Sunday, January 1, 2012

MASHAV's 50th Anniversary Celebration

As we move into 2012, we can look back in Haifa to the prestigious celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC) – the first training extension operated by MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation. MCTC was designed for women specializing in topics of socio-economic advancement, and was one of the first training centers in the world in that area of expertise.

The 2011 Conference topic was Science, Technology and Innovation: Education and Training for Women and Girls. It was intended for approximately 50 women leaders, active at senior policy-making level – ministers, MPs, professionals from the scientific and academic world, as well as senior officials working in NGOs and international and United Nations specialized agencies in developing and industrialized countries.


There were distinguished speakers – from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cameroon, China, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, Honduras, Israel, Kosovo, Lithuania, the Maldives, Mexico, New Zealand, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, and representatives of the National Innovation Fund (Kazakhstan), Save the Children Norway and UNECE – presented her case, offering persuasive figures, examples or arguments emphasizing the lack of equity in opportunities for the development of a scientific career for women, or inequality in access to decision-making sites in research institutions. Equally distinguished participants from Bhutan, El Salvador, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, the Palestinian Authority, Thailand and UNESCO participated in the debate. The exchange of experiences after three intense days of discussion was unified in a new proposal which the participants named the Declaration of Haifa.

May the New Year bring continuing success of the efforts of MASHAV in aiding underdeveloped countries

No comments: