www.asianngo.org ISSUE #6 | MAR-APR 2014
Funds | Partnerships | Learning FEATURED GRANT
Women empowerment grant for Pakistan, US NGOs The US Mission in Pakistan requests for proposals from organisations for a project focusing on the empowerment of women and girls, as part of the [US] government’s peopleto-people programme. Eligible to apply are US and Pakistani registered non-government organisations, civil society and Cont. page 14
FEATURED ORGANISATION
More fun when parents are involved: Arcanys Foundation’s teaching style When children start school, mastery of math and language skills is the most important factor in predicting later academic achievement. Guided by this principle, Arcanys Learning Foundation, based in Cebu in the Philippines, is thus Cont. page 5
Transcending conventional learning as Asia faces new realities Asia has been a success story in matters of education, having come a long way since the 1970s when two-thirds of the world’s out-of-school children were Asian; now, nine out of 10 children in the region benefit from primary education. But while much progress has been made, there are still pitfalls detrimental to the region’s overall development. For one, there is a gap between the education sectors in Northeast and Southeast Asia. While most Asian nations started in similar levels of education in the 1960s, the south-east now lags behind in comparison to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Cont. page 4
FE ATU R E S
T O P ST ORIES Just launched: a school with a heart page 3 Trends for sustainability, food security and post-2015 MDGs page 5 Exclusive Interview with MDF Asia page 7 Country Feature: Indonesia’s education sector page 8
China’s NPO rules allow more NGO work for 2014 page 11 Women as park rangers...in Afghanistan page 12 Samsung brings smart schools at a global scale page 13
For more information on grants and events useful for your NGO, turn to page 14-15 or visit www.asianngo.org.
MDF rolls out Asia trainings; co-produces learning series with AsianNGO
FEATURED EVENT
Dubai dev’t summit highlights women, NGO role in humanitarian work This year, the Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development (DIHAD) conference on 25-27 March at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibit Centre highlights the transfer and sharing of knowledge; showcases new trends in Cont. page 3
S P E C I A L F E AT U R E
For supertyphoon survivors, learning is non-negotiable: Post-Haiyan Philippines special
MDF, a leading global training and consultancy firm providing courses for NGOs, is introducing a series of trainings and coaching programmes in the next four months, covering topics such as disaster risk reduction, monitoring and evaluation, proposal writing and reporting, project management, training of trainers, strategic planning and organizational development, leadership skills and human resources management, and corporate social responsibility. Cont. page 12
Time for the non-profit sector to go tech-savvier New media trends that rose in 2013 are now becoming mainstream and the non-profits organisations that adapted to these technology trends early on are now introducing new spins on the existing tools. Overall, non-profits have fully embraced the value of social media as a supporting tool and channel in their day-to-day operations; as well as getting their word out to a larger audience. The Non-Profit Tech for Good blog has recently ranked five new technology trends for non-profits to keep track for the year. Cont. page 4
One of UNICEF's child-friendly centres provide children daily educational and recreational activities, which is run and supported by trained local volunteers. Here children can play, participate in art therapy classes, play instruments, sing and dance in groups and receive psychological de-briefing and support. (Image: Giacomo Pirozzi/UNICEF/Flickr)
Months after supertyphoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, 13-year-old Michel is finally back in school. His town Tanuan was devastated by the category 5 storm, and he is still living in a makeshift shelter with his family. Michel says, “I wish for myself to finish my studies because my parents are doing all the hard work and I want to repay them with good grades.” Cont. page 11
Management solutions for a better world
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EDITORIAL Commentary
There is more to e-learning than just learning Whoever thinks the current educational system in developing countries leaves nothing to be desired should follow the lead of industrialised countries and re-create brick-andmortar schools and universities in the virtual world. The rest of us need to start from scratch. We need to ask the heretic’s question whether the students are in school for the teachers or whether the teachers are in school for the learners. In short, is an e-learning institution a place of teaching or a place of learning?
e-learning courses in one web site and created the E-institute. And based on the successful game model, the World Bank also ventured into the virtual world of ‘Second Life’ and had learners represented by Avatars. All of it was new and quite exciting for the main group of learners, civil servants and NGO representatives from developing countries. But now, in hindsight, I have come to the conclusion that e-learning—as a tool for development—does not need to merely focus on the elites of the developing countries who are well served by the brick-and-mortar model delivered through a variety of distance-teaching organisations.
While this philosophical may rage over Dietmar Daniel Braun debate centuries to come, my working hypothesis is dietmar.braun@ymail.com that we need to start with the needs of the learners. This is frankly a radical change from the current e-learning approach—which is teacher- and institution-driven. As part of a certified and accredited degree programme, learners have to jump through course, exam and thesis loops to earn a BA, MA and the like. Often, learners pay a significant amount of money in the process: they simply fulfill institutional requirements; learning is rather optional.
address the “how to” of economic development at a grassroots level, and with a pedagogic approach to respond to the unique learning realities of a community.
In the brick-and-mortar world of unionised educational institutions, teachers are at the center of how the learning process is designed. Educational psychology still struggles to find a justification why learning takes place in 45- or 55-minute units. First English, then maths, then sports. Thus, the structure of the students’ day is not based on their learning needs but on teachers’ needs to keep track of their teaching obligations measured in those units. And these institutional and instructional approaches are replicated in the virtual world.
There have been attempts to make learning methods a little more engaging—entertaining, even; like adding some colour psychology to increase students’ interests in the learning process. But this can also set the bar very low. How do other web based services manage to keep their visitors hooked? Any web analytics company will tell you that the most visited sites feature sex, gambling and games. But as much as employing similar tactics as drivers in an e-learning course may sound intriguing , having worked in a public service environment this would be difficult.
But in knowing the drawbacks of the traditional educational approach, e-learning offers an opportunity to put the learner in the driver seat while the organisational and budgetary aspects take the back seat. They must be at the service of the learner and not the other way around.
But not impossible. In the World Bank I managed to introduce “serious” games into e-learning. Based on the Philippine experience to reform the public procurement procedures in 2008, the Bank produced an e-learning game on coalitionbuilding for the political processes. This was used quite successfully in the global leadership training programmes.
With the rise of social enterprises, collaborative efforts between technology companies and the NGO sector, innovative approach of some learning institutions and the ever-increasing new models for e-learning across the region, there is so much to harness. One only needs to look at the bigger picture of development, but in more detail to strategies, to come up with the epiphany that in reality, certificates and accreditation are really just optional.
To increase its reach the World Bank grouped all existing
Learning is not. ■
So what are the learners’ needs? If e-learning is to support social inclusion and economic growth to overcome poverty it has to
For example, economic opportunities may not be exploited due to the lack of entrepreneurial skills and knowledge. Traditional e-learning would therefore provide a structured SME management course that would end with some sort of certificate in lieu of real, entrepreneurial success. The dropout rate would be around 80%, if not more. While traditional trainers may regard this a failure of the learners to sustain the learning process, I regard this more possibly as the failure of the e-learning course to sustain the interest of the learner.
E-learning for development focusing on the poor is and must be problem-based, catering to the unique needs of every community. It should doubly provide the “how to” of problem solving in itself; and use an interactive approach, facilitating peer-to-peer learning, virtual and face-to-face, whenever possible. And its pedagogy is based on games and fun. Providing an organisational environment that facilitates costeffective and fast development of games for social change remains a challenge. Delivering it to a diverse environment of learners at grassroots level will also have to take into consideration mobile phones as well as web based virtual worlds. Crowd-sourcing seems to be an attractive way of bringing together the many actors who could contribute to a solution.
Commentary
The powerful domino effect of volunteerism “Taas kaagad ng kamay, ha?” (Raise your hand immediately, okay?) Our parents used to say as they dropped us off in school. As a student, I always thought it was their way of reminding us to excel—to be sure we knew the answers and never be left behind in recitations. It was only after three years as a professional when I realised it was more than that.
Kiten Capili kiten@heartschool.net
It was not about knowing all the answers; it was about asking questions and learning. It was about being prepared for opportunities; and taking initiative and sharing.
When NorthWest Airlines donated USD5,000 under my name to the Department of Social Welfare and Development after I represented the Philippines in their 50th Anniversary art competition, I was more excited about my work being applied on a real airplane than anything. I was eight. But in retrospect, I wish at least I had the chance to meet the children who benefitted from that sum of money. Winning would have felt so much better. My involvement in the social sector has always been in education; starting with short-term volunteering activities in Don Bosco’s Pugad Home for Street Children and Migrant Youth teaching elementary Math and Science to young boys. When school and varsity schedules overlapped, I opted to sponsor a child’s education for a year through World Vision. In 2009, I received a Christmas card with a handwritten message and drawing from my sponsored child from Palawan. It was the best gift I received that year. When it was time to write my thesis there was no debate. It had to be on corporate social responsibility, on how businesses operate with a broader purpose and a more conscious effort to benefit the communities they affect. One of the NGOs we worked with was Virlanie Foundation, which houses and provides development programmes to street children. I joined as Communications Volunteer. Since then, engaging in activities with social progress and change as driving forces, regardless of whether it was volunteer work or thorough reading and
researching on related issues, was a constant in my planner. Last year Typhoon Haiyan hit, leaving a huge part of the Visayas region devoid of infrastructure, natural resources and people. We saw the world move—health professionals, foreign governments and humanitarian groups sailed the seas and walked long hours to provide survivors aid and relief. Social media played a massive role in effective information dissemination and calls to action: online citizens turned to volunteers overnight, connecting different people in their networks to catalyse relief activities. “Do you want to help sort tomorrow at the Red Cross?” my aunt asked the night before I found myself weeding out dinosaur costumes, lingerie, used underwear and tutus from piles of donated clothes at the Philippine Red Cross (PRC). Two days later I received a call from PRC asking for help in finding a vehicle to transport over thirty boxes of water, clothes and relief packs. They needed it in three hours. One urgent Facebook status and numerous responses from peers connected me to people they knew who could help; and half an hour later I was talking to and being granted permission by a high-ranking official of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to mobilise an army truck to transport the goods. All without having to leave my office desk. Indeed, work and volunteerism can be highly integrated, which goes beyond one-time volunteering. Easy to say, but this poses a greater challenge to young professionals. Business organisations that have not yet developed a CSR or employee engagement programme could benefit from having one. Some might think that the end products of their industries are not relevant to make a connection or move communities to change. But this not a problem; rather, it is an opportunity. One of the greatest management thinkers, Peter Drucker, once said that innovation is a great challenge, not a problem; “for every problem is an opportunity for us.”
The creative industry, too, is full of potential and is a breeding ground for change, essential to innovation, and “offers a path to resolve the triple pressures of slow growth, high unemployment and income disparities,” said South Korean President Park Geun-hye at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos. Companies are encouraged to be more socially responsible by working deeper into their core values and evaluating what each employee can contribute towards a better society, because young professionals these days look for ways to help communities within and outside their line of work. If companies work on truly knowing what their employees can contribute they can create a better volunteer system or incorporate pro-active social initiatives in their daily operations. For many professionals to do well, many of them now need to know that they are in fact doing good. Since founding Heart School, my responsibilities increased exponentially. It has gone beyond just volunteering; it gives other young professionals opportunities to learn, teach, discover, and share their skills to peers and the less privileged. More importantly, it opens the minds and hearts of children to a bigger, more colourful world of opportunities that complement formal education and encourage them to stay off the streets. Mobilising people to contribute resources available to them is a big challenge in leading an initiative, yet it is easily one of the most rewarding tasks a founder can achieve during early days. What happens afterwards—exchanging volunteering stories, discussing economic changes we aspire for, and engaging in offline interaction with like-minded individuals—is an enriching experience. Balancing my full-time advertising job, part-time professorship, and Heart School requires great sacrifice and time. It made me grow into believing that more than success, the measure of one’s contribution to society is progress. So, I say grab the opportunity. Make the sacrifice. Make time. Volunteer. Raise your hands so those whose lives you change can raise theirs, too. ■
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F E AT U R E S
Water security is top dev't agenda—UNESCAP The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) headquarters in Bangkok will host the AIDF Water Security: Asia 2014 on 26-27 March, bringing together policy leaders and practitioners involved in agriculture, water, health, environment and utilities from governments, the UN system, various NGOs and businesses. Last year the Asian Development Bank, in a summit hosted in Manila, reported that over half of Asia does not have proper access to secure household supply of water. The ADB cited that although 91% of the population in Asia has improved access to clean water, the region’s richest are the ones who are able to pay for this success.
