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New Online Database Contains Information on African Education Projects
2000-04-10
The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), in collaboration with the Bellanet International Secretariat, has published a descriptive database of 850 African education projects on the web. The PRISME database is up-to-date, bilingual (English and French), and fully searchable by region, subject area, funding institution, and keyword. 
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 Scientists and Farmers Join Forces to Conserve Mexico's Maize Diversity
2000-04-07
In just one region of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, there are more than 152 local varieties or land races of corn or 'maize'. But this diversity may not last forever. Economic development could wipe out land races as farmers switch to commercial agriculture or abandon farming. In 1997, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales Agrícolas y Pecuarias set out to explore where scientists and farmers can join forces to conserve maize diversity, with funding from IDRC.
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In Conversation: Ajit S. Bhalla
2000-04-06
As the recent World Trade Organization negotiations showed, negotiation or control of the phenomenon known as 'globalization' is far from a simple matter. Growing economic integration and interdependence threatens political and cultural sovereignty. Information technology allows data and capital to flow around the world at the speed of light. While this new found freedom may appear to be the dawning of a new age, there is some doubt as to whether everyone will share equally in the benefits that may result. Professor Ajit S. Bhalla's research has been concerned with the social effects of globalization.
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International Conference on Challenges for Public Broadcasting in Africa
2000-04-06
The Ministry of Communication of Morocco and the World Radio and Television Council will host
an international conference on public broadcasting in Africa from May 28-31, 2000 in Rabat,
Morocco. Sponsors include the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), the Société Suisse de radiodiffusion, and the Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation.
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Research on the Prevention of Sexual Violence Wins Award at International Conference
2000-04-03
The report from an IDRC-funded project that aims to prevent sexual violence in South Africa was singled out as the best among more than 400 international papers presented from 68 countries during a World Health Organisation conference in New Delhi in March. The CIETcanada (Community Information & Epidemiological Technologies) report focussed on the role of the police in cases of sexual violence, and shows how only one rapist is convicted for every 400 women raped in south Johannesburg.
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 Helping Moroccan Women Preserve the Argan Tree at the Gateway to the Sahara
2000-03-31
The argan tree is vital to the economy of south-western Morocco. Every part of the tree is useable and provides a source of income or food: the wood is used for fuel, the leaves and fruits provide forage for goats, and the almond oil extract obtained by women is used in cooking and traditional medicine. But in less than a decade, more than a third of the argan forest has disappeared. It is important to improve the argan tree's production potential, so that it can regain its key position in the agricultural systems of the region. This is the challenge facing Moroccan researchers as part of a project associated with the 'Network on the Valorization of Plant Materials', funded by IDRC.
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 Assessing the Potential Health Hazards of Urban Agriculture
2000-03-24
Urban agriculture is practised by millions of people around the world. Over the past 20 years, development organizations have promoted urban agriculture because it provides food and economic opportunities for people who live at or near subsistence levels. But as researchers amass data about this survival strategy, they are identifying health hazards that need to be addressed. In 1999, IDRC's Cities Feeding People program initiative released a report that focuses on some of the public health issues surrounding urban agriculture.
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Acacia Project Wins Alcatel Prize at 'Bridges to Development' Conference
2000-03-22
In February, a project funded by IDRC's Acacia Initiative was honoured in a competition during Bamako 2000, an international meeting on information and communication technologies (ICTs). Entitled 'ICTs and Grassroots Organizations', this was one of nine IDRC-supported projects participating at the meeting.
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'Safe Blood Saves Lives'
2000-03-21
You are cordially invited by the Canadian Society for International Health and the Pan American
Health Organization to a Parliamentary Breakfast and Forum to mark World Health Day on Friday,
April 7, 2000. The theme will be 'Safe Blood Saves Lives', and the breakfast will take place from
7.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. in the Parliamentary Restaurant, Sixth Floor, Centre Block, Houses of
Parliament, Ottawa.
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Calling All Social Scientists
2000-03-20
The CHANGE Project is developing a list of African social scientists engaged in research (including
economists, demographers, human geographers, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and all
related disciplines). Social scientists who provide contact information will have the opportunity to be
included in a web-based directory of African social scientists, a mailing list for information on
research opportunities and meetings, and/or in a database of consultants that will be available to
funding and academic institutions.
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 Promoting Sustainable Agriculture in China's Tarim Basin
2000-03-17
The Tarim Basin of northwestern China is Eurasia's driest spot. Despite its harsh climate, local farmers produce one-sixth of China's cotton, as well as grains, fruits, silk, and wool. While farming has traditionally been centred on the region's oases, water diversion and irrigation initiatives have allowed the expansion of agriculture. However, according to an ongoing IDRC-funded study, unsustainable water use and inappropriate farming practices have contributed to deforestation, soil alkalinity, and decreasing agricultural productivity in the basin.
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 Improving Shea Butter Production in Burkina Faso
2000-03-10
Burkina Faso is the world's second largest producer of karité or shea nuts. Valued for their high fat content, shea nuts are processed to make shea butter, which is used locally for cooking, as medicines, and for cosmetic purposes. Shea butter is also of increasing interest to Western countries as a skin care ingredient. Traditionally, its preparation has been a women's activity. With funding from IDRC, researchers in Burkina Faso and Canada have found a way to lighten the women's work and raise their productivity.
