Turning Brain Drain into Brain Gain!

Here in the US, we have some of the best medical professionals in the world. But what would happen if our aspiring doctors thought they could get a better education outside of the United States, and ended up settling down and practicing abroad? Unfortunately, this is what’s happening in Lebanon – some of the best and brightest in the fields of medicine, law, economics and the environment are leaving Lebanon, taking with them their expertise, innovation and ambition.

Fortunately, the UNDP is turning this brain drain into a brain gain by bringing accomplished Lebanese individuals back to Lebanon so that they can use their expertise to help their fellow countrymen. Through the TOKTEN project (Transfer of Knowledge through Expatriate Nationals), the UNDP is facilitating the return of these talented expatriates to work as volunteer consultants on development projects in several Lebanese ministries.

The TOKTEN project has been especially effective in the treatment of cancer in Lebanon. After the Ministry of Public Health expressed a need for the development of cancer treatments, TOKTEN volunteers implemented a “National Chemotherapy Protocols” project, through which they are helping to improve, regulate and monitor oncology protocols for ailing patients.

Now, not only are the people of Lebanon healthier, but the presence of gifted doctors, lawyers and other expatriate professionals is helping improve and develop Lebanon itself!

Want to learn more about TOKTEN? Click Here!

Forget the Old School, It’s All About the “e-School”

The internet is full of great information – it’s how you found this page, after all. But many children in the world cannot take advantage of the academic and social resources available to many in the Western world due to lack of internet access. UNDP in Albania is attempting to connect primary and secondary school students across the country with computer labs and internet access.

In addition to providing expanded resources, the hope of the program is to provide students and teachers with basic information technology skills – an expertise that will help them connect to a modern and changing global job market. Over 1,600 IT-trained teachers are now running classrooms in almost 1,200 schools, benefiting thousands of students every year.

Have a Facebook or Myspace account? Maybe now you can make an e-friend in Albania!

From Street Gangsters to Kings of Kitchen Science

16-year-old Nuria enjoys cooking low-fat porridges, curd pancakes, and various salads. Her friend Ravshan likes to prepare meat dishes. Both Ravshan and Nuria who were brought up in a Kyrgyz orphanage could have ended up in the street, but instead, with the help of UNDP, they are going to become professional cooks and find their own place under the sun.

In Kyrgyzstan, an ex-Soviet Union country in Central Asia, children proved to be one of the most vulnerable to the blows of transition. Due to economic hardships, they drop out of schools, go to the streets to work and help their parents, or join gangs. Once children find themselves in the street, they suffer from poor nutrition, insufficient winter clothing, and accidents as they take over the tasks of adults.

One of the initiatives that UNDP-Kyrgyzstan proposed in order to address this problem is providing vocational education for such children. Analysis of the Kyrgyz labor market showed that the most demanded professions are those of cooks, builders, and carpenters. UNDP-Kyrgyzstan helped children from vulnerable families, orphanages, and shelters – just like Nuria and Ravshan – to get enrolled in culinary classes where they studied European and traditional Kyrgyz cuisine. Right after the completion of the courses, the cooks-to-be started receiving numerous job offers from the prospective employers.

Hopefully, as the program expands, more street children in Kyrgyzstan will be able to learn a good trade that will provide them with bread and help manage their lives.

Learn more about UNDP’s project “Vocational Education to Street Children in the Kyrgyz Republic” here.

They're on a Boat

Break out your swim trunks and your flippy floppies - fisherman in the poor, rural Arbaat region in Eastern Sudan are now sailing on a boat. The Recovery and Rehabilitation Program, managed by UNDP Sudan, recently donated three fishing boats to help the fishermen help themselves.

Although fishing is traditionally a way of life in the region, lately fishermen have had trouble finding the resources to bring home any fish at all, let alone make any kind of profit. Small, wooden shallow-water boats are few and far between and those which do exist have insufficient refrigeration on board, leading to spoiled fish and hungry mouths.

Now, 35 fishermen in the region operate in teams to share three motorized, fiberglass boats provided by the program. Not only can they catch a variety of previously inaccessible deepwater fish, three coolers onboard the ships guarantee that the fish can be taken back to the shore unspoiled. Truly a community program, the fishermen share all profits between them when the fish are sold at local markets.

Teach a man to fish and he’ll have food for life. Give a man a boat and he can feed the whole community!

Want to learn more? Click Here!

Excelling in Electoral Education

How important is the media in public elections? They are a lot more influential than you might think! As the main source of public information about candidates and the voting process in many countries, the media has a responsibility to understand local electoral practices and convey mass messages objectively. The UNDP, with its focus on democratic governance and capacity development, works to improve the practices of the media in the electoral processes of countries around the world, including in the nation of Turkmenistan.
In 2008, in response to a request made by the government of Turkmenistan, UNDP in partnership with the National Institute of Democracy and Human Rights launched a project entitled “Cooperation on Enhancing Electoral System and Processes in Turkmenistan.” As part of this project, UNDP and the NIDHR held a one-day workshop on June 30th for members of the Turkmen mass media from TV channels to regional print media to learn about electoral best practices and enhance the professionalism of electoral media coverage. By providing national media with the skills they need to do their job fairly, UNDP is empowering the Turkmen population to get out the vote!
Learn more about UNDP’s efforts to enhance the Turkmen electoral system here.

