By MediaGlobal News Service
5 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Amid rising global climate change concerns, the people of Timor-Lesté’s Atauro Island and Alieu District took part in a three-year pilot program by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) to introduce solar energy as sustainable energy option for rural communities. In this program, participating members of the community paid just $1.80 a month to use the solar lanterns that would be their primary energy source yielding a successful net savings of $1800 a year at the close of the program, according to UNDESA. “The project has achieved successfully – certainly in a difficult operational context, typical of a post-conflict country – all its time bound objectives,” Diane Loughran, Senior Communications Officer for the Under-Secretary General of UNDESA told MediaGlobal of the program. Loughran also praised the program for having “succeeded to address the social and financial components through community development, such as water users groups and solar management committees.” She added that the technical manuals and training have been developed in the local language, Tetun. While this program has proved to be a success, as to whether such programs will be implemented in other countries, there are “no plans so far,” according to Loughran, “but the UNDESA office in East Timor – with the support of UNDESA Headquarters – has spent a lot of energy to try to expand the project.”
FUNDS FOR HIV/AIDS DROPS ABSTINENCE REQUIREMENT
31 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: This week, United States President George Bush approved a bill funding $48 billion to be used in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. After lengthy Congressional negotiations, the former requirement that one-thirds of the funds be used to promote abstinence-only education programs has been dropped. “Studies have shown that abstinence-only programs have failed to prevent AIDS. People are unable to maintain abstinence, and the US has put money into programs that have failed,” Kate Krauss, Spokesperson at Physicians for Human Rights, told MediaGlobal. Why have abstinence-only programs failed? “When people plan to not have sex, they don’t protect themselves when they do have it, which puts them at high risk of HIV/AIDS,” Krauss said.
PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION LINKS MEDIA TO POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION
30 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission is taking a closer look at the role of independent media in establishing and maintaining peace. The Commission is keeping an eye toward building on its experiences supporting local radio stations in several post-conflict areas, Jeremy King of the Peacebuilding Support Office told MediaGlobal. “In most post-conflict countries I personally believe that strengthening the local media capability is a fundamental element of building an new society, and most members of the Peacebuilding Commission would agree with that,” Carolyn McAskie, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support told MediaGlobal during a briefing of reporters at the United Nations on Wednesday. While the Peacebuilding Commission doesn’t run media programs, it does help fund them. “For example, there’s a project in Sierra Leone where we’re supporting the local radio, and [in the] Central African Republic, there are a couple of projects in the pipeline related to supporting local media,” McAskie added. A working group on lessons learned is in the works for this fall, where the applicability of programs similar to UN Radio in Sierra Leone would be considered for other post-conflict countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, King said.
UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND LAUNCHES TETANUS CAMPAIGN IN MADAGASCAR
30 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) partnered with the Government of Madagascar to launch a tetanus campaign targeting 830,000 women 15 to 49-years-old. Tetanus is a deadly disease, causing about five to seven percent of all neonatal deaths – all of which could be avoided with a simple vaccination. UNICEF Madagascar External Communication Specialist Sara Johansson told MediaGlobal, “Immunization of pregnant women also protects the newborn for several months against tetanus.” By targeting women of childbearing age, the campaign aims to protect children in their vulnerable first months of life. UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman, at the launch of the tetanus campaign in Andilamena, said, “Death due to tetanus is painful, but one visit to the local health center for a simple immunization can help save a baby’s life.” The campaign targets areas with the lowest immunization coverage and the highest risk. Johansson said, “An assessment, looking at different indicators, such as tetanus toxoid two coverage, clean delivery coverage, etc., is conducted and districts are then classified as high risk for tetanus or not.”
NEW SEED ASSOCIATION IN CENTRAL ASIA AIMS TO CREATE SEED SECURITY
30 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Seed Association has been established in Ankara to improve seed security for farmers in Central Asia. Currently, only half of the cultivable land in all ECO countries – Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – is being farmed. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Seed Expert Michael Larinde told MediaGlobal that the new association aims to create a mechanism “to ensure that adequate quantity of seed are made available to farmers at affordable price, at the right place, and at the right time.” The association will aid in the creation of a mechanism to ensure that farmers receive seed that works in their specific agro-ecological conditions. Larinde said, “The association will facilitate membership of the countries in important international conventions and treaties that relates to seed exchange, production and trade.” Such coordination between ECO countries is important because, generally, they all have similar agro-ecological conditions. Additionally, the conventions will allow for a wider range of seed varieties coming from different countries to be shared at a local level. The ECO Seed Association was established earlier this month with help from the FAO and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and will soon make seeds available to millions of farmers in the ECO region. Ultimately, the association aims to help with the issue of food security because, according to Larinde, “Seed security is a prerequisite for food security.”
POST-CRISIS MYANMAR FACES LONG TERM CHALLENGES
28 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: As relief efforts in Myanmar shift from crisis response to long-term reconstruction, significant challenges remain. Three months after Cyclone Nargis decimated the agricultural heartland of this small South Asian country, leaving 140,000 dead or missing, life is slowly returning to some degree of normalcy, John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator told reporters Monday, following his most recent visit to the area. Relief efforts have been far-reaching, and houses, hospitals and schools are being rebuilt at an encouraging pace. “We have reached virtually everyone with something,” Holmes said. “What we have not done yet is reach everyone with what they need, and that’s the main challenge for the next few months.” Agricultural aid will be among the top priorities over the coming weeks and months. With as much as 85 percent of the country’s seed stocks destroyed and many farmers killed by the storm, leaving behind wives and children with little knowledge of planting and harvesting, Myanmar’s agricultural industry needs to be rebuilt. “One of the encouraging things I did see was the extent to which fields were being plowed and planted, despite all the difficulties,” Holmes told MediaGlobal. As a rule, the extended family of farmers or fishermen who were lost in the storm have come to the aid of the survivors. “There are not fields that are being totally abandoned because the family’s disappeared. There’s usually someone else to move in and try to resume planting,” he said. Rebuilding the country’s seed stocks will be critical to the region’s future food security, Holmes noted. “That is one of the big issues—how to revive farming livelihoods, and there’s a major attempt to revive as much of it as possible before the current planting season ends, which is in a couple of weeks’ time,” he said. “But also there will be major effort over the next six months to make sure everything’s in place for the next planting season.”
SOUTH AFRICAN HERO HIGHLIGHTES POVERTY AND AIDS CHALLENGES
28 July 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Music stars joined Nelson Mandela, the hero who led the fight against apartheid in South Africa, on stage at a recent concert in London’s Hyde Park to celebrate his 90th birthday. But the concert also held a somber note — a frail Mandela highlighted poverty and HIV/AIDS, two challenges that South Africa faces. “Where there is poverty and sickness including AIDS, there is more work to be done. Our work is for freedom for all,” he told the crowd. Still, the country has had some successes in the war against poverty. “Between 1996 and 2007, poverty in South Africa decreased,” Marius Roodt, Researcher at the South African Institute of Race Relations, told MediaGlobal. Indeed, according to Global Insight Southern Africa, 4.3 percent of South Africans were living on less than $1 a day in 1996. But the situation 11 years later tells a different story. In 2007, the figure stood at two percent. Mandela’s brand of freedom is not only limited to those who live in poverty, but also those who are affected by disease. A 2007 report titled ‘A Lethal Cocktail’ authored by the Institute of Security Studies and Transparency International declared that 30 percent of South Africa’s population is infected by HIV/AIDS. This high prevalence rate and the ensuing consequences of the unfolding disaster was emphasized by one of the stars performing at the concert. Annie Lennox performed on stage while wearing a T-shirt that said ‘HIV Positive,’ thereby supporting Mandela’s fight against the disease. “We must do something to prevent a virtual genocide upon your people,” she said.
GLOBAL HAPPENINGS
For August
Children and HIV/AIDS: Action Now, Action How
Mexico City, Mexico (1-2 August 2008): As the HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to increase the vulnerability of children, the symposium Children and HIV/AIDS: Action Now, Action How is an urgent call to collective action on behalf of children affected by AIDS.
Website: http://www.teresagroup.ca/mexico/
25th International AIDS Conference
Mexico City, Mexico (3-8 August 2008): AIDS 2008 will provide many opportunities for the presentation of important new scientific research and for productive, structured dialogue on the major challenges facing the global response to AIDS. Conference organizers are developing a wide variety of session types that meet the needs of various participants and support collective efforts to expand delivery of HIV prevention and treatment to communities worldwide. Central to many of these sessions will be the transfer of knowledge and sharing of best practices.
Website: http://www.aids2008.org/mainpage.aspx?pageId=276
Improving International Potato Production Conference
Scotland (8 August 2008): The Improving International Potato Production (IIIP) conference is Scotland’s main event during the 2008 UN Year of the Potato. Among the conference speakers will be Dr Pamela Anderson, the Director General of the International Potato Centre in Peru, and Dr Mike Storey, the Head of Research and Development at the Potato Council. The rapidly increasing importance of China in the global potato industry will be recognized by the presence at the conference of a high level Chinese delegation. Its members will be visiting the UK as part of the UK – China Development Dialogue 2008.
Website: http://www.scri.ac.uk/events/forthcomingevents/iiip2008
Fourth World Youth Congress
Québec, Canada: Laval University (10-21 August 2008): The 4th World Youth Congress will bring together 600 of the world’s most dynamic young activists in the field of sustainable development from 120 different countries. Delegates will join forces with young Canadians to undertake hands-on community action projects across Quebec, and will help shape international policy by documenting and showing governments what young people are doing to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. CIDA participates in the event.