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In Conversation with Naser Faruqui: A 'Next Generation Water Leader'
2000-03-10
In 1999, Naser Faruqui, a Senior Program Specialist at IDRC, was chosen as one of the "next generation of water leaders" (NGWL) by the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI). The NGWL program was launched by IWRA and SIWI to identify water professionals from all over the world who are under 40 years of age and show considerable promise of becoming a future water leader. Faruqui was one of 14 professionals selected out of more than 250 candidates, and is the only Canadian in the group.
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 AMESH: A New Approach to Environmental Health
2000-03-03
David Waltner-Toews believes that health issues can't be isolated from their context without unintended consequences. That's why his University of Guelph team created an Adaptive Methodology for Ecosystem Sustainability and Health (AMESH) to help development researchers cope with complexity. AMESH builds on a wide range of practice and theory borrowed from systems, ecosystem management, health, development, and participatory action research. With funding from IDRC, it is now being tested in urban, rural, and frontier settings.
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Crucible Group Releases Report Outlining Policy Options for Genetic Resources
2000-03-01
Seeding Solutions, Policy Options for Genetic Resources is the title of a new report on the implications of agricultural biotechnology prepared by the Crucible Group II. The report offers a clear and concise summary of the different positions of key stakeholders involved in issues of intellectual property rights, loss of biodiversity, and global food security. Supported by IDRC and other international organizations, the Crucible Group includes over 45 people from private industry, government, advocacy groups, and aboriginal organizations in 25 countries.
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Global Knowledge II Conference to Showcase IDRC Projects
2000-02-29
The Second Global Knowledge Conference (GK II), hosted by the Malaysian Government and the Global Knowledge Partnership, will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 7-10, 2000. More than 1400 people — representing the public and private sectors — will meet to hammer out strategies designed to place information and knowledge in the hands of developing countries and the world's poor. GK II will facilitate an exchange of ideas and experiences through roundtables, workshops, and knowledge sharing sessions.
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IDRC Briefing: Room to Live: Healthy Cities for the Urban Century
2000-02-28
In Mexico City, when children paint their world, they colour the sky black. This is no political statement, just a simple representation of what they see. And what they see is an environment plagued by air pollution. Situated in a closed basin more than 7,000 feet above sea level and surrounded by mountains, the city is forced to inhale its own waste. Despite geographical variations, Mexico City is not alone.
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 Accounting for Gender in Participatory Agricultural Research
2000-02-25
About two decades ago, agricultural scientists working in developing countries began using participatory research methods, in plant breeding and other activities. It was an attempt to get around a frustrating problem: low technology adoption rates among farmers. Now, as these 'farmer friendly' research tools begin to permeate national and international research centres around the world, the role of women farmers is getting special attention. Leading the research efforts is the Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis, a global initiative supported by IDRC and donor agencies in 10 other countries.
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 Promoting a Community-based Approach to Watershed Resource Conflicts in Laos
2000-02-18
Laotian government planners are learning that the environmental degradation of the country's Nam Ngum watershed should be addressed first at the community rather than the national level, thanks in part to a study funded by IDRC. In 1994, the research team set out to identify resource management problems in four Nam Ngum districts. The ultimate aim was to develop practical local methods for managing conflicts over resources, which may also apply to other areas outside this vital watershed.
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Is Internet Access Helping or Hindering Civil Society Organizations?
2000-02-16
As the Internet expands, is simple connectivity being mistaken for useful information processing? Are fundamental aspects of organizations — from service delivery to the institutional mission — being changed by the technology? To find out, an IDRC-supported study is assessing the social impact of the Internet on civil society organizations in Central America.
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 A Recipe for Striga Control in Sub-Saharan Africa
2000-02-11
A 15-litre metal cooking pot, a handful of sorghum straw, and a gelatin capsule filled with a naturally occurring fungal strain may some day be all it takes to control the dreaded Striga hermonthica weed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, while generating income for rural women. This simple recipe, which yields enough Fusarium oxysporum to treat four hectares of farm land for a whole year, is the product of a 10-year research effort funded by IDRC. The project's aim is to develop a biological control weapon capable of destroying Striga before it penetrates the roots and stunts the growth of maize, millet, sorghum, and other crops.
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Human-Rights Justice: Retribution or Reconciliation?
2000-02-11
The Human Rights (Combined Honours) B.A. Program at Carleton Univeristy invites you to its Inaugural Lecture: Human-Rights Justice: Retribution or Reconciliation. The speaker will be David Crocker, President of the International Development Ethics Association, and Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland. The event will take place on Thursday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m. in Theatre B of Southam Hall.
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Is Internet Access Helping or Hindering Civil Society Organizations?
2000-02-10
As the Internet expands, is simple connectivity being mistaken for useful information processing? Are fundamental aspects of organizations — from service delivery to the institutional mission — being changed by the technology? To find out, an IDRC-supported study is assessing the social impact of the Internet on civil society organizations in Central America.
