Intn'l Conference - Gender Equality - Opening Ceremony

We were invited to attend the opening ceremony  of the International Conference "Ensuring the centrality of gender equality and women's empowerment - post 2015 " in Haifa this week. 

There is much talk about the lack of recognition of Israel in the corridors of the UN, yet this conference showed how much support Israel has. The conference is sponsored by MASHAV, Israel's agency for international development in conjunction with UN Women and UNDP (development progress).

In addition 4 other UN agencies were present and representatives from 33 countries. It was inspiring.

The entrance to the ceremony wit flags of participating countries.

Awaiting the arrival of the diplomatic delegations

Sierra Leone's representative

The Diplomats arrive

The Druze community is represented, of course

The official invitation

Mazal Renford, MASHAV's director

Entertainment provided by Bat-Shir Choir
of the Haifa Symphony Orchestra

Keynote address by Dr Babatunde Osotimehin
Executive Director, UN Population Fund UNFPA

Women’s empowerment - Haifa conference Nov 2013

Haifa is the centre for the activities of MASHAV, the training arm of Israel's Foreign Office. The courses offered in the centre bring people from all over the world even from countries with no diplomatic relations.

In November together with the UN Development Program and UN Women, MASHAV and the Haifa Centre is organizing the 28th International Conference for Women Leaders on “The Post-2015 and Sustainable Development Goals Agenda: Ensuring the Centrality of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the Next Framework.”.

If this conference is anything like the last, it will be very impressive. See more details of the work empowering women in the article below

Women’s empowerment: Education as a tool for achieving equality

By DANIEL CARMON

10/20/2013 21:45

Investing in women’s and girls’ education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty.

As the 2015 target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals approaches, a number of processes are under way among UN Member States, the UN system, academia, policymakers and civil society to reflect on the post-2015 development framework.

A growing number of states are reviewing and prioritizing the lessons learned that need to be incorporated into the post-2015 framework. The most recent (2012) Millennium Development Goals Report revealed that while there was notable progress in some gender equality dimensions there remains much to be done in every country, at every level, to achieve equality and women’s empowerment.

Empowerment means moving from enforced powerlessness to a position of power. Education is an essential means of empowering women with the knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to fully participate in the development process. Sustainable development is only possible when women and men enjoy equal opportunities to reach their potential.

Women and girls experience multiple and intersecting inequalities.

Structural barriers in the economic, social, political and environmental spheres produce and reinforce these inequalities. Obstacles to women’s economic and political empowerment, and violence against women and girls, are barriers to sustainable development and the achievement of human rights, gender equality, justice and peace.

Across much of the world, either by law or custom, women are still denied the right to own land or inherit property, obtain access to credit, attend school, earn income and progress in their profession free from job discrimination.

Women are significantly under-represented in decision-making at all levels.

While the economic benefits of educating girls are similar to those of educating boys, recent findings suggest the social benefits are greater.

Women have the potential to change their own economic status and that of their communities and countries in which they live yet usually women’s economic contributions are unrecognized, their work undervalued and their promise undernourished.

Unequal opportunities between women and men hamper women’s ability to lift themselves from poverty and secure improved options to improve their lives. Education is the most powerful instrument for changing women’s position in society.

Investing in women’s and girls’ education is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty.

In line with the Millennium Development Goals and the objectives established by the international community, MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, consistently promotes the empowerment of women, considering women’s education a critical component of development policy and planning, and central to sustainable development.

Following important changes in the international development landscape in recent years MASHAV adopted a dual approach to development: We engage in active development policy dialogues and development diplomacy, thus contributing to and shaping policy at a higher, multilateral level.

And, through professional programs, we maintain an active and effective presence at the field level.

One of MASHAV’s earliest affiliate training institutions, The Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC), has addressed the connection between gender, poverty reduction and sustainable development for over five decades.

MCTC places education at the core of women’s ability to contribute to all activities, working to enhance knowledge, competency and skills, including in the development process and in their contributions to civil society.

Guided by this mindset, MASHAV, together with MCTC, the UN Development Program and UN Women is organizing the 28th International Conference for Women Leaders on “The Post-2015 and Sustainable Development Goals Agenda: Ensuring the Centrality of Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in the Next Framework.”

This November, senior women and men from the public and associative sectors – ministers, members of parliaments, heads of women’s associations, representatives of international organizations and representatives of the judicial, business and academic sectors – will convene in Haifa to discuss progress achieved and gaps remaining in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals from a gender perspective. We will highlight lessons learned and best practices in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Education is important for everyone, but it is a critical area of empowerment for girls and women. This is not only because education is an entry point to opportunity but also because women’s educational achievements have positive ripple effects within the family and across generations.

Education is much more than reading and writing. It is an essential investment countries make for their futures, a crucial factor in reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development.

Aquaculture as a Component of Food Security

The world’s supply of fish from natural habitats is being depleted, and the quality of marine ecological systems throughout the world is declining, except in a few places where environmental awareness is more evident and strict enforcement is applied. In order to supply the constantly growing demand, the branch of aquaculture in Israel has been developing at a rapid rate over the past few years.

There are a number of natural causes that can bring about the deterioration of water quality, for instance the growth of algae, invasion of non-endemic species, or changing quantities of sediment. But man-made factors, including unsuccessful developmental strategies, have caused, and still cause, some of the gravest damage to marine ecological systems, hastening their deterioration to the extent that all life in the water is threatened, as it is on land.

The world’s lakes and seas are closely connected to the daily life of the communities that surround them. Many lakes were and still are the only source of livelihood and of communities which depend mainly on fishing. Non-sustainable use of soil, nonexistent development, and the desire for quick profits are some of the reasons for the widespread deterioration. In many cases unplanned development has critically affected the communities living in the area of the water, severely damaging their quality of life, nutrition and food security.

The communities of fishermen, fish breeders and farmers or settlers with access to water sources, and those who want to breed fish, are the main target populations for MASHAV’s, the overseas development arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, development assistance activities in the field of mariculture.

ISRAEL’S RELATIVE ADVANTAGE

MASHAV has been working for many years in the field of agricultural assistance to the developing world, based on the accumulated experience of 70 years of fish breeding in Israel. Israel’s know-how and experience are uniquely valuable and meaningful for developing countries, some of which face a lack of natural resources or arid or semi-arid conditions.

In the field of aquaculture, Israel has achieved impressive results that have made it a leader in several areas that are at the heart of development cooperation:

Fish breeding – diversified technologies for production of different fish species, under changing intensification conditions (ponds, cages and recirculating systems).

Planning and management of a farm – structural principles of fishponds, kinds of facilities and equipment for fish breeding; data collection and registration.

Water quality – water as a medium for life, limnology of fishponds. Importance of water quality for fish breeding; health aspects of fish, dependent on water quality; adaptation of fish breeds to different water qualities (salinity,
temperature, etc.).

Fish and marine animals – morphology and anatomy; fish breeds in aquaculture, biological aspects of different breeds; types of interface according to fish species.

Fish health – causes of disease, diagnosis and treatment, prevention interface.

Feeding and nutrition – principles of fish nutrition; feed production for different fish species (use of raw materials).

Fish propagation – production of fingerlings, naturally or induced, with hormonal control; production of mono-sex population; planning and maintenance of breeding schools.

Feasibility analysis and economical consideration – cost and production aspects for establishment and continuous maintenance.

Israeli Early Childhood Education Program for Accra

The1st Early Childhood Education training takes place in May in Accra.


This course marks the first stage in adopting the very successful Early Childhood Education program which was piloted in Kumasi 3 years ago by MASHAV (Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation) and the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI).


The program focuses on using proven Israeli knowledge and experience in the field of Early Childhood Education to train qualified teachers in Ghana with skill sets that focus on studying through play. These techniques allow for a much better learning experience for the children, while maintaining the Ghana Education Service (GES) curriculum.


Lately, there has been much talk regarding the MASHAV Early Childhood Education program in Kumasi and the interest in the country seems to be high. The ECE success in Kumasi these past 3 years has generated attention from key stakeholders across Ghana.


Earlier this month, Israeli experts from the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center in Haifa (MCTC) were invited by the GES task force in charge of developing the long term up scaling of Early Childhood Education in Ghana. Israel is running the only successful program in Ghana at this time, and the two experts were considered invaluable to the process. MASHAV, with the assistance of Ambassador Bar-li was only too happy to assist with their arrival to Ghana.