Syrious about Environmental Protection

Ever wanted to frolic with an Arabian Oryx? How about swim with a Mediterranean Monk Seal? Thanks to the work of the Syrian government in conjunction with the UNDP’s Global Biodiversity Programme, you might still get that chance. After facing the negative impact of more than fifty years of climate change, Syria has had enough – no more environmental damage! The Oryx and Monk Seal along with about twenty other rare and endangered species are now being protected through the project for Biodiversity Conservation and Protected Area Management, a seven year initiative implemented through the work of Syrian ministries and the UNDP.

Efforts to protect the environment don’t stop with the Syrian government. Children are being taught to make toys out of recycled garbage! Volunteers are working with UN agencies to clean up streets! Environmental art competitions are getting youth involved in the fight against pollution! By empowering the local people to take an active interest in the protection of the land which they call home, the UNDP is building sustainable conservation efforts in Syria.

To learn more about conservation efforts and progress in Syria click here.

UNite for Women's Rights!

Gender inequity and violence against women have been major problems for centuries. In the United States, women’s rights became an issue to be addressed in the late 19th century when the outspoken Susan B. Anthony launched the women’s suffrage movement. Even then, Anthony’s efforts only came to fruition fourteen years after her death with the 1920 ratification of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Fortunately, in most Western societies today, women are considered equal to their male counterparts.

Unfortunately, gender-based violence and the mistreatment of women remains a harsh reality in many countries around the world. A report released today by the United Nations shows that violence against Afghan women, for example, is widespread and often goes unpunished. To make matters worse, the Afghan government does nothing to address the impunity with which these crimes occur; within the state structure, no legislation protecting women’s rights exist, thus allowing rape and other acts of discrimination to continue.

Women actively involved in sectors of public life are most frequently attacked. Political leaders within Afghanistan must do more to address this issue and ensure that women and girls do not have to live in a state of perpetual fear. It is time that someone like Susan B. Anthony stands up against these abhorrent acts and condemns gender inequity wherever it takes place.

Is São Paulo the New Venice?

There’s a new way to commute to work in São Paulo—by water. Far from a Venetian gondola, Latin America’s first hydrogen-powered bus carries 63 passengers while releasing only water vapor into the air, rather than carbon dioxide.

Four years or research and partnership of the United Nations Development Programme, the Brazilian Mines and Energy Ministry, and the city of São Paulo’s Urban Transportation Company have made such a feat possible. While on a two-month trial basis, the city will monitor the bus with hopes that it can expand the program in coming years.

As the world seeks an alternative to fossil fuels, hydrogen is proving to be a promising alternative. Carlos Zündt, planning manager of the Sao Paulo Urban Transportation Company and coordinator of the hydro bus project, asserts, "By 2080, 90 percent of the world’s vehicles will be run by hydrogen." To find out more about the hydrogen bus project click here or hydrogen-fueled technology click here!

Nasty Nematodes Beware!

Can you imagine never seeing the sun rise? How about never seeing the smile on your child’s face? Thanks to a new drug called Moxidectin, some 100 million people across the African continent will be saved from such a dire reality. These individuals currently suffer from river blindness, a debilitating disease caused by the worm Onchocerca volvulus. Transmitted by the bite of the Black Fly, which breeds in fast-flowing rivers, these nasty parasites spread rapidly and can survive for up to fifteen years in the human body.

At present, the drug ivormectin is used to control river blindness endemic in African countries. Unfortunately, the drug only kills the worm larvae, which means that annual treatments are required for anywhere from 11-14 years to prevent further reproduction and transmission. On Wednesday, however, the UN health agency announced the launch of a clinical trial of Moxidectin in Ghana, Liberia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is believed this drug will kill not only the worm larvae, but also the adult worms, halting the disease cycle within six annual rounds of treatment.

Some 1,500 individuals are currently enrolled in the clinical trial, which will last approximately 2.5 years.

Women, Work, and Family: Lessons from Latin America

It’s normal thing in the United States for husbands help their wives with cleaning the house, cooking, or doing the laundry. This is especially true in cases when wives, along with their husbands, work and make their own contribution to the family budget. However, in Latin America, the situation is completely different – such behavior on the part of men would be ridiculed and considered challenging the traditional “machist” perception of manhood.

Today, when more than 100 million (!) women throughout Latin America and the Caribbean work, a traditional Latin American perception of gender roles is still impeding improvements in the quality of women’s life: the household work is undervalued and there is an overall belief that caring for the home and family is a woman’s responsibility. The tensions between their family life and work also have a negative impact on women’s performance and commitment in the workplace, which, in turn, decreases their own productivity and that of the national economy.