Likewise, developed nations with a robust water infrastructure (i.e., Singapore) obviously have more disaster-preparedness systems than Laos, Nepal, Cambodia and Bangladesh. Developing countries require tailored frameworks to address issues such as highly polluted water bodies, water scarcity, intermittent power supply, irregular (and expensive) energy supply, lack of wastewater collection and treatment, high levels of leakage and poor solid waste management as major cities in emerging economies are grow rapidly. The AIDF water summit will thus highlight the challenges that the water sector faces, share best practices, showcase new
technologies and services, and enable new partnerships to encourage sustainable development. “This forum is a great opportunity for us to engage in expert discussions, share relevant knowledge, and learn from the experience of others. The world today is facing diverse challenges, and the humanitarian business needs to keep up,” said Birgitte Olsen, IFRC’s head of Global Logistics Service. For more information on the Water conference, or to register as participant, sponsor or speaker at the event, visit www. aidforumonline.org. (AIDF) ■
Just launched: a school with a heart Heart School, a non-profit organisation that provides underprivileged children with creative education, launched last February at the Hospicio de San Jose in Manila. The event paired orphans with volunteers and sponsors to make rubber stamps, design notebooks and decorate cupcakes. Founded early last year, Heart School aims to provide creative education to underprivileged children while at the same time give professionals the opportunity to share their hobbies and interests with the kids and learning from their peers. Volunteers from the public and private sector are welcome to teach children new sets of skills. “We want these children to have access to many creative faculties they never knew they had. I have always believed one of the most effective ways out of poverty is education. Hundreds of children end up on the streets because they don’t realise what they are capable of doing or becoming. But there are lots of
creative exercises to help expose themselves to the opportunities out there; and I hope Heart School can help them discover these opportunities,” says founder and executive director Kiten Capili. Heart School’s first project was at one of the relief operations after Typhoon Haiyan. While adults attended the job fair in Manila, Heart School put together creative activities to keep children busy while their parents were applying for jobs. “There a lot of organisations that focus on formal and basic education, and Heart School aims to immerse these children in culture, the arts, and skills-based learning programs that complement formal education,” Capili says. Though still in its infancy stage, Heart School already has a string of projects coming up. To learn more about its activities, partnerships, sponsorships, volunteer opportunities, and more ways to help, visit www.heartschool.net. ■
(Photo: Marti Bartolome)
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Dubai dev't summit highlights women, NGO role in humanitarian work
FAO's Dominique Burgeon addresses the development and humanitarian community at last year’s DIHAD. (Image: FAO-Somalia/Flickr)
operational support and supply services; and provides a networking platform among local, regional and global actors in the humanitarian and development sector. In particular also aims to capture participants’ experience in the workshops and equip them with better understanding of the theme Women & Aid; to inform and educate on the challenges women face as a result of conflict, war, poverty and natural disasters across the region; and how these can be addressed by smaller organisations. It highlights what it means to be a woman working in the humanitarian sector today, where the challenges and opportunities lie and the specific skill sets and training needs female staff have. The conference’s plenaries sessions, exhibits and interactive workshops are all part of an integrated concept that takes account the latest trends and developments with the global assistance domain. It creates a forum for people in the humanitarian sector to interact, foster partnership, seek donors, share knowledge, gain information on the latest trends, know success stories of other humanitarian organisations, know about new and effective products and services launched in the market that beneficial to their daily operations. The annual event, now on its 11th run, is held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates; and supported by Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charity, the United Nations, the UAE Red Crescent Authority, International Humanitarian City, the Dubai Cares and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC). Last year’s conference opened with the theme “Building Effective and Sustainable Partnerships in Humanitarian Assistance and Development Activities,” with Dubai’s Princess Haya Bint Al Hussain, wife of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, citing the diversity of donors raising the issue of international collaboration and how they function as team members and partners. “Despite this rising tide of humanitarian crises and the financial crisis of 2008, donor funding has continued to set new records—and the sources of aid are shifting. The most important lesson from our experience over the past ten years is we are all in this together, and working together is the most effective way to help each other,” Her Highness also said of this year’s DIHAD, adding that it is important to listen to aid recipients. To know more about this year’s DIHAD, follow the live-stream plenaries or to register your organization, visit www.dihad.org. ■ www.asianngo.org
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COVER STORY from page 1
Time for the non-profit sector to go tech-savvier Mass adoption of responsive and flat design Going mobile has become a necessary investment for nonprofit groups, since a loss in donations can be the price to pay if they lag behind. Communicating messages and online fund-raising have become an integral part in non-profit strategy; and investment in additional technology is money very well spent. Optimising user experience by utilising responsive and flat design will become more common this year. Integrated digital wallets into social media Facebook and Twitter are working on their own ‘digital wallet’ systems, allowing non-profits to receive funds directly via their Facebook and Twitter pages. This has the potential of transforming online fund-raising: users’ credit card details would become part of their Facebook or Twitter accounts, so that one-tap donations are possible. Of all current digital payment systems, Google Wallet will be the one to keep an eye on in 2014, since Google is set to integrate its “Donate”
button into non-profit Google+ Pages. Live reporting during TV events Since social media and TV are becoming more intertwined, and advocate groups should take note of the momentum and turn to live reporting in 2014. Although this will force social media staff to be available beyond traditional office hours, the increased exposure to millions of TV viewers for organisations will be well worth the effort—both at a marketing and a news-sharing standpoint. Maturation of mobile fund-raising apps A new range of mobile fund-raising apps entered the market in 2013, including GiveMob, Charity Miles, Google One Today and HelpBridge. These apps all take into account the flaws in design and functionality of earlier mobile fund-raising apps, and may have staying power as well as dedicated users. Non-profits can expect to see similar apps coming their way this year and should take advantage of
these tools while some of them may offer cost-free trialperiods. Increased employment opportunities in new media Most non-profits are steadily increasing their social media budget, and this is a trend that will persist in 2014. Making social media work well for your organisation also means getting the most suitable people for the job. Quality of content, number of active social networks and user responsiveness all are co-related to the amount of time social media staffs invest. Non-profits are already realising this, which is reflected in the growing number of new media positions available in the non-profit sector. Non-Profit Tech for Good aims to be a comprehensive social and mobile media resource for the global nonprofit sector, focusing on valuable and easy-to-understand information. For other technology and new media stories, find more resources at www.nptechforgood.com. ■ (Image on Page 1: Fabian Medina/Flickr)
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Transcending conventional learning as Asia faces new realities Meeting last year, the challenge of job matching among young professionals was a key issue. Experts from the academe, the public sector, international organisations and industry leaders in the private sector tackled policies issues and corresponding steps for developing countries in Asia to generate productive and well-paying jobs to match the availably skill sets of a growing labour force. Recent technologies, too, they contended, re-shape the labour market; yet skills development and social protection also have to evolve to meet the challenges attached to the increasing competition. Teaching disaster preparedness where it matters most Bangladesh, a disaster-prone nation, now teaches children of the risks of natural calamities and how to prepare for them. Preparedness has been in the curriculum for primary and secondary schools since 2004. Mohammed Abdul Qayyum, National Project Director of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP), says “school children are NGO mission volunteers in Pakistan bring informal education to children change agents. If we make them aware about disaster risks, it’s whose families have been distressed by armed conflict. Largely funded possible to make the larger community aware.” independently by individual donors, private foundations or as part of the increasingly popular travel-to-volunteer programmes, these social workers brave the risks of ensuing conflicts in nearby communities.
The latter seem to have turned their investment in human capital into thriving innovation and technology-driven economies reaching high-income status; while low- and middle-income countries like Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines still struggle to transform their economies partly due to a lack of skilled workers; and lack of access to education in some regions, for some economic groups.
The idea is not unique. Back in the Philippines, multi-lateral agencies aided by NGOs, have devised innovative ways to prepare children for calamities both in and outside the school system. ASSIST Asia, for example, promotes the idea of a child-friendly board game on disaster preparedness, in a country ravaged by typhoons, earthquakes floods numerous times a year. If this can be integrated in local curriculum across the region; or replicated through collaborations with donors and sponsoring international agencies—children will be better educated and prepared for disasters.
There is indeed a need for new, creative solutions to up the region’s education sector, also taking into account the issues the south-east faces today: climate change and natural disasters; and at the same time attempting to harness the potentials of technology and an increasingly able young population. One needs to ask then: can the centres of excellence in the northeast really cascade to raise the standard and access to education for the rest of the region; or will a divided picture stay?
Elsewhere in the region—Indonesia and Thailand, for example, after the 2004 tsunami disaster—the same progress is under way. What sticks out from this move is the fact that over the years to come, climate change will not only be a threat to the economy but also to the life and schooling of children who live in disaster-prone areas. It may be an added pressure point on children’s learning, and the challenges they already face; but it’s an inevitable reality. Still, who are poised to do better in this aspect?
The chicken-and-egg of skills and opportunities It’s difficult for many Asian countries to strike a balance between having internationally renowned universities and providing university education for its citizens to translate into a large pool of skilled workforce. Top-notch universities in the region’s advanced economies keep students closer to home, so they opt for higher education here instead of going abroad; while those in the developing states seek ‘greener pastures’ in the West, with reasons that transcend merely earning a degree.
Aspiring to increase access to education Young Chin migrants from northwestern Myanmar are being educated in a church school in India, so that in time they can return to their country and teach their own countrymen. The Chins, Myanmar’s poorest minority, often live in remote rural areas, making education less accessible. A large part of its population fled after the country’s unrest against the military junta in 1988.
New graduates also make the region more competitive with the spread of new technologies; but this strong focus to create world-class higher education centres risks breeding inequality. Proof is the saturation of better-prepared students in—who are also more likely to afford—private education, common in a region where public education is often eclipsed by investmentheavy elite schools. “Institutions should be seen in the context of a system diverse enough to respond to the needs of different labour markets and students from all backgrounds,” says Jouko Sarvi, Practice Leader for Education at the ADB, adding that many Asian nations, with fast-growing economies, invest highly in elite universities hoping to deliver contenders for Ivy League universities. But what about public schools, where the majority goes? A large number of the region’s youth feels they do not have the right skill set for today’s job market. And in countries with strong economies and easy access to higher education, there is still skills shortage, gaps and mismatch. At the ADB Annual
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Exerting further pressure on the existing challenges in rural education is the threat of climate change and natural disasters that often leave school children with little choice but to stay at home and impede their daily education. But even for the brave enough, going to school poses grave danger to children’s lives and health.
Education can become a collateral damage to the crossroads of politics and a transitioning social change, but that’s hardly a new phenomenon. Recent clashes in Thailand; the massive protests in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa; and civil unrest not only damage infrastructure but worse, disrupt education. The challenges are evolving. All is not bleak, though. Schools in Myanmar suffered years of poverty; and for emigrants to India, there was a lack of suitable facilities for their children. But missionary schools and nonprofit tutoring centres try to patch this by providing youth skills to improve their lives. Those who return from India volunteer as teachers; while some graduates have set up schools. Pastor Vanlelruata, founder of the Carson school says “this is not simply an education for our students. We hope one day they will return to the villages where they came from, so they can serve their own people.” After the damage of Typhoon Haiyan on Central Philippines in November, NGOs flocked to salvage what was left of the local schools. (See separate story in the Post-Haiyan Special.) International NGOs initiated temporary learning shelters for children who survived the disaster, complete with de-stressing and counselling. Likewise, As in Myanmar, conflicts in Syria and Thailand also prompted NGOs to deliver some learning services for children to maintain an atmosphere of normalcy. Not only one direction to move forward A previous issue of AsianNGO featured a commentary on the brain gain in the region: where the shift of advanced labour market is at the locals’ favour—both in terms of individual professional growth and in the economic benefits for the countries overall. In Paraguay a non-profit Farm School revolutionised a marketdriven and self-sufficient model by training low-income students in various skills, across different functions. Fundación Paraguaya has transformed young farmers into financially successful entrepreneurs through integrated teaching of traditional school subjects with the work in small-scale, oncampus rural enterprises. NGOs have brought the programme across the globe—from South America to the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa and, most recently, to South Asia. In the UK, Studio Schools work closely with local and national employers from government agencies and universities on a range of qualifications; as well as recruitment firms. These independently-run public schools, do 80% of the teaching outside the classroom. In effect, graduates earn more ‘employability’ even as they are studying. The wealth of education-focused NGOs in Asia, a dynamic CSR environment thanks to a boom in the private sector, the evolving model of education in various levels and an abundance of opportunities for social enterprises also can pave the way for the social sector to complement the region’s needs and opportunities in its education system. Aid agencies and local NGOs can never do so much; it is not the time to stop building capacities, improving infrastructure and bringing in technologies to complement local knowledge and cultures. Clearly there are challenges. But as any optimist would posit—any challenge is an opportunity. Such is the education sector in the region. By and far, the opportunity is golden for the non-profit and private sectors to collaborate and drive Asia’s education sector forward, whether on its own or in complimenting the region’s already established, robust and rising [education] sector. But this opportunity also should mainly to at least level the playing field. We shall be watching our students grow. (With reports from the Asian Development Bank, IRIN Asia, The Guardian and Channel News Asia. All images in this story from the ASSIST Asia-ADB 2011 CLICK Photo Competition, unless otherwise indicated.)
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F E AT U R E S from page 1
More fun when parents are involved: Arcanys Foundation’s teaching style mathematics among Filipino students showed why the country lags behind most nations in math scores: children and adults alike have big problems dealing with numbers. The school system is still very much behind, either not having enough pre-school programmes or has overcrowded classrooms,” says Alan Debonneville, chairman of the Arcanys Early Learning Foundation. This is the essence of the Arcanys Early Learning Foundation: involving parents in the math education of their children. While a mother is teaching her child to count, with the coaching of an Arcanys Early Learning Foundation teacher, other children are curious to learn as well.
helping parents of pre-school and kindergarten children in impoverished (and often illiterate) families teach their children basic arithmetic, to prepare them for their entry into the formal schooling system. “One study on test scores in science and
Arcanys puts child teaching and parent involvement at the core of its approach by doing one-on-one customised coaching instead of the traditional classroom-based training. The Foundation’s 11 full time pre-school teachers go to the homes of these families three times weekly to handle early math learning with children 3-6 years old. Rather than just doing private lessons with the child, the teacher uses a range of about 30 kinds of math games that are played first between the child and the teacher for 15-20 minutes. After that, the parents play the same games with their children. The curriculum is intensive, lasting 10 weeks and with additional homework for non-visiting days.
From June 2012 to January 2014, the Foundation helped over 600 families complete a three-month maths discovery programme, totalling more than 18,000 math sessions. Since February 2014 on a rolling basis, new batches of 120 children, along with their parents, have begun following the same programme. Catherine McBride-Chang, Developmental Psychology professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, says “the results of the training program were truly impressive. Children overall improved over a three-month period by about 300-600% as compared to children who did not go through the training programme.” The Foundation also aims to collaborate with other organisations in Asia to offer the same kind of programme across the region, given the adaptability of the tools (like that of ChildUp); but this will take some funding support from external donors—much of which, says Debonneville, goes to compensating the teachers/tutors. A teacher hired by the Foundation can support about 12 families quarterly, so 48 families
annually. Arcanys targets to support 500-750 families each year, and hopes to increase its team to about 20 professional teachers over time. If all works out for the Foundation, the latter stage will be to help between 1,000 and 1,500 families. “The Foundation has kept its expenses at a minimum to make sure that majority of donations (93%) is spent on the families it helps. For example, average cost to support a family for three months—including approximately 30 sessions of 30 to 45 minutes of mathematics—is about US$100. That covers mostly the salary, healthcare and travel costs of the teacher; snacks for the family; and learning materials for the kids. This means the Foundation needs about $50,000-75,000 to reach its annual objectives,” says co-founder Frederic Joye. To learn more about the Arcanys Early Learning Foundation, its team, works, the results of the study or to get in contact to make a donation, visit their website at www. arcanysfoundation.org. ■
Sustainability, food security and post-2015 MDGs For the emerging post-2015 framework of the Millennium Development Goals, one of the key challenges is promoting sustainability across sectors. The term sustainability, although often used, has not been clearly defined. In the MDG, the agenda of eliminating poverty is not possible without eliminating hunger and malnutrition through building sustainable agriculture and food systems. The Gates Foundation says it believes a sustainable food system offers populations adequate food while minimising loss or waste in the supply chain, a system that can be maintained while the climate continues to worsen; and one that helps communities flourish by empowering women and protecting the environment. Simply put, farmers can only be lifted out of poverty if ways to grow more food sustainably will be developed. Leading development and food security institutions and processes recognise these critical facts and have called for an end to hunger through a comprehensive approach to food and nutrition security in the post-2015 framework. The Open Working Group, a driver in the post-2015 process, met in New York at a critical time towards creating of a new set of development goals beyond 2015. The Group has put forward points backing the need to consider a sustainable agriculture system and a strong focus on food and nutrition security to be the core of the post-2015 agenda: • The world’s poor mainly live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, most true in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. As with successful cases of inclusive economic transformation, agricultural growth and productivity are what drives the type of growth that reduces poverty the fastest—especially in these areas. • Hunger practically cannot be eradicated without increasing agricultural productivity and reducing waste and post-harvest loss. Most of the world’s hungry are farmers. By boosting their productivity, the projected increase in food demand can be met; and thereby resolve one of the necessary conditions for food security: availability. • Sustainability should be practiced in raising agricultural productivity given the environmental pressures of climate change, land degradation and water pollution. • Sufficient food does not necessarily mean adequate nutrition for all. In reducing malnutrition and enabling people to live healthy and productive lives, nutritious food must be available at any given time. These points should make food and nutrition security a major component of the post-2015 MDG framework; either as its own goal or part of key targets on sustainable agricultural productivity, in fighting malnutrition, reducing stunting and eliminating in post-harvest loss and food waste. Leading up to 2015, an opportunity to link sustainability and food and nutrition security is expected as the new development framework emerges. Creating this link will set the new development goals with an achievable pathway to successful realisation. (With reports from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)
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5
GUEST WRITER
Extension workers demonstrating the System of Rice Intensification method in Cambodia (Image: Annâdya Project)
Enhancing quality of extension services Extension systems must deliver up-to-date, accurate and locationspecific information and services to farmers, but often do not meet required standards. Developing legal frameworks to define the roles and responsibilities of all extension stakeholders should be assessed. Professionalising capacity-building of extension agents via regular skills development programmes (i.e., improved university education and refresher courses) must also be prioritised.
Katinka Weinberger k.weinberger@uncapsa.org
For a stronger, more educated agriculture sector
With the impact of living beyond the capacities of our planet we now have to radically change the way we produce and consume food to meet the challenges in the future. Moving towards more sustainable ways of living is not possible without taking into account the agricultural sector which, while providing livelihoods for millions, in itself contributes to environmental degradation. Land use change and land degradation, and the dependence on fossil energy contribute about a fourth of all global greenhouse gas emissions. And yet, a growing and increasingly affluent population in the Asia-Pacific demands more and higher energy-input food. How well are we positioned to address these challenges? Dedicated scientists and researchers in national and international research institutes all over the world are working hard to enable us to produce and consume food more sustainably than in the past. However, we require change not only in the problems that we are addressing, but also in how we work together to address the problems. Improving the science to application interface, or the research to extension linkage in agriculture, is an integral part of this equation. Our agricultural research and extension systems need to become much more efficient to support the development and absorption of innovative practices and technologies by farmers, intermediaries and other stakeholders in the food system. As part of these efforts the involvement of farmers, the private sector, NGOs and civil society organisations needs to be more explicit and their contribution needs to be facilitated through the appropriate legal and institutional frameworks. Realising this need, the Centre for Alleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Agriculture (CAPSA) of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), together with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, organised an Experts’ Consultation in December to discuss approaches and policy options. Representatives from national systems, the private sector, NGOs and farmer groups came together to address better collaboration and, among others, to share examples of successful NGO- and private sector-led research and extension systems in the region. Overall, participants of the meeting agreed on the following recommendations. Creating a space for research-extension interface Research-extension linkages must be institutionalised more effectively through coordinated programmes. Most importantly, farmers need to be regarded as clients undertaking their own adaptive research rather than as beneficiaries of final science
Trainees in Myanmar visit an aquaponics farm (Image: AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center)
A Bangladeshi farmer showing her healthy cow (Image: Netz Bangladesh) 6
products. Their engagement can be promoted through mechanisms such as participatory on-farm research and farmerled extension. Institutional support for farmer-led research and farmer-driven innovations should be made available. Increased involvement of researchers in farmers’ fields is another way for better research-extension interface, to provide opportunities for them to be extension agents, better assess farmers’ needs and socio-economic constraints, and undertake adaptive research. To achieve this, extension and outreach should be built into agricultural research projects so that there is a research-to-adoption continuum instead of research and extension working as separate entities. Finally, our experience from Malaysia shows that the concept of R&D and commercialisation in agricultural development is a useful mechanism to commercialise, and thus, apply science to work. Adapting to a new research-extension environment The pressing need to produce and consume food more sustainably leads to a paradigm shift from input-intensive to knowledgeintensive agriculture. Institutional capacities for extension systems need to be better aligned with the change in research focus towards climate-smart agriculture and sustainable practices. Extension systems need to move beyond a narrow commodity focus of advisory services and adopt a broader focus on diversified farming systems, sustainable value-chains and industries. This requires innovative thinking and solutions. Building national and regional consortia of research-extension organisations and establishing a dedicated extension research institute will facilitate closer linkages between research and extension.
Trainings should ensure the knowledge of extension agents keeps ahead of that of their clientele and must address a shift in emphasis from technology transfer to facilitating knowledgesharing as ‘knowledge brokers’. Certification programmes for trained extension workers (both public and private sector) for quality assurance can be explored. Information and communications technologies that deliver extension services must also be promoted to expedite cost-effective output. Establishing and empowering local service providers, including farmers and fishermen associations, should also be facilitated especially where they can provide extension services more efficiently. Documenting evidence Much of the scarce funding and support to enhanced research to extension linkages is due to the lack of evidence of a functioning research-extension interface. It is thus important to initiate studies that enable us to better understand the impact of researchextension linkages on agricultural growth. Documenting this impact and spreading greater awareness about impact pathways and potential returns from agricultural innovation will facilitate advocacy initiatives and attract investors. A regional-level metastudy to provide firm empirical bases in promoting integrated research and extension is therefore urgently required. Despite the challenges in the agriculture sector it is important to keep in mind that new opportunities are emerging, including sustainable production, through new business opportunities, partnerships and networks in research and extension. One example of such network is SATNET Asia, the Sustainable Agricultural Technologies Network, hosted by CAPSA, which facilitates innovative knowledge sharing and delivers capacitybuilding programmes to network participants, supporting exchange and facilitating dialogue among NGOs, private sector and public organisations, to contribute to making agriculture more resilient to the pressures it is facing, while allowing farmers to make a sustainable livelihood out of their farming activities. ■
Mobilising resources, establishing stakeholder partnerships In many countries in Asia-Pacific the agriculture sector suffers from declining public investment over the past decades. Increased government funding to strengthen research-extension systems is a necessary requirement to meet the challenges outlined above. Innovative mechanisms to leverage additional resources such as the creation of a competitive investment fund for agricultural extension and innovation to support entrepreneurial ideas should thus be explored to address the frequent budgetary constraints faced in the region, particularly the least developed countries. There are examples of the private sector and CSOs delivering integrated research-extension services in many countries; but their involvement can only be strengthened through creating a supportive legal and regulatory environment. National consultations to allow the private sector and CSOs to undertake advocacy, pitch ideas to governments, share knowledge and enable review of market distortions and subsidies should be pursued.
Dr. Raj Paroda, Executive Secretary of APAARI, Mr. Hiroyuki Konuma, Assistant Director-General, FAO RAP, and Dr. Katinka Weinberger, Director of CAPSA at the Expert Consultation on Strengthening Linkages between Research and Extension to Promote Food and Nutrition Security, 12 December 2013, Bangkok
Fostering enabling policy initiatives The public sector has a central role in providing integrated research-extension services in the region while enabling access to knowledge, and undertaking overall regulation and monitoring. Public policy can also leverage to promote a market-alignment and technology-provider role for the private sector, a communitymobilisation role for NGOs, and a cost-sharing and changefacilitator role for development agencies. Policy interventions To support implementation of effective national agricultural policies, it can also be used to support innovation by small and medium enterprises (SME) in the agricultural sector, investment in research is crucial to engage policy makers, scientists and other key stakeholders in a and extension systems, increased use of ICT, and sharing of dialogue (Image: CAPSA) experiences on implementation of national agricultural extension policies and impacts through an official platform. About the Author
A farmer demonstrating her nursery to other farmers (Image: iDE Nepal)
Katinka Margit Weinberger is a socio-economist, having led the Centre for the Alleviation of Poverty through Sustainable Agriculture (CAPSA) since 2010. Before that she held Senior Scientist positions at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC). Her professional interests include sustainable and diversified agriculture, value chains for poor farmers and the related aspects of post-harvest activities and food safety, food consumption, impact assessment, and monitoring and evaluation. She has 15 years of experience in agriculture research for development, which has included planning, supervision and monitoring of research strategies and change management. Empirical field research has been accomplished in collaboration with national and international partners, with diverse professional and cultural backgrounds, and has included work experience in the AsiaPacific, and in Eastern and Central Africa.