Profiles of Trafficking - MASHAV, Haifa

Poverty and lack of economic opportunity cause women and children to become potential victims of human trafficking, through traders connected to international crime rings (www.humantrafficking.org). They are more vulnerable to false opportunities for employment in other countries and many women who receive proposals of work from apparently legitimate sources find themselves in situations where their documents are destroyed and their families endangered. And while women and children are especially at risk of sex trafficking, human trafficking is not limited to sexual exploitation alone; it also includes trade within marriage, in sweat-shops, on agricultural plantations and in domestic service.



A Workshop on “Profiles of Trafficking: Patterns, Populations & Policies” is taking place at the Golda Meir Mount Carmel Training Center (MCTC), (MASHAV) in Haifa, in cooperation with the Israel Ministry of Justice, the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, UNODC, OSCE & TAIEX.

The program includes lectures, workshops and study tours on the topics of different populations of victims of trafficking, different patterns of trafficking in humans and preventive policies. The activity will provide a platform for exchange of experiences and ideas about different methodologies used around the world.

In addition, one day of the Workshop will be devoted to a Seminar on The Relationship between Government and Non Governmental Organizations, with the participation of experts from Israel and abroad to which I have been invited..


The Workshop objectives are:


• To analyze problems in the law and in public policy, as they relate to trafficking in humans


• To widen the participants’ knowledge and experience on trauma and rehabilitation of victims, studying selected texts on the topic


• To establish a human network to foster cross-border cooperation between Israel and countries of origin and destination, aiming to achieve concrete cooperation and to learn from experience in the joint struggle against trafficking in humans


• To exchange experiences and ideas from countries of origin and destination, Israel and the US.


• To become acquainted with a variety of programs in Israel about trauma, specifically rehabilitation of trafficking victims.

Yet another amazing conference organised by MASHAV

12 Ways Israel Feeds the World

Abigail Klein Leichman - Israel 21C, May 10th, 2012

Food security is a major concern for our rapidly growing planet. As resources dwindle and the population rises, smart solutions for better agriculture and safer food storage are essential.


No other single country – certainly not one as young and as tiny as Israel – has contributed more breakthroughs in this area than Israel.


Since the 1950s, Israelis have not only been finding miraculous ways to green their own desert but have shared their discoveries far and wide through channels including MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


Here are 12 major ways Israel helps feed the world.


1. Drip irrigation


Probably no other advancement has been quite as significant. While the concept of drip irrigation existed well before Israeli statehood, it was revolutionized by Israeli water engineer Simcha Blass, who serendipitously discovered that a slow and balanced drip led to remarkable growth. He created tubing that slowly released water where it was most effective, and in 1965 Kibbutz Hatzerim built a whole new industry, Netafim, based on his invention.


Israeli drip and micro-irrigation solutions rapidly spread worldwide. The newest models are self-cleaning and maintain uniform flow rate regardless of water quality and pressure.


Just one recent example of how this method has impacted food supply in foreign countries is Tipa, literally “Drop,” an Israeli-developed kit that has allowed 700 farming families in Senegal to reap crops three times a year instead of just once, even on infertile land.


Tipa is “a simple drip irrigation system that uses gravity when there is no water supply or water pressure coming to rural areas,” MASHAV’s Ilan Fluss told ISRAEL21c. The organization has similar activities in Kenya, South Africa, Benin and Niger.


2. Grain cocoons


Israeli-designed GrainPro Cocoons provide a surprisingly simple and cheap way for African and Asian farmers to keep their grain market-fresh.


The huge bags, invented by international food technology consultant Prof. Shlomo Navarro, keep both water and air out. They’re used all over the developed world, including Africa and the Far East, and even in countries that have no diplomatic ties to Israel, such as Pakistan.


As much as 50 percent of every grain harvest and 100% of every pulse harvest is lost to pests and mold, Navarro told ISRAEL21c. Subsistence farmers in developing countries tend to store their crops in primitive baskets or bags, which are not effective in keeping hungry bugs and micro-contaminants out. The Cocoon solves that problem, even in extreme heat and humidity. The Cocoon stores crops safely.

