International Programs
http://www.aaas.org//programs/international/caip/notes/august/Worldnws.shtml
News
Canadian Agrologists Assist Agriculture Development
Agricultural professionals from a wide range of disciplines are involved in six projects overseas designed to enhance training and professional agriculture in developing countries.
The participants, all members of the Agricultural Institute of Canada (AIC) either through their provincial institutes or through affiliated scientific societies, have committed themselves to a volunteer effort that is paying huge dividends in terms of food security, sustainable use of soil resources and long-term professional development in nine countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
While the administrative costs of the projects are funded by a twinning arrangement between the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and AIC, the Canadian coordinators of the projects and others who assist them, undertake the work as volunteers on their own time and without remuneration.
The six projects currently being undertaken under the CIDA-AIC Twinning Program are:
- Costacan Soil Conservation - Canadian Society of Soil Science (CSSS) and the Costa Rican Association of Soil Science (ACCS).
- Guyana/Caribbean Dairy Sector Development - Canadian Society of Animal Science (CSAS) and the Caribbean Research and Development Association (CARESDA)
- Sri Lanka Soil Conservation and Mapping - Canadian Society of Soil Science (CSSS) and the Soil Science Society of Sri Lanka (SSSSL)
- CSE/TSAEE Youth Microenterprise - Canadian Society of Extension (CSE) and the Tanzania Society of Agricultural Extension and Education (TSAEE)
The purpose of the project was to advance the
professional development of agricultural education and extension staff
in both Tanzania and Canada by stimulating interchange between the two
countries and increasing research and communication among TSAEE members
in Tanzania.
- VIETCANSOL Hillside Soil Conservation - the Canadian Society of Soil Science (CSSS) and the Vietnam Soil Science Society (VSSS) and the National Institute (NISF)
The project promotes on-farm adoption of practical
methods for conserving soil and water resources and the introduction of
higher cash-value crops in the mountainous zone of northern Vietnam.
- MIA/OCCZIM Small Farm Management and Extension Training in Zimbabwe - Western Manitoba Branch of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists (MIA) and the Organization of Collective Cooperatives of Zimbabwe (OCCZIM)
Zero tillage emerged as the most important ingredient
in efforts to promote conservation farming in sub-Saharan Africa when members
of the Western Manitoba Branch of the Manitoba Institute of Agrologists
became involved in helping small farmers in Zimbabwe improve production
efficiency.
For further information contact Tom Beach, <PAg
at iadp@aic.ca>
Creation of the International Center for Technical and Vocation Education and Training in Bonn
UNESCO and the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany signed an agreement last month to establish the UNESCO International Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Bonn (Germany).
This center will serve as the hub of an international technical and vocational education and training (TVET) network. UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsurra said that it will: "be a repository of subject knowledge an technical information and will host TVET specialists from all regions of the world for short periods of training and re-training and information exchange. The Bonn Center will also disseminate information via the electronic media to centers and partner institutions around the world."
The TVET network was first established by UNESCO as part of the UNEVOC vocational training porject, which was operated from 1993 to 1999 with German sponsorship. It has connected 200 institutions in 135 countries, "enabling developing countries to benefit from the most recent technical information and best practices," Mr. Matsuura said.
As of this year, UNESCO launched a new TVET programme in which the Bonn Center will play an important role, continuing and expanding on the work of the UNEVOC Implementation Unit which had hitherto been based in Berlin.
Mr. Matsuura highlighted the importance of TVET in view of globalization and technological developments and said: "Last year, the Second International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education in Seoul, provided UNESCO's Member States with a forum to review the field of TVET. The Seoul Congress produced a set of recommendations that described how TVET must adjust to prepare people for the challenges of the knowledge society. Following these recommendations, UNESCO designed a new International Program in Technical and Vocational Education and Training to assist its Member Status to prepare both their young people and adults for the new demands of the world of work. UNESCO's new TVET program aims to empower people, especially to the young, fostering the skills needed to lead productive and responsible lives. We believe that TVET must not only prepare people for work but must also prepare them for responsible citizenship."
The Director General announced that the
International Labour Organization (ILO), a UNESCO partner of long standing
in technical and vocational education, has expressed its intention to participate
in the world of the Center and said: I encourage our other partners, both
bi-lateral and multi-lateral, to join this endeavor by contributing their
expertise and resources to the Bonn Center. Without our combined efforts,
the glaring disparities in knowledge, information and technological skill
will never be reduced. […] If our actions are combined and well co-ordinated,
we will make the best use of our resources. In my view, the Bonn Center
has to become part and parcel of the great alliance in support of education
which was reconfirmed recently by the World Education Forum in Dakar [in
April 2000]."
WebWorld News Services now available on WAP
WebWorld's daily News service is available on mobile telephones via the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) network. Users of WAP enabled mobile phones can access this service at <http://webworld.unesco.org/wap/ WebWorld's decision to use the WAP service ties in with UNESCO's ambition to contribute to the democratization of Internet access. Indeed, the mobile phonesnot only have the benefit of being free-standing, but they are also less -costly than the usual equipment needed for Internet use. WAP could largely contribute to narrow the digital gap and facilitate the free flow of information.