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Empowering the enablers: trainings for NGOs big and small Set up in the Netherlands three decades ago, Management Development Foundation (MDF) Training and Consultancy recognises that while most development organisations are well-meaning and run by individuals with a genuine desire for a better world, many lack professionalism and accountability and often fail to create lasting positive impact through their programmes. In this edition, Ineke Ann Pitts, MDF Director for South Asia, shares her thoughts on MDF Asia’s experiences in providing trainings on how to better run NGOs given the cultural differences across the region. Tell our readers briefly about MDF and what you offer NGOs and development professionals. MDF was originally set up as a non-profit organisation and is now a private company, but with its heart still firmly in development. We deliver training and consultancy solutions to development actors across the globe, with over 70 staff and 10 branch offices: three in Asia, three in Africa, one in South America, in Belgium and our Netherlands head office and branch. Our services include open-subscription courses, on-demand and tailored courses, and consultancy services delivered in over 50 countries. We are also called on to give advice, offer coaching or custom-tailor solutions for clients who have previously worked with us. From a trainers’ perspective, what do you think of the non-profit landscape and development sector in Asia; how has your experience in the region been? At first I struggled with the language and the lack of sense of urgency, which seemed selfindulgent and academic at its worst; and deeply relevant and spiritual at best. Recently I have witnessed these worlds collide and become increasingly indistinguishable. Donors’ new understanding of accuracy in reporting does not equate to positive change. Frequently the opposite is true. But increasingly, donors now champion results-based approaches and provide for flexible budgeting and qualitative reporting; all of which has much to commend. The shift from task-orientated to changedriven work is a big paradigm shift, and is starting to make real and attainable (if not fully measurable) shifts in thinking and impact. Largely this shift is admired by the participants of our courses as something necessary and essential. But an air of cynicism prevails that donors or their management won’t buy it. Fortunately there are enough enlightened donors, governments and programme principles to assure that our courses are well met. How different is the non-profit sector in each area based on needs and operational directions? At first I was skeptical about the relevance in delivering, say, human resources management training in Afghanistan, when most of my experience has been in the Indian subcontinent. But we have a huge pool of trainers, many of whom have worked in Afghanistan. Our offices have trainers and consultants who know how things operate on the ground. Having both international best-practice and solid practical know-how is unbeatable and gives us the real edge. MDF Asia has three sub-branches: Pacific Indonesia, Indochina and South Asia, each with specific knowledge of the local working context. In the South Asia context we are dealing with some of the most conflicted countries in the world (Afghanistan, Pakistan and up until recently, Sri Lanka); we also face some of the worst natural disasters and complex political situations including issues of women’s rights. As a result, our team is well-equipped to support a whole range of programmes in this domain, and have a wealth of personal and professional experience to draw on. Differentiate which programmes are most followed in each area—especially Asia; and in which courses are NGOs most interested. Our most popular training everywhere in the world is still our flagship Project and Programme Management, and Project Cycle Management trainings. People also increasingly ask for broader results-based management, theory of change (ToC) or outcome-mapping www.asianngo.org
approaches. In countries facing particularly challenging political landscapes, advocacy and policy influencing and disaster risk reduction courses have also become popular. When you talk to the participants prior to or after the trainings, what are their issues with regard to the learning and development process—both for themselves and for their organisations? One reason I love my job is because everyday I see people transform themselves and change their beliefs about their work. This starts immediately when we transform their expectations of the learning experience. At MDF we have a learning approach that encompasses experiential adult learning methodology: the participant is central to the learning process, not the trainer. People love the training because it is about them and it is relevant to their situations. I have had people come up to me three years after a personal leadership training, and tell me how their lives have changed. It is always a thrill to learn how they have been able to create change back in the workplace. Participants can also be concerned about how to apply their learnings back in the workplace, given that their bosses have not been on the training. Larger organisations like INGOs tend to better understand the importance of a learning trajectory to embed change and are more likely to include ‘follow up’ as a core component of the intervention. What do participants generally expect in these trainings? They can vary, and for this reason we try to have a dialogue with participants before the training; we clarify what will be covered and assure them their expectations will be met. Rarely when there is a mismatch we try to work out a solution, sometimes with additional one-on-one coaching. Because participants continually draw on their own context and examples, it is not difficult for us to assure that the learning is significant for them. Our posttraining evaluation suggests that over 80% of our participants meet their learning objectives through the learning experience; our goal is 95%. Training can be expensive, especially highcalibre programmes that involve very specific skills and techniques. How can NGOs and development professionals in smalland medium-scale operations fund their participation to these trainings? Have you ever felt this as an obstacle?
encourage ‘Straight Talk’ when necessary, to say the things that need to be said to one another, without offending or defending.
businesses and referrals. We follow-up with the participating organisations and individuals, and this is increasingly built in to the intervention.
How does MDF assess its training programmes and what are the points of reference?
How should small NGOs empower themselves after the courses, to make themselves sustainably equipped with the skills they gained from attending your modules?
When I first joined MDF the organisation was flat and this meant candid feedback is actively encouraged at all directions. Now we meet annually to review latest developments and key learning points; although this also happens informally throughout the year. After a training we always sit with co-trainers to discuss what went well, what went less well and how we can improve in future. At the end of a workshop, participants are also asked to complete an evaluation form for later analysis. Mostly the feedback comes informally from clients, and at every opportunity we try to feed the learning back into the process. Mostly we determine the success of our programmes through future
With small NGOs, it is better to send one or two people on a really good training and have them cascade the learnings back in the workplace to others. This can be done over a simple lunch break or in weekly meetings. They can create their own internal knowledge sharing structures. A space for idea sharing and feedback can be extremely powerful. We provide soft copies of the materials for this purpose. The advantage of working in a smaller NGO is that everyone is much closer to the tasks in hand, with less bureaucracy, leading to greater efficiency and effectiveness. ■
About the Interviewee Ineke Ann Pitts joined MDF South Asia as Branch Director and Senior Consultant in 2009, having been principal of her own management consultancy in the region for more than 10 years. She backstops many MDF projects in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Ineke is ultimately responsible for the quality and consistency all services delivered from the South Asia office and is also a senior resource person for MDF Global. Before become role of regional director for South Asia, Ineke started out as a mechanical engineer; moved into technical illustration and then to computer-aided Ineke Ann Pitts design. After moving to Sri Lanka she spent three years ineke@mdfsa.lk searching for endangered carnivorous plants deep in the jungles of Asia and then in 2000, set up The Strategy Team, a training and human resources consultancy serving multi-nationals including HSBC, Glaxo SmithKline, John Keells Holdings and Standard Chartered Bank. Ineke 25 years of international experience, predominantly in business strategy, HR and project management; and is also specialist in monitoring and evaluation frameworks. Ineke has a Post-graduate Diploma in Business Administration and Development from Paisley University Scotland, and is a Licensed Master Practitioner of the Neuro-Linguistic Programming Society. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Organisational Change at Middlesex University.
Many of our participants are funded by their international donors. Some come to us through the NUFFIC fellowship scheme. If a small local NGO or individual comes to us for training we always try to accommodate them under our fellowship scheme, where they can receive substantial discounts. It also depends on having free seats on some particular courses; but this cannot be guaranteed. We always explain the wide range of options available to you. Our fees can be a bit higher than some other training consultancies because we deliver training at a higher level than most; and we need to ensure that all our trainers are of high calibre, are properly trained and that their training remains current. There is also a certain cost to the infrastructure around the training that many people forget. MDF is not funded, so I have to make sure I cover the cost of my trainers plus make sufficient margin to guarantee the sustainability of the branch. MDF has never been about making big profits and that is never going to change. You also consult for various organisations, mostly high-level IOs. What are your learnings from these trainings that you can share for smaller, local NGOs to learn from? Organisations, large and small, tend to have the similar issues: often there are people issues behind a seemingly technical problem. My best advice is to dedicate enough time to communicate properly both formally and informally within project teams. Relax and enjoy together, listen to their views and ideas and most of all, encourage honest assessment and appreciation of failure and success. But in my experience, this is not something we do particularly well in the Asian context. Sometimes people need to be encouraged to look critically, without fear of judgment, at the work that they do. This comes down to mature and confident leadership. We 7
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Breeding a generation of change-makers: Indonesia’s education sector Indonesia’s economy has been impressive since 2001 but still remains below what was achieved pre-1997. The government launched a masterplan to accelerate and expand development for the period 2011–2025 with the aim for self-sufficient, advanced, equitable, and prosperous country. As it stands now, the country is a goldmine of opportunities for private equity investors— being one of the most populous country in the ASEAN region with an ever-expanding middle class, massive wealth of natural resources and very educated young professionals. But a culture of endemic corruption among some of its key institutions and lack of transparency can deter that masterplan. Critical constraints, too, are inadequate infrastructure, weak governance, unequal access to higher education, and poor quality education with limited labour market relevance. The latter being a central theme in this issue, it is universally deemed the first touch-point in any road to progress. For starters, one needs to look at the basics: the ADB, in its assessment of Indonesia’s education sector, cited that access to higher education has remained low; and disparities exist across a range of factors including gender, income levels, and geography. Over 70% of enrollment in universities comes from the richest fifth of the population. Non-government and private sector scholarship programmes exist, but are very limited and highly competitive; and in many cases are awarded even to children of the rich and prominent business partners of the donors. The sector’s supporting role in innovation is also limited, measured by indicators like the patents granted, journal publications and the number of researchers in research and development—as cited at the World Economic Forum in 2011. This is due to weak university-industry linkages (38th in WEF; 2010 competitiveness index), curricula and programmes that lack labor market relevance, and insufficient system capacity to undertake world-class research. In response, recognising the education’s fundamental position to promote long-term inclusive growth and reducing poverty and inequality, the government’s National Medium-Term Development Plan for 2010–2014 emphasises the importance of the sector to help the country improve its competitiveness. As an example, spending on the sector reached 4.8 per cent against its GDP in 2010; and 63% of education spending is at the subnational level. In 2003 the government also decreed to internationalise a segment of the sector to prepare children for a globalised labour market in the future.
education enrollments. Also, there are now only about 900 internationalised public schools, making up about a measly 0.45% of the country’s 200,000 total [public schools]. Meanwhile, significant gender gaps persist in school dropout rates, even as early as in secondary levels: girls are more likely to drop out of school than boys. Earlier on in primary and junior secondary levels, six in every 10 dropouts are girls; and the gap widens at latter levels. In the vocational education sector, unequal access, poor quality of education, and ensuring alignment between training providers and industry demand for skills, remain key challenges. So how can the country push a young generation into a globalised future attuned to its coveted values of democracy and transparency? It still points back to children’s formative years and the environment in which learning can thrive. The post-1998 democracy in Indonesia has provided even more opportunities for new (and old) NGOs and civil society groups to promote development, whose roles have become what academics label as a bi-polar type of relationship with the government: wherein NGOs both serve as working dogs and at the same time function as watchdogs for the [government]. And since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship, local NGOs’ participation in the education sector has been largely facilitated by the government’s initiatives to decentralise and privatise the system, also as a response to the face of globalisation in the region. Whereas much of NGO activity in Indonesia’s education sector focuses on the contruction and repair of learning facilities, especially from damages of natural calamities (2004 tsunami; 2006 floods and earthquakes), there is a need for greater continuity in improving the sector. Another area where the nonprofit sector is actively involved is in training teachers across all levels, providing internationally funded scholarship programmes and the setting up of vocational and training schools.