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 Regenerative Solutions for Managing Community-generated Organic Waste
2000-02-04
Gregory Rose is searching for a silver lining in one of the world's most pressing environmental and public health problems: what to do with the increasing amounts of human waste, also known as 'black water'. Over the past 50 years, the volume of domestic sewage produced globally has more than doubled. Much of that sewage is generated in the rapidly urbanizing areas of the South, creating the same kind of public health crisis for developing countries that led to the so-called 'sanitary reforms' in 18th century Europe.
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 Bhutan Goes Online: A Modern Folktale
2000-01-28
Dangbo Dingbo is the customary way to start off a folktale in Bhutan and roughly translates in English to 'once upon a time.' It's also an appropriate way to open a story on how Bhutan first got connected to the Internet — after all, the Internet is a modern folktale in itself.
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 Assessing the Benefits of Bioprospecting in Latin America
2000-01-21
In 1997, Carolyn Crook was granted an IDRC Doctoral Research Award to assess the contribution of biodiversity prospecting to sustainable development in Costa Rica and Peru. Her main aim was to examine whether biodiversity prospecting enhances the 'value' of biodiversity and thereby increases incentives to conserve it.
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APC Betinho Communications Prize - Last Chance to Nominate!
2000-01-19
In November 1999, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and the International Development Research Centre announced the creation of the APC Betinho Communications Prize for the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in promoting social justice. The US$7,500 prize is open to non-profit organizations, community-based groups, coalitions, working
groups or social movements anywhere in the world that have successfully used ICTs as an essential ingredient in their development work.
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New Internet Training Materials Available from ITrain
2000-01-17
Three new ITrain Internet training modules are now available for free on the web. The materials have been developed by the ITrain Collective, a multi-cultural group of Internet trainers with work experiences from around the world. ITrain began as a project of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
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 Investigating the Influence of State Capacity on Environmental Compliance in China
2000-01-14
China's environment is poor and deteriorating. Rapid economic growth, rising living standards, and the burden of providing for 1.2 billion people are all contributing to increased demand for natural resources, and rising industrial production without sufficient environmental controls. But the Chinese central government's growing commitment to the environment is expected to bear fruit in future. With funding from IDRC, Jonathan Schwartz examined the link between state capacity — the ability of the Chinese state to enforce regulations in the face of opposition from powerful interest groups — and the enforcement of environmental laws.
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 The Lab, the Temple and the Market: Reflections on the Role of Science and Religion in Development
2000-01-07
As we enter a new millennium, the world faces some formidable challenges. More people than ever before live in extreme poverty, while nations pursue economic growth in a way that is destructive to the global environment. Based on the uneven record of poverty alleviation efforts to date, many international development workers believe there is something missing in current development models, which tend to focus only on the application of scientific and technological solutions. Launched in 1997, IDRC's Science, Religion, and Development project explored how faith and science can complement each other in the development field.
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Rebuilding Communities in War-torn Afghanistan
2000-01-06
An urban rehabilitation project in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-e-Sharif has sparked the creation of a country-wide network of more than 35 'Community Forums' — neighbourhood-level public organizations that conduct and coordinate home-based education, community enterprises, health services, local governance, and other vital functions. The forums, which operate in six Afghanistan provinces, grew out of a public participation process initiated by a team from the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS Habitat).
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Electronic Roundtable on 'International Policies, African Realities'
1999-12-20
The Africa Policy Information Center (APIC) and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) invite you to participate in an electronic roundtable to discuss what policy perspectives and understandings of African reality should shape international engagement with Africa.
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 Resolving Conflicts Over Natural Resources in the Galapagos Islands
1999-12-17
Long regarded a living example of evolution, the Galapagos Islands have also become a laboratory in conflict resolution. The seeds of local conflict were sewn in the late 1970s, when boundaries and regulations for a park covering all but 3% of the islands were set. Problems grew in 1986, when a marine reserve was created and commercial fishing was restricted. Tensions grew, particularly between those whose income came from tourism and those who fished. While the conflict hasn't ended, confrontation is gradually evolving into dialogue and compromise.
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Tackling Global Poverty: Consultations with the Poor
1999-12-16
What may be the world's largest ever participatory poverty assessment is giving the World Bank and development researchers powerful new insights into the effects of poverty on people in the South. Built on the idea that poor people are the greatest experts on poverty, the World Bank-sponsored study, Consultations with the Poor, was conducted to inform the World Development Report 2000-2001 on poverty and development. The process involved a series of consultations with poor people in 23 developing countries.
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IDRC 1998-1999 Annual Report: The Office for Central and Eastern Europe Initiatives
1999-12-15
In the eight years since Ukraine's independence, the country has fallen from 45 to 102 in the United Nations Development Program ranking of countries, according to indicators that measure the quality of life. Death rates have climbed and estimates of people living in poverty range up to 70%. Unemployment, housing shortages, inadequate diets, smoking, alcoholism, and a crisis in health care have contributed to these statistics, as have severe environmental problems.
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 Economic and Social Research in Peru: Working Together to Create Knowledge and Influence Policy
1999-12-10
A new multi-disciplinary research consortium in Peru is improving how economic and social research is conducted there. Launched in April 1999, the Economic and Social Research Consortium builds on the achievements of its predecessor, the Economic Research Consortium. Leaders of the new organization are working with the Consortium's 25 associates to promote a healthy mixture of collaboration and competition in conducting policy-oriented research.
