BACKGROUND
The International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) was established in December 1983. Among its founders were the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. ICIMOD is supported by several core European donors, including Australia, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland, and about thirty co-financing project donors. Based in Kathmandu, Nepal, ICIMOD serves as a regional knowledge and learning center on the sustainable development of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region.
ICIMOD was the first, and remains the only institution to focus exclusively on expanding cooperation among the mountain areas of South and East Asia. This is made possible through knowledge and good practices sharing and the facilitation of collaborative networks and mechanisms. ICIMOD's contribution lies in its comparative advantage as the only international mountain learning and knowledge center in the region. ICIMOD's statutory non-political nature has enabled the Center to bring together scientists, professionals, government officials and civil society in finding integrated solutions to the daunting challenges of mountain role in cross- fertilisation of experiences in the region, providing an interface between national and regional policy-makers and development practitioners, and contributing to the development of appropriate policies on land, water, biodiversity, agriculture and livestock, and social equity, leading to allocation of resources in favour of poor mountain peoples and areas.
Over the last twenty years ICIMOD has become not only a model for technical cooperation and dialogue but also a springboard for data sharing and networking the other difficult mountain regions of the world (such as Central Asia, Caucasus, and Andes) are seeking to emulate. ICIMOD has also played a major role in shaping the global mountain agenda through drafting Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 for the Rio Earth Summit, and providing critical input into the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) at Johannesburg, South Africa and the Bishkek Global Mountains Summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Stan during the International Year Mountains 2002.
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