Eco Peace Middle East – environmentalists for peace in the region
Rampoldi, ProMosaik. EcoPeace Middle East
is a unique organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and
Israeli environmentalists. Our primary objective is the promotion of cooperative
efforts to protect our shared environmental heritage. In so doing, we seek to
advance both sustainable regional development and the creation of necessary
conditions for lasting peace in our region. EcoPeace has offices in Amman,
Bethlehem, and Tel-Aviv. We would like to thank Mira for her time. We talked to
her about the important of environment for peace.
was Eco Peace Middle East founded and with which aims?
was founded on December 7, 1994 at an historic meeting held in Taba,
Egypt. We came about as environmental non-governmental organizations from
the Middle East met with the common goal of furthering sustainable development
and peace in their region. For the first time ever, Egyptian, Israeli,
Jordanian and Palestinian environmentalists agreed to join forces in an effort
to promote the integration of environmental considerations into the regional
development agenda.
do you advocate environmental issues at a political level?
EcoPeace’s “top-down”
(advocacy) programs are based on research, on the publication of policy
briefs, and on the holding of events that highlight the national self-interest
of each side in advancing our policy recommendations. Mutual gain is the
focus and goal of our advocacy work vis-a-vis decision makers at the regional
and international levels.
bottom-up strategies do you undertake?
Our bottom-up approach is
about educating local constituencies to call for, and lead, necessary
cross-border solutions to regional water issues. Despite the ongoing conflict, bottom-up
programing facilitates the advancement of community interests in
cross-border environmental solutions
has civil society been responsive so far to your initiatives?
Yes, very much so, and that is
due to our “bottom up” approach, where we work with community members
in our “Good Water Neighbors” (GWN) project. This is what an
external evaluator said about this project: “The GWN’s strategy of long-term
deep work in the communities, sustaining a cross-border communication network,
and insisting on addressing practical tangible results and interests, rather
than just peace or cooperation in general, bears fruits. It changes the
discourse of those involved with the project and many have adopted the
narrative of environmental peacebuilding / cross-border cooperation that the
GWN project advances into their professional and personal lives.”
you cooperate with local authorities and institutions? If yes, how?
Yes. Again, local
authorities and institutions are all part of our community project “Good
Water Neighbors”. We convene meetings with mayors and municipal
representatives from both sides of the border, Israeli, Palestinian and
Jordanian, to discuss shared environmental challenges and work with them to
develop and propose solutions that would benefit them both (all).
Sometimes these meetings are small, if it’s about a more local (but still cross
border) problem, but we also have annual regional meetings, much larger, that
focus on the larger issue of water in the region.
