The Foundation’s environmental program targets civil-society and state-sponsored actors, whose environmental consciousness is strengthened and promoted. The Foundation also supports specific partner organisations in their project activities in the areas of resource protection, environmental education, and environmental lobbying, thus striving for enhanced consciousness on environmental problems among the population in the region. -> Recent articles and publications from and about Africa.
With its "Environmental Program", the Heinrich Böll Foundation contributes to protection of natural resources and sustainable development in the region. The goal is to strengthen the role of state and civil-society environmental organisations in political decision-making processes. In this, the key is to expand specialist knowledge and stills of the actors on environmental issues and policies. Also, networking between the state and civil-society levels should be improved; this will enable synergistic effects through better information exchange and communication.
As such, the Foundation’s environmental program targets civil-society and state-sponsored actors, whose environmental consciousness is strengthened and promoted. The Foundation also supports specific partner organisations in their project activities in the areas of resource protection, environmental education, and environmental lobbying, thus striving for enhanced consciousness on environmental problems among the population in the region.
Furthermore, the regional office in Nairobi regularly organises discussion forums and compiles studies and publications on specific topics. These forums enable exchanges between civil-society and state actors on the national, regional and international levels on current environmental and sustainable development issues. Events on preparation for and follow-up to international events and developments (e.g., WSSD, NEPAD, WTO and World Social Forum) offer civil-society actors from all of Africa the opportunity for targeted preparation for effective participation in international debates on strategies of sustainable development.
The Heinrich Böll Foundation’s project partners in its Horn of Africa environmental program include:
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state institutions ("The Environmental Protection Authority of Addis Ababa City Administration," "Ministry for Pastoral Development and Environment" in Somaliland),
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lobbying organisations (e.g., "Forum for Environment"),
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organisations concerned with public relations and outreach activities (PANOS) and with sensitising the population on certain environmental issues ("Agricultural Development Organisation," "Candlelight for Health and Education").
With the support of the Foundation, the Kenyan NGO "Green Belt Movement" (GBM) carries out a "Society of Greens" project, which features public discussion forums on current environmental issues, with the goal of establishing a Green movement in Kenya.
In areas where environmental destruction negatively affects the living conditions of the people and leads to an increase in conflicts, those affected must develop a consciousness for the problem; they must also be given the opportunity to protest and summon the courage to do so. The Heinrich Böll Foundation promotes this in its environmental program, thus contributing to sustainable development in the region.