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Geneva 1 December 2006 : The United States of America today assumes chairmanship of the Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (Seed) Initiative’s board. That was announced by Ibrahim Thiaw, Acting Director General of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) today. The United States of America , a partner of the Seed Initiative is following on the chairmanship of the government of Germany and will remain in this position until 30 November 2007 . “As host organization, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) wishes to congratulate Mr. Jonathan Margolis of the United States Department of State as incoming chair on his election and underline our strong commitment to the Initiative. We wish Mr. Margolis and the other board members great success during the Seed’s second cycle,” Mr Ibrahim Thiaw said. “By supporting locally-driven, sustainable partnerships, the Seed initiative is an important vehicle to practically advance the goals agreed under the Millennium Declaration and Johannesburg Plan of Implementation. We expect that the United States will seek to further enhance the operations and outreach of Seed in order to make it even more successful in achieving these goals,” Thiaw added. The Seed Initiative is a network for action on sustainable development partnerships amongst the World Conservation Union, the United Nations Environment Programme , the United Nations Development Programme , the governments of Germany , Netherlands , South Africa , the United Kingdom , the United States of America , and Swiss Reinsurance Company. “I also wish to thank the government of Germany, and in particular the chairperson Mr. Stephan Contius, for his strong and committed leadership that lay a solid foundation for the future development of the Seed Initiative,” said Thiaw. “Following the success of the Seed Initiative with its first round of awards, Germany led a vigorous institutionalization process for the Seed Initiative. This included the creation of the Seed Initiative Board to provide the strategic and political direction needed to direct the work programme of the Initiative, and to substantially enhance accountability and governance. The Seed initiative is an awards-based incentive scheme and learning tool to encourage local entrepreneurs, communities, companies and others to join forces in partnerships for sustainable development. Seed seeks to inspire, support and increase understanding of locally driven, entrepreneurial partnerships through a cutting-edge programme of work that includes a biennial international award and endowing winners with strategic, targeted support services that endeavor to assist partnerships with their development. Services seek to implement promising ideas brought forth from submissions received from throughout the globe and aims to mitigate some of the many constraints young projects face in the start-up phase. Independent research focuses on the development of international best practice that is fed back to policy makers, practitioners and stakeholders. Further information may be obtained from the Seed Initiative website www.seedinit.org Issued by:
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