WAP, which enables easy fast delivery of relevant information and services to mobile users, can be used by handheld digital wireless devices such as mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smart phones and communicators -- from low-end to high-end.
WAP services are based on agreements between
a large number of device manufactures and software developers to conform
to one common standard, which allows access to Internet directly on one's
cell phone.
Severe Drought Devastates Pakistan's largest Province
Three consecutive years of serious drought have severely damaged crop and livestock production in the Baluchistan province of Pakistan. Cereal output this year is 20 percent below average and livestock losses are extremely heavy.
Baluchistan, Pakistan's largest province, accounts for nearly 20 percent of national livestock, making it the area's most important sector. According to a recent FAO/WFP joint missions, in the most affected of the province's 26 districts, farmers have lost up to 50 percent of their sheep and up to 40 percent of their goats. Domestic milk production is down by as much as 80 percent. Both animal feed and medicines are urgently needed simply to maintain a minimum breeding stock in these districts.
The devastating drought conditions have similarly decimated crop production. Rain fed wheat has almost completely failed. Other cereal output is also down, leading to an overall 20 percent decline compared to the last four years. This leaves a deficit of 93,000 tons for the coming year.
The report explains that, although the deficit is
not large from a national perspective, a great number of the people in
Baluchistan, especially nomads, have no purchasing power due to crop and
livestock losses. The real problem is not food availability, but the lack
of means to access food. With the drought now in its third year, many of
these people face extreme hardship. The report concludes that "their conditions
will deteriorate further as they will exhaust the few coping mechanisms
that they may still have."
IOC Adopts New Measures to Favor Ocean Study and Protection
In June, the Executive Council of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) concluded its annual meeting with a reinforced commitment to monitor and protect the world's oceans.
Among the decisions approved by its Executive Council was to cooperate in the launch of the Integrated Global Observing Strategy (IGOS), encompassing land, ocean and climate observation. It is to be operated with a number of space agencies (CNES, NASA, and EUMETSAT along with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA), several United Nations agencies, international science institutes, and funding agencies. The IOC's Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) will be the coordinator of the integrated system.
Amidst concern for the quality of existing ocean observation buoys in many parts of the world, the Council obtained the commitment of IOC Member States to accelerate the implementation of the Argo programs for a global array of 3,000 free-drifting profiling floats to measure the temperature and salinity of the upper 2000 meters, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours of collection. A pledge was made by the Member States to complete the installation of the 3,000 floats required by the program over the coming two years.
After the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction which ended on December 31, 1999, the Executive Council decided to continue its Pacific Ocean Tsunami Program and make its experience available, at no cost, to the Caribbean region. Also, it approved the start of negotiations to raise funds for a major warning system to forecast storm in the Northern Indian Ocean. The program will target the Bay Bengal, where recurrent storms regularly claim tens of thousands of lives. India announced that it would begin implementing the program on its own.
The disposal of carbon dioxide CO2 in the deep ocean was a subject of particular concern at this year's meeting, which warned that there was an urgent need to study the impact on marine ecosystems of massive CO2 disposal on the seabed. Patricio Bernal, IOC Executive Secretary, explained that "with an exponential growth in CO2 emission, there will be growing pressure from industry to use the techniques already being studied to dispose of CO2 on the seabed." He warned that very little was known about the consequences this could have on the marine environment. The Executive Council expressed the conviction that scientific knowledge concerning this matter needed to be developed before decisions are taken as to the use of these technologies.
This issue was also the subject of a Roger Revelle Memorial Lecture, commemorating the pioneering American oceanographer, one of the founders of the IOC, by Peter Brewer of the Monterey Bay Aquarium (USA). The Council requested the Secretary General of the IOC to take measures to consider the compatibility of such practices with the 1972 London Convention which regulates the deliberate disposal of wastes at sea.
The 33rd session of the Executive Council,
which marked the 40th anniversary of the IOC, opened on June
20. UNESCOI Director-General Koichiro Matsuura addressed the session saying
he was in favor of strengthening the role of the IOC "as a focal point
for ocean science." Mr. Matsurra highlighted the IOC's coordinating role
within the United Nations system and stressed its contribution to science
education. He declared: "Many of the issues facing humanity in the 21st
century relate to the need to harmonize the economic growth required to
eradicate poverty, with the maintenance of the basic life support system
of the planet. This difficult equilibrium is at the core of sustainable
development. It requires the public to be scientifically an environmentally
literate and ready to act responsibly to protect the global environment.
The IOC has much to contribute to science education and awareness-raising
in this respect."
World Food Day - 16 October 2000
"A Millennium Free from Hunger" is the theme of this year's World Food Day, which takes place on 16 October in commemoration of the anniversary of FAO's founding on 16 October 1945.
The celebration of World Food Day in about 150 countries around the world aims to heighten public awareness and understanding of world hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
For more information regarding World Food Day, please contact the Chief of Unit for Liaison with National Committees, Mr. Sidaty Aidara, sidaty.aidara@fao.org
Also, please visit the World Food Day website at www.fao.org/wfd/wfd2000-e.htm