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IDRC 1998-1999 Annual Report: Acacia: Communities and the Information Society in Africa
1999-12-08
There is a significant gap between the North and the world's poorest continent in access to information and communication technologies (ICTs). Excluding South Africa, only one person out of 9 000 has access to the Internet in Africa, compared with a world average of one in 38. These disparities are creating a further division between societies that are information rich and those that are information poor. Having missed the industrial revolution, Africa cannot afford to miss the information revolution and its implications for social and economic development.
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 'Crystal Ball' Technology Helps Model Forest Stakeholders Envision the Future
1999-12-03
'Crystal ball' technology developed in Canada may one day let local stakeholders around the world predict the future of their forests. Computer models developed by the McGregor Model Forest Association (MMFA) are now being used to forecast the effects of different forest management scenarios on a commercially harvested forest near Prince George, British Columbia. The technology is used to help MMFA members decide where to focus their efforts to achieve sustainable forest management.
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IDRC 1998-1999 Annual Report: The Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia
1999-12-01
A first-time visitor to Asia's cities will be shocked by the traffic congestion and pollution found almost everywhere. A trip of a few kilometres in Jakarta or Bangkok can be an ordeal, as gridlocked vehicles spew out thick clouds of black smoke. The problem is among Asia's most visible, with costs that can be measured in lost productivity and damage to people's health.
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 Monitoring the Health of Coral Reefs from Space
1999-11-26
A geography professor at the National University of Singapore is developing a new way to take the pulse of the world's coral reefs. Her work aims to harness the power of satellite remote-sensing and could revolutionize how reef health is monitored — dramatically improving the management of these critically endangered ecosystems.
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In Conversation: John Loxley
1999-11-25
In his recently published book, Interdependence,Disequilibrium and Growth: Reflections on the Political Economy of North-South Relations at the Turn of the Century, John Loxley examines four contemporary developments that have potentiallyimportant implications for North-South relations.
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IDRC 1998-1999 Annual Report: People, Land, and Water
1999-11-24
In much of rural Africa and the Middle East, people's dependence on land and water is immediate — they eat food grown with their own hands and drink water drawn from their own wells. So when the fields are exhausted and the wells run dry, suffering sets in quickly. Human activity is at the root of these problems, contributing to desertification, pollution, and the inefficient use of water resources. At the same time, programs and policies developed to solve the problems fail because they seldom involve the affected people in their design or even take into account their needs, desires, and knowledge.
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 Unearthing Community Stakes in Mining Negotiations
1999-11-19
In Latin America, mining plays a key role in many nations efforts to encourage foreign investment. But for many communities, especially those in remote areas, mining can bring major disruptions to their environment and way of life. In Bolivia and Nicaragua, an IDRC-funded project is fostering local capacity to ensure that mining activity benefits affected communities.
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IDRC 1998-1999 Annual Report: Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprise Innovation and Technology
1999-11-17
It is hard to earn a living in much of the developing world. Formal unemployment rates are high, and the Northern ideal of full-time, secure, salaried employment is beyond the grasp of the majority of the poor. A stronger small business sector could reverse this trend. Already, most jobs in the developing world outside of agriculture are created not by large firms or the public sector, but by small and micro-enterprises, including the vast numbers of informal sector enterprises operating outside the "official" economy. But smaller firms face many constraints: outdated technology, limited access to credit and training, a lack of state support, and increased competition because of trade liberalization. Programs and policies to overcome these obstacles could transform small and micro-enterprises into thriving sources of productive employment and income.
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Managing Knowledge Workers: Unlocking the Intellectual Capital in Your Organization
1999-11-15
Recent estimates suggest that so-called 'knowledge workers' — those who work primarily with their heads rather than with their hands — now account for about 60% of the Canadian work force. For research-based organizations, managing these workers poses special challenges, according to Frances Horibe, the author of Managing Knowledge Workers: New Skills and Attitudes to Unlock the Intellectual Capital in Your Organization.
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 IDRC Reports Online Focuses on Urban Agriculture
1999-11-15
Millions of people in the cities of the South have become farmers in recent decades, growing vegetables, raising livestock, and practising many other types of agriculture in urban areas. These urban farmers enjoy benefits that include better diets and higher incomes, while making a significant contribution to the urban environment. Urban agriculture also improves local food supplies, puts marginal lands to good use, and absorbs wastes in the form of compost and fertilizers.
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 Restoring Cassava Production in Uganda
1999-11-12
A virus that destroyed nearly all of Uganda's cassava crop — the country's main staple food — has been brought under control as a result of research supported by IDRC and other donors. Since 1990, scientists at the Namulonge Agricultural and Animal Production Research Institute have developed nine varieties of cassava that are both resistant to the cassava mosaic virus and produce much higher yields than older varieties.
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Building Evaluation Capacity in Africa: A Report from the African Evaluation Association Inaugural Conference
1999-11-11
"If you are generating knowledge [then] you are generating power, so as an evaluator you have to be [careful] about what you say," stated an expert on program evaluation during the Inaugural Conference of the African Evaluation Association in September. The goal of the 300 participants — a mixture of both professional evaluators and their 'clients' from 24 African countries — was to improve their skills and enhance their networking opportunities through the formation of a pan-African Evaluation Association.
