ASREN Participates in Symposium in Victoria Falls

ASREN Participates in Symposium in Victoria Falls

Posted on: 13 Dec, 2023

Abu-Ghazaleh: ASREN is Building an Arab World Infrastructure for Research and Education Infrastructure

VICTORIA FALLS –  The first Symposium of the AfriGEOSS Initiative was hosted by the Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ). African nations presented their readiness to commit to mobilizing the Earth observation community to contribute to the implementation of the Africa Space Policy and Strategy. The African Heads of State at the 26th African Union Summit, which was held in January 2016, adopted the strategy.

Representing ten Arab countries in the African continent, the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN), chaired by HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, participated in this symposium to extend the collaboration between researchers and research organization that work on Earth observation in these countries with the rest of the groups by providing them with necessary e-Infrastructures.

AfriGEOSS, an initiative of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO), was formed in 2014 to coordinate access and use of Earth observations from satellites, airborne and ground- and marine-based systems across the African continent. The 27 AfriGEOSS members are focusing their efforts on data access and dissemination, forest management, food security, urban planning and water resources management, as well as contributing to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in Africa.

The AfriGEOSS Symposium, "Earth Observations for the Africa We Want", concentrated on ensuring that AfriGEOSS activities respond to the broader African agendas and objectives, including the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063. Minister Ambassador HE Mr. S.K. Moyo of Zimbabwe opened the proceedings stating: “Earth Observation and Geo-Information Science provide ample tools to tackle issues to do with the prediction and response to natural disasters such as droughts and floods.” HE Mr. Moyo cited the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments: “Earth Observation is of critical value to the planet and Africa is rated as most vulnerable to changes in climate.”

Additional outcomes of the symposium include a commitment to establish national GEO mechanisms in the AfriGEOSS nations to leverage existing Earth observations investments, as well as improve the use of Earth observations for evidence-based policy formulation and decision-making. The participants also pledged to improve communication and outreach to the broader society about the value and benefits of Earth observations to the daily lives of people across the continent.

GEO Director Ms. Barbara J. Ryan urged all of the national and regional institutions to contribute their data resources to GEO’s global data infrastructure in order to broaden African access to, and dissemination of, critical Earth observation data.

In closing remarks, Dr. Philemon Mjwara, Director General of the South African Department of Science and Technology, indicated: “As Africans we have demonstrated that passion, as shown in the last three days, even without financial resources, can make things happen,” and pledged that the AfriGEOSS leadership “shall go out and secure the financial resources so that the ideas coming out of the symposium are realized and AfriGEOSS is implemented.”