Organized and coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the Mid-term Review Meeting of the UNEP-China-Africa Cooperation Program on the Environment was held from 25 to 29, March in Beijing and Lanzhou. The vice dean of  UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD), Prof. Li Fengting and Dr. Wang Hongtao participated the meeting on behalf of Tongji.

Mr. Chen Linhao, Deputy Director General of the Department of International Cooperation, MOST, briefly introduced the background of the Program and conveyed the message from the Chinese government to continually support the cooperation between Chinese and African universities and research institutes. 

Dr. Desta Mebratu, Deputy Director of the Regional Office for Africa, UNEP, expressed his appreciation for China’s support to African countries in the field of water resources. Following his colleague, Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Monem, the Coordinator from UNEP for the Program, made a comprehensive introduction to whole Program and gave a high evaluation to IESD, Tongji University for its achievements on the development and demonstration of new technologies for safe water supply in African countries. 

Prof. Li Fengting reported on the progress made in the drinking water and sewage treatment demonstration projects in Kenya and Ethiopia, as well as on African personnel training for capacity building. African partners of Tongji University (from Kenya and Ethiopia) also introduced the work carried out in water treatment in cooperation with Tongji University. The related partners were invited for a 3-day training workshop and visiting in water treatment facilities in Shanghai.

The UNEP-China-Africa Cooperation Program on the Environment was initiated under the African Ministerial conference on the Environment (AMCEN) and the African Union (AU), sponsored by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and coordinated by the United Nations Environment Programme.

With dramatically increased fund from MOST, the Program has now moved into Phase 2 under the theme of “One River, One Lake, and One Desert”, targeting at the Nile River, Lake Tanganyika and the Sahara Desert” with the target to strengthen African capacity for more sustainable management of limited water resources within the ecosystem approach. The Program includes 6 projects with increased partnership from the Chinese and African experts, covering such areas as water resources planning, safe water supply, water quality and ecosystem monitoring and waste water treatments, drought early warning system and adaptive technologies, water-saving techniques and agricultural mapping, combating desertification.