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IDRC 1998-1999 Annual Report: Sustainable Use of Biodiversity
1999-11-10
The Earth's biological clock is ticking and with each passing second, more microorganism, plant, and animal species disappear. It is estimated that 100 species become extinct every day. Entire ecosystems are in jeopardy from habitat destruction, pollution, overharvesting, and the introduction of non-native species. Globalization has added to these losses by contributing to the erosion of knowledge about biodiversity among local communities and indigenous peoples in the South, where biological resources are greatest.
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 The Internet Comes to Rural India
1999-11-05
A pilot project is bringing the Information Age to rural Indian villagers in the form of communal telephone and Internet access. Based on the experiences to date of a half-dozen local 'information shops' in the Pondicherry area of southern India, another 12 villages have requested their own information shops, if funding can be found.
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 The Disaster Management Research Network of Northeastern Brazil
1999-10-29
In northeastern Brazil, the poor face periodic droughts and — on the hilly slopes of cities — mudslides and disease when the rains finally come. A team of Brazilian researchers has launched a disaster management research network, with assistance from the University of Manitoba. The network collects information on the effects of drought, coping strategies, and policies. It also advises governments and NGOs at the municipal, state, and national levels on urban hazards and how to prevent or control them.
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In Conversation: Diana Tussie
1999-10-28
Dr Diana Tussie was the leader of a research project that led to her role as editor of The Environment and International Trade Negotiations. In this book, a team of distinguished researchers from the developing world assesses the trade and environment debate. In an interview with Reports, Dr Tussie reflects on the tensions between the environmental agendas of the North and South.
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 The War-torn Societies Project in Somaliland
1999-10-22
While clan-based militias fight raging gun battles and all forms of government have collapsed in southern Somalia, things are different in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared but internationally unrecognized Republic of Somaliland. Although Hargeisa was flattened by the former dictator Siad Barre's bombing raids, the people have reconstructed their town and rebuilt peace. To facilitate the reconstruction process, the Geneva-based War-torn Societies Project is using research to help transmit the aspirations of community members to decision makers.
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Rural Agroindustries and Globalization Facing the Next Millenium
1999-10-20
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) will host this conference in Cali, Colombia, from November 8-11, 1999. This event will enable the exchange of ideas and opinions between respresentatives of the rural agroindustry including: technical staff, researchers, business people, and public authorities. Important issues for the development of rural agroindustry will be presented and discussed, such as marketing and export, technological research and innovation, and support services.
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'Achieving Results Through Partnership': A Population and Development Forum
1999-10-19
On Thursday October 28, a public forum on Implementation of the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action will be held at 10 a.m. in Room 200, West Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa. The forum is sponsored by Action Canada for Population and Development (ACPD) and Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada (PPFC), with the Canadian Association of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (CAPPD).
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 Assessing the Role of Uncultivated Foods in Bangladesh
1999-10-15
In Bangladesh, uncultivated food items collected from ponds, farmers' fields, roadsides, and common lands comprise a large proportion of the daily diets of the rural poor. "At least 40% of the food consumed by the poor more or less comes from uncultivated sources," says Farhad Mazhar, Managing Director of Policy Research for Development Alternatives (UBINIG). Earlier this year, he and his colleagues launched a three year-study that will explore, for the first time, the interconnections between the biodiversity of uncultivated foods and the culture of food, cooking, and related technologies of food preparation and consumption.
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 Combatting Desertification in Kenya
1999-10-08
Conservative estimates suggest that one billion hectares of the world's land surface — an area slightly larger than Canada — is suffering some degree of desertification, a process whereby productive land becomes seriously eroded. Figuring out ways of stopping — and even reversing — the desertification process is the aim of the Desert Margins Program, a major 10-year-long initiative involving researchers in nine sub-Saharan countries.
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People and Poverty: Sustainable Human Development into the Next Millennium
1999-10-05
The Mahbub ul Haq Commemorative Conference, entitled People and Poverty: Sustainable Human Development into the Next Millennium, will be held from October 13 to 15, 1999 at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), located at 250 Albert Street in Ottawa. The purpose of this conference is to produce strategies for action by the international community to ensure that human development remains at the centre of the policy agenda for South Asia.
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 Highlighting the Importance of Coral Reefs: An Economics Research Agenda
1999-10-01
Undervalued and ill-treated, Southeast Asia's coral reefs face collapse unless more is done to highlight just how valuable they are, warned reef expert Jack Ruitenbeek, during an Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia (EEPSEA) conference this year in Singapore. Over the past 15 years, he said, reefs in the Indo-Pacific region have shown a steady decline, succumbing to sedimentation, pollution, and the impact of cyanide or blast fishing.
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10th Annual One World Film Festival
1999-09-24
Explore the work of Canadian and foreign documentary film makers as they provide moving and insightful glimpses of the challenges in our global community. World Inter-Action Mondiale presents the 10th annual "One World Film Festival" at the Ottawa Public Library Auditorium, 120 Metcalfe Street, beginning at 5:15 p.m. on October 12, 15, 19, and 22, 1999.