3. Biological pest control


On Kibbutz Sde Eliyahu, a company called Bio-Bee breeds beneficial insects and mites for biological pest control and bumblebees for natural pollination in greenhouses and open fields. Subsidiary Bio-Fly sells sterile Mediterranean fruit flies to control this major pest in fruit trees.


R&D manager Dr. Shimon Steinberg told ISRAEL21c the company’s top seller worldwide is two-millimeter-long, pear-shaped orange spider that is a highly efficient enemy of the spider mite, a devastating agricultural pest.


“Sixty percent of California strawberries since 1990 are treated with this predatory mite from the Holy Land,” he reported. In Israel, Bio-Bee products have enabled sweet-pepper farmers to reduce the use of chemical pesticides by 75 percent.


Bio-Bee exports eight different species of biological control agents, plus pollinating bumblebees, to 32 nations from Japan to Chile. Bio-Fly collaborates with Jordanian and West Bank Palestinian Authority agricultural experts.


4. Dairy farming


Hof Hasharon Dairy Farm, SAE Afikim and SCR Precise Dairy Farming all makeadvanced systems for herd management, monitoring and feeding used on dairy farms worldwide.


SAE Afikim is one of 10 Israeli companies involved in a five-year project in Vietnam to implement every aspect of a vast $500 million dairy farm project. It’s the largest project of its kind in the world.


The operation will encompass 30,000 cows at 12 state-of-the-art mega-dairies and a milk processing plant supplying 300 million liters per year. By the end of 2012, 500,000 liters are expected to be produced daily.


In the meantime, China is sending groups of dairy farm manager trainees to Israel to learn how to boost milk production there as well.


5. Tailor-made farm solutions


Kibbutz-based Agricultural Knowledge On-Line (AKOL) makes unique software to help producers grow fruits and vegetables, raise poultry and dairy cows, manage vineyards and make olive oil.


Hosted in IBM’s “cloud,” AKOL’s latest project gives farmers anywhere in the world access to information from Israeli experts. Hundreds of thousands of farmers can obtain tailor-made solutions, arrange group purchases of supplies and communicate with colleagues.


CEO Ron Shani told ISRAEL21c that AKOL applications advise farmers on when to plant, irrigate and harvest; how to cope with drought; how to choose the crops best for their area; how to implement ideal storage and temperature control procedures based on climate; and how to track the growth of chickens, livestock and fruit, among other ideas for running a modern, professional farm.


6. A better potato


It took nearly 30 years of research, but Hebrew University’s Prof. David Levy developed strains of potatoes that thrive in hot, dry climates, and can be irrigated by saltwater.


Potatoes are one of the top sources of nutrition in the world, but they never before grew well in hot, desert regions like the Middle East. Now farmers in these regions can grow potatoes as a cash crop.


Levy told ISRAEL21c that he also intended his research to enhance understanding between Israel and its neighbors, as scientists and officials from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Morocco meet with Israeli scientists to share knowledge and build bridges of information and technology.


7. Squeezing every drop of water from the air


Tal-Ya Water Technologies developed reusable plastic trays to collect dew from the air, reducing the water needed by crops or trees by up to 50 percent.


The square serrated trays, made from non-PET recycled and recyclable plastic with UV filters and a limestone additive, surround each plant or tree. With overnight temperature change, dew forms on both surfaces of the Tal-Ya tray, which funnels the dew and condensation straight to the roots. If it rains, the trays heighten the effect of each millimeter of water 27 times over.


Inventor and CEO Avraham Tamir told ISRAEL21c that the trays also block the sun so weeds can’t take root, and protect the plants from extreme temperature shifts. “Farmers need to use much less water, and in turn much less fertilizer on the crop,” which translates to less groundwater contamination.


8. Unparalleled crop protection


Two years ago, Hebrew University’s tech-transfer company teamed with Makhteshim Agan, a world leader in crop protection products, to develop and commercialize slow-release herbicides and a targeted insecticide that doesn’t harm beneficial insects.


The total worldwide herbicide market is valued at more than $15 billion, of which approximately a quarter is dedicated to soil-applied herbicides and other pesticides. The Israeli approach incorporates herbicides into micelles or vesicles, which are absorbed onto negatively charged clay minerals to enable a slow and controlled release, reducing leaching to deeper soil layers. This enhances efficiency and reduces the required doses.


