By MediaGlobal News Service
25 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: South-South grown solutions will be the focus of December’s South-South Development Expo, an annual event the United Nations Development Programme’s Special Unit for South-South Cooperation plans to launch this year. Like other such events, representatives of public and private development initiatives in developing countries will share hard won knowledge with countries facing similar development constraints. But unlike other forums, this one will be about more than talking, said Yiping Zhou, the unit’s director. “If you want to discuss problems, don’t come here. But if you have a solution-it’s your show. If you have a serious appetite for learning, you come,” Zhou told MediaGlobal, describing the Expo as a development initiative with an entrepreneurial spirit. “It’s about what we have done, and what could be your solution if you are serious,” he said, explaining that rather than giving a country team a few minutes to present the highlights of a successful program, they would be given time to discuss the policies, legislation, budget initiatives and private sector involvement behind it. “The whole idea of the Expo is to give countries the whole stage to explain what happened in the past 20 years,” Zhou said, noting that participants would come away with a greater appreciation for the connections between different policy sectors-for example how achieving greater gender balance in a national assembly might be key to legislating greater public health funding. The Expo will be held December 17-19. The UNDP Administrator, current and former heads of state and several Nobel laureates are among those expected to attend.
MALTA’S WESTIN DRAGONARA RESORT RAISES MONEY FOR WATER SANITATION
24 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The Westin Dragonoara Resort in Malta will hold an event on August 28 to raise funds for the Water for Life project, an effort of both the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Westin Hotels worldwide. Westin Hotels are part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which, along with UNICEF, have raised almost $20 million worldwide since 1995. The event will be a barbeque, and Westin Dragonoara representative Maria Debono told MediaGlobal, “All proceeds from the entrance together with the revenue generated from the bars will be donated to UNICEF, to raise more money we will also be having raffles and all ticket sales will be going to UNICEF.” The fact that the event is held in Malta is significant because, officially, UNICEF does not have offices in Malta. As a Starwood property, the Westin Dragonara has been part of the Check Out for Children program created by UNICEF and Starwood, which previously raised money for immunization for children. During the last year, however, Starwood and UNICEF have reworked the partnership, and in the future, each Starwood brand, Le Meridien, Four Points, Westin, The Luxury Collection, Sherton, St. Regis, and W Hotels, will support a different UNICEF project. Westin Hotels will support UNICEF’s Water for Life project, and all proceeds from the barbeque at the Westin Dragonara will go to Water Sanitation projects.
UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND OFFERS SUPPORT TO FIGHT CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN GUINEA BISSAU
24 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is assisting Guinea Bissau in its fight against cholera, which, according to the Epidemiological Services of the Ministry of Health, infected 1,712 people and killed 36 from its beginning in mid-May to 10 August. In Guinea Bissau, where water sanitation situations are poor, cholera is endemic; this year, similar to past years, it reappeared during the rainy season, which makes it more difficult to contain due to torrential rains. The first outbreak was recorded in Tombali, where it was contained by efforts from UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Ministry of Health of Guinea Bissau. A month later, on 15 June, the first case of cholera was identified in Bissau. Since then, UNICEF has provided the Ministry of Health with supplies, such as 30,000 liters of bleach and other sanitation products, as well as communication materials and radio broadcasts with prevention messages to alert locals of the outbreaks. UNICEF Bissau representative Silvia Luciani told MediaGlobal, “The most critical issue – and one of the interventions that has not yet worked as it should have – remains the follow up of patients at their houses, in order to disinfect the house of each person who has been affected, and ensure that the rest of the family of the person affected do not get cholera or get immediate treatment, and that they know what to do to prevent it.” With this problem identified, UNICEF has made strides in implementing a more systematic way to follow up on patients. Another important aspect of dealing with the cholera outbreaks is finding a long-term prevention strategy, as the outbreaks tend to occur annually. UNICEF hopes to discuss such strategy with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Natural Resources, as well as with groups such as the World Bank that tend to help with infrastructure, to create new measures important to outbreak prevention. According to Luciani, the long-term solution must “ensure that the population knows how to disinfect water and other hygiene practices and that they do it; ensure a regular system of disinfection of water reservoirs and wells based on clear protocols and close monitoring; ensure that the Town System of water distribution is repaired and regularly checked; that a system of garbage collection and environmentally friendly treatment of waste is put in place; that a system of human waste evacuation is put in place.” So far, UNICEF has offered about $750,000 and a team of national and international experts in emergency to support Guinea Bissau’s effort to stop the epidemic.
