from the experiences of other multi-stakeholder partnerships working in development. A presentation to the Plenary on the White Water to Blue Water (WW2BW) Partnership, which emerged like the Mountain Partnership from the WSSD process in 2002, highlighted potential tools and opportunities for building alliances and fostering cooperation among a broad spectrum of partners, particularly the private sector.
Access to microfinance is key to improving opportunities for meaningful mountain development. But how can this essential resource be tapped and utilized? A presentation by Partnership member, PlaNetFinance, turned the spotlight on the NGO's extensive network of financial institutions, highlighted the challenges and opportunities and suggested potential input from Mountain Partnership members.
The Mountain Partnership, launched at the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, is a broad alliance of countries, intergovernmental organizations and major groups working towards improving the lives of mountain people and protecting mountain environments around the world. The Merano Conference in October 2003 was a landmark event for the Mountain Partnership: it was the first global meeting of members and a unique forum in which to identify common needs, priorities and concerns and to explore key issues related to the structure, membership and governance of the Partnership.
The two-day Conference, organized by the Government of Italy, attracted some 150 delegates from four continents. Participants delivered key statements and presentations on key mountain-related issues, including environment, poverty, local knowledge, science, research and training, regional cooperation, gender, sport and tourism. Delegates agreed that the wealth and scope of current mountain networks were a solid foundation from which to tap the essential knowledge, skills and expertise needed to create diverse and active partnerships for lasting mountain development.
Importantly, the Conference endorsed 'Guiding Principles' , including the decision that FAO will host a Secretariat to support the Mountain Partnership. And at the close of the Conference, participants produced a set of Conclusions which are set to guide future membership, governance and action.
Next steps
The Interim Partnership Secretariat at FAO has recently distributed a short questionnaire to members, aimed at gathering information about key priorities and identifying what each member can bring to the Mountain Partnership in terms of relevant expertise, knowledge, skills and activities.
This information will be used to develop "partnership initiatives", based on specific thematic or geographic areas of interest. News about building these initiatives will be available shortly.
