UNESCO. Executive Board; 154th; Report by the Director...

154 EX/INF.4PARIS, 16 April 1998English & French only

UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL,SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

EXECUTIVE BOARD

Hundred and fifty-fourth Session

Item 3.1 of the provisional agenda

REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL ON THE EXECUTIONOF THE PROGRAMME ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL CONFERENCE

SUMMARY

This document contains information on the implementation of projectsaddressed to the four priority groups: women, youth, least developedcountries and Africa, in the framework of the execution of theprogramme dealt with in document 154 EX/4, Part I.

(i)

CONTENTS

Projects addressed to the four priority groups:women, youth, least developed countries and Africa

Page

Major Programme I - Towards lifelong education for all ........................................... 1

1. Promoting girls’ and women’s education in Africa ................................................. 12. Enhancement of learning and training opportunities for youth ............................... 33. Scientific, technical and vocational education of girls in Africa ............................. 64. Women, higher education and development............................................................ 8

Major Programme II - The sciences in the service of development............................ 9

5. Women, science and technology.............................................................................. 96. Biotechnologies for development in Africa ............................................................. 117. Promotion of UNISPAR in Africa........................................................................... 138. Solar villages in Africa ............................................................................................ 149. Modernization of geodata handling in Africa .......................................................... 1510. Arid and semi-arid land management in Africa....................................................... 1711. Young scientists’ involvement in the MAB programme ......................................... 1812. Women and water resource supply and use ............................................................. 1913. Empowering women: community development programmes in rural areas............ 2114. An approach to social development: fostering active partnerships between

local communities and government ......................................................................... 22

Major Programme III - Cultural development: the heritage andcreativity ........................................................................................................................ 24

15. African itinerant college on culture and development ............................................. 2416. Young people’s participation in world heritage preservation and promotion.......... 2617. Music crossroads...................................................................................................... 2718. Training of craftswomen in Africa and Central America ........................................ 2819. Science reading for young Africans ......................................................................... 29

Major Programme IV - Communication, information and informatics .................... 30

20. International survey of young people’s perception of violence on the screen ......... 3021. Women speaking to women: women’s rural community radio in

least developed countries ......................................................................................... 3222. Improving communication training in Africa .......................................................... 3423. Video libraries for young people in Africa .............................................................. 3524. Computer-based education materials for teaching informatics in Africa ................ 36

(ii)

Page

Towards a culture of peace............................................................................................. 37

25. Promotion of the democratic process in Africa ....................................................... 3726. Intercultural dialogue in everyday life ..................................................................... 3927. Women in the service of civil peace ........................................................................ 40

154 EX/INF.4

PROJECTS ADDRESSED TO THE FOUR PRIORITY GROUPS:WOMEN, YOUTH, LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AND AFRICA

This document presents a consolidated report on the implementation, within theframework of document 28 C/5, of the special projects addressed to the four priority groups:women, youth, least developed countries and Africa. This report covers 27 of the 29 projectsincluded in document 28 C/5. The remaining two projects (‘Empowering women as agents ofchange in community development, population programmes and environmental protection’and ‘Enhancing the contribution of youth to development’) have been discontinued inaccordance with the recommendations of the evaluation report of the transdisciplinary project‘Environment and population education and information for development’ (October 1996-February 1997).

Information on the implementation of special projects within the framework ofdocument 29 C/5 will be presented to the Executive Board at its 155th session.

MAJOR PROGRAMME I - TOWARDS LIFELONG EDUCATION FOR ALL

Project No. 1 Promoting girls’ and women’s education in Africa(28 C/5, para. 01108; 29 C/5, para. 01013)

Duration Four years (1996-1999)

Budget $490,000 for 1996-1997 (to be supplemented by extrabudgetaryresources)

Location Sahelian countries in Africa

Objective To reinforce girls’ and women’s education, female literacy andcontinuing education

Implementing Division Division of Basic Education

Activities

Focus on providing essential information on educational opportunities and on social andfinancial services for women through guidance and counselling services and through themedia for school-age girls; evaluating strategies and revising national plans of action forimproving the education of girls and women; and promoting national advocacy programmesamong girls and women. The project activities are executed primarily by the participatingMember States. Guidance and counselling for school-age girls aim at providing training forteacher trainers, social workers and non-formal educators on how to help girls to cope with thechanging socio-economic climate.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date

Expenditure as of31 December 1997

Rate ofexecution

Extrabudgetaryresources

$490,000 $470,200 $470,200 100% $850,082(DANIDA)

154 EX/INF.4 - page 2

Activities executed by Headquarters

Following the first regional training seminar for English-speaking countries in Malawi(July 1996), a technical working group meeting was held in Zambia (November 1996) to planthe future activities, namely, national workshops and institutionalization of the results. Sincethen, national training workshops have been held in 13 countries for trainers of trainers drawnfrom among teacher trainers, non-formal educators and social workers. At the second regionaltraining seminar in Zomba, Malawi (14 July-2 August 1997), trainers of trainers, collegetutors, non-formal education instructors and social workers from Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho,Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia andZimbabwe received training in policy planning, development and implementation of guidanceand counselling. The regional training seminar for French-speaking countries was held in Mali(November 1996) and the first technical working group meeting for French-speaking countriesheld its first meeting in Dakar, Senegal, from 6 to 10 October 1997.

The media and advocacy component of the project: ‘Educate to Empower’, waslaunched in the United Republic of Tanzania (January 1997) for English-speaking countries.This included a workshop for radio-producers to produce gender-sensitive radio and post-literacy materials, covering such areas as child-marriage, entrepreneurship, reducing women’sworkload, advocacy for women’s education, rural sanitation and women’s skills in gardeningand marketing. Ten post-literacy booklets and eight radio programmes have since beenproduced and broadcast in the countries concerned. The programme has been reported inCountdown, a newsletter prepared by the Basic Education Division, as well as on various localtelevisions, radios and newspapers. Booklets to be utilized for non-formal and post-literacyprogrammes were also produced and UNESCO is exploring, with UNICEF, the possibility ofprinting these at country level with assistance from publishing houses. A workshop forFrench-speaking countries under this component was organized in Côte d’Ivoire from 1 to14 September 1997, which produced a series of ten post-literacy reading booklets on themesresponding to women’s unique needs. As a sequel to the meetings in Senegal and Côted’Ivoire, a training package has been prepared for testing. A post-literacy manual as well asbooklets for neo-literate women on environmental protection, hygiene and health andsanitation, were also produced for women in Guinea.

Ministers of Education and senior officers of the participating English-speakingcountries met during the 45th session of the International Conference on Education (Geneva,October 1996) and agreed to follow up this initiative and to form a ‘Board of Governors of theGuidance, Counselling and Youth Development Centre for Africa’; it comprises Ministers ofEducation of Eastern and southern Africa. The Director-General addressed the first meeting ofthe Board of Governors (Malawi, 28 April 1997), which discussed ways of sustaining theprogramme, including plans to establish the Centre for Africa in Malawi. The Government ofMalawi has since allocated land for the Centre. At the second meeting of the Board ofGovernors in Gaborone, Botswana (July 1997), the legal document for the establishment ofthe Centre and the architectural drawings for its construction were reviewed. The legaldocument establishing the Centre is expected to be signed during the MINEDAF VII (Durban,South Africa, 20-24 April 1998). In the meantime, the first 27 trainers from 15 English-speaking countries graduated in August 1997 from the Malawi Institute of Education.

The national Chapters of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) havebeen involved in preparing orientation and training materials and FAWE held a subregional


training workshop for policy-makers in Malawi (25-26 August 1997). It has also pre-testedthe training modules for policy-makers, the final version of which will soon be available.

Partners

Close collaboration is maintained with National Commissions of the participatingcountries. Partners also include FAWE for activities concerning gender-sensitivity for policy-makers and the preparation of orientation and training materials, in co-operation with nationalspecialists; DANIDA, the Rockefeller Foundation, UNICEF, UNFPA, USAID, the FrenchMinistry of Co-operation and ISESCO, which contributed to financing the regional andnational workshops.

Overall assessment of project progress/prospects

The project has gone beyond Sahelian countries and is now at various stages ofimplementation in 22 countries (13 English-speaking and nine French-speaking Africancountries). Using a participatory approach and emphasizing teacher training and capacity-building at both regional and national levels, the project activities are co-ordinated withsimilar ongoing activities; the project receives strong support, in particular from Ministries ofEducation of participating Member States. The project is making satisfactory progress and itis anticipated that by the end of the project all the teacher-training institutions in theparticipating countries will offer guidance and counselling as part of their training course.

* * *

Project No. 2 Enhancement of learning and training opportunities for youth(28 C/5, para. 01128; 29 C/5, para. 01012)

Duration Six years (1996-2001)

Budget $1,150,000 (to be supplemented by extrabudgetary resources estimatedat $1,500,000)

Location Least developed countries, countries in post-conflict situations andcountries in transition

Objective To provide diversified learning and training opportunities tomarginalized youth in selected countries

Implementing Division Global Action Programme on Education for AllCollaborating Division Division of Youth and Sports Activities

Activities

Focus on field research and actions through NGOs and public institutions to develop orstrengthen training programmes and develop materials for non-formal basic education andskills training for out-of-school youth. Special skills training packages are being produced innational languages, along with audiovisual materials and instructional computer-programswhere the necessary infrastructure exists. At the same time, the training of tutors and of othersupervisors is given due attention.


Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$1,150,000 $1,071,100 $1,071,100 100% $3,967,204from

AGFUND,DANIDA,Germany,Norway


In order to mobilize local human resources to assist excluded youth, mostly in urbanareas, a pragmatic approach to basic education and practical training activities of direct benefitto out-of-school youth has been developed. Upon the request of field offices and/or inconsultation with interested extrabudgetary funding sources, a series of identification andtechnical support missions have been organized to launch activities in different countriesand/or to monitor progress of implementation, as follows:

Angola: an identification mission in the autumn of 1997 led to the launching of aproject targeting demobilized youth, in early 1998.

Crimea (Ukraine): in co-operation with the United Nations Crimean Integration andDevelopment Programme, UNESCO is financing group activities to developincome-generation skills and to address youth sociocultural issues linked to the reintegrationof Tartars recently returned to the Crimea. The project activities have been completed and thefinal report is available; the second phase of the project activities has been launched and willconclude in a youth camp with the aim of building a youth community centre in Sudak.

Egypt: a mission from Headquarters, in January 1997, co-operated with a national NGOin identifying and supporting a basic education and training programme for youth, linked tothe recycling of town waste (extrabudgetary funding). Project activities started in July 1997.

Georgia: the pilot project, launched in co-operation with the Georgian NationalCommission, dedicated to the training of adolescents in skills linked to the rehabilitation ofGeorgian culture and history and the development of tourism in Mstketa (included on theWorld Heritage List). The project has been completed and the final report is awaited. Asecond phase is currently envisaged in the framework of a regional project that would beguided by a feasibility study carried out in Azerbaijan, in February 1998.

Haiti: in co-operation with local NGOs and public institutions, a comprehensive trainingprogramme for street youth has been developed. It provides for basic education and shortpractical training courses in income-generating skills linked to the local non-formal economy.This project is closely related to the MOST/MAB project activities in Port-au-Prince. Anevaluation mission made an assessment in December 1997 of the audiovisual trainingmaterials (in Creole and French) - including supporting booklets and posters - that had beenprepared with extrabudgetary funds.

India: using local materials and techniques developed by the Indian NGO ‘Centre ofScience for Villages’, selected French marginalized youth who have received alternative


education and training have assisted, through French and Indian NGOs, the people in Wardhavillage (India) to construct family homes; this activity aims to encourage cross-culturalcommunication. The activity has been completed and a report is available.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic: a project targeted at ethnic minorities, particularlyamong women and youth in rural areas, was launched in March 1997 with extrabudgetaryfunding support to develop a multi-channel learning system to deliver non-formal basicdistance education (using mainly: radio, print material, audiocassettes and travellingfacilitators) in the central region of Laos. The project provides functional literacy, basicknowledge on health and hygiene, skills training in weaving, sewing and gardening and seeksto enhance the sustainability of rural development activities in central Laos and thereby stemrural exodus towards urban centres.

Mongolia: based on experiences gained during the Gobi Women Project, a new andextended project, supported by extrabudgetary funding, will include the whole country byconsolidating and expanding the non-formal distance education system already established.The target group will be family members and youth in urban areas. The activities focus onincome-generation skills linked to the local economy. Following the designation of a newnational director, the project activities were launched in August 1997.

Palestine: in co-operation with the Ministry of Social Affairs, a project has beenidentified to support the rehabilitation of two centres in Nablus where marginalized youth -boys and girls - receive basic education and practical training to assist with their reintegrationinto the economic and social life of their communities (extrabudgetary funding). Two newcentres were opened in February 1998 in co-operation with the municipalities of Gaza andNablus.

Philippines: a mission was fielded in June 1997 to develop in co-operation with anational NGO, a project to cater for the needs of street youth by setting up apprenticeshipshelters and offering a wide range of educational and cultural activities as well as socialassistance (extrabudgetary funding). The project document has since been signed andactivities started in October 1997.

Rwanda: an identification mission from Headquarters in July 1997 followed by afeasibility study contracted in December 1997 to a local NGO should pave the way for theopening of a youth training centre during this biennium.

Senegal: in co-operation with an NGO (Environment and Development in the ThirdWorld), a project on basic education, community, civic and environment education andpractical training for jobs, has been identified for unemployed youth in the framework of thelocal non-formal economy (extrabudgetary funding). The implementation of the project -which is linked to the MOST/MAB programme - is making progress.

South Africa, Mozambique and Eritrea: a project to offer vocational training in a non-formal education context to some 1,200 out-of-school youth has commenced in October 1997in co-operation with local youth centres. The training covers basic education, life andentrepreneurial skills and activities in the field of culture (music, dance), sports and localradio productions. This project will also enable the three participating countries to establishclose contacts and to exchange experience, resource personnel and ideas about their activitiesand policies for youth marginalized by war and civil violence (extrabudgetary funding).


India, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Sri Lanka, Thailand: basic education andskills training projects for marginalized youth focusing on drug issues have been entrusted bythe European Union to UNESCO with the signing of an agreement in February 1998($1,500,000).

Activities executed by field office(s)

More than 80 per cent of the regular budget funds are decentralized to the regionaloffices with responsibilities for project preparation and implementation.

Partners

The above-mentioned projects are being developed and implemented in co-operationwith competent national and international NGOs and with support from multilateral as well asbilateral funding sources; United Nations agencies and other units at Headquarters (such asMOST/MAB, ED/LWF and SHS/YSA) participate in the activities.


The project is making good progress thanks to the interest shown and support extendedby Member States and by multilateral and bilateral funding sources as well as internationaland national NGOs.

* * *

Project No. 3 Scientific, technical and vocational education of girls in Africa(28 C/5, para. 01223; 29 C/5, para. 01033)



Location Member States of sub-Saharan Africa

Objective To enhance the access of girls to science, technical and vocationaleducation. Specifically, the project is designed to promote thedevelopment and implementation of gender-inclusive policies, and toassist in revising school-based programmes and activities to enhanceawareness of the relationship between science, technology, health,environment and society

Implementing Division Division for the Renovation of Secondary and VocationalEducation


Activities

In co-operation with UNESCO field offices in Africa, national surveys concerning theparticipation of girls and women in scientific, technical and vocational education have beencompleted in 21 countries of the region (Benin, Burundi, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya,Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa,Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe). Reports arebeing finalized in three countries (Botswana, Guinea and Mozambique).

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$250,000 $208,330 $206,000 99% -


An advisory meeting of IGOs and NGOs on science, technology and environmentaleducation for all was organized at UNESCO Headquarters (16-18 September 1997) to outlinethe design of the new UNESCO source kit on science education which plays special attentionto the gender issue, and health and environmental education. Two summary reports have beenelaborated analysing the data from national surveys of English- and French-speakingcountries.

Information on the project has been included in the No. 8 issue of UNEVOC INFO(August 1997) and an issue of the International Science, Technology and EnvironmentalEducation Newsletter Connect. The results from the national surveys, focusing specifically ongender issues, will be presented in Volume VII of Innovations in Science and TechnologyEducation and published in 1999.


A subregional workshop for English-speaking countries on Scientific, Technical andVocational Education of Girls in Africa was organized through the UNESCO Harare Office,Zimbabwe (8-12 September 1997); the workshop, attended by 31 representatives from NGOs(GASAT, TWOWS, FAWE), Ministries of Education, and universities from 14 countries(Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria,Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe), proposed concreteactions for making curricula, textbooks and teacher training more gender-sensitive. Themeeting also proposed actions that could influence sociocultural constraints and negative rolemodelling which impede women’s access to scientific, technical and vocational education andtraining.

Partners

Partners include National Commissions and NGOs, such as: the Forum for AfricanWomen Educationalists (FAWE), the Gender and Science and Technology (GASAT), theThird World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS), the Tanzanian Association forWomen Professionals in Science and Technology (TAWOSTE), as well as the FEMSAproject of the Association for Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Working Groupon Female Participation.



Based on the 21 national surveys and the outcome of the Harare advisory workshop, apool of regional resource persons has been identified and selected relevant actions are beingprepared for implementation during the 1998-1999 biennium.

* * *

Project No. 4 Women, higher education and development(28 C/5, para. 01243; 29 C/5, para. 01038)


Budget $100,000 from this subprogramme; a further $175,000 will be financedfrom other major programmes and supplemented by extrabudgetaryresources

Location All regions, with emphasis on Africa and countries in transition

Objective To strengthen the status and empowerment of women in professionalfields directly related to development

Implementing Division Division of Higher EducationCollaborating Divisions Division of Management of Social Transformations and

Capacity-Building; Division of International Cultural Co-operation; Preservation and Enrichment of Cultural Identities

Activities

Activities focus on the promotion of training, action research and information. Theseactivities are implemented through existing UNESCO networks and UNESCO Chairs andthrough the creation of new ones.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$100,000 $100,000 $99,569 99.5% -


As part of the networks objective to promote women in higher education management,two further seminars have been held: one in Chile (Santiago, December 1996) on WomenGraduates and the Labour Market, and the other in Sri Lanka (Colombo, January 1997) forSouth Asian countries of the Commonwealth. In addition, the study on Feminine Leadershipin Latin American Universities has been completed; further training modules related towomen and university management have been produced with UNESCO support. A report bythe Association of Commonwealth Universities on ‘Equal Employment Opportunity’ citinggood practice in three countries (India, New Zealand and South Africa) has been completed.

Appointments have been made to the two UNESCO Chairs with the Association ofAfrican Universities on ‘Women in Science and Technology’. The first Chair, at the


University of Swaziland, held a training seminar and is engaged in a widespread campaign toraise awareness of women’s role in the sciences; the second, located at the University ofGhana, has commenced training and research activities. Following the meeting held inNairobi, Kenya (14-17 July 1997), a UNITWIN/UNESCO Chair on community health wasestablished at the University of Nairobi. A planning meeting took place at Oxford University(United Kingdom) for universities from Cameroon, the Netherlands, United Republic ofTanzania and Zambia, to launch the Chair in culture and poverty alleviation. The researchprogramme has been started and a major operational project presented to the Dutch fundingauthorities.

The Chair in sustainable development at the University of Rio de Janeiro is continuingthe research programme that supports the social insertion of marginalized women. In thiscontext, a training seminar in advocacy strategies was held in May 1997.


UNESCO field offices in countries where Chairs and networks are located or active areinvolved in programme activities (e.g. Brazil, Chile, Kenya).

Partners

UNESCO Chairs/UNITWIN network focal points; The Commonwealth Secretariat;African Association of Universities; Inter-American Organization for Higher Education;Association of Commonwealth Universities; participating universities.


Results of the first biennial period 1996-1997 were, in general, very satisfactory.Support from donor groups and interested institutions continues to increase andextrabudgetary funding now amounts to over $1 million. The outreach of the project activitiesnow includes some 70 countries and offers a global network of human resources withexpertise in gender issues related to development.

* * *

MAJOR PROGRAMME II - THE SCIENCES IN THE SERVICE OFDEVELOPMENT

Project No. 5 Women, science and technology(28 C/5, para. 02111; 29 C/5, para. 02012)


Budget $280,000 for 1996-1997

Location Two or three developing countries per region

Objective To improve the access of women to scientific and technologicaleducation, training and careers

Implementing Division Division of Basic SciencesCollaborating Division Division of Higher Education


Activities

The first phase of the project focused on training and retraining activities for youngwomen researchers in developing countries. The objectives of these activities are to updateknowledge and improve access to positions of responsibility in universities or researchinstitutions. They focused on molecular, cell and neural biology. Certain workshopsconcentrated more specifically on mathematics or information technology. Several seminarswere on the broader theme of women, science and technology.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$280,000 $256,000 $256,000 100% -


Training courses of three months’ duration have been organized in scientific institutionsin Egypt, France, Hungary, Kenya and the Netherlands, in several cutting-edge disciplinesincluding soil microbiology, plant biotechnology and biological nitrogen fixation techniques.Six young women scientists from Albania, Lithuania, Mexico, Romania, Sudan and Tunisiahave benefited from them. Additional training activities in the biological sciences have beenorganized in conjunction with ICRO and IBRO.

In order to create a network around the special project, a website ‘Women, science andtechnology’ has been created. It describes the activities and gives practical information onUNESCO activities of interest to women scientists working in research, education andindustry.


UNESCO Jakarta Office: the regional secretariat on women, gender, science andtechnology for South-East Asia and the Pacific, established in Jakarta on the initiative of theUNESCO Jakarta Office and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, is continuing its activitiesfor the advancement of women in the region. A summary report entitled ‘Women, technologyand development in the Pacific islands’ was submitted by the UNESCO Office at theInternational Conference on Women in the Asia-Pacific Region: Persons, Powers and Politics,which was held from 11 to 13 August 1997 in Singapore.

UNESCO Nairobi Office: the Pan-African Mathematics Olympiads were held for youngwomen scientists in July 1997 in conjunction with the African Mathematical Union (AMU).

Partners

National Commissions; Canadian International Development Agency; International CellResearch Organization (ICRO); International Brain Research Organization (IBRO).



The first phase of the project sensitized certain circles to the importance of acting tobroaden women’s access to scientific and technical training at all levels. The second phase ofthe project should, through greater synergy among the actors and greater consistency in theactivities carried out, mobilize many partners and give the project the desired scope andimpact.

* * *

Project No. 6 Biotechnologies for Development in Africa(28 C/5, para. 02112; 29 C/5, para. 02011)


Budget $150,000 for 1996-1997

Location Africa, with emphasis on least developed countries

Objective To upgrade research and development in national laboratories and/orcentres, and to promote advanced training in microbial and plantbiotechnologies

Implementing Division Division of Basic Sciences/Life Sciences Section

Activities

Activities focused on: providing advanced training to researchers, with particularemphasis on young scientists and women scientists, through established regional networks(e.g. MIRCENs) and UNESCO Chairs; providing light laboratory equipment and reagents tolaboratories in the least developed countries, to strengthen ongoing local research; andimproving access to authenticated peer-reviewed scientific and technological information.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$150,000 $139,000 $139,000 100% -


Support was provided through the MIRCEN network for the following activities:updating of scientific collections of microbial germplasm of medical, environmental,industrial and academic significance for distribution of Member States in the region ofsouthern Africa (June 1996-December 1997); organization of a two-week regional course incollaboration with the MIRCEN in Nairobi on ‘Legume Inoculant Production and QualityCourse’ in Marondera, Zimbabwe (April 1997); and the award of two UNESCO/MIRCENprofessorships in Kenya for initiation of research programmes in the taxonomy of microbialdiversity; training of young researchers, from Mauritania, Guinea and Senegal, in theapplication of biofertilizer technology for soil fertility, at the MIRCEN laboratory in Dakar,Senegal (1 November-31 December 1997); and the award of UNESCO/MIRCEN short-termfellowships to three young researchers (two women) from Sudan and Zambia for training in


biofertilizer technologies, at the MIRCEN premises, University of Nairobi, Kenya (September1997). In the area of desert biotechnology, training was provided to researchers from Kenya,Mali, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe at host institutes in India(1 September-30 November 1997). Support was provided to the Association Ivoirienne desSciences Agronomiques (AISA) for the publication and dissemination of peer-reviewedAfrican research results in the biotechnologies, and for scientific exchanges in the fields ofbiological nitrogen-fixation technology, soil microbiology and agricultural biotechnology.


The UNESCO Dakar Office organized an intensive six-week training course on‘Biotechnology in Agriculture, Plants and Micro-organisms’, in Rehevot, Israel (September1996), for one researcher from Mali.

The UNESCO Nairobi Office provided hydrobiological equipment to the Department ofMicrobiology, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, for microbiologicalanalysis and quality control of water (September 1996); fielded two expert missions from theMIRCEN in Nairobi to the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Rwanda (ISAR), to adviseon human resource development for biological nitrogen fixation research and extension andinoculant production in Rwanda (September 1996) and to assess the MIRCEN rhizobiumprogramme (September 1997); provided support for the workshop on ‘Global Change ImpactAssessment Approaches to Vectors and Vector-borne Diseases’, held at the InternationalCentre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya (3-6 September 1997);secured the participation of two Kenyan researchers in the first African Crop ScienceCongress in Pretoria, South Africa (January 1997) to exchange scientific research results incontrolling seasonal soil loss and on studying responses by legumes to rhizobia inoculation,and nitrogen and phosphorus fertilization in Kenya; and continues to support the UNESCOChair on ‘Post-Harvest Food Technology’ at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda,following the visit of the Director-General to Uganda (January 1997).

Partners

The Institut Supérieur de Formation et de Recherche Appliquée (ISFRA); theRhizobium MIRCEN, Department of Soil Science, University of Nairobi (Nairobi, Kenya).


As a result of the different initiatives undertaken by Headquarters and field offices,UNESCO, in consultation with the UNESCO Biotechnology Action Council (BAC) and theCouncil of MIRCEN Directors, awarded 15 short-term fellowships to candidates fromdeveloping countries in Africa.

* * *


Project No. 7 Promotion of UNISPAR in Africa(28 C/5, para. 02119)

Duration Two years (1996-1997)

Budget $153,000

Location Eleven African countries

Objective To enhance the transfer of the results of scientific and technologicalresearch from African universities and research institutes to industry;and to enhance the endogenous capacities of African universities andresearch institutes in development-oriented research in food productionand processing, health, renewable energy and low-cost materials

Implementing Division Engineering and Technology Division

Activities

To strengthen the endogenous capacity of African universities and research institutesand stimulate the transfer of their research results to local industry.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$153,000 $153,000 $153,000 100% $35,000 (privatefunds)


The UNESCO Nairobi Office is responsible for the implementation of this decentralizedproject.

By the end of 1997, following the three UNISPAR Africa Conferences (United Republicof Tanzania, December 1994; Ghana, September 1995; and Paris, July 1996), some350 project proposals had been received by the UNESCO Secretariat. A total of 22 projectsfrom 11 countries, mainly in the area of biotechnology, renewable energy, food processing andmedicinal plants, have received support. The fourth UNISPAR-Africa Conference was heldin Lagos (2-3 December 1997) with the objective of developing innovative mechanisms tostimulate interaction between university and industry and to disseminate the results of theUNESCO-UNISPAR programme in Africa.

Partners

African universities and local industry.


Twenty-two projects in 11 African countries have been sponsored by the regular budget,private funding resources and the interest of the International Fund for the TechnologicalDevelopment of Africa (IFTDA). Some are beginning to yield tangible results and the first


newsletter to disseminate the results of these projects has been distributed. An externalevaluation (July 1997) that included eight projects of the programme, found that only one ofthese projects demonstrated a poor completion rate. The evaluation report was generallypositive, especially with respect to the importance of the university-industry partnership intechnology development in the region.

* * *

Project No. 8 Solar villages in Africa(28 C/5, para. 02123)


Budget $142,000

Location The sub-Saharan countries

Objective To demonstrate and enhance the utilization by rural communities oflow-cost ecotechnologies for power generation and local production ofconstruction materials; and to involve an increasing number of womenin using ecotechnologies to meet their domestic needs

Implementing Division Engineering and Technology Division

Activities

Focus on the elaboration of four sets of training materials and the training of about 120community leaders, including women.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$142,000 $122,000 $122,000 100% -


The project has resulted in the setting up of a demonstration solar village inN’gaoundere (Cameroon) and the production and distribution of five sets of training materialsin French, addressed to schoolchildren, technical college students and community leaders.About 100 community leaders and representatives of women associations have also beentrained. The results of the project and the training materials have been disseminated toCameroon, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia, United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Sixprojects on solar village development presented by these countries were included in the list ofhigh priority national projects of the World Solar Programme for 1996-2005.

At the meeting in Yaoundé, Cameroon (25-28 February 1997), it was decided to selectthree villages for pilot solar village projects in collaboration with UNESCO, Electricité deFrance (EDF) and the Société Nationale d’Electricité (SONEL).



The UNESCO Nairobi Office has organized two meetings: an expert group meeting onthe development of the concept of solar villages in Africa (Dakar, Senegal, 2-4 December1996), in co-operation with the Senegalese Ministry of Scientific and Technological Research;and a seminar on the use of solar energy and development: concept of solar villages(Yaoundé, Cameroon, 25-28 February 1997), under the auspices of the President of theRepublic of Cameroon. The Office also commissioned studies on the benefits of usingrenewable energy resources for rural developments in Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Nigerand Nigeria. In order to promote the use of solar energy in rural development, contracts havebeen awarded for the establishment of demonstration centres using solar energy in Ghana(rural cottage industry), Malawi (rural clinic) and Niger (adult literacy centre).

Partners

National Commission of Cameroon; the International Union of Technical Associationsand Organizations (UATI); EDF; SONEL; the Islamic Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganization (ISESCO); the World Solar Commission; the Kwame Nkrumah University ofScience and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana; the Office de l’energie solaire (ONERSOL),Niamey, Niger; the Malawi Industrial Research and Technology Development Centre.


The development of a solar village concept in Africa, and the demonstration projectsmentioned above have contributed to enhancing awareness of the potential of solar energy inAfrica. All these projects were positively considered and included in the list of high-prioritynational projects of the World Solar Programme 1996-2005. In addition, based upon theexperiences gained from this project, the development of a solar village is being planned forGeorgia.

* * *

Project No. 9 Modernization of geodata handling in Africa(28 C/5, para. 02315; 29 C/5, para. 02037)


Budget $100,000

Location The sub-Saharan countries

Objective To improve non-renewable resource management throughmodernization of geodata handling

Implementing Division Division of Earth Sciences

Activities

Activities focus on training and institution-building in geodata handling, within theframework of the Pan-African Network for Geological Information Systems (PANGIS).


Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$100,000 $100,000 $99,500 100% -


Expert missions and training projects were carried out in the field of bibliographical andfactual geological data handling. A standard computer software program was developed andintroduced to the 30 participating African countries in order to facilitate data retrieval andanalysis.

The first, second and third volumes of the African Bibliography were published anddisseminated in 1996, 1997 and 1998 respectively, to African earth sciences institutes. Thisbiannual publication contains several thousands of bibliographic records on African geology.Pilot projects are also being implemented with a view to assisting and facilitating access ofgeological data to decision-makers, planners and industrialists, for better management ofresources. The third annual PANGIS conference was held in Pretoria, South Africa, inOctober 1997, and was attended by representatives of 30 African and ten non-Africancountries.

In preparation for extending the project to South-East Asia (Southeast Asian Networkfor Geological Information System - SANGIS) foreseen in document 29 C/5, a first meetingwas organized at UNESCO Headquarters (1-4 December 1997) in which experts fromCambodia, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Philippines, United States and Viet Nam, as wellas UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), participated.


The UNESCO Cairo and Nairobi Offices collaborate in the implementation of theactivities, while the latter also contributed to the publication of the second volume of the 1996African Bibliography.

Partners

The UNESCO National Commissions; geological surveys of 30 African Member Statesand of four South-East Asian countries; International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS);Commission on Geological Data Handling (COGEOINFO); Royal Museum for Central Africa(Belgium); the Centre international pour la formation et les échanges géologiques (CIFEG,France).


An external evaluation of PANGIS factual and bibliographical data handling carried outearlier this year recommended the continuation of this special project in 1998-1999 in order tocomplete the development of the network throughout Africa, to upgrade the geodata handlingsoftware and to generate Geological Information Systems (GIS) applications on nationalresource policy development. The PANGIS network will be consolidated throughmodernization of data exchange infrastructure in Africa and the launching of ‘applicationprojects’ on the use of data for socio-economic development.

* * *


Project No. 10 Arid and semi-arid land management in Africa(28 C/5, para. 02330; 29 C/5, para. 02041)


Budget $200,000 for 1996-1997

Location Selected Member States in sub-Saharan Africa

Objective To contribute to the combating of desertification and the improvementof agricultural productivity in arid and semi-arid lands through theapplication of appropriate management techniques and the transfer ofgermplasm of multipurpose plant species

Implementing Division Division of Ecological Sciences (in collaboration with LifeSciences Section)

Activities

Focused on the training of scientists in the management and conservation of arid andsemi-arid lands.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$200,000 $197,800 $197,800 100% -


Support was provided for the participation by African scientists, specializing in themanagement and conservation of arid lands, in an international workshop organized within theframework of the International Programme on Arid Land Crops (IPALAC) in Ber Sheva,Israel (30 March-4 April 1997). Eight development experts from five African countriesattended this workshop. An orientation course for African decision-makers within theframework of appropriate dryland agriculture was organized in the Ngev desert, Israel(31 March-4 April 1997). Nine short-term fellowships, each of three-months’ duration, wereawarded to nine young researchers (from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal,including one woman scientist) for advanced training in the fields of desert crop and arid landbiotechnology at the Ben-Gurion University, Ber Sheva, within the framework of IPALAC. Aregional workshop entitled ‘Date Palms for the Sahel’ was carried out in Niamey, Niger(30 June-2 July 1997), in order to produce a plan for the development of date palms in theSahel region; 40 participants from six African countries attended the workshop.


The UNESCO Offices in Cairo, Dakar and Nairobi collaborate in the implementation ofthe project activities.


Partners

IPALAC, the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC), the PermanentInterstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS), the IntergovernmentalAuthority on Development (IGAD), International Centre for Research in Agroforestry(ICRAF), African UNESCO Member States.

* * *

Project No. 11 Young scientists’ involvement in the MAB programme(28 C/5, para. 02334; 29 C/5, para. 02044)


Budget $100,000

Location Global, with emphasis on least developed countries, in particular Africa

Objective To increase the participation of young scientists in research anddevelopment, and to sensitize local communities to environmentallysound socio-economic development in rural areas through theinvolvement of young scientists in campaigns and demonstrationactivities on appropriate technologies and conservation measures

Implementing Division Division of Ecological SciencesCollaborating Division Division of Youth and Sport Activities

Activities

Focused on selection and follow-up of the ten 1997 MAB Young Scientists Awards andpreparation for the selection of the 1998 MAB Awards. Information about the awards wasmade available on the MABNet. A number of youth-related activities continued to beassociated with the project, such as training courses in the framework of the UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnics Programme (UCEP) and the MOST-MAB project on cities.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$100,000 $96,500 $96,500 100% $140,280(Brazil)


Sixty-nine applications (23 women and 46 male applicants) have been received viaMAB National Committees and National Commissions from 40 Member States for theselection of the 1998 MAB Young Scientists Awards by the MAB Bureau. Under the SaoRoque Pilot Project in Brazil (in association with the Mata Atlantica Biosphere Reserve),three training courses were offered (in 1996 and 1997) to 80 young students in eco-job relatedactivities (e.g. agroforestry, ecotourism, waste management, biodiversity conservation, etc.).In 1996, the Asian Ecotechnology Network (AEN) under UCEP (co-ordinated by ProfessorM.S. Swaminathan, India) strengthened its activities in the region, linking a number of


universities and research centres. In China (Sichuan and Yunnan Universities), two highlyappreciated ecotechnic projects, focusing on providing young researchers with training innatural resource management, biodiversity conservation and ecotourism, were conducted in1996. Plans are under way to organize, in early 1998, training courses for young researchers,in co-operation with the Swaminathan Research Foundation.


The UNESCO Dakar Office organized, in conjunction with the World Environment Dayin June 1997, a forum for senior secondary schools and colleges on the role of youth in themanagement of natural resources.

Partners

MAB National Committees; UNESCO National Commissions; UNESCO-CousteauEcotechnic Chairs; UNESCO designated Biosphere Reserves.


The MAB Council, at its fourteenth session in November 1996, evaluated the MABYoung Scientists Award scheme and its contribution to fostering the involvement of youngscientists in MAB. The Council recommended further improvements to the Award schemewhich will guide the MAB Secretariat and the Bureau in the selection of the 1998 Awards.Based on the success of the Sao Roque Pilot Project, extrabudgetary financing is in thepipeline ($150,000) from the Ministry of Environment (via the UNESCO Office in Brasilia)to ensure the continuation and multiplication of the Project.