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 Keeping the Dead Sea Alive: Toward a Regional Environmental Management Plan
1999-09-24
The Dead Sea is still alive but ailing. According to Friends of the Earth-Middle East (FoEME), the Sea will remain viable — but only if a suitable environmental management plan can be mounted quickly for the region. Since the 1950's and '60's, researchers have noted a drop of some 25 metres in Dead Sea water levels. With funding from IDRC, FoEME has been conducting research to assess the environmental issues facing the region.
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Peacebuilding in Guatemala: The Long-term Challenge
1999-09-20
Guatemala's Peace Secretariat is optimistic that it can find ways to extend the country's peace process beyond the mandate of the current government, despite a recent victory by its opponents. The current peace process was launched in 1996, with the signing of a Final Peace Accord, following a bloody civil war that spanned almost four decades.
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 Promoting Women's Participation in Kenya's Governance
1999-09-17
A research team in Kenya is training rural women to access information via computers. The team's ultimate goal is to help increase women's participation in the democratic process. "Because Kenyan women are poor, they get manipulated during voting," says Professor Shanyisa Khasiani, Executive Director of the Nairobi-based Family Support Institute, which is implementing the project with funding from IDRC.
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 Farmers as Researchers: The Rise of Participatory Plant Breeding
1999-09-10
Despite major advances in agricultural science, the rate of adoption of new plant varieties by hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers in developing countries has been abysmally low. Under the Systemwide Program on Participatory Research and Gender Analysis for Technology Development and Institutional Innovation, researchers in universities, national and international research institutes, NGOs, grassroots organizations, and other groups are assessing and formulating new methods and organizational arrangements for participatory research in the areas of plant breeding and natural resource management. The principal aim is to create more relevant technology and equitable access to it.
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Launch of Karanta Foundation's Crusade Against Illiteracy
1999-08-18
On July 22 and 23, the capital of Burkina Faso hosted an important meeting, which saw the creation of the 'Karanta Foundation in Support of Non-Formal Education Policies.' The Ouagadougou meeting was organized by the Ministry of Basic Education and Literacy of Burkina Faso, with the support of IDRC's Regional Office for West and Central Africa. (Text is in French)
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Reports Online Highlights IDRC Partnerships with Francophonie
1999-08-16
To mark the 1999 Francophonie Summit, which will be held from September 3-5 in Moncton, New Brunswick, IDRC Reports Online offers a selection of previously published articles focusing on IDRC-funded projects in Francophonie countries. [in French]
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Toward the Commercial Exploitation of Red Algae from Senegal's 'Petite Côte'
1999-08-12
On Senegal’s 'Petite Côte', as the shoreline south of Dakar near the city of Mbour is known, the sandy beaches are caressed by the waves and fanned by gentle breezes redolent of the sea. Fishing is a major activity, and many people along this coast rely on it for their livelihood. Yet there is one species among the algae littering the beach that could bring them much higher incomes. Along this seafront, conditions are highly favourable for growing red algae for commercial purposes, an activity that could help to create jobs and wealth, generate foreign exchange for the Senegalese economy, and above all produce sizeable and steady revenues for the local coastal populace.
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A Crusher for Revitalizing Local Cereal Production
1999-07-29
Considered staple foods in rural areas of Senegal, couscous and arraw are rarely consumed by urban dwellers. Yet, these millet-based foods can be used in a variety of protein-rich dishes that, when properly prepared, are very popular among the Senegalese.
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Inaugural Conference of African Evaluation Association
1999-07-29
The African Evaluation Association will hold its Inaugural Conference from September 13-17,1999, in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference, which will bring together evaluators from throughout Africa, aims to build evaluation capacity in Africa.
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'Spreading the Gains of Globalization': A New International Research Network
1999-07-19
To benefit from globalization, it's not enough to understand the world, you've also got to change it, said Raphael Kaplinsky, an economics professor with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex, during a recent seminar at IDRC headquarters in Ottawa. One of his goals was to describe the aims and approach of a new international research network on 'Spreading the Gains of Globalization', which IDS plans to launch.
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Founding Meeting for the Non-Formal Education Policy Support Foundation
1999-07-19
In preparation for the launch of the 'Non-Formal Education Policy Support Foundation', the IDRC Regional Office for West and Central Africa (WARO) will host a meeting of Ministers of Education and Finance from Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, in Ouagadougou on July 22 and 23, 1999.
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The Acacia Initiative: Overcoming Marginalization and Exclusion among Disadvantaged Communities
1999-07-15
With the advent of the Internet, the world has truly become a global village. This gigantic communication network has abolished distances between communities and between people. For the first time, thanks to this matchless medium, it is now possible for the under-developed countries of Africa and Latin America to jump aboard the third universal revolution, in real time.
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IDRC Announces the First AGROPOLIS Research Award Winners
1999-07-13
An international advisory committee has recommended nine researchers and their proposals for the first ever AGROPOLIS research awards. Launched last summer, the AGROPOLIS awards program aims to add to the growing body of knowledge on urban and peri-urban agriculture, through the support of master's and doctoral-level field research with both academic and non-academic affiliations. At least two-thirds of the awards go to researchers from the South.
