ECOSF and UNESCO to initiate MAB Programme in Afghanistan

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President of ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro along with Director UNESCO-Pakistan Ms. Vibeke Jensen called upon the Ambassador of The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, H.E. Mr. Janan Mosaz ai on 5th May 2015 to apprise him of a joint initiative in Afghanistan by the two intergovernmental organizations that have a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by their parent organizations (ECO and UNESCO, way back in 1995).

The Afghan Ambassador warmly received the President ECOSF and Director UNESCO-Pakistan, and the formal meeting began with a welcome note by the Ambassador. Subsequently, President ECOSF apprised the Ambassador about the ECOSF's ongoing and planned programmes especially forthcoming activities to be held in Kabul-Afghanistan on Man and Biosphere (MAB) and capacity building of Afghan experts in preparing documents for declaration of Biosphere Reserves (BRs) jointly with UNESCO and National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) of Afghanistan. Director UNESCO shared the details of upcoming MAB-BRs workshop at Kabul and informed that it will be held within the premises of UNESCO-Afghanistan under full security protocol.

President ECOSF also updated the Ambassador on the forthcoming Capacity Building Workshop of Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) in Astana- Kazakhstan, being organized by ECOSF together with its international partners for the promotion of science education wherein, more than 20 international participants from ECO countries, including two participants from Afghanistan will participate.

H.E. Mr. Janan Mosazai appreciated the efforts of ECOSF and UNESCO for tendering importance to war-torn Afghanistan through the planned healthy activities. The Ambassador shared the details of the higher education being provided to Afghan students by Pakistan mainly in the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. He also appreciated the Punjab Government for the collaboration in education and research especially in Agriculture field with Afghanistan for the better tomorrow. He also suggested to ECO Science Foundation for prioritizing agricultural research in the region.

Ms. Vibeke added more into the conversation by discussing the upcoming capacity building workshops on Disaster Management in collaboration with Afghan meteorological colleagues to save this earth from unpredictable disasters to some extent by early forecasting.

H.E Mr. Janan Mosazai assured his full support to Prof. Soomro to have his meetings arranged with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Academy of Sciences, Higher Education Commission, Kabul and Qandhar University, during his planned visit for MAB workshop to Kabul Afghanistan.