Mentorship Programme Inaugural Welcome Meeting – 2024 Cohort

On Thursday, 29 February 2024 and Friday, 1 March 2024, the Mentorship Programme hosted an online Welcome meeting for all Mentors and Mentees involved in this year’s cohort of the Mentorship Programme. Two meetings were held to account for time zone differences of the attendees and to allow for ease of attendance from across the globe.

Photo: Early Career SG

The Programme offers a mentorship pairing dynamic for all who are involved in the Early Career Specialist Group and the WCEL at large. Early career professionals are able to exchange information and received guidance from more senior professionals within the WCEL. The Programme deeply stresses that this mentoring dynamic is a mutually beneficial opportunity for mentors and mentees to learn from one another and to equally develop in the field of Environmental Law.

The meeting started with an overview of: the Mentorship Programme, the mentor team, the mentor pairing process, and the mentorship guide (accessible through the Google Docs link). From here, the meeting provided information on mentoring in general and what it means within the Programme. By discussing the question “What is mentoring?” the Project Lead and meeting facilitator, Larissa Jane H. Houston, reviewed various mentoring types, what mentoring involves, and stages of the mentorship process. Attendees were asked to engage and interact by answering the question: “What can you gain from a mentoring experience?”, where attendees mentioned the possibilities of knowledge sharing, collaboration or even learning more about the WCEL and its processes. Lastly, to conclude the informative segment of the meeting, the meeting facilitator when through the various steps of the mentoring experience.

As a merger of the Programme tasks, the meeting on 29 February also included a discussion with a guest speaker: Mr. Damsou Kindé – Associate Legal Officer, United Nations Environment Programme. During his discussion, Mr. Kindé (in his personal capacity) gave an overview of his career journey and offered his personal experiences with mentoring.

Speaker profile:

Tell us about yourself:

“I possess cumulative experience in practice of law for 13 years of experience working with international organizations in multiple areas including legal affairs, political affairs, human rights, diplomacy, and environmental issues and I also served in Chad in the public and private sectors. I joined the United Nations Environment Programme in September 2022 as an Associate Legal Officer at Nairobi to provide legal support to the Green Climate Fund Coordination Unit on quality assurance checks of proposals and compliance monitoring of legal instruments. Previously, I worked at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Mauritania as a Legal Programme Specialist, and I provided support to the Sahel Programme in the implementation of the Peace Building Fund Project United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime-International Labour Organization on preventing violent extremism through empowering young people in conflict with the law and strengthening access to rights and justice. I also contributed to the support that the Sahel Programme provides to the G5 Sahel. Thanks to my experience within the African Union Office of the Legal Counsel at Addis Ababa from 2016 to 2019 as an Associate Legal Officer as my first journey in the international system. From December to June 2017, I briefly worked as an International Consultant/Junior Specialist with the United Nations Development Programme - Ethiopia. I was also a Legal Fellow with the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa, a Non-Governmental Organization based in Banjul, The Gambia. Besides, I was a Teaching Assistant and Lecturer at the University of Quebec in Montreal in Canada. I hold a Bachelor and a Master in Law from the Universities of Morocco. I further”

To find out a little about our guest speaker see the questions directed at our speaker below:

1. What inspired you to specialize in the field you work in?
   “While conducting my bachelor project research work, Wangari Muta Maathai’s quote captured my attention and elevated my reflection on to how and what would be my contribution to the sustainable development in general and in particular my legacy to my children: “We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can bequeath our children a sustainable world that benefits all”. Above all my crosscutting experience, I am delighted to contribute or participate in a certain way to the protection of the environment from the legal point of view.”
2. What were some of the key challenges you encountered in your career?
   “The complexity of work in the international system is the daily interactions with various actors during meetings or negotiations. I am cautious whenever assigned to prepare a legal opinion on sensitive case during implementation of project or agreement in a country. It is always good to remember to be diplomatic even the law is hard.”
3. What were some of the key successes you encountered in your career?
   “It is always a tough exercise to praise our own achievements. However, I am happy to be part of the wonderful team that is “rocking” projects and activities in terms of adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate change. One of my best achievements was the negotiation, finalization and signature of the 2nd Master Agreement between UNEP and GCF to continue funding projects in developing countries. I am so lucky to be part of this amazing journey and partnership of these two leading environmental organizations.”
4. What advice would you give your younger self?
   “Patience is a key to a career development. Sometimes, things will turn out as we wish for but through persistence. Climate Change and its impacts on the environment are in the heart of all conversations but actions are few - thus disappointing. I would urge those interested in environmental law career to plan and give themselves more time to learn and be open to learn new things because law or international is constantly evolving. Learning is a lifelong journey! Always be flexible and even if you fail it leads you to grow.”

A huge thank you to all the mentors and mentees that attended this year’s welcome meeting and engaged in a very fruitful discussion. We look forward to continuing the Mentorship Programme with your support and suggestions.

Both recorded sessions are available below:

About the Author:

Larissa Jane H. Houston is a legal researcher at the Research Center for Climate Law (ClimLaw: Graz), University of Graz, Austria. There she provides legal expertise on a number of climate and energy related topics, including: just transitions, public participation in climate policy development and climate and energy policy formulation. She also holds a research position at the University of Podova, Italy, in the ProTECTO(Law) project, focused on the formulation of energy communities across the European Union. Having recently completed her doctoral studies, Ms. Houston will be pursuing a Post Doc at the University of Graz. She is a member of numerous research and leadership initiatives across the globe.