* * *

Project No. 12 Women and water resource supply and use(28 C/5, para. 02351; 29 C/5, para. 02050)


Budget $150,000 for 1996-1997

Location sub-Saharan countries

Objective To improve the quality of life of women by facilitating their access towater resources through the development and extension of appropriatetechniques with the full participation of women at community level, andto contribute to the improvement of water resources surveying andmanagement in semi-arid and arid areas

Implementing Division Division of Water SciencesCollaborating Sectors Education, Culture, Social and Human Sciences

Activities

Focus on the further development of the pilot projects launched in 1996 in arid andsemi-arid rural areas; support to the NGOs working in the villages; encouraging government


planners to draw up regulations favouring empowerment of women in water resourcesdevelopment programmes; organization of training courses for trainers and seminars forrepresentatives of national institutions, NGOs and women’s associations; provision ofadvanced training fellowships to young women scientists; establishing co-operation withUnited Nations agencies, national and international associations and NGOs; updating andpublishing learning material in collaboration with international organizations; andstrengthening National Committees for UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme(IHP) regarding their activities in favour of women and water resources supply and use.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$150,000 $142,500 $142,500 100% -


UNESCO implemented several field activities recommended by the sub-Saharan aridand semi-arid African countries at the regional seminar held in Nouakchott, Mauritania, inNovember 1996. A study on water resources and women’s needs in the Boubon village inNiger was carried out and led to the preparation of a programme of co-operation between theMinistry of Water Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Social Affairs andPromotion of Women. An evaluation of water quality and living conditions of women in theGondo Plane in Burkina Faso was made in co-operation with the University of Laval, Canada.The Canadian Ministry of Environment provided support for the preparation of a projectdocument to build up local expertise in water resources assessment and monitoring, andstrengthen women’s knowledge and awareness about water quality. A study was made onwater resources and women’s needs in Gaoui village in Chad and a similar study is beingconsidered for the villages of Mboul, Lohene and Khimino in Senegal in co-operation with theInternational Union of Technical Associations and Organizations (UITA). A project forimproving women’s participation in water resources management is being implemented inOuadane village in Mauritania and is funded by the French Agence Seine-Normandie. TheInternational Water and Sanitation Centre organized a gender training course for specialistsfrom NGOs, in Paris (February 1997), and a national seminar was organized in Brazzaville,Congo, by the Foundation Maria Bounga on ‘Women and water resources management inrural areas’ (May 1997). A regional training course on ‘Gender and development’, withparticular focus on water resources management, was organized by UNESCO, in co-operationwith the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC), in Nouakchott (Mauritania, October1997), for NGOs, technicians and representatives from ministries of nine African countriesdealing with water resources, environment, social affairs and the promotion of women. One ofthe outputs of the training course was the preparation of a training manual.


Grants were allocated to five students from Guinea, Niger, Kenya, Benin and Sudan toundertake research activities in the field of water resources. A pilot project for the collectionand storage of rainwater for domestic purposes was completed in Kenya, in co-operation withthe Kobong Women’s Group; the project has had a great impact on the rural communities,several of which envisage following this example. A regional workshop on women’sparticipation in water resources management was organized by UNESCO in partnership withUNICEF and UNDP/World Bank Water and Sanitation Programme in Pretoria, South Africa


(24-26 November 1997). It was patronized by the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry inSouth Africa and attended by 120 participants from Angola, Botswana, Eritrea, Ethiopia,Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius and South Africa. As follow-up to the workshop, a regionalprogramme for the organization of training courses, preparation of teaching material anddevelopment of country strategies has been defined.

Partners

The UNDP/World Bank Water and Sanitation Programme; UNICEF; the HumanHabitat programme - Social and Human Sciences Sector; FAO; the Once and Future ActionNetwork; the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC); the University ofNice - UNESCO Chair; UITA; National Commissions of participating countries; IHPNational Committees; Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources and Ministries ofWomen, Child and Social Affairs of participating countries; local and international NGOs.


Several French-speaking African countries are now actively involved in theimplementation of the recommendations of the regional seminar on ‘Women and water’,organized by UNESCO in Nouakchott, Mauritania, in November 1996. During the 1998-1999 biennium, this special project will co-operate with UNICEF and UNDP/World Bank,local and international NGOs in order to implement the recommendations of the regionalworkshop held in Pretoria, in November 1997. UNESCO will continue to support nationalauthorities to strengthen their capacity. The pilot projects, launched in 1996, are progressingsatisfactorily and will be finalized by 1999.

***

Project No. 13 Empowering women: community development programmes inrural areas(28 C/5, para. 02410)


Budget $150,000 (to be supplemented by funding under the ParticipationProgramme and from extrabudgetary sources)

Location Two least developed countries

Objective To illustrate how community development programmes tailored to meetthe specific needs of women can contribute locally to combatingpoverty and marginalization

Implementing Division Division of Social Science, Research and Policy

Activities

The activities focus on integrated community development with continuing training witha view to improving the quality of life of rural women.


Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$150,000 $125,900 $95,670 76% -


Two innovative pilot projects for community development were prepared, one inBurkina Faso and the other in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. In Burkina Faso, thefirst phase of the project involved the launching of activities on the Koko Logo site, with thesupport of an NGO (Cooperation 92), which provided water supply and sanitation equipmentand social and occupational facilities.

The UNESCO Chair for sustainable development at the Federal University of Rio deJaneiro carried out a research project on identity search and social insertion of women fromshantytowns, as part of a larger research programme supported by the Brazilian Secretary ofState for the Environment and the Inter-American Development Bank. In this framework, aseminar entitled ‘Enhancing the gender dimension in the development process’ was held inNovember-December 1997, in partnership with the University of La Havana, Cuba.

Partners

FAO, WHO, UNFPA and local NGOs.

* * *

Project No. 14 An approach to social development: fostering active partnershipsbetween local communities and government(28 C/5, para. 02411)


Budget $210,100

Location Cape Verde, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal

Objective To demonstrate how the role played by local institutions andorganizations of civil society in the mobilization for development anddemocratic administration can be strengthened through networking withnational or regional bodies

Implementing Division Division of Social Science, Research and Policy

Activities

Pilot activities have been carried out in Cape Verde, Namibia, Nigeria and Senegal withthe aim of establishing partnerships between local communities and the public authorities inorder to combat poverty and foster social integration.


Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$210,100 $167,200 $157,900 94.4% $98,714(World Bank)


Cape Verde: pilot activities focused on an evaluation of partnerships between the centralgovernment and the various town councils, in the context of the process of decentralizationand definition of the national programme to combat poverty (PNLP). Case studies wereproduced on policies, strategies and plans in the field of social policies (including health,education and population) from the point of view of their impact on poverty. The assessmentof these policies was based on an analysis of trends in social indicators and of the causes oftheir deterioration at the national level (access to social services, including health andeducation).

Namibia: within the framework of the ‘Ohangwena Pilot Poverty EradicationProgramme’, undertaken jointly with all the United Nations organizations in Namibia and theRegional Council of Ohangwena and in co-operation with the relevant ministries, activitiesfocused on identifying needs and empowering those groups which tend to be moremarginalized within the community and the country, viz. youth, women, and the Sanpopulation. Two field visits were carried out to examine the cultural, social and economicneeds and priorities of the San community of Ohangwena. A slide show with sound track‘Voices and Perspectives of Youth and Women in Ohangwena Region’ has been produced. Itis planned to broadcast some of the results on the community radio, which is part of amultimedia centre, that the Communication Sector has set up as part of the pilot programme.In addition, together with the Science Sector and the implementing partner (the Ministry ofMines and Energy of Namibia) a solar village was set up in Onamunhama and inaugurated on25 April 1997 by the Director-General of UNESCO during his visit to Namibia.

Nigeria: field visits and case studies were carried out on the various partnership modelsfollowed in combating social exclusion, above all in relation to the problems of drugproduction and consumption. In addition to the consolidated report on social and economictransformations linked to drug-trafficking in Nigeria and in other countries of sub-SaharanAfrica, the team of researchers and local officials decided, with backing from the UnitedNations International Drug Control Programme (UNIDCP) and the European Commission, tojoin an international network concerned with partnerships to fight drug abuse.

Senegal: the participatory approach and partnerships were considered to be two basicconditions for the development and implementation of development micro-projects. Activitieswere based on the demand of communities which acted as intermediaries with differentpartners (local authorities, administrative services, private sector and civil society). A regionalworkshop on ‘Social development and partnership between local communities and theauthorities in West Africa’ was organized for 14 mayors and representatives of associationsfrom Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. Field visitswere organized and an action methodology devised by participants.


Partners

Environment and Development in the Third World (ENDA-TW); GDR Interurba; UrbanProject Leaders’ Club; UNDP; World Bank; French international development mission(Senegal).


This special project, which was entirely decentralized, in particular to the UNESCODakar and Windhoek Offices, continued in several pilot locations. The authorities of CapeVerde, Namibia, Nigeria and Senegal benefited from the findings of the pilot studies carriedout in their territories, and the results of these studies were taken into account by the projectpartners and incorporated into the approaches of the corresponding MOST networks,especially the study carried out in Nigeria on drug abuse.