The novel insecticide kills caterpillars of night-flying moths – a common scourge for farmers worldwide – but unlike common commercial preparations, has minimal or no effect on any other creature. High levels of control can be achieved with much less product, greatly minimizing environmental impact.


9. Fishing in the desert


Overfishing is a serious threat to the food supply, a grave situation since fish is the main source of protein for hundreds of millions of people. But what if fish could be raised virtually anywhere, even in the desert? That is just what the Israel’s GFA (Grow Fish Anywhere) Advanced Systems has made possible.


The Israeli “zero-discharge” system eliminates the environmental problems in conventional fish farming, and doesn’t depend on electricity or proximity to a body of water. Specially developed microbes purify fish waste byproducts right in the tank, with no need for spillage and refilling.


The largest facility using GFA technology, in New York, produced about 100 tons of sea bream, bass and tilapia in 2010.


10. Food from greenhouse gas


Israel’s Seambiotic clean-tech company recently launched a commercial algae farm in China and does business in the United States and Italy as well.


People don’t eat algae, but algae ponds nourished by power-plant effluent conserve farmed produce for human consumption because they generate 30 times more feedstock for biofuel than do land-based crop alternatives.


Plus, the tiny plants, which thrive on carbon dioxide and sunlight, produce a valuable nutraceutical food additive that is especially popular in the Far East.


11. Reintroducing carp to Africa


Half a century ago, Lake Victoria carp was a significant part of the diet of the nearby Ugandan villagers. But when Nile perch was introduced to the lake, it decimated most of the smaller fish including the carp. Villagers had neither the equipment nor the expertise necessary to start fishing the huge perch, and symptoms of protein deficiency started becoming apparent in their children.


Prof. Berta Sivan of Hebrew University came to the rescue with a multiyear project near to help these African families. Her team was able to apply techniques developed over many years for Israeli fish farmers.


The Israeli project not only successfully spawned carp on Ugandan fish farms, but also provided training on how to dig and fill ponds and raise the small fish. Now local children have an abundant supply of protein to eat with their fruit and vegetables.


12. Hardier seeds for better crops


Hebrew University agricultural scientists Ilan Sela and Haim D. Rabinowitch developed TraitUP, a trademarked technology that enables the introduction of genetic materials into seeds without modifying their DNA. This method immediately and efficiently improves plants before they’re even sowed.


The university’s Yissum Research Development technology transfer company licensed the seed treatment technology to Morflora Israel for curing fruit-tree diseases in orchards and groves, and for seedling treatment in the nursery.


“The new ability to deliver traits within days instead of years, and to offer a treatment with results similar to breeding to all current species, answers a long and unmet need that will revolutionize modern agriculture and significantly impact the vegetable and commodity crop markets,” said Dotan Peleg, CEO of Morflora.

MASHAV and USAID sign MOU

MASHAV Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation based in Haifa http://mashav.mfa.gov.il/mfm/web/main/missionhome.asp?MissionID=16210& and USAID have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to increase cooperation on food security to Africa


The Heads of MASHAV and of USAID signed in Washington, April 18, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to increase cooperation on food security to Africa, within the framework of USAID’s “Feed the Future” Initiative. The MOU allows for closer cooperation on the issue of food security in four countries: Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda.


Feed the Future strives to increase agricultural production and the incomes of both men and women in rural areas who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.


MASHAV’s cooperation includes its proven agricultural expertise in applied agricultural research, irrigation and water technologies, and agricultural production in arid zones. Emphasis will be given to gender issues, training and human capacity building, and adaptation to climate change.

