Announcing New CEESP Appointments

Ramiro Batzin, CEESP member and with the indigenous peoples organization, Sotzil, joins the IUCN Council.

As noted in previous newsletters, Indigenous Peoples Organizations’ (IPOs) members of IUCN have been very active as new members. They convened a meeting in March 2018 to develop a strategy for IUCN and have been engaging

 across IUCN very actively. As a result of their meetings, the IPO members requested that an IPO Council be appointed to Council. They nominated Ramiro Batzin, Maya Kaqchikel from Guatemala and Executive Director of IUCN member organization Sotzil. The request was approved by Council in May and Ramiro attending his first IUCN Council meeting in October in Jeju, South Korea.

Please join meet in congratulating Ramiro on his appointment and our IPO members.

 

Jenny Springer - Director, Global Programme on Governance and Rights at IUCN

I am delighted to inform you that, Jenny Springer has been appointed to the position of Director – Global Programme on Governance and Rights at IUCN. Jenny assumed the on 29^th October and will be based in the Washington DC duty station.

Jenny is a cultural anthropologist with over 20 years of experience working on rights-based approaches to conservation, indigenous and community land rights, and community-based natural resource management. She has been a long-standing and active member of CEESP.  Since 2016, she has led the development of the IUCN Natural Resource Governance Framework as Chair of the CEESP Theme on Governance, Equity, and Rights.

In her new role, Jenny will focus on leading and positioning the Global Programme on Governance and Rights with respect to:

a) the promotion, adoption, and application of the Natural Resource Governance Framework as a best practice, conservation standard for equitable, inclusive and effective decision-making

b) ensuring that IUCN maintains and further enhances its reputation as a recognized authority in gender equality as it relates to conservation and natural resource management

c) support the IUCN membership from Indigenous Peoples Organizations to fully implement and build upon the Indigenous Peoples strategy, facilitating collaborative engagement with other parts of the Secretariat, Commissions and Membership as required.

d) Supporting the Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy in the delivery and application of social science knowledge required for the successful implementation of the IUCN programme

Barbara Nakangu - Senior Programme Officer, Global Programme on Governance and Rights

Barbara Nakangu has been appointed to the position of Senior Programme Officer – Global Programme on Governance and Rights. She will start her position in mid-December.

Barbara is a Ugandan national with over 15 years’ experience working on development and conservation issues both in Uganda and regionally A member of CEESP, Barbara has been engaged in the development of the NRGF through the working group whilst also being an associate to the Uganda office during her PhD period.

In her new role, Barbara will be based in the Washington office and focus on leading programme development and implementation of work on governance and rights issues and integration of social science within the IUCN Programme.

Jessica Campese -  Chair, the Natural Resource Governance Framework (NRGF)

With Jenny’s transition to IUCN, I have appointed CEESP member Jessica Campese as Chair of NRGF. Jessica has actually been working on NRGF since its inception at the WCC in Jeju so it’s only appropriate that she take on this new role as Chair of NRGF. Jessica will work closely with the NRGF working group and with Barbara when she assumes her roles as Senior Programme Officer for Governance and Rights in December.

Jessica is a social science researcher, writer, and activist with over ten years’ experience working on natural resource governance and environmental justice. She has worked with a wide range of civil society organizations at the local, national, and international level. Currently based in the Washington, D.C. area, she is a part-time consultant and full-time parent of two environmental-justice activists-in-training. She has also lived and worked in Tanzania and Switzerland, including volunteering and consulting with Tanzanian CSOs on research and advocacy for more just and effective natural resource governance. She has a Master’s in Public Policy and has worked on human rights-based approaches to conservation with IUCN’s Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy (CEESP) as a Fulbright Scholar in 2007.

Mersie Ejigu appointed CEESP Regional Vice Chair for Africa

Mersie Ejigu is from Ethiopia has over forty years’ experience in strategic planning, policy development, capacity building, program formulation and evaluation at the global, regional and national levels. During the past two and half decades, his focus has been on sustainable development, more specifically on nature conservation; environment, security, and development linkages (macro and micro levels), climate change and sustainable bioenergy. Mersie has been an active member of CEESP and was a former Regional Vice Chair.