* * *

MAJOR PROGRAMME III - CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: THE HERITAGE ANDCREATIVITY

Project No. 15 African itinerant college on culture and development(28 C/5, para. 03010; 29 C/5, para. 03028)



Location Africa

Objective To develop human and institutional capacity for taking account of thecultural dimension of development in Africa through training, researchand networking; and to promote dissemination and exchange ofinformation and public awareness in this field

Implementing Division World Decade for Culture Development Secretariat

Activities

Focus on the organization of seminars and workshops on the cultural dimension ofdevelopment planning and the setting up of UNESCO Chairs pertaining to the same theme.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$125,000 $125,000 $120,000 96% -



In the framework of the African Itinerant College on Culture and Development, severaltraining workshops have been organized by UNESCO and the focal point of the projectestablished in the United Nations Institute for Economic Development and Planning in Africa(IDEA), Dakar.

The 50 or so development specialists (planners, decision-makers, field workers andsocial scientists) who took part in a subregional workshop (for eastern and southern Africancountries) on ‘Culture, population and poverty eradication’ (Kampala, Uganda,2-5 April 1997) recommended the launching of a regional research and training programme onthe theme of the workshop with its permanent focal point in the Social Science faculty ofMakerere University, Kampala. The 45 experts and development agents who attended thesecond subregional workshop (Addis Ababa, 8-11 April 1997) focusing on the interfacebetween ‘Culture, gender and development’ recommended that the Centre for Research,Training and Information for Women in Development (CERTWID) of the University of AddisAbaba should continue to act as a co-ordination unit for a regional specialization programmeon culture, gender and development.

The third workshop on ‘Cultural dimension of development in Africa’ (Buena,Cameroon, June 1997), for 30 media practitioners and development extension workers fromcountries of Central and Western Africa (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic ofthe Congo, Gabon, Ghana and Nigeria), focused its attention on designing a communicationstrategy and preparing culturally pertinent information materials so that the public would bebetter informed and more aware of the importance of the cultural dimension of development.

The fourth regional workshop on ‘Culture and development in Africa for university-level education’ (Bamenda, Cameroon, 28-31 July 1997), in which 20 university professors,researchers and curriculum development specialists from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeriaand South Africa participated, was aimed at drafting university curricula modules and theoutline of an educational programme for the introduction of the culture and developmentcomponent into university education in Africa.

In addition, a subregional seminar on Senegambian Culture and Development (Banjul,Gambia, 12-17 October 1997) was attended by 30 participants from Gambia, Guinea-Bissau,Mali, Mauritania and Senegal. Moreover, 30 experts from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côted’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo participated in an awareness-building meeting on the Cultural Dimension of Development in Africa (Dakar, Senegal,26-31 October 1997).

Partners

IDEA; Pan African Institute for Development (PAID); Pan African Association ofAnthropologists (PAAA); Makerere University (Uganda); Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia);national authorities of the host countries. Several other potential partners and funding sourceshave been approached, with a view to organizing a donors’ meeting in autumn 1997 tomobilize financing for further activities in the next biennium.



The project activities have been progressing satisfactorily and will be pursued in thenext biennium, with a view to the consolidation of the network of itinerant colleges.

***

Project No. 16 Young people’s participation in world heritage preservation andpromotion(28 C/5, para. 03111; 29 C/5, para. 03023)


Budget $100,000 for 1996-1997 (supplemented by $20,000 under the ASPproject and by extrabudgetary resources)

Location States Parties to the World Heritage Convention in all regions of theworld

Objective To promote, through schools and out-of-school activities, youngpeople’s awareness of heritage, both natural and cultural and of theways and means to protect them; encourage action to safeguard culturaland natural sites through the enhancement of traditional skills and thedevelopment of new methods

Implementing Division World Heritage CentreCollaborating Divisions Division for the Renovation of Secondary and Vocational

Education/ASP Co-ordination Unit; Division of Youth andSports Activities

Activities

Seek to introduce classwork on world heritage in ASP schools worldwide, and in thelonger term, to integrate world heritage into secondary school curricula. The aim is to inspirestudents and teachers to explore heritage in a broader sense - beyond the traditional realms ofhistory and geography and through an interdisciplinary approach.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date

Expenditure as of 31 December 1997

Rate ofexecution


$100,000 $100,000 $82,085 82% $321,972(private fundsand NORAD)


The first World Heritage Youth Forum, held in Bergen (Norway, June 1995) involvedstudents and teachers from 30 nations. In the light of the success of that initial encounter, thefirst European World Heritage Youth Forum was held in Dubrovnik, Croatia (29-30 May1996) and the first African Forum was held at the Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe, September1996). Plans are under way to convene the first Asian Pacific World Heritage Youth Forum in


China in the autumn of 1997. A CNN World Report on the Asian-Pacific World HeritageYouth Forum held in Beijing (China), in September 1997, was produced and broadcast(29 January-1 February 1998). Two students (from China and Sri Lanka) who attended theYouth Forum were invited to attend a young people’s round table at the IntergovernmentalConference on Cultural Policies for Development held in Stockholm, Sweden (30 March-2 April 1998).

The UNESCO world heritage educational resource kit for teachers entitled ‘Worldheritage in young hands’ was finalized in English and in French and is expected to bedistributed in June 1998 for experimentation through the Associated Schools Project. The kitcomprises interactive-visual material, such as posters, maps, cartoon and overhead projectionsheets, and also includes guidelines and resource materials addressed to teachers.

Partners

National Commissions; the International Council on Monument and Sites (ICOMOS);the World Conservation Union (IUCN); the International Centre for the Study of thePreservation and the Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM); the International Council ofMuseums (ICOM); the Organization of World Heritage Cities (OWHC); Rhône PoulencFoundation; NORAD; etc.


Project implementation has been satisfactory. Extrabudgetary resources were mobilizedto encourage and support the participation of youth in the preservation and promotion ofworld heritage.

* * *

Project No. 17 Music crossroads(28 C/5, para. 03208)


Budget $80,000 (supplemented by extrabudgetary resources)

Location Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Objective To encourage music performances by young people in Zimbabwe,Mozambique and South Africa, and to offer them basic training in theperforming arts

Implementing Division Division of Arts and the Cultural LifeCollaborating Division Division of Youth and Sports Activities

Activities

The project activities focus on organizing national and international music festivals inAfrica.


Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$80,000 $80,000 $80,000 100% -


Co-ordination and contracts with international partners; feasibility study; andinstallation of a project officer in Harare.


Production of information material; setting up of local organizational committees;organization of national and provincial festivals in Zimbabwe; one national festival inMozambique and another in South Africa; organization of one international festival inZimbabwe.

Partners

Main partners include ministries and cultural centres of Zimbabwe, arts and youthorganizations, such as the International Federation of Jeunesses musicales.


A total of nine festivals and workshops have been held in Zimbabwe within the scope ofthis project with the participation of 1,500 young musicians and an audience of 5,000. Theproject ended with a regional festival in Harare (Zimbabwe) in which 170 young musiciansfrom Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa took part after being selected at localfestivals. A jury of experts from Zimbabwe and Sweden chose a group from Mozambique fora concert tour in Europe and a group from Zimbabwe to take part in the ETHNO festival oftraditional music in Sweden in 1998. Other groups were rewarded by invitations to futurefestivals in South Africa and Mozambique. Reports on the Harare festival were broadcast onZBC TV, Zimbabwe, and CNN World Apart.

* * *

Project No. 18 Training of craftswomen in Africa and Central America(28 C/5, para. 03210)


Budget $100,000 (supplemented by extrabudgetary resources and throughmicro-loan mechanisms)

Location Sahelian countries and countries in Central America

Objective To upgrade the technical skills and know-how of craftswomen in chargeof small associations as regards the adaptation, presentation andmarketing of quality craft products

Implementing Division UNESCO Dakar and Havana Offices


Activities

The activities concern primarily the organization of training workshops for craftswomenin Africa and Central America.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$100,000 $100,000 $100,000 100% -


The UNESCO Havana Office has organized a seminar on crafts and cultural tourism,the findings of which will be used to define the content and scope of the subregionalworkshop that was held in Guatemala from 31 August to 6 September 1997.

The UNESCO Dakar Office, in co-operation with the Amadou Hampate Ba Centre(Mali), has launched a study on crafts as a means of combating poverty in Africa. A workshopwhere craftswomen met heads of textile companies in West Africa was held in Cotonou,Benin (24 November-3 December 1997). The 12 participants (selected with the assistance ofthe National Commissions of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Togo) receivedpractical training in the following areas: research and development for new products;improvement in the quality and presentation of textile products; means of promotion atnational and international levels. In view of the success of this initiative, it is planned todistribute the results widely in the form of an illustrated booklet and to promote the workcreated using new techniques at a UNESCO stand in the next Salon de Ouagadougou, inOctober 1998.

* * *

Project No. 19 Science reading for young Africans(28 C/5, para. 03223)


Budget $130,000 (supplemented by extrabudgetary resources)

Location Benin and Mali; Angola and Mozambique; South Africa and Zimbabwe

Objective The Science for Africa Programme (SAP) aims to provide youngAfricans with up-to-date and practical scientific publications and tostrengthen endogenous capacities in science writing and publishingthrough training and information workshops for African science writers,illustrators and publishers

Implementing Division Division of Books and CopyrightCollaborating Division Division of Youth and Sports Activities


Activities

Following a feasibility study financed by the Education Sector, the project wasdecentralized to the UNESCO Harare Office which is responsible for implementing theproject in collaboration with the UNESCO Nairobi Office.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$130,000 $130,000 $92,000 71% -


As a follow-up to the interregional seminar on Children’s Co-publication Programmesand the Economics of Children’s Book-publishing, within the framework of the Pan-AfricanChildren’s Book Fair (May 1996), a seminar was organized (July 1996) by the UNESCOHarare Office and the execution of the project has been entrusted to the African PublishersNetwork (APNET). Seven countries (Angola, Benin, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, South Africaand Zimbabwe) are directly involved in preparing the publications in English, French andPortuguese. With the financial support from the Canadian International Development Agency(CIDA), experts from Portuguese-speaking African countries met in Maputo, Mozambique(December 1997), to discuss and harmonize methodology for writing. The first WritingWorkshop on Renewable Energy, organized in Nairobi (February 1998), adopted a calendar ofactivities leading to the publication, including editorial meetings, marketing, printing.