Religious Affairs (MORA) has also funnelled foreign donations to improve their higher education modules. Meanwhile, international NGOs like Care International raises funds globally and works with local schools and NGOs, including those in Indonesia, to keep children—girls, in particular—in school. The funds gathered are spent to aid poor families send their children to school, teach communities new skills to sustain their own livelihood, deliver emergency aid during disasters and enable women in various sectors to prosper—all meant to sustain girls’ education. Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), member of the Qatar Foundation, for its part, zeroes in on what they termed as ‘crisis countries— referring to fragile education systems in focus areas; including teacher training, youth empowerment and environmental education. Through partnerships with local NGOs, one of ROTA’s unique programmes in Muslim countries (like Indonesia) provides sahur and iftar (morning and evening meals during Ramadan) to underprivileged students. Its technology-driven works have allowed over 2 M students in Indonesia and worldwide to connect and engage in collaborative projects through ROTA’s iEARN-Qatar project. In just a year nearly 100 buildings were re-constructed or rehabilitated; and over 30,000 students were provided with access to education in safe, secure and/or flood resistant school buildings. Globalisation has indeed caused major structural changes in Indonesia’s society; its young thought leaders caught at a major crossroads to whether continue age-old practices of their predecessors or revolutionise a culture in the public and private sectors. What education-focused NGOs can see as an opportunity is glue the ideals of their advocacies—democracy, transparency, accountability and integrity—in an education sector where they are increasingly becoming more involved. This also impacts the nature and policies of the country’s education,
The Islamic Development Bank, for one, has provided a steady flow of funds—in millions of dollars—to improve the quality of learning facilities across all levels. In Bandung and Semarang, for example, the IsDB supports the country’s education sector strategy in increasing intellectual and welfare level of the communities; and enhance campus facilities by providing different higher education services for learning, research and community engagement. In response, Indonesia’s Ministry of
Although public spending on higher education increased three times since 2005, it still represents only 0.45% of GDP. Only 7% of government spending goes to private higher education institutions (HEIs), which account for two-thirds of higher
Students in a May 2008 demonstration approaching the presidential palace in Jakarta, opposing the government’s plan to raise fuel price. (Image: Henri Ismail/Flickr) 8
Local NGO worker in collaboration with ECHO, supported a project in Indonesia implemented by German NGO Arbeiter Samariter Bund ASB near Yogyarkarta. Special trainers explained basic disaster-risk and reduction concepts to these children with special needs and their teachers so they know what to do in time of Students at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia take part in an natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods. (Image: European education and youth forum with Deputy Secretary Anthony Wilder Commission DG ECHO/Flickr) Miller. (Image: The America Center/Flickr) www.asianngo.org
C O U N T R Y F E AT U R E where development of programmes for institutional and student advancement is becoming more influenced by the country’s shifting economic, political and cultural dynamics. But for a country still (and will perhaps for a long time be) reeling from the corruption-tainted government of Suharto; and with weak transparency in its economic sector’s overall culture, it will be the challenge not only for NGOs and the education sector to change attitudes; but more importantly for the younger generation to spark and sustain a silent revolution in attitudes, perspective and direction. If the post-Suharto boom in civil society and NGO participation in governance were to be the judge of the Indonesian youth’s prospects, it is telling: after the fall of the authoritarian regime there are now over 40 labour organisations (from just one, pre1998) acknowledged by the government, more than than 40 national labour organisations, at least 300 local labour groups and over 10,000 at the corporate level; along with hundreds of peasant organisations, socio-religious groups, research institutions and think tanks. What is telling, too, is the direction in which NGOs in Indonesia are driven. If both in policy and in practice the
momentum of pursuing their thrusts is sustained, Indonesia will, in just less than a generation, turn its country’s reputation around and rightfully assert their position as the ASEAN’s new breed of change-makers. ■
Local school children take part in lessons provided by the ranger service in Ulu Masen. Run by NGO Fauna and Flora International, these lessons are part of a new outreach and capcacity-building programme that seeks to educate children of the benefits forests can provide, and avoid a new generation of illegal loggers. (Image: DFID-UK/Flickr)
Children coming from school in Toraja in Sulawesi. Some areas have no paved roads for children—let alone public transport—to take them to school but these kids brave through farmlands. (Image: Manuel Lao/Flickr)
Indonesia universities urged: internationalise higher learning International students from across the globe are rapidly increasing in numbers, and those enrolled in higher learning have grown by 78 per cent in the last 10 years. UNESCO has reported recently that at least 3.6 million students in 2010 were enrolled in higher education abroad, a steep increase from the 2M recorded a decade ago. Asian students top the regional source for international students; constituting 43 per cent of international students studying in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The US remains the most popular among OECD countries; followed by Australia and the UK. These students from Asia mostly enroll in business, IT, engineering and science and technology-related studies. Two-thirds study at the undergraduate level; the remainder at post-graduate.
Interactive approach to learning: a school-sponsored panel discussion on communications management and industrial supplies in accordance to international standards. (Image: SWA Media Group/ Flickr)
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Meanwhile, Indonesians make up only about 1 per cent of the total percentage of internationally mobile students across the globe. Annually 30,000 students travel abroad—nearly equal to 0.8 per cent of the total tertiary-level students in Indonesia. In addition, inbound mobility rate of those who are studying in Indonesia stands at 0.1 per cent; or 3,000 students. These low figures for Indonesia imply the need to increase
internationalisation of higher education in the country, emphasising more on the content and aims of internationalisation and taking into account the rising demand for a globalised market for young graduates. Internationalisation has many dimensions within the scope of higher education; including the type of courses and programmes offered, teaching materials, curriculum content, diversity among students and staff in addition to the learning environment and context. However, internationalisation is also a state of mind. Its aim in higher learning must be toward supporting various processes of integrating a global and inter-cultural dimension into teaching and learning, research and innovation and service functions of the universities. This would result in the increase in flow of ideas, attitudes, values, technology, economy and people across borders—all vital responses to the impact and needs of continuing globalisation. Another way of putting it, the internationalisation of higher education, research and innovation are considered as catalyst of globalization with corresponding impact on labour markets, knowledge-based economics, life-long learning, mobility of faculty and students and the mobility of knowledge and innovations. (The Jakarta Post)
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Arif: putting a name to Indonesia’s migrant children
A young refugee from Myanmar behind an iron fence at Sumatra’s Belawan immigration detention centre. Indonesia has been locking up hundreds of child asylum-seekers and migrants in detention centres under inhumane conditions, Human Rights Watch reported last year. (Image: Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty)
Every year, a rising number of asylum-seeking and refugee children try to enter Indonesia in search of a safer life. They come mainly from Afghanistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Mynmar, and have often been sent off by their families— to secure safety—undertaking a long and dangerous journey alone. In 2012 alone, over a thousand unaccompanied children entered Indonesia, whose government is unable to give them safe housing or schools. They end up in
immigration detention centers or out on the streets.
And again, he was rescued and returned to Indonesia, where he now lives in a shelter.
Arif, a 16-year-old Afghan boy, currently lives in an NGO-run shelter in Jakarta. When he was 15 he borrowed USD7,000 from his brother who lives in Australia, to pay smugglers to get him out of Afghanistan and into Indonesia— hopefully into Australia through illegal boats entering Christmas Island. If successful, he would join his brother in Australia, claim asylum, go to school and start a new life.
There are many boys like Arif. Often they are their families’ last hope for a better future and parents sell their last piece of land or borrow money to pay for their kids to get out of their home countries. Aside from the burden of making this dangerous trip by themselves, they also carry the burdensome hope of their families’ sacrifices—desperate to succeed.
As Indonesia has no asylum laws, authorities could arrest Arif and many other refugee children at any given time. They have no certificate from the United Nations stating their The ship taking Arif from Indonesia to Australia refugee status, and are thus not recognised by began to sink halfway through. Hundreds the Indonesian government as such. of children perish every year in similar situations. Arif and the others who survived These children are constantly in danger of were rescued by a passing ship and brought being detained, abused and neglected. Giving back to Indonesia, where they were locked up them access to education and basic living in immigration detention. When he tried to conditions could mean they have to find a job escape, the guards beat him up. Eventually he in Indonesia, work hard, pay taxes and get to bribed a guard with $400 to let him out. send money back home. They could be an asset for any country. He then approached a smuggler to get him on For now their numbers are still rising and no a boat back to Australia. Again, his boat sank; proper framework is in place—leaving Arif and and he was only able to survive by clinging other refugee children without much option for onto the remains of the boat for three days. the future. (HRW) But this is where Arif ’s story, and of many other refugee children, turns into a harsh reality:
Indonesia pledges funds to Green Fund Advancing quality Climate The Green Climate Fund has received a obligation to provide funds, Indonesia’s pledge pledge of USD250,000 in a move to spur particularly significant. Smita Nakhooda, a content for Asian contributions from other countries, announced isresearch fellow at the Overseas Development by Indonesia’s deputy minister of finance, Institute, believes Indonesia’s move is “a Bambang Brodjonegoro, at a reception hosted children laudable gesture that demonstrates some by the government last February. With the developing countries are really committed to FEATURED LEARNING SUMMIT
This year’s Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore on 31 May-4 June will bring content creators and producers together with parents, teachers and experts interested in quality Asian content for children, with a focus on multi-platform storytelling, pitching, interactive narrative and digital marketing to address the current trends and issues in the content market.
With a mix of professional conferences and workshops, rights fair and media mart, and public events, AFCC provides an opportunity for writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, distributors, parents, children, teachers, and librarians to meet, learn, develop their craft, and discover business opportunities.
pledge, Indonesia has become the second developing country to contribute funds to the GCF, after South Korea pledged $40 M last year.
Set up by the UN in 2010, the GCF has become a channel for funds that governments contribute to towards tackling climate change globally. Every year developed countries pledge to donate $100 B collectively. A number of developed countries have also made contributions, including Germany, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Finland and the Netherlands. Whereas developing countries have no formal
making the GCF work.
It is not certain, however as of yet, whether Indonesia’s donation will go towards setting up the GCF itself or go directly towards funding climate change projects. Meanwhile, a spokesperson at the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) said their government would wait until the latest round of talks is done before deciding on their own contribution. “We will make an assessment of the value for money of the GCF relative to alternatives and its potential to achieve its objectives once the main design elements have been agreed,” he said. (RTCC)
There will be a Preschool and Primary Teachers Congress on 31 May will provide educators with the skills and knowledge to impart early literacy through bi-lingualism as children transition from early childhood to primary school. The Parents Forum, meanwhile, on 1 June will offer parents, teachers, and other professionals the opportunity to get support, information, and advice on nurturing early learning and bil-ingualism at home. Separate activities will be available for children accompanying their parents.
Ooredoo, Indosat support flood relief efforts
Finally, the Writers and Illustrators Conference will bring together writers and illustrators to join publishing professionals to share, network, and celebrate children’s content from Asia and around the world. This will be followed by a Media Summit that will be a crossover networking opportunity for media and literary professionals from the region and across the globe.
Manado in the country’s North Sulawesi region has been most affected by the floods with other areas seriously impacted including Jakarta, Bekasi and Subang. The floods that followed heavy rains affected some 90,000 people; with this number expected to grow over coming weeks. In Manado, currently worst affected by the seasonal flooding, 50,000 refugees and 1,000 houses were reported.
The annual AFCC impacts 1.5 billion children in Asia as well as their parents, professionals, and businesses involved in child development. To learn more about the event or to register to be a delegate, visit www.afcc. com.sg. ■
Immediate assistance and emergency aid were provided by Ooredoo to those affected by the floods, offering free access to mobile services including data, SMS and voice. For the delivery of relief on the ground, they worked with local NGO partners, including Tribun Manado, to offer basic food relief, clean water and dry
Ooredoo, together with its Indonesian operating company Indosat, sent emergency aid to help in the disaster relief efforts for Indonesian communities and people affected recent floodings in Jakarta. Indosat was the first provider to offer free access to its services for those affected by the floods, recognising the importance of communicating freely during a crisis.
clothes to those affected.
Both Ooredoo and Indosat have also provided support to humanitarian agencies including Red Cross Indonesia (PMI), PKPU and ACT in their disaster relief and recovery efforts across North Sulawesi, providing food, medical services, clothing and trauma therapy. Similar to the emergency services provided during the 2013 Jakarta flooding, the Mobil Klinik will be remobilised in Jakarta to provide free medical services and food distribution. Ooredoo and Indonesia have placed absolute importance on supporting communities and people across all of the markets in which they operate, both having long-standing commitments to empower underserved communities and enrich the lives of Indonesians. In previous emergency aid responses, Ooredoo and Indosat provided USD200,000 support to help flood victims in Indonesia in 2013. The prior year, Ooredoo aided Indonesian victims of the volcanic eruption of Mount Merapi that displaced some 350,000 people. ■
Nestle aids farmers affected by Kelud’s eruption Farmers whose livestock were damaged by the February eruption of Mount Kelud received help from Nestle Indonesia, announced by Arshad Chaudhry, Nestle Indonesia director, at a press conference last month. “Villages in the vicinity of Kelud were badly affected and cattle had been stressed out from the eruption; and can probably take time before they can produce milk again. The 13 February eruption also forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents and brought a cloud of ash that spread as far west as Bandung on the next day. We mobilised a lot of silage and food for the cows,” said Chaudhry, who added that the company will be investing in East Java’s biogas plants, which runs on cattle waste. “Cow waste is converted into energy and farmers can use it for burning stoves or to light houses,” he said. In another CSR programme, Nestle Indonesia is working for more recyclable product packaging. “We have been working with suppliers continuously and we are inviting them to make recyclable packaging,” Chaudhry said. (The Jakarta Globe)
Regional chairmanship an opportunity for Myanmar, ASEAN When Myanmar joined the ASEAN, its membership was faced with strong resistance because of a largely questionable human rights record under an oppressive military dictatorship. In 2006 the country was encouraged to forfeit its chairmanship of the ASEAN because its members feared the United States and other western nations would boycott the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and the bad publicity this would cause the association. At that time, political and economic sanctions by the US and European Union were firmly in place. Now, as Myanmar begins its chairmanship of the regional bloc, it will face challenges given its decades-long isolation, poorly improving educational system, government constraints on intellectual inquiry, lack of human resources and weak infrastructure. Some perceive the presidency of a country that has not settled even its principal domestic affairs as potentially problematic, pointing to Myanmar’s unique circumstances of holding the promise of returning democratization to the top of ASEAN’s agenda. The Asia Foundation has cited that for Myanmar’s ASEAN chairmanship to be successful, it must maintain the momentum of the ASEAN integration process and balance its relations with fellow [ASEAN] members and extra-regional powers, particularly China and the US. As it entered 2014 with some level of international and internal legitimacy and acceptance absent in decades, the leadership role can help Myanmar continue pursuing political and economic reforms while working toward national reconciliation. This should also offer the ASEAN a chance to achieve greater economic and political strength, as well as foster regional unity. A successful chairmanship can also help Myanmar become a peaceful, unified, democratic society. (The Asia Foundation)
US, Indonesia sign agreement on environmental protection The governments of the United States and Indonesia have signed a memorandum of understanding in February to facilitate joint efforts protecting wildlife and promoting conservation in the Southeast Asian country. The move was also seen as another step to bolster Indonesia’s preparedness for natural calamities and mitigate the threats of climate change.