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In Conversation: Jacklyn Cock
1999-07-08
Remember the global peace dividend, the budget surpluses that were supposed to result from the raising of the Iron Curtain and the end of the arms race? As war-torn societies in the Middle East, Latin America, and parts of Africa found peace and began building democratic societies, governments were supposed to use the money they once spent on the military to better meet basic human needs. In South Africa, this process has been underway since the early 1990's, but it has been uneven and fragile, with contradictory outcomes such as an increased emphasis on arms export and a rise in banditry and criminal gangs. From Defence to Development: Redirecting Military Resources in South Africa, edited by Jacklyn Cock and Penny McKenzie, argues that South Africa must go beyond a narrow conception of the process and focus instead on the redirection of military resources, both human and material, toward sustainable development and environmental restoration.
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Promoting Electronic Commerce in East Africa
1999-06-28
An international team hopes to encourage wider use of the Internet in East Africa by helping local entrepreneurs get started in electronic commerce. The initiative, which is backed by IDRC, assumes that once businesses experience commercial success over the Internet, private enterprise will drive the expansion of the electronic highway.
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 Reducing Poverty and Inequity in Latin America
1999-06-25
Forty-five percent of Latin Americans live in poverty, earning less than US$2/day, while the richest 5% of the population earns 55% of the region's income. These grim statistics provided a backdrop for a recent workshop on poverty and inequity in Latin America. Hosted by the IDRC-funded Latin American Program on Social Policies, its purpose was to allow experts and policy analysts to share research results and provide input into the World Bank's World Development Report 2000 on Poverty. During the event, an apparent consensus emerged that social programs aimed at alleviating poverty must be viable, accountable, and people-focused.
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A Crusher for Revitalizing Local Cereal Production
1999-06-23
Considered staple foods in rural areas of Senegal, couscous and arraw are rarely consumed by urban dwellers. Yet, these millet-based foods can be used in a variety of protein-rich dishes that, when properly prepared, are very popular among the Senegalese.
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 Environmental Insecurity and Conflict Resolution in Mozambique
1999-06-18
Ecotourism offers potential economic benefits to Mozambique, but it could also threaten the survival and livelihood of indigenous communities. With funding from IDRC, a Swiss NGO is informing people in the Matutuine District about the nature and scope of proposed developments, and their rights to land and natural resources. The project team is also helping people develop a range of commercial ventures, based on natural resources, that will be environmentally sustainable and provide maximum value to the entire community.
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Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health Training Awards
1999-06-15
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has selected seven successful candidates for the 1999 'Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health Training Awards with a Particular Focus on Gender'. These Awards are granted for training and research linked to IDRC's Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health program initiative. Priority is given to proposals for research on ecosystems that are stressed through agriculture, urbanization, or mining activities.
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 Virtual Business Corridors: A New Gateway to Latin America's High-Tech Industries
1999-06-11
All it takes is access to the Internet and a few clicks of a mouse to make a business connection with the potential to help high-tech companies in Latin America grow and expand through the development of strategic contacts with other firms. Rather than simply surf the Web, searching for a needle in a haystack, companies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay now have access to specialized electronic highways — Virtual Business Corridors — that lead directly to the doorstep of other companies in Latin America and Canada. Developed with funding from IDRC, the electronic corridors are the result of a collaboration between business associations in Latin America and the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance.
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In Conversation: Charles Lusthaus
1999-06-07
Organizations review their performance on a regular basis. Its members may do it casually around a coffee machine or more formally for a year-end review. Self-assessment is a normal process because organizations are always trying to improve their performance, says Charles Lusthaus, co-author of Enhancing Organizational Performance: A Toolbox for Self-assessment. He adds that not-for-profit organizations have not been as systematic in their self-assessments as profit-making organizations. Enhancing Organizational Performance offers a step-by-step approach for identifying performance measures in real life situations and ways to overcome issues that may interfere with an organization's self-assessment.
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 Reducing Maternal and Infant Mortality in Indonesia
1999-06-04
In many Indonesian villages, the placenta is seen as a connection between the baby and the powers that protect it for long-term growth and development. The placenta is handled carefully and, in a simple ceremony, buried under the roof of the house. With funding from IDRC, a team of Indonesian and Canadian researchers studied the cultural beliefs of Indonesian women as a first step towards improving the health of women and mothers. The team examined women's behaviours related to nutrition and infant feeding, determined the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women, prepared advice on how to avoid nutritional problems, and tested its effectiveness. Their ultimate goal was to help reduce maternal and infant mortality rates.
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Seminar on 'Social Policy and Governance in Africa: Emerging Issues'
1999-06-02
On Tuesday June 8, 1999, IDRC's Assessment of Social Policy Reforms program initiative will host
a half-day seminar on "Social Policy and Governance in Africa: Emerging Issues." During the
seminar, African researchers will reflect on political and social transitions in Africa and their
implications for research on social policy and social development. The event will take place from
2:00 - 5: 00 p.m. in the 14th floor Auditorium at IDRC headquarters in Ottawa.
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IDRC Presentation on Food Security in Bangladesh
1999-06-01
On Thursday June 3rd, IDRC will host a presentation by Farhad Mazhar,
Managing Director of Policy Research for Development Alternatives (UBINIG),
a leading policy NGO in Bangladesh. Dr Mazhar's presentation is entitled: 'Converging on Food Security: Terminator Technology, Genetically Modified Organisms and the Emerging Alliance between Micro Credit Programs and Transnational Corporations.' It will take place at 250 Albert Street, 14th floor Auditorium, from 12:15-1:30 p.m.