LINKING RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS PROMOTES CLIMATE ADAPTATION
22 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: As the impact of global climate change grows, reminding people all over the world of the interconnected nature of the planet’s health, information exchanges about changing weather patterns are struggling to keep pace, especially in the world’s least developed countries. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), international climate models and databases are underused in the areas that are most affected by weather aberrations, due to a lack of research and communication capacity in the world’s poorest countries. And while many national and local research institutions are collecting important data, too little of it is being shared between developing countries and regions. To address this problem, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is teaming up with several other organizations to try to shrink these communication gaps by strengthening the connections between Africa’s many climate researchers. By spreading information about expected droughts, storms and other extreme weather patterns, farmers, business owners and governments can better cope with the challenges of a changing climate. In addition, the IDRC project is working to help regional organizations spread the word on successful adaptation strategies, Mary O’Neill of the IRDC’s Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA) program told MediaGlobal. “If you’re researching how different communities are adapting, what are you doing to effectively share your findings so that they can be applied, not just in local circumstances, but possibly in other areas that may have common trends?” Detailed weather reports and data on the effectiveness of mitigation strategies is a critical first step toward sustainable environmental and social policy decisions, she said. Climate change “is a factor that already is threatening the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals,” she said, and while African policymakers are well aware of the issue, “it’s a challenge for individual national leaders, with so many high-priority issues that they have to deal with, to be able to filter in how exactly [they] are going to deal with climate change.”
SOUTHERN AFRICAN LEADERS SIGN GROUNDBREAKING GENDER PROTOCOL
August 21 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: According to numerous studies, gender-based violence is both a cause and a consequence of the growing number of women infected with HIV/AIDS. The relationship between the epidemic and gender-based violence was a prime component of the Protocol on Gender and Development signed by leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) this week. Dr. Nafis Sadik, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary General on HIV/AIDS, told MediaGlobal, “In settings where gender inequalities prevail, women and girls have little power to refuse unprotected sex or negotiate protected sex. HIV programs must include women’s access to female and male condoms, post coital contraception, and post exposure prophylaxis.” Sub-Saharan Africa has a higher mortality rate due to HIV/AIDS than any other region in the world. In recent years, the region’s epidemic has increasingly emerged as a primarily female one. The protocol promotes recognition of the gender-based discrimination and violence fueling the epidemic as well as concrete steps to empower women – for instance, female-controlled prevention methods. “These prevention efforts will be based on an understanding of the underlying gender power relations that fuel the pandemic, the challenges encountered by women in insisting on safe sex and the need for behavior change,” the protocol said. But Dr. Sadik also noted the importance of broader development programs in establishing gender equality. “Laws must be changed or strengthened to prohibit sexual violence against women and girls and to provide them with inheritance rights. Steps must also be taken to ensure that these laws are enforced and women have access to legal aid. At the same time, communities must begin to talk openly about these issues and work towards changing cultural and societal norms that harm women. The role of political leaders in providing space for such discussion is imperative,” she said.
A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR SOME, BUT A NOT SO BRIGHT FUTURE FOR OTHERS
19 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Sometimes, there are two sides to the same coin; in India, there are two stories to the same country. The first tale sounds inspiring: India’s booming economy creating wealth and opportunities. Companies are doing very well. So, what is their secret? Vivek Wadhwa, a Werteim Fellow at the Labor and Worklife Program at the Harvard Law School, has said that companies in India provide training that brings employees to international standards. He’s even said that US companies should learn from India and incorporate more training in order to inculcate skills in their employees. A problem to this is cost, but Wadhwa brushes this aside. “A better trained workforce is more productive and competitive. And it will increase loyalty to the company and reduce turnover. Training is an investment, and this is what they figured out in India,” he told MediaGlobal. But this bright economic success is not reflected throughout India: opportunities do not go to all, and so now we get to the second story, and it’s not pretty. Consider what the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said earlier this month: India has some of the worst child survival rates in the world. As this second India story concludes, one wonders whether UNICEF’s statistics can be reconciled with the colorful picture of the growing prosperity enjoyed by some. The statistics: 2.1 million children in India died in 2006. Why? Because the growing divide between rich and poor is undermining the war against poverty as health care simply cannot reach those who are the worst off.