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Through the agreement, both countries will strengthen capacity for wildlife conservation and management, including efforts to protect critical habitat; strengthen available scientific information in support of conservation programmes; build public awareness, stabilise and increase populations of threatened and endangered species, strengthen law enforcement capacity, and combat illicit harvesting and trade in wildlife species in Indonesia.
Last year, Bali hosted a high-level panel discussion on strengthening civil society participation and achieving global MDGs especially in the developing regions of Asia and Africa. Indonesia’s growing leadership on global challenges has inspired the US government to work jointly on issues where both have
a common interest, such as environmental protection and climate change, strengthening democratic institutions, increased regional integration, respect for human rights, increased transparency, and peace and stability. This reflects the commitment of the two nations for their growing collaboration through the USIndonesia Comprehensive Partnership. ■
www.asianngo.org
AA CC RR OO S S SAA SS I AI A from page 1
For supertyphoon survivors, learning is non-negotiable: Post-Haiyan Philippines special Michel’s mother Marites is thankful for the project. “No matter how strong was the tragedy we have gone through, our children need to be back in school,” Marites says. “Education is the only inheritance we can give them. I want Michel and my other children to study. I don’t want them to go through the hard times I went through.”
UNICEF provided some temporary classrooms for students at Quinapondan Elementary School, after many of the classrooms were heavily damaged or swept to the ground. (Image: Tom Price/Integral PHL/Flickr)
But Michel is also still mourning the loss of one of his teachers who died in the typhoon. “She was like a second mother to me,” he says. Michel is one of the tens of thousands of Filipino children whose lives were turned upside down when Haiyan hit the Philippines in November. Over 3,000 schools, educating over one million children, were damaged by the storm. International and local NGOs—often in partnership—have been trying to provide children with safe places, emotional support and a sense of normalcy in their disrupted lives. UNICEF, in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, other INGOs and national NGOs, are oganising the Back to Learning campaign (‘Balik Eskwela’) for 500,000 children in Haiyan-hit areas. Some 3,000 temporary learning spaces have been put in places; as well as water and sanitation facilities for 1,000 schools. With this project, UNICEF and its partners aim to pave the way for the children’s path to recovery—not least because returning to school means having to return to a familiar routine. It also gives parents time to rebuild their homes and livelihoods.
Another organisation focusing on the children affected by Yolanda is World Vision, the world’s largest international children’s charity. Media and Communications manager G. Jeff Lamigo says children suffer the most during disasters. In the weeks after Haiyan, World Vision created Child-Friendly Spaces (CFS) where children were offered psychosocial support in a secure environment. In CFS, children continue to learn and play, while coming to terms with their experience during the typhoon. “I enjoy playing with clay and all the toys,” says Breanna, one of the World Vision-sponsored children in Leyte. She is seven, and one of the students to return to school after spending time in the CFSs. “I am very happy to be back in school with my classmates,” she says. “We will read and write again.” Rolene Gallos, head teacher in Old Kawayan Elementary School in Tacloban, says children greatly benefited from the CFS: “It has enabled children to undergo stress debriefing, so they are ready for the resumption of their classes.” The CFS programme has now been integrated by schools into their daily learning routine: children still attend the activities at the CFS after three hours of mandatory class. You, too, can still support the post-Haiyan relief effort by donating to international and local NGOs active in typhoon-stricken areas. (With reports from UNICEF and World Vision)
China’s NPO rules allow more NGO work for 2014 As the Ministry of Civil Affairs hands over the registration approval power for non-profit organisations to the provincial civil affairs authorities, international NGOs will now find it much easier to register in China. The move is part of the reforms initiated by the ministry to ease NGO operations in China. A dual administrative system will still be enforced on foreign NPOs, but the Chinese government has simplified the registration process for a limited number of domestic social organisations. "The government will carry out registration work for the representative offices of overseas NGOs and provide guidance to them on how to operate legally," Civil Affairs Minister Li Liguo said in a keynote speech on their work plan in 2014 at a meeting in Beijing. Yu Yonglong, in charge of foreign-NPO administration at the ministry, also told the press that the State Council is reviewing three amended regulations on three types of NPOs: foundations, non-enterprise work units
and social associations. While regulations on foundations briefly stipulate that expatriates can establish foundations in China, and foreign foundations can set up representative offices on the Chinese mainland, they do not further state the criteria for foreign applicants. An official at the provincial government's international affairs office, who declined to be named, said “pilot programmes in the poverty-stricken province of Yunnan could give international NGOs a legal identity. International non-profit organisations are no longer regarded as ‘demons’ and thus they can now contribute to local development as long as they run their projects based on local laws." Wang Ming, president of the NGO Research Institute at Tsinghua University, said Yunnan's way of dealing with international NGOs could be seen as an important experiment for nationwide reform. However, he stressed, “it’s been noted that the major obstacle for being registered is that it is hard to find a supervising department as required.” (China Daily)
US retailer gives education grants to 14 India NGOs US retailer Target recently gave 14 Bangalorebased NGOs a grant on education as part of the company’s international giving programme called the United Way Worldwide, with the aim to create accessible, quality educational opportunities for children and youth globally.
opportunities.
A week-long celebration dedicated for the spirit of community giving, was hosted by team members from affiliated NGOs at Target India’s offices. They held events such as ‘Train the Teacher’, where teachers were taught of the basics of Microsoft programmes to help deliver a digital classroom experience; and ‘College to Corporate,’ to help increase students’ career
“The programme enables us to provide access to quality education and help bridge the gap in the country.” Navneet Kapoor, president and managing director of Target India said, adding that the company aims to donate a total of USD1 billion in education grants to NGOs globally by the end of 2015. ■
They also held a roadshow where each team showcased the community work accomplished for the NGO they patronised. To support smart and innovative education, they volunteered to transcribe stories in a soft-copy format that can be translated to Braille for students of The NGOs to receive the grants are Dream the Mathru School for the Blind. Finally, the School Foundation, Smile Foundation, event culminated with competitions where Makkala Jagriti, SOS Children’s Villages of India, Akshara Foundation, Samarthanam Trust NGO-school students participated in a slew of for the Disabled, Mathru Educational Trust for contests like quiz, rangoli, painting, spelling bee Blind, Jeevodaya, YuvaLok Foundation, Christel and talent show. Target executives joined in an House India, United Way of Bengaluru, Shishu interactive off-site where they visited NGOMandir, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement/ supported schools and painted walls while engaging with the students. Sattva, and Sivasri/Sikshana Foundation.
www.asianngo.org
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C OA UC NRT O RY S SF E AA S TI AU R E
Women as park rangers…in Afghanistan local governments and representatives of the 14 villages in the park. Recruiting and hiring followed in July 2013, and now the first four women rangers assist visitors and help protect the park’s wildlife and landscape.
(Image: National Geographic)
Aside from being Afghanistan’s only national park, Band-e-Amir National Park offers the country another novelty: the country’s first female park rangers. Four rangers—Sediqa, Nikbakht, Fatima and Kubra—serve as a milestone both in employing women and setting a role model for other Afghans who aim to work in wildlife conservation. The Band-e-Amir National Park, with its wellkept landscapes and six deep-blue crystal lakes, draws over 4,000 visitors a month in the summer and has been nominated as a world heritage site. Its Protected Area Committee hired the women rangers in 2012, a decision backed by
Habiba Sarabi, Afghanistan’s first female governor who leads the Bamyan Province (where the park is), says “these four female park rangers represent the growing employment opportunities for Afghanistan’s citizens as well as the preservation of the country’s natural heritage.” Sarabi, a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee last year, has been lauded for her work on women empowerment in post-Taliban Afghanistan. Sarabi feels that women like herself and the four Band-e-Amir female park rangers can serve as ‘ice-breakers’ for other Afghan women, with instances of successful women vital to changing mentalities regarding women’s rights and their place in the society. The USAID supports the training of the four newly appointed park rangers and the supply of equipment like GPS systems. While it took 62 years for US female rangers to achieve the same status as their male counterparts, it has taken post-Taliban Afghanistan only three. ■
WaterAid gets grant from Gates Foundation for global sanitation
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given a USD2 million grant to WaterAid, putting the global sanitation crisis at the forefront of advocacy efforts aimed to improve the lives of millions of people living without poor sanitation in Ghana, India and Senegal. The grant comes at a crucial time when support for the sanitation crisis is critical: about two-fifths of the world's population has no access to a clean toilet. “Investing in advocacy around toilets and sanitation is one of the smartest, most effective ways we have to combat extreme poverty. Health, quality of life and poverty levels are radically impacted when people, especially women and girls, have access to toilets and hygiene education," said WaterAid America CEO, David Winder. Every year 1.5 million children die from diarrhea mainly as a result of poor sanitation. Because there is place for a safe and clean bathroom, disease spreads quickly, water sources become polluted and women and girls face an increased risk of rape or sexual assault. In response, over the course of the next two and a half years the international development non-profit WaterAid will use the grant to drive political commitment and action in the three countries through government-led initiatives
to increase access to basic sanitation services. Back in the US, the contribution bolsters efforts to ensure that as a donor country, it supports improved accountability and data collection worldwide and is focused on sanitation solutions that resonate most for affected communities. This includes the need to increase the linkages between sanitation and other health efforts, such as improving nutrition and ending preventable child deaths. The World Health Organization has estimated that $220 bn would return to the global economy annually if the world achieved universal access to sanitation; although financing for toilets and sanitation is almost not measurable in comparison to other development sectors such as health and education. For WaterAid America Director of Policy and Advocacy, Lisa Schechtman, the sanitation crisis cannot be solved by a single organisation alone: “WaterAid firmly believes that governments have a responsibility to their citizens to ensure that toilets and sanitation are available to everyone. We are thus advocating for change exactly where it's needed most,” she said. ■
What to do with India's demographic dividend? Since India's economic liberalisation in the 1990s the economic boom has brought new jobs and business opportunities; the government focused on skills training for a growing middle class and the millions of poor youth to enter new industries. But despite the investments, trainees are still dropping out from training programmes or refusing to accept job offers upon completion of the training programmes. Young job seekers currently make up nearly half of the unemployed in the country, cited in the report Combating Youth Unemployment in India, published in 2013.
Although massive investment has been placed by the government in skills training, the National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC), programmes like the Promise Foundation and Mentor Together have shown the need for broader life preparation.
Meanwhile, Arundhuti Gupta, founder of Mentor Together, believes that at the heart of India's youth unemployment numbers are issues like lack of critical thought, lack of strong professional identity, lack of the values of perseverance and risk-taking. He said “the youth have to be prepared with the ability to think critically about "These young people chose careers five to eight situations in both their personal and professional years ago based on labour market demands lives. The Indian education system needs to rather their own interests and aptitudes. Their frustration is linked to being skilled for the 'wrong' shift focus on developing analytical thinking. A profession," said Gideon Arulmani, founder of the mentor's focus should be on being a nurturing presence to the traditional thinking that hard Promise Foundation in Bangalore, who analysed that large-scale unemployment as a result of labour skills and cognitive growth are the only important determinants of life quality and outcomes." (The market-driven initiatives for youth that have left Guardian) them unfulfilled and disgruntled.
India NGO initiative promotes use of paper bags; not plastics Shakti, a non-government organisation committed to the empowerment of women, has launch its new initiative at a school for the children of rag pickers with the plan to make paper bags out of old newspapers in a move to curb the use of plastic bags. "Despite the ban on plastic, it is still used rampantly. We want to make Navi Mumbai a plastic-free zone. The initiative kicked off at the recent Republic Day," said Rekha Kale, professor at the MGM College of Law in Kamotheand head of the project. After the concept is established in Vashi, she plans to take it to other nodes as well, hoping
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to rope in other educational institutions for the project involving children in that particular area. Shakti, together with volunteers, is networking with Kale’s students, who are collecting newspapers for the venture. "People have been very charitable and they have donated staplers, pins, cardboard, glue and all the essentials that we need," added Kale. To make sure that the project goes well, Kale has been talking with shopkeepers, who have agreed to use the bags they make. "The shop owners have agreed to pay us the same price they pay for plastic bags," Kale shared. ■
AS I A DE VE L O P M E N T S P E C I A L from page 1
MDF rolls out Asia trainings; coproduces learning series with AsianNGO
Trainings are scheduled for Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Vietnam, Pakistan, Myanmar, Laos, Afghanistan and Fiji.
development processes are multi-dimensional by nature, logframes offer a way to have an overview of, and monitor projects at any stage.
