Pastoral and Environmental Network in the Horn of Africa
|
|
The Work of the International Office PENHA’s mission is to reduce poverty among pastoralists in the Horn of Africa. It does so with offices in a number of countries in the region, but with its international office in London.  PENHA International Staff outside the office The international office complements the work done in the region in a number of ways: • Giving opportunities for young people from all parts of the world to become PENHA interns. • For international networking world wide. • Advocacy at the international level through conferences, publications, development education, its website and the use of the internet. • Working with partners from the north. • Fundraising from major donors and grant making trusts in the UK and in Europe. • It is a safe communication centre for a region with is very unstable. All of these activities are important. Some examples are given below. Volunteers and interns From its beginning, PENHA has depended on dedicated volunteers who have given hours of skilled work in its support. It has always particularly welcomed volunteers who themselves have direct links with the Horn of Africa – either as nationals or with relatives or parents from the region. Some of those early volunteers are now in senior positions within PENHA. It also welcomes volunteers from other parts of the world, mostly after completing postgraduate studies. Many of them have gone on to work with development agencies having benefited directly from their time with PENHA. One such volunteer, Lory Meoli from the USA, expressed her own experience as follows:  “Working with PENHA was an invaluable experience. I gained knowledge about countries and pastoral communities in the Horn of Africa while also learning the fundamentals of an international NGO such as grant writing, research, and promotion.PENHA inspired me to remain in international development and currently I am a program analyst at U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). In this role I am a key coordinator between field mission staff and headquarters in Washington, DC, managing 30 country assistants.” Development Education Over the years, PENHA has provided public education about development in Africa, and pastoralists in the Horn of Africa. For example, it has sponsored lectures and conferences in the UK. This aspect of PENHA’s mission is being developed with the production of a quarterly Newsletter. Recently, it has joined a consortium of eight organisations, five in Europe and three in Africa, in a major three year public education exercise called Time to Seed co-funded by the EC (EuropeAid) . This will focus on sustainable agriculture and the environment – and the need to work together across countries and continents. It has the following title 'A Global Action to support the critical role of Sustainable Agriculture to ensure food security and environmental protection’. The overall objectives of the action are: 1) to raise public awareness in Europe and developing countries regarding the link between development and sustainable agriculture issues 2) to foster synergies between development actors, institutions and civil society for more equitable North–South relations. 3) to mobilize greater support for actions against poverty and empower civil societies to responsibly and sustainably care for development and food security. The action intends to increase European public awareness about the interdependence between food security, poverty reduction and sustainable agriculture practices in developing countries, bearing in mind that these play a fundamental role in ensuring environmental protection, health, preservation of biodiversity and local identities. The project is expected to inform the general public, youth, media, NGOs, private sector and public authorities and decision makers in both in Europe and Africa – namely Italy, Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom, Poland (Europe) Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique (Africa).  PENHA's representative joined a meeting in Milan which had as its main objectives to officially launch the three year new project on sustainable agriculture and agree on an annual action plan. It also was intended to strengthen the network and partnership created among the participants which come from Italy, Portugal, Poland, Spain and UK. PENHA is the consortium partner from the UK. Unfortunately the Spanish representative was unable to attend the launch. PENHA was represented by its Research and Communication Officer Mr. Bereket Tesfagergis. The attendees can be seen in the attached photograph. The first day of the session was started by a welcome message to the participants of the launch from the President of the Istituto Oikos of Italy, Rossella Rossi. The President gave a brief about the aims of Oikos (namely – Natural Resources; Climate and Energy; Education and Sustainability; Food Security; and Local Economy and Environment) and its impact on beneficiaries. The project partners then gave presentations on ‘what they do’. The last session of the day finished with an overall project review, project organization and management structure discussions including partners’ responsibilities. The second day was mainly focusing on the four work packages of the project. These are: • Establishment of a platform for scientific research and dissemination • Communication campaign including a joint Web portal and a School education campaign • Media education, European Media Contest • Sustainable Agriculture Support Points in Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique The briefings and discussions were led by Francesca Santapaola from Istituto Oikos. The meeting ended with a discussion of the annual project plan and agreement on its implementation. Research and communication  A major aspect of PENHA’s work right from the beginning has been to share what it has learnt about the life and needs of pastoralists in a series of research papers, books and conferences. It has produced more than forty research and working papers, seminar/workshop reports as well as some publications. Such papers are designed to inform and influence policy-makers at national and regional levels within Africa. Most are written from an Afro-centric perspective and tend to deal with real issues affecting pastoral livelihoods at the grassroots level. These papers have been distributed mainly in print but in recent years PENHA has been making use of the internet and most of its publications are available on its website.PENHA has also been seen as a significant resource centre for researchers concerned with the political and socio-economic situation of pastoralists in the Horn of Africa. Fundraising. A number of major donors in Britain can only be approached by organisations which are registered as charities in the UK. Two examples are Comic Relief and the Big Lottery. Much of the funding from the European Commission can only be accessed by organisations based in Europe. A large part of our work is making this connection between Britain, Europe and the work in the Horn of Africa. In addition, a number of individuals are supporting PENHA through regular giving or by supporting the annual walk by PENHA staff, volunteers and supporters. The photo below is of the walk in 2010 in Thorndon Park in Essex. A further and successful walk took place in 2011.  The work in the International Office is dedicated to support the work in the region. However it is also providing a service to those in Britain and in Europe who are keen to recognise that we all live in One World. |
 |
What's New
|
Mission and Objectives
Add to FavoritesPenha Network: - Art Gallery
©2007 PENHA. All rights reserved.Terms of use Charity Registeration no: 1038957