UNU's Activities in and on Africa
Environment
United Nations University Cooperation Unit for Southern Africa
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
Contact: Dusan Sakulski
UNU-EHS is hosting the UNU Cooperation Unit for Southern Africa (UNU-CUSA), based in Stellenbosch, South Africa. Southern African region has been constantly impacted by various hazards. The most frequent are droughts, floods, strong winds as well as human induced hazards. South African government is in the process of implementation of the disaster management legislation. It requires synchronised effort in four parallel activities: Disaster management framework development and implementation, institutional re-structuring, implementation of a manageable communication and information technologies and tertiary education in disaster risk management. United Nations University Cooperation Unit for Southern Africa (UNU-CUSA) is involved in those processes acting as an advisor and coordinator.
Particular focus is in the field of education and practical implementation satellite and information technologies for disaster risk reduction as a component of broader activities ‘Science and Technology for Africa for Human Security’. Research topics include disaster risk management policy and implementation relevant research. Main focus was in the area of risk assessment methodologies with special attention on the implementation of the satellite and information technologies in assessing risks and vulnerabilities.
Tags: Africa, environment, disaster management, flood, IT, satellite, risk
Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR) in Africa
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
Contact: Koko Warner
The project Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR) which is led by the European Commission (EC) covers 6 regions of the world, and 24 countries. UNU-EHS is one out of seven partners involved in the project and is covering four case studies, among which three are in Egypt, Mozambique and Niger. The main purpose of the project is to assess the impact of environmental change on migration at local, national, regional and international level. The methodology includes questionnaires and expert interviews conducted in the countries surveyed. The data is then used to run an econometric regression model to detect the statistical significance of the impact of environmental problems on migration globally.
Tags: Africa, environment, environmental change, migration, impact, Egypt, Mozambique, Niger
Ph.D. and Internship Programmes at UNU-EHS
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
Adelina Maria Mensah from Ghana is currently a Ph.D. Researcher at UNU-EHS and at the Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung (Centre for Development Research) at the University of Bonn researching the influence of land use on nutrient loading in upland catchment streams in Ghana. She obtained her Masters degrees from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK) in Coastal Management and Marine Sciences. Mensah is a senior staff member of the Oceanography and Fisheries Department, University of Ghana and lectures both undergraduate and post-graduate students in Marine Pollution, Limnology, Coastal Ecosystems, Chemical Oceanography and Introductory Biogeochemistry. She also serves as a national representative (Ghana) of both the Nutrient and Pollution Working Groups of the Guinea Current Large Marine Ecosystem Project (GCLME) and facilitates the Coastal Environmental component of the Environmental Sustainability domain of The Scholar Ship Research Institute (TSSRI).
Tags: Africa, capacity development, environment, Ph.D., internship
United Nations University Cooperation Unit for Southern Africa
United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
Contact: Dusan Sakulski
The United Nations University Cooperation Unit for Southern Africa’s main capacity development activities will be in the area of the implementation of Satellite, Information and Communication technologies in Disaster Risk Reduction, with particular emphases on assessing and reducing Vulnerability in Southern Africa. Cooperation Unit’s activities will also be within the broader disciplinary area of “Science and Technology for Human Security”. The cooperation is expected to be carried out by each of the contracting parties through such activities or programs as:
- Educating engineers and engineering scientists through M.Sc. and Ph.D. courses and mentoring, with particular reference to the Southern African Region.
- Jointly implementing human capacity development activities for professionals (workshops, trainings and seminars).
- Participation in the national, regional and international conferences related to the relevant subjects.
- Exchange of faculty members, researchers, experts, and students at all academic levels.
- Exchange of publications.
- Joint research proposals and activities, in the broad interdisciplinary field of Environment and Human Security and in particular in the area of Implementation of Innovative Technologies for Disaster Risk Reduction.
- Joint publications in scientific journals and proceedings.
UNU-CUSA representative was co-mentoring one Ph.D. thesis and two M.Sc. theses in the broad field of disaster risk reduction. Lectures are delivered as a part of the M.Sc. disaster risk management course at the Free State University.
Tags: Africa, capacity development, environment, science and technology, disaster management, flood, IT, satellite, risk
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Page last modified 2009.05.14.
