Ministry of Environment, Rwanda
The Ministry of Environment of Rwanda is the government body in charge of regulating the management of environment in the country. Water is one of the key resources fueling the country's economy through its crucial to agriculture and industrial sectors. Since one cannot talk of water cycle without mentioning mountains as catchments and water towers, the ministry has a vested interest in the issues concerning sustainable mountain development
East African Community
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional inter-governmental organisation of the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Republic of Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community in Article 112 enjoins the Partner States to cooperate in all issues of Environment and Natural Resources Management and in its article 20, Partner States agreed to protect mountain ecosystems such as critical water catchments, conservation and heritage areas and other areas of common strategic interest at local, national, regional and international levels. In this regard, EAC has been part of the Africa Regional Mountain Forum since its inception in 2014.
Albertine Rift Conservation Society
ARCOS is a regional conservation not-for-profit organization established in 1995 with the mission to enhance biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of natural resources in the Albertine Rift region through the promotion of collaborative conservation action for nature and people. ARCOS is a member of the Mountain Partnership and on 20th February 2013, ARCOS hosted the 3rd African Mountain Partnership regional meeting, a meeting during which the African Mountain Partnership Champions Committee was established and ARCOS was elected to host the secretariat. ARCOS coordinated the development of the Africa Mountain Partnership Work Plan2013-2015 that aims to promote sustainable mountain development in Africa through networking, information sharing, advocacy, promoting research and community benefits from mountain ecosystem services. With funding support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) under its Sustainable Mountain Development for Global Change (SMD4GC) programme, ARCOS is currently coordinating this programme in Africa, which involves a number of SMD related activities among which the first African Regional Mountains Forum was organized in 2014.
The Mountain Partnership
The Mountain Partnership is a United Nations voluntary alliance of partners dedicated to improving the lives of mountain people and protecting mountain environments around the world. It is a type II partnership established in 2002 during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Mountain Partnership Members are countries and organizations that envision a world with increasing public and private sector commitment, engagement, and investments in sustainable mountain development(SMD) that significantly improve the social and economic well-being and livelihoods of people, empower people in mountain ecosystems to be fully engaged in the decision-making processes that determine the future of mountain communities and ecosystems, and maintain and enhance the health and vitality of mountain ecosystems for their inherent value and for sustainable human benefits.
UN Environment
Climate Change is one of the priorities of the UN Environment’s Regional Office for Africa (ROA). The goal of UN Environment’s climate change related activities in Africa is twofold: (1) support African countries to reduce vulnerability and build resilience to the impacts of climate change through ecosystem-based adaptation and (2) promote the development of renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency as part of the sustainable energy for all initiative and climate mitigation effort.