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 Urban Gardening in Haiti
1999-05-28
Residents of some of the poorest urban areas of Haiti are now using tires, baskets, kettles, pails, and other containers to grow vegetables in confined areas and thereby improve their health, nutrition status, and income. Under the supervision of CARE-Haiti and other partners, so far more than 400 people from 11 neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince and Gonaïves have attended training sessions on how to establish gardens where space is limited. Launched in November 1996, the urban gardening project aims to reduce the dependency of participating households on purchased food — in a nation where the average annual per capita income is less than CA$350.
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 Working for Water: Removing Alien Plants in South Africa
1999-05-21
In 1995, the Government of South Africa created a conservation program called Working for Water that supports a variety of labour-intensive projects to eradicate invasive alien plants. Approximately 110 non-native plant species are considered 'invasive' because they have no natural enemies and out-compete indigenous species. They spread at alarming rates, impede the growth of natural vegetation, destabilize the ecological balance, and contribute to water shortages. IDRC is supporting Working for Water research conducted by the South African Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research.
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In Conversation with Susan Holtz
1999-05-18
In response to Chapter 8 of the Agenda 21 action plan, "Integrating environment and development in decision making," IDRC undertook to research and document the practical, policy integration problems encountered in its development work. The Cornerstone of Development: Integrating Environmental, Social, and Economic Policies, co-edited with Jamie Schnurr, is the result of that research. IDRC interviewed Susan Holtz, one of the book's editors, to discuss some issues raised in The Cornerstone of Development, including:
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Workshop on 'Social Policy and Social Development in an Economy in Crisis'
1999-05-17
The Canadian Consortium for International Social Development (CCISD) will host a seminar on "Social Policy and Social Development in an Economy in Crisis" at Carleton University in Ottawa, from 10:00 to 12:00 on Tuesday May 18, 1999 (Room 517, Dunton Tower). Dr Hafez Pasha, Managing Director of the Social Policy Development Centre (SPDC) in Karachi, Pakistan, will be the guest speaker.
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 Promoting Sustainable Agroforestry in Nagaland
1999-05-14
Villagers in the mountainous northeast Indian state of Nagaland have practised slash-and-burn subsistence agriculture for generations. But as a growing population intensifies pressure on the land, the fallow periods are becoming too short to sustain food production for the largely rural populace. Launched in 1994, the Nagaland Environmental Protection and Economic Development project is helping local farmers and scientists refine and share successful agricultural methods already practised within different regions of the state. The results include higher crop yields and reforestation of the countryside.
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 A Decade of Reform: Helping China Improve its Science and Technology Policy
1999-05-07
In 1997, IDRC published A Decade of Reform: Science and Technology Policy in China, a report by a international team of experts that reviewed China's science and technology policy. Today, that report is beginning to have an impact. Although the review team did not make specific recommendations, some of its findings have been endorsed at the highest level of government and action is being taken on two of the main issues it raised: innovation and international collaboration.
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Seminar on Agricultural Research in Africa
1999-05-03
The Center for International Development at Harvard University will convene a seminar on Agricultural Research in Africa: Technological Opportunities and Institutional Challenges on May 14, 1999 at the Taubman Rotunda, Kennedy School of Government. The seminar will focus on how to create incentives and institutional arrangements that promote the use of the latest scientific and technical advances in finding solutions to Africa's agricultural challenges. For more information, please contact: Calestous Juma. Tel: (617) 496-0433
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 Stopping Landslides in Rio: Recycling Scrap Tires into Retaining Walls
1999-04-30
Retaining walls made with recycled scrap tires are helping to raise living standards in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. A team of Canadian and Brazilian researchers has discovered that the tire walls — built for less than one-third of the cost of conventional anchored concrete walls used elsewhere in the city — may be more effective at stopping landslides during the rainy seasons.
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In Conversation with Dr. Robin Mansell
1999-04-27
With the accelerating spread of information and communications technologies (ICTs) changing societies around the world, developing countries are being encouraged to invest in national ICT infrastructures so that they can reap the expected social and economic benefits. From 1995 to 1997, the Working Group on Information Technology and Development of the UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development explored the risks and benefits of ICTs, and published the findings in a sourcebook, Knowledge Societies. Highlights of the findings of the Working Group have been published in an IDRC book Knowledge Societies ...in a Nutshell, Information Technology for Sustainable Development, by Dr. Robin Mansell and Andreas Credé. The book describes how, although the costs of building ICT infrastructure in the developing world are high, the costs of not doing so are much higher.
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 Cover Crops: Improving Soil Fertility in Africa
1999-04-23
Soil depletion and degradation are major problems leading to hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. In the past, many African farmers maintained soil fertility by practising shifting cultivation or applying chemical fertilizers and herbicides on their fields. Today, alternative strategies for improving soil fertility include the use of compost, crop residues, animal manure, biomass, chipped wood, hedgerow intercropping (alley farming), and cover crops — such as legumes. With funding from IDRC, an information centre based in Benin is helping to spark interest in the latter as a means of halting the decline of African soils.
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