DOCSLIB.ORG

Writing the Wrongs International Benchmarks on Adult Literacy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Writing the Wrongs International Benchmarks on Adult Literacy Writing the Wrongs International Benchmarks on Adult Literacy BASED ON RESEARCH FUNDED BY THE EDUCATION FOR ALL GLOBAL MONITORING REPORT 2006 & UNESCO NOVEMBER 2005 David Archer [email protected] ActionAid International Hamlyn House MacDonald Road Archway London N19 5PG UK Lucia Fry [email protected] Global Campaign for Education PO Box 521733 Saxonwold Johannesburg 2132 South Africa www.actionaid.org www.campaignforeducation.org CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Acknowledgements This report has been compiled by David Archer of ActionAid WHY WE MUST INVEST IN Illiteracy is a violation of the ✱ Adult literacy is critical for the International based on a major survey and research project developed ADULT LITERACY NOW fundamental human right to healthy development and education by the Global Campaign for Education. The research was led by David Executive Summary 1 There are nearly one billion adults education. But if that is not argument of children, especially girls. Each Archer and conducted by Yaikah Jeng under the guidance of a research coordination team made up of Maria Nandago (Pamoja, who cannot read and write, according enough, the Global Campaign for extra year of education for mothers is 1. The Global Context 7 Uganda), Gorgui Sow (ANCEFA, Senegal), Julie Adu Gyamfi (ActionAid to UNESCO statistics. The real figure Education believes that there are five associated with a significant decline in Ghana), Vera Ribeiro (Acao Educativa, Brazil), Menaka Roy (ASPBAE is probably nearer to two billion 1 and compelling practical reasons for infant mortality and improved child- 2. Overview of the Process 11 India) , Nitya Rao (UEA / India) and Anne Jellema (Global Campaign still more if numeracy and the actual governments and donors to invest health 3. More literate parents raise for Education). Significant support was also received from other use of these skills are taken into now in adult literacy: more literate children. Children with active members of GCE, notably from Maria Khan and Charles Abani. 3. The Benchmarks: Evidence and Support 15 Many thanks are also due to Jude Fransman and Steve Packer at the account. Most of these are people parents (especially mothers) who can 1. Defining literacy 15 EFA Global Monitoring Report and Namtip Aksornkool at UNESCO all living in extreme poverty. Almost two- ✱ Literacy is vital to reducing gender 1 Official UNESCO statistics put the figure at 2. Continuity of learning 19 of whom made substantial contributions to the research and thirds are women, and nearly 1 in 5 is inequality. Literacy increases women’s 771 million but the figures are notoriously analysis. Thanks are also due to the 100 original informants, the 67 3. Governing literacy: 22 a young person between 15 and 24. participation in both private and public unreliable, depending on self-reporting. literacy programmes who completed the detailed survey and the 142 4. Evaluating literacy programmes 27 Yet these people have been spheres, in household decision- Wherever rigorous measurements are taken individuals who responded to the draft benchmarks (all of whom are 5. Facilitator pay 31 abandoned in recent decades. making, community affairs and as the figures are significantly higher. listed in full in the appendix). Finally thanks are due to Emma Pearce 2 See for example, Stromquist 2005, 6. Facilitator recruitment and development 33 for her careful editing. Although governments worldwide have active citizens in national life. Adult Brown 1990 7. Ratios and timing 37 signed up to a UN goal that promises literacy programmes have a dramatic 3 See for example Caldwell 1979, Sandiford The Global Campaign for Education is a coalition of NGOs and trade 8. Multilingual contexts 41 a 50% reduction in illiteracy by 2015, impact on women’s self-esteem, 1995, Burchfield 2002, Robinson Pant 2005 9. Participatory methods 43 unions working in over 100 countries for the right to free, good they are investing scandalously little empowering them to unlock economic, quality education for all. GCE is a member of the UN Girls’ Education 10. The literate environment 45 in programmes to deliver that goal. social, cultural and political resources 2. BELOW Afganistan Initiative, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty and the Global 11. Costs per