Partners

APNET in Harare; Council for the Promotion of Children’s Science Publications inAfrica (CHISCI), in Nairobi; financial support from CIDA and FINIDA.

* * *

MAJOR PROGRAMME IV - COMMUNICATION, INFORMATION ANDINFORMATICS

Project No. 20 International survey of young people’s perception of violence on thescreen(28 C/5, para. 04109)


Budget $180,000

Location 23 countries in all regions

Objective To assess the effects of television and video violence on young people

Implementing Division Communication Division


Activities

In operational terms the survey includes from 100 to 400 respondents equally dividedinto girls and boys of 12 years old in both urban and rural areas of 23 countries covering allthe regions of the world. Some 5,500 validated questionnaires providing a global sample withregional, subregional and in some cases country differences have been collected and arepresently being analysed by the University of Utrecht.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$180,000 $115,900 $115,900 100% -


Planning and co-ordination of activities were undertaken with the University of Utrecht,Netherlands, for preparation of methodology and questionnaire; and with the WorldOrganization of Scout Movements (WOSM), for field work and administering of thequestionnaires in co-operation with scouts in selected countries. Some 5,500 questionnaireswere distributed in Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Egypt,Fiji, Germany, India, Japan, Mauritius, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, South Africa,Spain, Tajikistan, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, and Ukraine. The questionnaire distributionwas done by the World Organization of Scout Movements, based in Geneva. The coding andanalysis was ensured by the University of Utrecht. The final report on the results of the surveywas presented on 19 February 1998 at a press conference hosted by the Director-General ofUNESCO and attended by 24 journalists and the partners associated with the project.

Partners

The University of Utrecht (Netherlands) and the World Organization of ScoutMovements, together with their local scout organizations.


The project has now been successfully completed and its results have been welcomed bythe international research community as the first global study of its kind providing valuableempirical data on how young people react to violence presented on television and in reality.This success was due largely to the dedication of the two principal partners throughout theexercise. In line with the recommendations contained in the final report, it is envisaged thatdialogue will continue on these issues and that close co-operation will be maintained with thepartners of the project. In particular, a round table on the results of the project is foreseenwithin the International Jamboree to be organized by the scouts in Santiago de Chile, inDecember 1998. Also, as foreseen in document 29 C/5 Approved, the findings of the survey,which will be widely disseminated among media professionals, decision-makers andrepresentatives of civil society, could play a role in developing new approaches in this area.Finally, it should be noted that this special project is currently being evaluated together withother youth projects in the Organization.

* * *


Project No. 21 Women speaking to women: women’s rural community radio inleast developed countries(28 C/5, para. 04207; 29 C/5, para. 04033)


Budget $220,000 for 1996-1997

Location Selected countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean (Cameroon, CapeVerde, Malawi; India, Nepal; Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago)

Objective To demonstrate the usefulness of low-cost radio stations for communitydevelopment, in particular for the empowerment of women at thegrassroots level

Implementing Division Communication DivisionCollaborating Division Learning Without Frontiers Unit (ED)

Activities

The project seeks to establish at least four fully operational community radio stationsdesigned for women and run by women. The radio stations will encourage women to speakout on issues of concern to them and to the societies in which they live. Collaboration isforeseen with the Education Sector as a Learning Without Frontiers activity for thecommunity radio station in Hyderabad, India.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$220,000 $190,500 $190,500 100% $50,000(IPDC)


Methodological backstopping and overall co-ordination.


UNESCO Windhoek Office: a technical feasibility study to set up a women’scommunity radio station in Malawi has been completed and broadcast and studio equipmenthave been purchased and delivered on site. Installation of equipment and training of 12announcers/producers by a consultant took place in September 1997 in collaboration withtechnicians from the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. The additional allocation of $55,000obtained under the heading of IPDC was used for further training of members of MalawiMedia Women Association, which is a partner in this project, as well as for the reinforcementof the material capacity of the radio station to improve its coverage in the target area.

UNESCO Yaoundé Office: preparations are under way for the proposed communityradio for Cape Verde, to be set up and run by two women NGO. Another radio station - ADACommunity Radio - has been set up in Accra, Ghana. Additional funds for the project are


expected from the UNICEF Office, Yaoundé, to set up a similar community radio inCameroon.

UNESCO Kuala Lumpur Office: in India, preparations were carried out to set up an FMbroadcasting facility for the women of 70 villages in and around Pastapur in Andhra Pradesh.Construction of the studio building is in its final stage and the installation of equipment anderection of the tower by local engineers is due for completion in April 1998. Staff training isplanned to commence soon after. This project, which targets, in particular, Dalitunderprivileged women, is implemented in co-operation with and under the auspices of theDeccan Development Society, an NGO based in Hyderabad. In Nepal, the suburbanCommunity of Banepa and the Nepal Forum of Environment Journalists were identified as themain partners for the project implementation.

UNESCO Kingston Office: the first Caribbean community radio station, Radio Muye, inSuriname, launched in May 1997, is currently transmitted over a radius of 7 km; the projectedtarget covers a radius of 50 km (seven villages with about 5,000 inhabitants). The station, runby the Women’s Foundation/NGO ‘Koni Ku Libi’, was built by the villagers themselves withmaterials obtained through a grant from the German Embassy. Equipment supplied byUNESCO was based on the 22-watt low powered FM solar panelled transmitters developedby the Organization for community radio projects. Following 18 months of preparatoryactivities with educators, radio technicians and programme directors, another radio station -Radio Toco - was launched in January 1998, in Trinidad and Tobago. Initial basic training hasbeen provided to the personnel with UNDP assistance and technical support from theUniversity of the West Indies Caribbean Institute of Technology. A Barbados campus hasbeen established at the University of the West Indies in the Caribbean to train women mediapractitioners of the region to design, produce and exchange radio programmes.

Partners

The Malawi Media Women Association, the Malawi National Commission forUNESCO, the UNDP Office in Malawi and the UNICEF Office in Cameroon; the DeccanDevelopment Organization (India), All India Radio, the Municipal Council of Banepa(Nepal); and the Nepal Forum of Environment Journalists; the University of the West Indies.


After a long preparatory phase and a slow start, due in most cases to the absence ofcorresponding licensing procedures, the project’s implementation progressed rapidly,especially in the Caribbean, while some delays were recorded in Africa and Asia. The interestand the wish to participate in the project expressed by many countries show that the chosenmodality is well suited to a real need.

***


Project No. 22 Improving communication training in Africa(28 C/5, para. 04211; 29 C/5, para. 04032)


Budget $175,000 for 1996-1997

Location Eleven countries in Africa (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya,Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda,Zambia and Zimbabwe)

Objective The long-term goal is to design curricula for training communicationspecialists and media professionals in African countries which respondto social, economic, political and cultural development needs and reflectthe changing situation in the region. The immediate objective for the1996-1997 period is to assess existing curricula and draw up draftmodel curricula for the training of communication specialists and mediaprofessionals in Africa

Implementing Division Communication Division

Activities

Activities focus on collecting and analysing a sample of existing curricula from anumber of communication and journalism training institutions and media organizations withtraining programmes in West, Central, eastern and southern Africa, and on the development ofa model curriculum.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$175,000 $103,200 $99,000 96% -


Preparation and harmonization of work plans with the three Regional CommunicationAdvisers in Africa; elaboration and drafting of the terms of reference for the consultants; andarrangements made with the African Council for Communication Education to organize aworkshop on curricula for communication training.


The UNESCO Offices in Nairobi, Windhoek and Yaoundé ensured the identificationand commissioning of consultants to collect and analyse a sample of existing curricula inCameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, United Republic ofTanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the organization of the three-day workshop oncurricula for communication training in Africa held in Cape Town, South Africa, inNovember 1996, and attended by 80 media specialists from the region. As a follow-up to thisworkshop, a draft model curriculum for training communication specialists at the tertiary levelhas been developed.


Partners

The African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), Nairobi, Kenya; mediatraining institutions, media trainers and media practitioners in West, Central, East andsouthern Africa; Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Windhoek, Namibia, and MediaInstitute of East Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.


The implementation of this project has progressed in line with the work plan with aslight delay in the commissioning of the consultants. The curriculum being developed will betested and evaluated during the 1998-1999 biennium and its final version (English, French andPortuguese) made available to training institutions and media organizations in Africa, in 1999.

