Seven communities from throughout the tropics Thursday received international recognition as winners of the United Nations Equator Prize 2004. The Prize honours their extraordinary work to reduce human poverty while conserving biological wealth.
Following deliberations by an international Jury, including economist Jeffrey Sachs, Nobel Peace Prize winners Oscar Arias and Rigoberta Menchu, Yolanda Kakabadse of IUCN, and Princess Basma of Jordan, seven winners were announced for the prestigious Equator Prize 2004.
Representatives from the winning communities each received 30.000 US dollars at a special gala ceremony held on the closing day of the Seventh Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The winners are: Proyecto Nasa from Colombia; Comunidad Indigena de Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro from Mexico; GREEN Foundation from India; Bunaken National Park Management Advisory Board and Bunaken Concerned Citizens Forum from Indonesia; Rufiji Environment Management Project from Tanzania; and Torra Conservancy from Namibia.
Sociedade Civil Mamiraua, from Brazil, received a prize for successfully reconciling biodiversity conservation with local livelihoods in conjunction with a World Heritage Site.
Full details on the seven winners, and all 26 finalists, are available on the Equator Initiative website.
Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of UNDP said of the Prize:
– The finalists for the Equator Prize 2004, and the countless communities and grassroots groups engaged in similar work around the world, are at the forefront of efforts to forge a more sustainable future for our planet. They demonstrate how partnerships between individuals, communities, governments and civil society can reap huge dividends for both local livelihoods and the environment.
– They also offer us outstanding examples of the many ways in which local people throughout the world are taking on the challenge of achieving the Millennium Development Goals community by community.
The winners were selected from 26 finalist projects, which were themselves chosen from a total of 340 nominations from 66 tropical nations.
During the Awards Ceremony, speaker Charles McNeill of UNDP stated:
– The nominations for the Equator Prize 2004 reveal the types of community-led partnerships that are best able to tackle the most pressing development challenges of our time and show that the targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals are truly attainable.
Over the past two weeks, representatives of the 26 finalist communities have been sharing their experiences at the seventh Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Malaysia. Together with a host of other community delegates from around the world, they have been based at the Equator Initiatives “Community Kampung” – an innovative forum for local-local and local-global dialogue at the heart of the Conference venue.
– We believe that the convergence of local and global leaders at the Community Kampung during this global biodiversity meeting has served to put community interests and community-centred development at the forefront of the international conservation agenda, says Sean Southey, Manager of UNDPs Equator Initiative.
– The lessons that these communities have identified over the course of the Conference will form the basis for the Equator Initiatives continuing work, added he.
About the Equator Initiative
The Equator Initiative, launched on 30 January 2002, focuses on the region between 23.5 degrees north and 23.5 degrees south of the Equator, an area that contains the worlds greatest concentrations of human poverty and biological wealth.
The initiative promotes a worldwide movement to reduce poverty and conserve biodiversity by recognizing local achievements, and by working to ensure that local sustainable development successes inform global policy development.
Nine partner organizations have joined with UNDP to form the Equator Initiative: Brasil Connects, the Government of Canada, Conservation International, The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Development Research Centre, IUCN – the World Conservation Union, The Nature Conservancy, Television Trust for the Environment, and the United Nations Foundation.
About the Equator Prize 2004
The biennial Equator Prize recognizes and honours outstanding community projects that work to reduce poverty through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.
The Prize pays tribute to the fact that local communities throughout the developing world are achieving remarkable results in their grassroots efforts to promote sustainable economic development and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Seven cash awards of 30.000 US dollars are presented, with one given especially to a community working in conjunction with a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
UNDP about UNDP:
UNDP is the UNs global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.
UNDP are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and its wide range of partners.
Kilde: Pressemeddelelse fra UNDP