learner 46 Coalition on Women and AIDS. 12. Financing literacy 48 This is an independent report and does not necessarily reflect the 4. Some Stories / Examples 51 views of all members. Regional and international National civil society coalitions 5. Conclusions 55 members Bangladesh: CAMPE ActionAid International Brazil: CDE Appendices: 58 ANCEFA Burkina Faso: CCEB 1. List of respondents to survey 58 ASPBAE Canada: Canadian GCE Alliance 2. List of respondents to benchmarking 60 CAMFED El Salvador: CIAZO 3. List of original informants 63 CARE France: Solidarité Läique CEAAL Gabon: CONCEG 4. Original survey format 64 Education International Gambia: GEFA 5. References 79 FAPE Ghana: GNECC FAWE India: NCE Fe y Alegria Indonesia: E-Net for Justice Global March Against Child Ireland: Irish GCE Coalition Labour Japan: JNNE Ibis Kenya: Elimu Yetu Coalition Inclusion International Lesotho: LEFA NetAid Liberia: ALPO Oxfam International Malawi: CSCQBE PLAN International Mali: ASSAFE Public Services International Mozambique: MEPT REPEM Nigeria: CSACEFA Save the Children Alliance Pakistan: EFA Network SightSavers International Sierra Leone: EFA Network VSO Sweden: Swedish EFA Forum World Alliance of Girl Guides and South Africa: GCE-SA ACRONYMS Girl Scouts Tanzania: TEN/MET World Vision International Togo: CNT/CME UK: UK GCE Group EFA Education for All Zam EFA GMR Education For All Global Monitoring Report GCE Global Campaign for Education MDG Millennium Development Goal' NGO Non Governmental Organisation UPE Universal Primary Education Jenny Matthews/ ActionAid 1 read and write stay in school longer This is reinforced by recent research, simply cannot teach adults, at least THE BENCHMARKS They should: for at least two years). and achieve more 4. not least the studies commissioned not in large-scale programmes. This The benchmarks that are set out - ensure cooperation across all by the EFA Global Monitoring Report is nonsense. It is contradicted by the below are designed to facilitate relevant ministries and links to all 8. In multi-lingual contexts it is ✱ Literacy is vital to human and 2006. This demolishes any remaining successes of many past adult literacy serious planning to achieve the Dakar relevant development programmes, important at all stages that learners economic development. Improving excuse for governments and donors to programmes, particularly in post- ‘Education for All’ goal of a 50% - work in systematic collaboration with should be given an active choice literacy levels would deliver significant avoid their responsibilities to the revolutionary contexts where there reduction in adult illiteracy by 2015, experienced civil society organisations, about the language in which they economic benefits both for individuals world’s illiterate youth and adults. was real political will and sustained which has been endorsed by 185 - ensure links between all these learn. Active efforts should be and for countries. Multi-country momentum. But precisely because so governments around the world. agencies, especially at the local level, made to encourage and sustain studies show clear connections Literacy, in short, is the fertilizer few programmes are now ongoing, it They have been developed by and bilingual learning. between literacy levels in a country needed for development and has been difficult to find more recent experts in adult literacy from around - ensure relevance to the issues in and both economic output and GDP democracy to take root and grow. evidence of success, particularly in the world and are based on responses learners’ lives by promoting the 9. A wide range of participatory per capita growth5. By the same token, It is the invisible ingredient in any a simple and practical form that to a global survey of effective adult decentralisation of budgets and of methods should be used in the current high rates of illiteracy among successful strategy for eradicating planners and policy-makers can use7. literacy programmes. decision-making over curriculum, learning process to ensure active women and the poor are limiting the poverty. Unfortunately, in recent years methods and materials. engagement of learners and relevance impact of programmes designed to it has become all too invisible. This study is the largest-ever attempt We hope these benchmarks will to their lives. These same boost livelihoods, improve incomes, to systematise experience of what provide a starting point for policy 4. It is important to invest in ongoing participatory methods