“Over the last three decades we have established a solid reputation in training and consultancy, and in management for development results. This year we continue to adapt our services in the light of new insights in the world of international cooperation and development, with a range of over 60 different courses delivered at our training centre in the Netherlands or at one of our nine regional offices,” Director Herman Snelder said.
“Our partnership with MDF in sharing a new skill set to NGOs in the region is also very timely, considering the rise of new technologies and evolving process managements and operational issues among the non-profit sector. Combined with MDF’s series of courses, these learning resources for NGOs will be most useful especially for those just starting out or aiming to further enrich their teams with new tools and skills,” said AsianNGO Development Director Rob Ferguson.
Meanwhile MDF has teamed up with AsianNGO in co-creating the second installment of the Learning Series entitled Logframe 6: six-step guide to logical frameworks for NGOs. The AsianNGO Learning Series guides provide NGOs with bite-size relevant information, readily applicable in the daily operations of their organisation. Logframe, or logical framework, is the blueprint for effective project design that most donors ask grant-organisations to provide as part of the project proposal, for them to evaluate the feasibility of their project design. It connects project objectives, activities, results and indicators; shows their link and leads to the fulfillment of expected outcomes. Since
MDF is a global training and consultancy firm providing management solutions, focusing on achieving sustainable results in projects and programmes; enhancing staff competencies, strengthening organisations to improve performances and maximising the impact of partnerships and networks. Since 2013 the three regional MDF offices in Indonesia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka started operating as MDF Asia, tailoring services for NGOs’ needs in the region. Same courses are offered as those available at MDF head office in The Netherlands, but with context-relevant experience in Asia and additional focus on gender and disaster risk reduction. For more information about MDF’s courses and modules, visit www.mdf.nl. ■
M D F C A L E N D A R OF E V E N T S 3 - 5 March 2014
12 - 16 May 2014
10 - 14 March 2014
12 - 16 May 2014
Disaster Risk Reduction Bali, Indonesia Monitoring and Evaluation for Learning Dhaka, Bangladesh
10 - 14 March 2014
Winning Proposals and Reporting Bali, Indonesia
17 - 20 March 2014
Winning Proposals and Reporting Vientiane, Laos
17 - 21 March 2014
Training of Trainers Yangon, Myanmar
Results-based Management (Get a certificate on Project Management join both courses) Kathmandu, Nepal
19 - 23 May 2014 Management Skills Kathmandu, Nepal
19 - 23 May 2014
Human Resources Management Hanoi, Vietnam
Results-based Management (Get a certificate on Project Management join both courses) Colombo, Sri Lanka
26 - 30 May 2014
24 - 28 March 2014
26 - 28 May 2014
Management Skills Colombo, Sri Lanka
24 - 28 March 2014 Training of Trainers Manila, Philippines
7 - 11 April 2014
Strategic Planning and Organizational Development Bali, Indonesia CSR: Partnerships for Community Development Bali, Indonesia
2 - 5 June 2014
Monitoring and Evaluation for Learning Vientiane, Laos
Strategic Planning and Organizational Development Hanoi, Vietnam
9 - 13 June 2014
14 - 18 April 2014
16 - 20 June 2014
Results-based Management (Get a certificate on Project Management join both courses) Hanoi, Vietnam
Project Cycle Management Islamabad, Pakistan Leadership and People Management Fiji
23 - 27 June 2014
Leadership and People Management Hanoi, Vietnam
Results-based Management (Get a certificate on Project Management join both courses) Yangon, Myanmar
21 - 25 April 2014
30 - 4 July 2014
5 - 9 May 2014
30 - 4 July 2014
21 - 25 April 2014
Human Resources Management Islamabad, Pakistan Results-based Management Fiji
Management Skills Yangon, Myanmar
Winning Proposals and Reporting Kabul, Afghanistan
CSR C AO CR N O ES R S ASIA
Microsoft, NGO launch initiative to attract young HK women to IT
Excelrun raises CSR fund for charity and education
Microsoft, along with Hong Kong NGO The Women's Foundation, has launched ‘The GirlSpark’ initiative to inspire tertiary female students from different disciplines to join the ICT industry to develop leadership skills, explore the industry, build robust peer networks and achieve career success through workshops and hands-on project experiences.
local final-year or penultimate-year students majoring in various areas joined experiencesharing sessions by leaders from different sectors including government officials, Legco councilors, representatives from universities and business schools, senior executives from large corporations and NGOs, successful entrepreneurs, and ICT industry experts.
Excelrun Sdn Bhd, developer of Lintas Plaza and Lintas Station, announced to increase its Excelrun Charity and Education Fund 20112020 Programme to MYR2.5 million; from the original R2 M fund previously announced at the launch of the fund in January 2010.
organisations and homes,” said Excelrun Sdn Bhd general manager Juliet Lo at this year’s charity fund themed ‘We Care, We Share and We Inspire.’
"Microsoft sees the potential of young women as society's business and technology leaders of tomorrow," said Horace Chow, Microsoft Hong Kong general manager. GirlSpark is a project under the company’s global YouthSpark initiative that focuses on empowering the youth through trainings, internships and job placement. It showcases a concerted and tri-partite effort by the industry, business leaders across different sectors and non-government organisations in grooming young talent.
GirlSpark will provide guidance and mentorship to help drive the success of nascent female talent in Hong Kong through an in-depth understanding of career options and future opportunities in the ICT industry; and working in teams to find a practical solution to a technology-based business case study, developed by the Ivey Business School. It also provides opportunities for close encounters with outstanding leaders in the community, to network with fellow aspiring woman leaders and join Microsoft as a summer intern and receive a certificate of completion in recognition of their outstanding achievements. ■
“With the increased financial allocation, the company hopes to reach out to a bigger spectrum of the community and students at various schools and charitable, welfare
The charity fund has 27 beneficiaries for the fourth release in 2014, where each will receive R10,000 of the total R270,000 allocation. ■
The two organisations have already held a three-day camp earlier this year, where 51
Lo added that the main objective of the charity and education fund is to provide financial The company has been giving R200,000 assistance to special medical care or life-support annually for its corporate social responsibility facilities to the underprivileged; welfare homes programme for the past three years, and has for orphans, senior citizens or children; poor increased the amount for this year. Effective this students and youth to continue education or year, R270,000 will be distributed for the next skills training; rehabilitation programmes for six consecutive years with R280,000 in the final physically and mentally challenged people; year 2020, making a grand total of 2.5 million humanitarian relief fund for local or global at the end of its 10 year CSR programme. disasters.
Samsung brings smart schools at a global scale
The Smart School, part of the Asian electronics and mobile technology giant’s creating shared value (CSV) programme, is a mobile solution enabling students and teachers to benefit from a broad range of education-related information on their mobile device. The feature includes access to crucial learning resources and realtime attendance and participation trackers—all aiming to increase students' engagement and performance. Since the global launch in early 2013 Samsung’s Smart School is now present in 173 schools across Asia-Pacific, 60 in the Middle East-North Africa, 37 in Sub-Saharan Africa and 47 in Latin America. “It has entirely changed the learning experience, from merely memorising lessons to studentcentric teaching and learning via technology and interactive communication,” said Pisutr Vapiso, English Programme director of Thailand’s Assumption College, adding that this collaboration to establish the ‘Samsung Smart School’ leverages Thailand’s education to the next level. With its ability to establish communication links between institutions and students, the smart school solution helps create a more interactive learning environment that goes well beyond the classroom. One of its features is the instant sharing of screen content from teachers’ tablet or PC screen to the e-board and their students’ personal devices—giving teachers greater control over their classroom, in turn increasing student engagement and ensuring a more efficient transfer of materials to pupils. Another tool is the real-time Question & Answer feature, which promotes a uniquely interactive learning environment that increases class participation. Meanwhile, the monitoring and controlling feature of the Smart School gives teachers the ability to constantly track of a wide variety of educational content on their pupils' screens, ensuring every student refers to the same information by monitoring the flow of content to their students' devices. The smart school solution enables learning through a fun, creative and interactive manner; promotes an environment where everyone has an equal opportunity to participate; makes available the content and resources in the classroom and after school, allowing pupils to work more flexibly; and helps support student learning during lessons or at home. ■ www.asianngo.org
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TCOOOUL N S TARN E TS U ORUER C E S Y DF ER A C AL E N DAR O F E VE N TS 1-3 March, 2014 5th WLEC - Women's Leadership and Empowerment Conference 2014 Bangkok, Thailand 4-5 March, 2014 First Global Conference on UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy Dubai, UAE 4-5 March, 2014 Indian Sustainability Congress Karnataka, India
9-11 April 2014 First Annual Sustainable Development Transition Forum Incheon, South Korea
6 March, 2014 WomenBiz W2W Summit Makati, Philippines 7-8 March, 2014 International Conference on Women Empowerment 2014 Andhra Pradesh, India 7-8 March, 2014 India Today Conclave 2014 New Delhi, India 9-11 March, 2014 7th PSPC - Poverty and Social Protection Conference 2014 Bangkok, Thailand
20 March, 2014 The First Philippine Food Bank Symposium Quezon City, Philippines 25-26 March, 2014 Green Inclusive Growth Conference SEA Siem Reap, Cambodia
29-30 March, 2014 International Conference on Food Security and Nutrition Shanghai, China 3-4 March, 2014 The 6th Global CSR Summit and Awards 2014 Bali, Indonesia
5-7 March, 2014 Education and Development Conference 2014 Bangkok, Thailand
20-21 March, 2014 ASEAN Corporate Sustainability Summit and Awards 2014 Makati City, Philippines
25-27 March, 2014 Dubai International Humanitarian Aid and Development Conference & Exhibition - DIHAD 2014 Dubai, UAE
21-24 April 2014 2nd Sustainable Business-oriented CSR Summit 2014 Shanghai, China 23-24 April 2014 AIDF and UN ESCAP Water Security Summit: Malaysia, Asia 2014 Putrajaya, Malaysia 24-27 April 2014 SVN 2014 Spring Conference California, USA 25-28, April 2014 Business Strategy and Social Responsibility Bangkok, Thailand 30 April – 1 May, 2014 Ceres Conference 2014 Massachusetts, USA 2-5 May, 2014 Astana 2014: 47th Annual Meeting of the Asian Development Bank Astana, Kazakhstan
13 May, 2014 Walking the Talk: Sustainability in Civil Society Organizations Toronto, Canada 13 May, 2014 Sustainability in Civil Society Organizations; Leadership and Managing Organizational Performance Toronto, Canada 14-15 May, 2014 EBRD Annual Meeting and Business Forum 2014 Warsaw, Poland 15-16 May, 2014 I International Asian Congress Torun, Poland 21-23 May, 2014 World Economic Forum on East Asia Manila, Philippines 25-28 May, 2014 Myanmar Urban Development Conference 2014 Yangon, Myanmar 25-28 May, 2014 Real Estate Myanmar 2014 Yangon, Myanmar 28-31 May, 2014 International Conference on Emerging Trends for Sustainable Development and Human Capacity Building in the Third World Nations (ICETSDHCB 2014) Cape Coast, Ghana
28-29 May, 2014 Social Innovation Summit 2014 New York, USA
For further information and more events, visit www.asianngo.org
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TOOLS AND RESOURCES
CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Products and Services for NGOs
AVAILABLE GRANTS Reconciliation in the Western Balkans the Advancement of Investigative Journalism (Grant)
Indo-European Cooperation on Clean Technologies and Energy Efficiency (Grant)
Donor: EuropeAid Country: Turkey Grant Value: USD2.4M Area(s) of Interest: Public Sector Management and Governance Application Deadline: 24 April 2014
Donor: EuropeAid Country: India Grant Value: USD12.15 M Area(s) of Interest: Climate Change, Energy Application Deadline: 23 May 2014
Capacity Building for Entrepreneurship Programs (Grant)
Quality Improvement of Padjadjaran University Project (Works and Services)
Donor: US Mission to Pakistan Country: Afghanistan, Pakistan Grant Value: USD500,000 Area(s) of Interest: Entrepreneurship, Capacity-Building Application Deadline: 1 May 2014
Academic Linkages Programme (Grant) Donor: US Mission to Pakistan Country: Pakistan Grant Value: USD500,000 Area(s) of Interest: Education Application Deadline: 1 May 2014
Small Grants for the Purchase of Nature (Grant) Donor: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Country: Regional Grant Value: (not specified) Area(s) of Interest: Environment Application Deadline: 1 May 2014
Donor: Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Country: Indonesia Grant Value: USD35.22 M Area(s) of Interest: Education Application Deadline: 30 May 2014
Development and Quality Improvement of IAIN Sunan Ampel Surabaya (Works and Services) Donor: Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Country: Indonesia Grant Value: USD35 M Area(s) of Interest: Insfrastructure, Education Application Deadline: 32 May 2014
Small Municipalities Water Project (Works and Services)
Donor: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Country: Armenia Grant Value: EUR20 M Area(s) of Interest: Infrastructure Application Deadline: 10 July 2014
For further information and more grants, visit www.asianngo.org
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Bayer
has been a participant in the fight against vector-borne disease for more than 50 years. We a uniqueportfolio of product solutions, covering important intervention techniques, in the fight against diseases such as malaria, dengue, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness and Chagas (diseases which affect more than half of the world’s population). www.bayer.com
FUNDRAISING Venture for Fundraising
Women empowerment grant for Pakistan, US NGOs
(Image: ASSIST Asia and ADB’s 2011 ‘CLICK’ Photo Competition)
non-profit groups, and educational institutions with at least two years of programming experience. The total grant is USD500,000 and deadline for application is 1 April 2014. In a statement, the US State Department said the project supports its global initiatives to promote women’s social and economic development, integrate women into peace and security building, address and prevent gender-based violence, and ensure women’s full participation in civic and political life. “Global stability, peace, economic development, and prosperity depend on advancing the rights of women and girls and ensuring the inclusion of their voices in civil society. Societies where they are included in decision-making processes are less prone to violence and thus more stable, hence integrating them to advance good governance in the private and public sectors is critical to economic growth and inclusive development—which also supports regional security,” it added.
