Regional Environment Office for East Africa

General:  The staff members of the Regional Environment Office for East Africa (REO) report on trans-boundary environmental issues in a fourteen-nation region; advocate USG positions in international negotiations with key East African decision-makers; represent USG environmental, technical and scientific agencies; and implement projects funded by various USG agencies.
 
Principal Activities  REO activities promote regional cooperation on water sharing; biodiversity; land, coastal and marine resource management; and the control of infectious diseases in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Comoros.

Water-Sharing: the Nile Basin Initiative  The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is a regional organization made up of the ten countries that share the waters of the Nile River and its tributaries. These states are: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo-Kinshasa. The REO reports on the efforts of these ten states to develop the Nile Basin in a mutually beneficial and consensual manner.

Biodiversity: Collaboration with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service East Africa is world renowned for its flora & fauna. The U.S. government allocates funds for international conservation projects to protect specific species through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. REO/East Africa works closely with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service on projects to protect African Elephants, Mountain Gorillas, Chimpanzees & Cheetahs. REO/East Africa is also assisting a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service project to create a genetic database of African Elephants. REO/East Africa also works with the State Department's Office of Ecology & Terrestrial Conservation on issues relating to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Land, Coastal & Marine Resource Management Regional cooperation is strengthened when neighboring countries work in concert to address common environmental threats (i.e. desertification) or to benefit from common environmental opportunities (i.e. eco-tourism). REO/East Africa implements activities that assist countries in the region to cooperate in the enforcement of marine fisheries policies; protection of coral, sea turtles and other endangered marine species; and the preservation of trans-boundary & international watershed forests.

Control of Infectious Diseases: The HIV/AIDS Scourge REO/East Africa is involved in inter-agency efforts to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and address the needs of those who suffer from it. In this regard, REO/East Africa works with the State Department's Office of Emerging Infectious Diseases and relevant USG agencies. REO/East Africa efforts have included a report on HIV/AIDS awareness among drivers and their "service industry" along the heavily traveled Ethiopia-Djibouti truck corridor and funding of a public awareness program employing performance troupes made up of AIDS orphans.