Website: http://www.wyc2008.qc.ca/index.php?rand=584811289
International Youth Day: Youth and Climate Change – Time for Change
Worldwide (12 August 2008): International Youth Day gives the world an opportunity to recognize the potential of youth, to celebrate their achievements, and plan for ways to better engage young people to successfully take action in the development of their societies. It presents a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to rally together to ensure that young people are included in decision-making at all levels. The selection of this theme for IYD 2008 is in recognition of the fact that climate change has already begun to devastate communities and deepen the effects of poverty and hunger. This situation complicates the challenges that youth face. However, young people are increasingly adding their voices to the call for action on climate change.
Website: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/iyouthday.htm
Botswana – PIV International Festival – Collaborative Performances
Maitisong, Maru A Pula School (14-15 August 2008): Performers from Botswana, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Africa, UK, Zambia and Zimbabwe will come together and produce collaborative pieces.
Website: http://www.britishcouncil.org/africa-events.htm?&page=&showDetails=1&detailsid=1574
Creating Values for Sustainable Development
Basel, Switzerland (21-22 August 2008): Following the outstanding success of the 1st International Sustainability Conference ISC 2005 in Basel, the organizers – the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland and the University of Basel – are organizing a follow-up conference. The theme of this 2nd International Sustainability Conference is “Creating Values for Sustainable Development”. From a socio-economic perspective we take this to be one of the major tasks and challenges with regard to the expected societal transformation processes toward sustainability.
Website: http://www.isc2008.ch/index.htm
World Water Week
Stockholm, Sweden (17-23 August 2008): The World Water Week in Stockholm is the leading annual global meeting place for capacity-building, partnership-building and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development. The theme of the week is Progress and Prospects on Water: For a Clean and Healthy World with Special Focus on Sanitation.
Website: http://www.worldwaterweek.org/
Understanding Chronic Poverty and Poverty Dynamics in Rural Bangladesh
Dhaka (19 August 2008): This workshop will present results of various phases of this research project, which has used an innovative mix of focus group, life history and quantitative survey methods; and discuss their implications for research design and public policy.
Website: http://www.chronicpoverty.org/38/event-details.php
UNU: WIDER Project Workshop on Entrepreneurship and Economic Development: Concepts, Measurements, and Impacts
Helsinki, Finland (21-23 August 2008): Entrepreneurship is important for structural economic change, growth, and ultimately for improving human well-being. Governments and development agencies are recognizing the need to build entrepreneurial capacity. This can gain from a better understanding of the role of entrepreneurship in economic development. Topics include: The concept and measurement of entrepreneurship in the context of developing countries; the channels through which entrepreneurship drives economic structural transformation and growth and institutional development; the advantages and disadvantages of small, micro, and medium sized firms as vehicles for entrepreneurship in developing countries; the impact of female entrepreneurs, and the constraints and opportunities they face in developing countries; entrepreneurship’s spatial contexts: local and regional development, and urbanization; the policy challenge for supporting and developing entrepreneurship.
Website: http://www.wider.unu.edu/events/project-meetings/en_GB/21-08-2008/
21st World Congress of Rehabilitation International
Québec, Canada: Centre des Congrès de Québec (25-28 August 2008): The 21st World Congress of Rehabilitation International will bring together people with disabilities, human rights activists, experts, government representatives, service providers and leaders of civil society from all continents. The event provides an opportunity to discuss key questions with respect to people with physical, intellectual or mental disabilities, and to form or reinforce partnerships. CIDA supports the participation of delegates at this event.
Website: http://ewasteguide.info/newsandevents/2nd-in
Development agencies and non-governmental organizations are welcome to send details of upcoming conferences for inclusion in our HAPPENINGS column.
Contributors: Nosh Nalavala, Sheana Laughlin, Adelia Saunders, Shipra Prakash, Emily Geminder, Alina Haddad, Nadia Khan and Gabrielle Wade
MediaGlobal is a leading provider of information on global development issues facing vulnerable countries in Africa and Asia. Leaders of developed countries, the global media (with media in developing countries), policymakers in donor countries, non-governmental organizations, Permanent Representatives of Missions to the United Nations and key personnel in the United Nations Secretariat, its agencies and managers in the field worldwide read MediaGlobal’s newswire stories. Contact: media@mediaglobal.org . media@mediaglobal.org . United Nations, Room S-301, New York, NY 10017. Tel: (212) 963-9878. Fax: (609) 716-1297 Website: www.mediaglobal.org
Email: Nosh Nalavala at media@mediaglobal.org