NEWS ABOUT ISRAEL THAT YOU ARE UNLIKELY TO FIND IN THE MEDIA 22-4-12

With thanks to the British Israel group form the compilation

• Israeli doctors have recently restored the eyesight of more than 2,000 people in seven countries: Nepal, Mynamar (Burma), Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Cambodia, the Maldives and Ethiopia. The surgical operations were performed in special camps set up by MASHAV (Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, which is subject to the Foreign Ministry) in cooperation with the Eye from Zion organisation and the Khan Foundation. All the surgeons were Israeli opthalmologists. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4173873,00.html

• Interaction with dolphins has long been known to help people suffering from mental illness and post -traumatic stress disorder. A 16-year-old Israeli boy, Morad Azva, who was attacked by peers from high school in his village, Kalansua, Israel, became mute and closed off to the outside world. Normal treatment with orthodox methods of medication and psychiatric therapy was not successful. It was only after being sent to Dolphin Reef in Eilat for “dolphin therapy” that through interaction with the dolphins there, he began to speak again.

http://nocamels.com/2012/03/dolphin-therapy-helps-mute-israeli-teen-speak- again/

• During Passover week which was warm and sunny, it was estimated that up to half a million tourists visited Israel’s national parks and nature reserves which were fully packed. The Golan Heights, and Lake Hula hotels were also at maximum capacity and Israel Radio reported that the road leading to the north, the Sea of Galilee and near the Carmel Forest were filled with traffic jams. Jerusalem and its outskirts also received a record number of visitors. Among the most popular sites were the Banyas Reserve, Gan Hashlosha, (Sahne), Birya Forest, the Gilboa, the Jordan River and the Hula valley. (Taken from the Times of Israel)

• These are quotes taken from a recent Friday sermon on Jordan T.V. given by Muslim cleric, Ghaleb Rabab’a: “Jordanian Army is invincible – Jerusalem will be regained … The arrogance of the Jews will be shattered … Will shatter the might of Israel just as the might of the Crusaders and the Byzantines was shattered… The absolutely most dangerous thing is the Jews…” With friends like these……..! (Thanks to Memri for these quotes.)

• Fifteen Bedouin teenagers from the northern Negev town of Hura have recently made Israeli theatrical history. Their performance at the Bat Yam Youth Theatre Festival marked the first time that a Bedouin troupe of any age had staged a Western-style play in Israel. Their play was the group’s own adaptation of the 17th century French satire by Moliere, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme. These teenagers transformed Moliere’s comic masterpiece into a hilarious masterpiece of their own cultural reality in the jargon of modern Bedouin Arabic. In this version, a Bedouin tent replaces the stately mansion, traditional Bedouin robes and head coverings replace period French costumes, and instead of a minuet, 5 boys performed a fiery debka line dance. The inspiration for producing this play in the Bedouin community came from Pauline Marchand, director of the French Institute of Beersheva and the Negev, the cultural arm of the French Embassy which is underwriting this project.
(Thanks to Israel21C for this item)

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

Who Says We are Isolated?

So often today, journalists are ready to pontificate on the Middle East with their own agendas in mind rather than reporting the facts on the ground. Far from being isolated, representatatives from many countries are happy to come to Israel to learn.

From 20 different countries, 30 men and women involved in sustainable development in their home countries are visiting Israel for a 25-day course to learn about water, energy and city planning.

The visit includes leaders from government branches, universities, development foundations and other types of NGOs, from Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, China, India, Kenya, Kyrgzystan, Moldova, Nepal, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Thailand, Ukraine and Zambia.

The foreign delegates have been able to explore issues of water, waste and energy management, as well as municipal infrastructure. During their last week in Israel, they will be observing agricultural research and development and renewable energy sites in the country’s deserts.

For the full story go to http://www.jpost.com/Sci-Tech/Article.aspx?id=240722

Getting Out of the Slums

About one billion people across the planet live in slums. International development organizations have been investing resources and efforts in tackling this issue, as one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals is to "achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020." But despite some successes, the situation has continued to worsen as rural-urban migration and natural demographic growth continue to aggravate the problem.

Enter Israel's Weitz Center for Development Studies in Rehovot, which provides month-long training courses on upgrading poor urban neighborhoods and communities. The program is sponsored by MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation.

In July, a group of 31 participants from 15 African, Asian and Eastern European countries came for a session, representing such countries as Kosovo, Montenegro, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Uganda, Myanmar and Thailand.

Israel - working in cooperation with the United Nations agency UN-Habitat for the past two years - has made a name for itself on the international circuit for its experience in upgrading poor urban residential areas.For the full story, read http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/IsraelExperience/Out_of_slums-Sept_2011.htm

Israel brings treatment and training to Kenya

In just three weeks, a team of Israeli aid workers completed construction of a hospital emergency room - the only facility of its kind - in Kisumu, Kenya.

