USAFRICOM Water and Environmental Symposia (2013-2019)

Principal Investigator:                         Dr. Lakhdar Boukerrou

                                                           Director, International Program and Global Initiatives

Faculty Contact Information:              lboukerr@fiu.edu | Tel: 305-348-5976

Department:                                       Dean’s Office

Funding Agency:                                USAFRICOM

Partners:                                            USAFRiCOM | USGS | CDC | NavFac | US Army Corps of Engineers

From 2013 to 2019, Dr. Boukerrou has served as a resource person for USAFRICOM Environmental Program.  As such, he has either organized or been instrumental in organizing a water-energy-environmental security symposium funded by USAFRICOM in a number of countries including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Malawi, and Uganda with others which are in the planning stage (Sierra Leone, Morocco).  He also serves as a subject matter expert and moderator at these international events and has been able to raise funds locally to provide co-funding for such events.  In addition, to US government agencies (CDC, USGS, NAVFAC, etc.), these events have been held in collaboration with African academic institutions, African government agencies, international organizations as well as local non-governmental organizations. They involve local and US speakers. The goal of these events is to strengthen the capacity of the participants to respond and address water environmental-related issues/emergencies by collaboratively identifying opportunities to improve interagency cooperation, enhance the institutional framework, and foster communication among the participants.  Participants at these events usually include military and civilian subject matter experts from the host country and the U.S.  The events which typically last three to four days consist of exercises, lectures, and facilitated discussion.  Findings and recommendations from these events focus on enhancing cooperation between civilian and military organizations in the host country to address the most important issues addressed by the symposium. For presentations made by Dr. Boukerrou at these events please click here.