* * *

Project No. 23 Video libraries for young people in Africa(28 C/5, para. 04221; 29 C/5, para.04040)

Duration Three years (1996-1998)


Location Two selected countries in Africa (Cameroon and Namibia)

Objective To preserve the moving image heritage and to sensitize young people toendogenous cultural material in video format

Implementing Division Information and Informatics DivisionCollaborating Division Division of Youth and Sports Activities (SHS)

Activities

Focus on the training of staff in modern methods of television records preservation; thepromotion of the preservation of material under optimal conditions; the dissemination ofpreserved material in video libraries, and the publication of model guidelines on thepreservation of television material. The first phase was implemented in Namibia, in 1996, andin Cameroon, in 1997.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$160,000 $100,900 $46,700 46% -



Planning and backstopping of project activities and co-ordination with other bodies;organization of a consultant mission to identify host institutions for the video libraries. Videoequipment amounting to $65,000 has been ordered.


The UNESCO Windhoek Office has been involved in negotiations with the Governmentof Namibia together with key partners for the finalization of the plan of operation, including alist of centres to be selected and the necessary equipment. Preliminary contacts were made bythis Office as well as by the UNESCO Yaoundé Office with youth organizations and partnersin Namibia and Cameroon for further development of the project in 1998.

Partners

The Union of National Radio and Television Organizations of Africa (URTNA); theAfrican Council for Communication Education (ACCE); the International Federation ofTelevision Archives (IFTA); the International Council of French-speaking Radio andTelevision Organizations (CIRTEF); local youth clubs and organizations.


After a slow start the implementation of the project progressed with the purchase ofvideo equipment. In 1998 activities will focus on training in collection management, and ameeting with young people and government agencies in each country for the furtherdevelopment of the project, making sure that the proposed modalities correspond to the realneeds of the young people.

* * *

Project No. 24 Computer-based education materials for teaching informatics inAfrica(28 C/5, para. 04228; 29 C/5, para. 04047)


Budget $150,000 for 1996-1997

Location Africa (Portuguese-speaking, English-speaking and French-speaking)

Objective To contribute to the modernization of informatics teaching methods andtechniques in the region. During the 1996-1997 biennium the projectwas implemented in Portuguese-speaking countries

Implementing Division Information and Informatics Division

Activities

Focus on designing and producing computer-based kits for teaching informatics at theuniversity level. The project will be implemented in a Portuguese-speaking country in 1996-


1997. It is foreseen that at the end of the project about 500 CD-ROMs with adequateequipment will be made available to universities in the Portuguese-speaking countries inAfrica.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$150,000 $119,000 $119,000 100% -


Under a contract with UNESCO, the Centre of Innovation and Transfer of Technologyat the University of Coïmbra, Portugal, carried out a feasibility study. On the basis of thestudy’s results, contracts were established in October 1996 to elaborate the didactic materialsand to produce a first set of hardware and software. This was first tested in co-operation withthe Instituto Superior de Educação of Cape Verde and other partners in the participatingMember States. The Portuguese version of the training kit on CD-ROM was prepared anddistributed to institutions in the participating countries.

Partners

The Centre of Innovation and Transfer of Technology; the University of Coïmbra(Portugal); the Universidado Agostinho Neto (Angola); the Instituto Superior de Educaçãoand the Instituto Superior de Engeharia e Ciencias do Mar (Cape Verde); Centro de FormaçãoAdministrativa (Guinea-Bissau); Centro de Informatica - Universidade Eduardo Mondlane(Mozambique); and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the InstitutoUniversitário de Contabilidade, Administração e Informatica (Sao Tome and Principe).


The project’s implementation has progressed as planned. Preparations have started forthe implementation of the second phase (1998-1999), which is focused on French-speakingcountries in Africa.

* * *

TOWARDS A CULTURE OF PEACE

Project No. 25 Promotion of the democratic process in Africa(28 C/5, para. 05230)


Budget $194,100, with $1,000,000 expected in additional financing(Participation Programme and extrabudgetary resources)

Location Africa

Objective To encourage reflection and exchanges of information on democraticprocesses in Africa; to strengthen African research capacities in thisfield; to promote a culture of democracy in Africa

Implementing Division Division of Human Rights, Democracy and Peace


Activities

The aim is primarily to carry out a survey and to make an assessment of democraticexperiments in Africa and to disseminate widely the findings of this research, in particular inhigher education.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$194,100 $194,000 $173,900 89.6% $457,000(UNDP)

$1.8 million(DANIDA)

$50,000(IPDC)


In co-operation with the National Commission of Angola, a subregional seminar on therole of youth for a culture of peace and democratic governance was held in June 1997 inLuanda, with the participation of youth organizations and UNESCO Clubs of Angola. Anexchange of information experiences on the role of youth for national reconciliation and forthe strengthening of democracy for the establishment of a culture of peace took place at thismeeting. Through a contract with the Union interafricaine des droits de l’homme, a regionalmeeting on the promotion of human rights education in Africa has been held in Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso, in August 1997. Support was given to the Ethiopian National Agency forUNESCO to publish the book Democracy: Questions and Answers in Amharic.

The other activities carried out under this project were: a workshop on democracy forstudents and youth organizations, in Maseru, Lesotho (September 1997) and a subregionaltraining workshop on questions related to tribalism, nationalism and democracy in Yaoundé,Cameroon (1-6 September 1997), organized in co-operation with the Pan-African Associationof Anthropologists (PAAA).

Partners

International non-governmental organizations and universities.


The project has been instrumental in the launching of operational projects (funded byUNDP, DANIDA, IPDC) for the promotion of human rights and democracy in southernAfrica, Cape Verde, Mozambique and western and Central Africa.

* * *


Project No. 26 Intercultural dialogue in everyday life(28 C/5, para. 05240)


Budget $106,000

Location Member States in Africa

Objective To highlight the role that young people can play in the service ofintercultural dialogue

Implementing Division Division of International Cultural Co-operation, Preservationand Enrichment of Cultural Identities

Collaborating Division Division of Youth and Sports Activities

Activities

To mobilize young people to undertake, individually and within youth associations andmovements, activities that are likely to encourage intercultural dialogue among young peoplethemselves and between young people and adults. The aim of the meetings organized underthis project is to stimulate intercultural dialogue and to formulate operational projects thatcould promote it.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$106,000 $91,800 $91,800 100% -


The conceptualization and co-ordination of activities in concert with field offices havecontinued. The study prepared by the Pan-African Association of Anthropologists (PAAA)entitled ‘Intercultural dialogue and the culture of peace in Africa: the role of young people’,and submitted for consideration by the participants in the subregional workshop in Yaoundé(19-21 December 1996), was a working document for the subregional workshop in Lomé(11-13 June 1997).

The questionnaire prepared under contract for the identification of indicators relating tointercultural dialogue and the types of activities that are likely to foster it has been distributedto the General Secretaries of African National Commissions for dissemination to youthassociations and movements in their countries.


UNESCO Yaoundé Office: the subregional seminar-workshop for the states of CentralAfrica (19-21 December 1996), which brought together 90 young people from six countries(Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon and Sao Tome andPrincipe), set up a follow-up committee to obtain from the appropriate national authorities,private firms, IGOs and NGOs the necessary means to implement the projects identifiedduring the meeting: creation of an African network of youth NGOs and organizations for


peace, a resources centre to promote an African culture of peace, newspapers for youngAfricans and an itinerant youth festival for the arts and the culture of peace.

UNESCO Porto Novo Office: the subregional workshop for Central and West Africa,held in Lomé, Togo (11-13 June 1997), on the importance of regional cultural institutions instrengthening intercultural dialogue, was attended by some 40 people from ten countries(Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad, Mali, Niger, Nigeria,Senegal and Togo). In its recommendations, the meeting requested UNESCO’s support for theestablishment of an African cultural radio station.

UNESCO Bangui Office: a national workshop on the theme of ‘Intercultural dialogue -young people for peace and national reconciliation’ (Bangui, Central African Republic,10-13 December 1997), organized by the Central African National Commission for UNESCOin co-operation with Headquarters and the UNESCO Bangui Office, brought together 150participants (high school pupils and students; young people from political parties and religiousassociations; 15 departmental prefects, several ministry officials and representatives of publicservices). Following three days of discussions, the participants proposed the establishment ofa Young People’s Forum for Peace to help strengthen intercommunity dialogue with a view tonational reconciliation and development.

Partners

National Commissions for UNESCO, youth organizations and associations.

* * *

Project No. 27 Women in the service of civil peace(28 C/5, para. 05241)


Budget $88,000

Location Latin America and Caribbean Member States

Objective To highlight the new awareness emerging among women of ways ofconsolidating civil peace in the region

Implementing Division Division of International Cultural Co-operation, Preservationand Enrichment of Cultural Identities

Activities

Organization of subregional workshops to highlight new forms of participation availableto women in the context of ongoing processes of democratization in Latin Americancountries.

Approvedbudget

Allotmentto date


Rate ofexecution


$88,000 $88,000 $49,000 55.7% -



The project is entirely decentralized and entrusted to field offices.


Within the regional project ‘Women, Democracy and Civil Peace in Latin America andthe Caribbean’ launched in 1996, three workshops have been held: ‘Women, Civic Cultureand Democracy’ (Mexico City, 8-12 July 1996); ‘Participation politique et citoyenneté’ (CostaRica, 11-14 November 1996) and ‘Women and Citizenship’ (Peru, 26-28 February 1997). Theconference on ‘New concepts of democracy and gendered citizenship in Latin America: local,national and regional perspectives’, held in Guadalajara, Mexico (14-16 April 1997) examinedthe findings of the three workshops.

Partners

The field offices’ main partners in this project are the National Commissions andvarious national institutions of the participating countries.

* * *

UNESCO. Executive Board; 154th; Report by the Director...

Documents

Transcript of UNESCO. Executive Board; 154th; Report by the Director...