Sick and injured Kenyans can receive quality emergency care at Kisumu East District Hospital in Kenya’s third-largest city, now that a team of 10 Israeli engineers has completed construction of the hospital’s first, fully-equipped emergency room.

Planned and built under the auspices of MASHAV (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Agency for International Development Cooperation), the ER will provide not only regional emergency treatment, but also regional medical training.

"There is no other such facility in a region of six million people,” says MASHAV director Haim Divon, who traveled to the East African republic at the beginning of November for a ceremony to inaugurate the ER.

Beyond building the state-of-the-art facility and donating all necessary supplies, MASHAV sent specialists to train local medical professionals in emergency medicine to raise the level of care available in the city and its periphery.


Sick and injured Kenyans can now receive quality emergency care thanks to Israel's MASHAV (Photo: MFA)

The project was initiated by MASHAV’s medical adviser, Dr. Yossi Baratz, who served as the agency’s representative in Kenya from 2003 to 2006. Baratz is in charge of MASHAV’s numerous public health missions, the newest of which include setting up a dialysis center in Micronesia and establishing an intensive care unit in Haiti.

The work was carried out - in a record three weeks’ time - by engineering and medical teams from the largest health organization in Israel and one of the most progressive public health associations in the world. MASHAV invested about a quarter of a million dollars, not including ongoing support and capacity building.

Israel and Kenya have enjoyed close and friendly relations since the 1950s, when MASHAV set up ophthalmology "camps" there as one of its first endeavors. "We have a special sentiment for Kenya because it was one of the first countries we established diplomatic relations with.

This model to be replicated in Uganda and Tanzania

Kisumu is best known today as the region encompassing the village where US President Barack Obama’s father was born. But long before most people had ever heard of this area, Israel was helping to improve its citizens’ quality of life.
During a visit last year from Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, local officials expressed their interest in upgrading the services of the district hospital. Baratz determined that an ER and provision of emergency medical training would be a good starting point.

Divon, who has visited Kenya many times in an official capacity, promises that MASHAV will next help to train emergency medical responders. "When Kenya’s minister of health was in Israel recently, he expressed interest in our Magen David Adom system, [Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross]. In Kenya, they don’t have adequate medical knowledge or facilities to treat victims at the site of accidents, so ambulances are mainly just for transport. In our system, the ambulance squad is already administering emergency care and this is a concept they want to adopt," he explains.

Divon cites "respect and appreciation," as the benefit Israel derives from such projects. "The mayor, the minister of health and all the other officials pour praise on us and salute Israel and our embassy. This opens doors. When our ambassador calls, they will pick up the phone because they see him as relevant to the development of Kenya. That is the immediate dividend we receive."

Grasping the real challenges of the global village

With all the focus o bad news, it is refreshing to be able to report on successes in Israel which positively affect the impoverished and hungry around the world.


With thanks to Israel 21c,
http://israel21c.org/201009278343/people/grasping-the-real-challenges-of-the-global-village it a good to report that MASHAV, the branch of overseas development of the Israeli government, was founded in Israel 1958 as a vehicle for sharing Israel's creative solutions with the rest of the developing world.It is located not more than 10 mins from where I live on the Carmel ridge in Haifa.


MASHAV has long focused on the same objectives that the United Nations recently formalized as its priority development goals: Poverty alleviation; food security; sustainable development; empowerment of women; child and maternal health; social equity; environmental sustainability; and upgraded public health and education systems.


MASHAV professionals have trained some 200,000 people from approximately 140 countries, including Israel. In countries across the world, they have developed dozens of demonstration projects in fields of Israeli expertise.


Divon, the current head, came to MASHAV in 1995, after serving in diplomatic postings in Bombay, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka. "It was more than eye-opening to see what was happening out there," he says. "What hits you is the real meaning of poverty and human suffering. In the western hemisphere we live in a bubble and we don't grasp the real challenges of this global village of ours, which is getting smaller."Concentrating on key 'agents of change'



Mashav holds courses on nursing care at the Dina School of Nursing in Petah Tikva.