Yet, a few Latin American countries have achieved quite a notable progress in addressing these issues. For example, Costa Rica offers day care plans for almost all workers; Brazil has a pension plan for workers in the informal economy, which often includes more women than men; and Chile has paternity leave as well as maternity leave. To read the full version of the joint UN and ILO report “Work and Family: A New Call for Public Policies of Reconciliation with Social Co-responsibility” that describes some of these strategies in detail, please click here.

Emergency? Dial 9-1-Camel

When someone is seriously injured here in the US, they’re whisked away in a fast-moving ambulance. But try to drive that ambulance in a rural desert with no roads, and you’ve got yourself a problem. To solve this predicament, the UNDP in Ethiopia is turning camels into emergency transport vehicles.

Ok, so they don’t have sirens or flashing lights. But these humped, spitting beasts of burden are ideally suited to transport seriously ill patients across the deserts of rural Ethiopia to hospitals. The UNDP has also trained men and women in basic healthcare to ride along with the camels, and these doctor-camel teams are working as primary and emergency health providers for around 140,000 rural residents.

So, the next time you fall and you can’t get up, you might want to consider calling a camel.

Picture This: Environmental Sustainability in Pictures!

Last week, UNDP, Olympus and AFP partnered to launch Picturethis, an Africa based photo competition designed to highlight the work of African natives to negate and reverse the effects of climate change. The competition aims to demonstrate the people of Africa as ‘stewards of their natural environment’.

The contest is inspired by the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which will bring together over 15,000 officials from 200 countries to address climate change and explore options to extend the Kyoto Protocol’s treaty’s into the future.

The contest is exclusively for those who have resided in Africa for 12 months and has amateur and professional categories. The entries can be either single photographs or a series and are expected to display how the local population is working together toward MDG 7- Environmental Sustainability. The contest also looks to depict the role that women play in protecting their environment.

UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark said recently “the developing world stands to lose the most from the effects of climate change and environmental degradation”. With this in mind, the competition seeks to demonstrate how even the smallest of projects can have a positive impact on the surrounding environment.

Sneaky Sands Threaten Livelihoods Around the World

With the majority of news broadcasts covering incidents of death, disease, and destruction, the major threat of desertification to the lives of millions around the world is often overlooked. However, on June 17—officially marked World Day to Combat Desertification—Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon made it his personal mission to emphasize the danger of encroaching deserts, especially to populations already marginalized by poverty. A process that is accelerating rapidly as a result of climate change, desertification is an issue that, like many others, will disproportionately affect the poor. According to Mr. Ban’s statement, by 2050, an estimated 200 million people, particularly those who lack the capacity to adapt, will become environmentally-induced migrants. The resultant extent of displacement in turn will set the stage for increased instability and conflict in those regions hardest hit.

As the average surface temperature of the planet continues to rise, increased periods of drought and famine will deepen poverty, and as a consequence, reverse any progress made toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Further land degradation is sure to incite a greater incidence of transnational and intrastate conflicts as displaced populations fight to secure their most basic needs. While these conflicts may occur under the pretense of cultural and religious differences, the underlying environmental factors must be addressed. Simply put, regardless of cause, climate change is real, and its portended effects can and will be devastating. Something most be done to reverse environmental degradation; if not, a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions may be inevitable.

Saving the World. One Goal at a Time.

On Thursday, the Intergovernmental Organization for Renewable Energy honored former Brazilian Striker and current World Cup goal-scoring record holder Ronaldo for his work on securing Brazil’s natural energy reserves. Ronaldo, a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador, is also set to be awarded by UNDP for his work with poverty-stricken children in Brazil and Latin America.
The Brazilian star’s recently announced a follow up to 2004’s ‘Match for Peace’ in Haiti only serves to further reinforce his international image. The friendly match will this time be held in Palestine, a region ravaged for decades by conflict and turmoil. Add to this the annual ‘Match for Poverty’ he and French star Zinedine Zidane have organized since 2002 and you have the beginnings of what could be a football-fueled development blitz.

UNDP, FIFA and the stars organize these matches to mobilize the public against poverty and promote the Millennium Development Goals, which collectively aim to halve global poverty by 2015. Ticket sales and proceeds from the previous matches have benefited anti-poverty projects ranging from support of female entrepreneurs to the construction of sports centers for street children and the disadvantaged. Funds have gone to support projects all over the world, from Brazil and Burkina Faso to Tajikistan, Uganda, and Vietnam.

French star Zinedine Zidane, not to be outdone by his Brazilian colleague, recently announced his own ‘Zidane and Friends’ football tour of Canada to raise money for UNICEF and UNDP. The Canadian leg of the Zidane Friendship Tour is a three-city event designed to give Canadian soccer fans the unique opportunity to watch world class football while helping those who need it most. With this kind of star power behind it, UNDP hopes to kick development goals around the world.

For more information, click on the “Match Against Poverty” or the “Zidane and Friends” tour.