[Column]Korean Institute Reaches Out to AFRICA

By Edu Inam

<Edu Inam is research fellow of the International Environmental Research Center at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology.>

The International Environmental Research Center (IERC) at the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Korea, which operates the United Nations University (UNU) and GIST (GIST) Joint Program on Science and Technology for Sustainability has a major mandate to carry out research and training on science and technology for environmental sustainability and has initiated a program for Sub-Saharan Africa.

The program is tagged ``The United Nations University Initiative on Solid Waste and Wastewater Management Systems in Africa (UNU-ISWWMSA),’’ and was conceived in line with emerging global interest in Sub-Saharan Africa to improve the quality of life and facilitate the completion of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing fast-paced economic development but does not have adequate data, analytical systems and appropriate technology to establish a regulatory framework, policies, technical guidance systems, data management systems/research support and compliance enforcement that are necessary to control the environmental and human health impacts of solid waste and wastewater discharges.

Due to these deficiencies, mounds of trash and solid industrial wastes are often found in many Sub-Saharan African cities and regions. Industrial effluents from numerous small-medium scale factories and other businesses are commonly released without treatment, into surface water and other sensitive areas.

The region exhibits a wide variability in physiography, culture, rainfall patterns, vegetation and ecological sensitivity to contaminant deposition. Both surface water and groundwater are rarely treated before domestic use, with the attendant health problems.

Inter media transfer of contaminants, exemplified by deposition of wind-blown dusts and solid waste particles into rivers and ponds, contributes to surface water contamination. The World Bank, World Health Organization and other international agencies have found that drinking water pollution claims hundreds of thousands of lives in Sub-Saharan Africa, annually.

As population growth and socioeconomic factors induce urbanization rates that exceed 4 percent annually, the inadequacy of waste management systems will continue to pose environmental and health risks to millions of people in the region.

Therefore, the overall objective of this GIST led initiative is to build management systems, analytical and technical support capacity, educational support systems and the resource base necessary to effectively plan, execute, and maintain appropriate solid waste and waste water management systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Central to this objective are the generation, compilation, and analyses of data through research and training, to enable the selection and implementation of cost-effective options by decision makers in public agencies, the private sector and other supporting organizations.

The programme covers educational aspects that will involve student researched mini-projects, exchanges and internships at participating universities, stakeholder engagement workshops and database development in French, English and Portuguese. The utility of this programme covers capacity-building on policy-making, technical systems implementation and education of environmental management professionals.

The initiative will require funding as contributions by national and international agencies and the private sector in both the technologically advanced and developing countries, through the UNU & GIST Joint program with a five year implementation period.

This initiative will be jointly managed and directed by the directors of United Nations University and Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology Joint Programme on Science and Technology for Sustainability, Korea (UNU & GIST); United Nations University Institute of Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA), Ghana and the Global Institute for Energy and Environmental Systems (GIEES) of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA who have jointly signed a letter of Agreement to this effect.

While the implementation will involve a consortium of academic and research institutions, public and private sector organisation within Sub-Saharan Africa will assist.

Again, GIST through its UNU Joint Programme is demonstrating great leadership in dealing with environmental sustainability problems in one of the earth’s undeveloped region.

<언론보도 현황>
-The Korea Times, Thursday, May 15, 2008