Among MASHAV's current projects are helping the mayor of Kisumu, Kenya's third largest city, to establish a strategic planning unit to empower periphery cities and training Ethiopia's head agronomist in biotech and irrigation methods, to enhance yields at a mango and avocado nursery that it established in that African nation. "They must boost their quality and diversity for local consumption, and exports must meet certain standards. We can show them how," Divon declares.

MASHAV has a long history of dispatching medical aid around the world. A recent example was a delegation of six doctors from Sheba Medical Center that was sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo following a July 2 fuel tanker explosion that injured some 200 people. Also this year, MASHAV facilitated the creation of neonatal and intensive care units at hospitals in Ghana and Kenya and a new ICU for the hospital in Port Au Prince, Haiti is underway.

However, whenever possible the preferable approach is to bring key "change agents" from beneficiary countries to Israel to see programs in action and hear from experts on the ground. This summer, for instance, MASHAV hosted a contingent of educators from Moscow for pedagogic training.

Focus on contributions, not conflict.

Beyond practical solutions, MASHAV also strives to pass along the can-do spirit that visitors invariably marvel at. This spirit is personified in the multilingual Divon himself, his New York-born wife, Linda, and their three grown children. In their frequent and extensive travels, members of the Divon family have initiated and participated in projects such as a Canadian 'peace camp' for Israeli and Palestinian children.

Demands for Israeli know-how continue to grow, especially now that Israel is a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. There is the hope that one day the high level of appreciation for Israeli aid that emanates from developing countries will be matched in the rest of the world. That can only happen, he believes, when the media pays as much attention to Israel's contributions as to its conflicts.

"Imagine how people would look up to Israel if every activity in every country we are involved in would get front-page headlines," he concludes.

Yet another Rambam hospital success

In the western world, cataract operations are considered routine procedures. In Israel alone, some 40,000 such operations are performed yearly. Just a few hours’ flight from here, however, thousands of people suffer from cataracts and blindness. Two Rambam ophthalmologists, returned from a mission to Yaounde, capital of the Republic of Cameroon in Africa, where they restored vision to tens of patients, and instructed local medical teams performing the same procedures.


The mission was sponsored by MASHAV, the Center for International Cooperation of Israel’s foreign ministry. For two weeks, the doctors diagnosed and operated on patients with different eye ailments in the city’s main medical center, Centre H'ospitalier D'Essos. Some of the operations were performed using a phacoemulsifiaction machine, a device for cataract procedures that was brought specially from Israel for the mission. The Israeli doctors also supervised local teams in treating glaucoma patients by laser.

News of the Israeli doctors’ arrival drew patients seeking treatment and advice. Hospitals in Cameroon attend only to insured or paying patients and those without adequate means remain untreated. During their short stay, Drs. Berger and Socea conducted 55 cataract and glaucoma operations primarily for patients in need , ranging in age from five to over 80. Putting this in perspective, the local department carries out only 100 operations yearly.

The procedures were performed with help of the hospital’s staff, along with teams from other cities who arrived to take part in the operation and to learn from the Israeli doctors.

“One of the most moving cases involved a 15-year old boy,” recalls Dr. Berger. “At a young age, this boy had received treatment that left him with cataracts in both eyes and with reversible blindness. We operated on his eyes and he recovered his sight.” Another case involved an elderly man who had been blinded in both eyes as the result of traditional methods of cataract surgery . The RHCC doctors also succeeded in restoring his vision. “This is an ailment that can be treated effectively, ” says Dr. Berger. “Only the absence of proper diagnosis and treatment allows so many people to remain blind.”

The farewell ceremony for the Rambam doctors took place in the presence of Israel’s ambassador to Cameroon, the director and deputy-director of Cameroon’s social security program (CNPS) ,representatives of the Israel foreign ministry, hospital staff and treated patients.

The Department of Ophthalmology, under the direction of Prof. Benjamin Miller, has a tradition of assistance in Africa. “In Israel, medical care is taken for granted, but in Africa you feel you are helping people who live with great difficulties. The results are quick and exciting,” says Dr. Berger. “The operations and guidance we provided are a contribution of Israel to Cameroon. This is part of a long-term, successful Israeli initiative in developing countries, especially Africa.”

For a video presentation see http://www.youtube.com/user/rambamhospital#p/u/5/G0WOUM4azbE