INDIAN WOMAN’S STORY A FAMILIAR REALITY ACROSS INDIA
19 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The opening of the film’s scene appears calm and colorful: a massive Taj Mahal towering over field after field of greenery below. It looks like a perfect day: the sun seems to be shining and there’s no hint of a cloud in the light blue sky above. But this scene may be too perfect, for it hides a grim reality for young girls in India. One young Indian woman is a part of this reality. She lives in Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. Her name is Vaijanti, and it is her story that is being aired in a new BBC documentary titled ‘No Country for Young Girls’ which has been partly funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). When Vaijanti’s husband found out through a scan that the child Vaijanti was carrying was a girl, he quickly made his intentions clear: he did not want the child. According to Vaijanti, her husband urged her to undergo an abortion, although he denies doing such a thing. In India, the use of ultrasound technology for gender selection is illegal, as is abortion. Now Vaijanti has left her husband and lives with her two daughters. This case is not one of a kind: the problem runs its full course throughout India. With the use of ultrasound technology, parents can determine whether the sex of a baby is male or female, which in turn has resulted in an increase in the number of female fetuses being aborted. “Nobody wants daughters, and medical practitioners oblige these people for money,” Dr. Puneet Bedi, a gynecologist practicing in New Delhi, told MediaGlobal.
UNEP PROGRAMME AIMS AT PROTECTING POLLINATORS TO BOLSTER CROP PRODUCTION
18 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: A new project from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is taking steps to protect pollinators across the world that play an integral role in crop production. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the initiative, which will protect bees, bats, birds and other similar animals that pollinate crops, is a five-year, $26 million plan to combat the recent decline in these pollinator populations across the world. “At present, pollinator declines are well-documented in specific instances in North America and Europe, and amongst the Himalayan indigenous bee species,” Global Pollination Project Coordinator for FAO, Barbara Gemmill told MediaGlobal. “Documented declines in North America and Europe are occurring where agriculture is intensifying, with consequent greater uses of pesticides and larger more uniform fields, and we can logically expect that declines are or will occur in other regions under similar conditions.” The pollinators are an integral part to crop production due to their role of transferring pollen between seed and plants. “FAO will work with partners in the seven participating countries to identify measures that farmers and farming communities can undertake to keep pollinators from declining,” explained Gemmill. “The information developed will then be used in providing guidance to other countries on specific measures that can be used in different cropping systems that promote pollinators.” UNEP hopes that the program can boost pollinator populations and thus help stabilize food security issues for the future.
UNITED NATIONS AGENCIES ASSESS SITUATION OF FLOOD VICTIMS IN VIETNAM
17 August 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: As a result of heavy rains from tropical storm Kammuri, flash floods and landslides have had a devastating effect on the provinces in Northern Vietnam. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who is closely monitoring the developing situation with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the disaster has left 127 dead, 34 missing and 89 injured. In addition, more than 4,500 homes were destroyed, as well as massive destruction of the communities’ paddy fields and crops. “Joint Assessment Teams (JAT) have been deployed (31 teams) in the three most affected provinces: Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Phu Tho. The specialists will assess on the field the impact and damages in crops and gather information about the next harvest season,” Ngugen Viet Lan, UN Communications Officer for UNDP told MediaGlobal. Until then, UNDP is estimating that food assistance will be necessary for at least two months for the most vulnerable areas. UNDP and OCHA are working with other relief organizations to provide the most support possible to flood victims. “While UNDP is supporting the Government to ensure that proper information and strong coordination mechanisms are in place, the World Health Organization (WHO) is assessing the damage and needs in the health sector and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is providing support for water treatment,” according to Lan. With more rains and consequent floods predicted, the UN is supporting the government in disaster preparedness and adaptation due to complications from Climate Change. “Vietnam is a very disaster prone country and global warming will worsen the situation in the years to come,” explained Lan. “Thus, Vietnam must be properly prepared and this is priority for the country.”
GLOBAL HAPPENINGS
For August
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
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