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Research shows that progress in women’s employment, health, and education can lead to greater economic growth and stronger communities. Likewise, studies across the globe have proven that violence against women and girls has a significantly negative impact on economic, health, and legal development across all levels of society—a human rights challenge that undermines economic productivity and public health. Women’s political and civic engagement thus not only increases their leadership abilities, but leads to social and economic benefits for their communities and countries. Activities the grant encourages must include events for internationally recognised advocacy days and yearround awareness, capacity-building and leadership development programmes; as well as education and sports programmes to tackle health, entrepreneurship, political empowerment, and gender-based violence issues. In addition, it should include public awareness programmes and increased engagement with civil society, especially men, boys, and community leaders in the advancement of effort. “Projects envisioned under this grant should be sustainable, community-oriented and encourage civil society participation and social inclusion; with key actors being local community groups, civil society members, young leaders, entrepreneurs, university administrators and students, and school administrators and students, and sports teams,” the US Mission’s statement added. For more information on this grant or to download the application package, visit www. grants.gov. To view more projects from other grant providers, visit www.asianngo.org. ■
Islamic Development Bank
IDB Seeks Nominations to Win US $450,000 for Prizes in Science & Technology & Women Contribution to Development Gender -NGOs Division. Phone: 966 2 646 6787 E-mail: prizeforwomen@isdb.org www.isdb.org
RECRUITMENT
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PRIZES
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envisions a community that celebrates the joy of giving & ensures a bountiful and sustainable world. We continue to make a difference by helping nonprofit organizations generate resources to fulfill their missions. We do this by designing ethical, inspiring & excellent fund raising solutions which include research & information, training, mentoring & implementation. www.venture-asia.org
Asianngo.org is the premier source of information for NGOs & development professionals to raise funds,find partners & equip themselves through a comprehensive set of learning assets & best practices from the development sector. “Asia’s First NGO-Focused Web Tool is very useful for us- the small NGOs in the world on how to access to grants and funding opportunities.” BạchThanhTuấn, Director CDC Community.
INSURANCE Vanbreda International has more than 50 years of market of market leadership in providing worldwide medical insurance to workers from international organisations. Together with Cigna we have developed a product for NGOs answering their specific needs, leveraging our unmatched experience and knowledge of global medical insurance solutions. www.vanbreda-international.com
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LOGISTICS/SHIPPING AIDMATRIX Foundation, Inc.
builds & operates powerful technology hubs that support diverse stakeholder groups in their efforts to work together to solve the world's most challenging humanitarian crises. Our solutions enhance participation, amplify contributions, & accelerate results for humanitarian relief. 38,000 leading corporate, nonprofit and government partners leverage Aidmatrix solutions to mobilize $1.5 billion in global aid annually. Joan Bond | Director, Programs Business Development Phone: 972 869 8160 www.aidmatrix.org
The IFRC Global Logistics Service
is a recognized provider humanitarian logistics services with a global presence & 90 years of experience. We are specialized in procurement, transportation, warehousing, fleet management & supply chain set-up. By regionalizing our operational capacity we achieve substantial savings in delivering humanitarian aid. www.ifrc.org/logistics
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is constantly working to develop innovative & intelligent new products that offer safe and cost efficient solutions that help us build a network of life! Supply of WHO recommended long lasting Insecticide treated nets for malaria prevention & durable portable solar products for light, mobile charging and radio. E-mail: mhl@bestneteurope.com Phone: +45 30180115 www.bestneteurope.com
SOFTWARE Techsoup / Connecting Up, Inc. is a not-for-profit organisation that works to unleash the power of not-for-profits by providing a variety of information, products, resources & programs. Our services are available in Australia and New Zealand and throughout South East Asia. We also help to develop relationships with business, community & government sectors for the development of the notfor-profit sector. E-mail: rj@connectingup.org Phone: 1300 731 844 www.connectingup.org
Blackbaud Pacific Serving the nonprofit and education sectors for 30 years, Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) combines technology and expertise to help organisations achieve their missions. Blackbaud works with more than 29,000 customers in over 60 countries and offers a full spectrum of software solutions and related services including fundraising, eMarketing, constituent relationship management (CRM), payment services and analytics. Website: www.blackbaud.com.au Email: Elizabeth.Hubrich@Blackbaud.com.au
Softrek a nonprofit donor management software and decision support tools enable our clients to better manage their fundraising activities, make decisions about building donor relationships, & improve their fundraising results. Phone: 800.442.9211 (toll free) or 716.691.2800 E-mail: info@softrek.com www.softrek.com
TRAINING MDF
We are passionate learning facilitators with 29 years of experience in the field of international co-operation. Clients therefore call upon our training & consultancy services to achieve better &more sustainable results. We offer expertise on the programme, individual, organisational & network level, throughout all sectors, & all over the world. Ms. Ineke Ann Pitts | Director, MDF South Asia E-mail: ineke@mdfsa.lk | +94112808121 www.mdf.nl
Claro KC we offer training and technical assistance in support of acquisition & assistance (A&A) activities and strategies, project management, decision-making, conflict transformation, & wise use of resources to organizations for effective coordination & execution of international development programs. Training, technical assistance approaches, methodology, and strategies are designed and implemented by a knowledgeable and experienced team. Mr. Jeffery Bell | Vice President Fax : 877-464-8592 | E-mail: eff@clarokc.net http://www.clarokc.net
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WATER SOLUTIONS Vergnet Hydro
Provides potable water solutions for rural and isolated communities. For the last 30 years, we have been designing, manufacturing and installing sustainable human powered water pumps adapted to the users and their socio-economic environment. Today, 100 000 pumps supply water to 50 Million people in more than 35 countries. Phone: +33 2 38 22 75 10 E-mail: eau@vergnet.fr www.vergnet-hydro.com
F Cubed Water Owners, Inventors & manufacturers of Direct Solar Powered Desalination Technology, one of the most efficient and cost effective products of its kind in the world. The panel(s) system creates its own natural sun-powered water cycle to revitalize water to drinking water quality from any water source. This includes polluted, contaminated, industrial waste water,brackish ground water, saline aquifers and sea water. www.fcubed.com.au
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ES C O U NFTERAYT U FR EA TURE
All-in diary for aid, development professionals Non-profit organisation All In Diary (AID) has launched its fourth edition of the All In Diary 2014, a yearly planner with up-to-date guide and information on topics and issues across the humanitarian sector; including references to current, relevant resources and practical tools. The development of the fourth edition in 2013 sealed the collaboration with key organisations and individual humanitarian workers through peer review. The AID has now extended its reach into Syria, where UNICEF has incorporated the information pages into their training programmes. World Vision, RedR UK and the KCOC in Korea have also issued personal copies of the diary to their field staff and trainees. “All In Diary unique offers a highly practical tool for field use by integrating a working 2014 diary and notebook with key information ready to share in discussions and meetings. Emergency staff can also record field notes, experiences, references and lessons learned to be passed on within their
project,” says All In Diary director and co-founder Linda Richardson. Set up in 2006 by independent humanitarian workers Richardson and Gill Price, All In Diary is a non-profit organisation enabling both local and international humanitarian workers to access the same information onground, thus increasing accountability and enhancing collaboration. It has since earned the support of organisations and individuals; as well as close collaboration with major humanitarian agencies such as Save the Children, World Vision, UNICEF, RedR UK, Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies and the Danish Refugee Council.
In Diary to meet their organisation’s needs,” noted Richardson. All In Diary has been continually adapted to incorporate feedback from field users, translated into seven languages and three country specific versions. Over 10,000 copies of the diary have been distributed across every continent, and AID is now collaborating with a Korean NGO to translate, print and distribute it in Korea.
“During my pre-deployment training with RedR Australia, All In Diary made a positive impression. UNICEF’s Child Protection Unit in Pakistan wanted to get [child protection] messages across to the whole sector and by adding pages on child protection into the diary we achieved this. Over 7,000 “We can help organisations improve the impact of their copies were printed in English; Urdu and Sindhi versions humanitarian response in three specific ways: by providing were also printed. Promotion through all clusters, OCHA them with hard copies of the 2014 diary for staff and partners; and child protection agencies also worked well, so it’s a very by working with them to develop translated or country-specific positive experience working with AID,” noted Alice Clements, versions; and by collaborating with them to tailor the new All UNICEF Communication for Development Coordinator. ■
Gates Foundation: the world is not bound to remain poor The Gates Foundation’s annual letter, released at the start of each year, has fast become one of the most important annual statements in the non-profit sector owing to the Foundation’s position as front-runner in global development work. The annual letter also sends messages on development and aid in a strong, clear and thought provoking manner. In this year’s letter, ‘3 myths that block progress for the poor’, Bill and Melinda Gates tackle global poverty and debunk three of the arguments that aid and development critiques often use. First, Bill confronts the myth that poor countries are doomed to stay poor, saying this myth is often used in reference to African countries. But, he continues, many countries considered poor 50 years ago now are thriving economies; citing examples like Turkey, Chile, India and Botswana. Gates makes the prediction that by 2035 “there will be almost no poor countries left in the world” and backs this up by saying that most countries—with the exception of some failed or troubled states—that received aid 20 years ago are now doing better than before. Countries that not long ago were receivers of aid, like South Korea, are now emerging donors. The second myth Gates tries to debunk is that foreign aid is a big waste; and finds this particularly worrisome since it gives political leaders (of donor countries) an excuse to cut back on it. Although acknowledging that aid programmes are not
perfect and can still be made more effective, Gates sees them as “a fantastic investment that saves and improves lives.”
control over their own lives and family planning methods,” she adds.
Adding to this myth is how, Gates says, people generally overestimate the amount governments spend on development aid. Gates cites Norway, with donations that make up 3% of its annual budget, as the most generous country in the world. The US, on the other hand, spends about 1% or (USD30 billion) on aid each year. Although he does not downplay the amount being spent, the undertone is that this investment in humanity should be a bigger part of a country’s budget.
A telling sign is when child mortality drops, birth rates— and population rates—drop as well. Thus, if children are more likely to survive families will have fewer children. But death rates are just one factor; women empowerment and their access to education and family planning aids such as contraceptives also play a vital role. Underlying basic health and empowerment is economic growth at country level. According to Gates, combined with solid government policies that make use of demographic transitions—like supporting a large working population—these factors can pull countries into a sustainable circle to progress.
Not shying away from sensitive issues, Gates addresses corruption regarding aid money. He agrees that corruption exists and that it should be rooted out, but compares it to a ‘tax on aid money’, because of its relatively small scale. He concludes by saying that instead of discussing whether aid works, we should all be discussing how to make aid work better.
Founded in 1997, the Gates Foundation is the world’s largest private foundation. Based in Seattle, Washington, it relies on donations—such as the Warren Buffett donation, the largest charitable donation in history—and grants. It mainly focuses to increase opportunities for education and access Melinda Gates tackles the third myth: that saving lives can lead to information technology in the US; and enhance health to overpopulation. She argues that this kind of thinking stems care and reducing poverty globally. To read the full Annual from the fear that the planet might not be able to sustain the Letter or to know more of the foundation’s works, visit www. human population, especially with climate change taken into gatesfoundation.org. ■ account. “Investing in the poor is what makes a sustainable future, and part of that investment is helping women gain
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