News

UNU-LRT has received a new cohort of fellows for the 2017 six-month training programme. This year the fellows come from eight different countries: Mongolia (3 fellows) and Uzbekistan (1) in Central Asia and Ethiopia (1), Ghana (3), Lesotho (2), Malawi (1), Niger (1) and Uganda (2) in Africa, 10 men and four women. The UNU-LRT team looks forward to working with this vibrant group of fellows!

At UNU-LRT, we are always delighted to pass on good news from former fellows. Recently, we received news from a few former fellows who have been promoted in their jobs and finished university degrees.

The year 2016 is coming to an end. We would like to send all our friends and collaborators our best wishes for the festive season ahead and a wish for a Happy New Year.

Recently, Mr Ban Ki-moon, UN´s Secretary General attended a meeting with representatives from the four UNU training programmes in Iceland – the Land Restoration, Geothermal, Fisheries and Gender Equality training programmes. The meeting took place at the National Museum of Iceland and the UNU-LRT Director, Dr Hafdis Hanna Aegisdotttir, introduced the activities and missions of the four respective programmes and how they meet the challenges presented in the newly adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The annual six-month training programme came to an end this week when 11 specialists graduated from the programme at a ceremony at Keldnaholt research campus of the Agricultural University of Iceland. The total number of graduated fellows has now reached 87 of which 48% have been women and 52% men. The fellows this year came from seven different countries in Central Asia and Africa: Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Mongolia, Niger and Uganda. Lesotho is a new UNU-LRT partner country and this was the first time that fellows from Lesotho participated in the training programme.

The international conference "Grazing in a changing Nordic region" is held in Reykjavik Iceland this week. The conference brings together specialists, academics and policymakers for an interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and experiences, with the hope to contribute to sustainable management of land utilized for grazing. The fellows in the UNU-LRT six-month training programme participate in the conference and gave a presentation, titled Land tenure and policy implications on grazing: lessons from Africa and Central Asia. Ms Malipholo Eleanor Hae from Lesotho gave the talk on behalf of the UNU-LRT fellows. The talk was very well received and generated stimulating discussion.