and processes protect the environment, deliver clean The UN Education for All (EFA) goals, works in adult literacy. We analyzed dialogue between governments, feedback and evaluation mechanisms, should be used at all levels of training water, promote civic participation and as agreed in Jomtien in 1990 and re- 67 successful literacy programmes funding agencies, NGOs, and those data systematization and strategic of trainers and facilitators. democracy, and fight killer diseases. affirmed at Dakar in 2000 include a in 35 countries in order to see whether adults who have been deprived of their research. The focus of evaluations Unless the intended target group strong commitment to lifelong learning they shared any common features that
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Aurore Belkin Photographer Aurore Belkin Is a French and Canadian
    Aurore Belkin Photographer Aurore Belkin is a French and Canadian photographer based in Dubai and Rome. Her career as a photojournalist is focused on the Middle East where she is represented by leading agency Arabianeye. She was trained by veteran war photojournalists Jack Picone and Philip Jones Griffiths with whom she developed a strength for reportage and portrait photography. She has shot reportage and features in UAE, Jordan, Oman, Yemen, Lebanon, North Korea, China, Laos, Nepal, Thailand, India, Paris and Germany. In 2008, along with renowned Art publisher Prestel, she has initiated and produced “In Their Hands, 21st Century Embroidery in India” and co-authored “Dubai Speed” by leading German book publisher DTV in 2009 (3rd edition Jan 2010, ( http://www.dubai-speed.de/index.php/lights-of-dubai/lights-of-dubai/2441/ ). The book is now available in English under the title “Dubai High” Her work has been awarded First Prize all categories at the GPP Middle East Photo Competition in 2007 and that same year she also has been exhibited in Nooderlicht Photofestival with her work on Bangkok Fortune Tellers (http://www.lightstalkers.org/galleries/slideshow/8710 ). While in Dubai, she has been regularly portraying international political figures and royals such as Benazir Buttho, Monica Belluci, HH Sheikha Mayassa of Qatar. Her clients include Time, Business Week, NYT, Vanity Fair,Vogue, Der Spiegel, Neue Zuercher Zeitung, Welt am Sonntag, Berliner Zeitung, Basler Zeitung, Weltwoche (Zurich), Cicero (Berlin), Welthungerhilfe, Business Weekly, Total, Abu Dhabi Formula One, Better Digital Australia, Al Shawati, Gulf Air Magazine, Oman Board of Tourism, Jumeirah Beach Magazine, Abn Amro.
    [Show full text]
  • Thailand White Paper
    THE BANGKOK MASSACRES: A CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY ―A White Paper by Amsterdam & Peroff LLP EXECUTIVE SUMMARY For four years, the people of Thailand have been the victims of a systematic and unrelenting assault on their most fundamental right — the right to self-determination through genuine elections based on the will of the people. The assault against democracy was launched with the planning and execution of a military coup d’état in 2006. In collaboration with members of the Privy Council, Thai military generals overthrew the popularly elected, democratic government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose Thai Rak Thai party had won three consecutive national elections in 2001, 2005 and 2006. The 2006 military coup marked the beginning of an attempt to restore the hegemony of Thailand’s old moneyed elites, military generals, high-ranking civil servants, and royal advisors (the “Establishment”) through the annihilation of an electoral force that had come to present a major, historical challenge to their power. The regime put in place by the coup hijacked the institutions of government, dissolved Thai Rak Thai and banned its leaders from political participation for five years. When the successor to Thai Rak Thai managed to win the next national election in late 2007, an ad hoc court consisting of judges hand-picked by the coup-makers dissolved that party as well, allowing Abhisit Vejjajiva’s rise to the Prime Minister’s office. Abhisit’s administration, however, has since been forced to impose an array of repressive measures to maintain its illegitimate grip and quash the democratic movement that sprung up as a reaction to the 2006 military coup as well as the 2008 “judicial coups.” Among other things, the government blocked some 50,000 web sites, shut down the opposition’s satellite television station, and incarcerated a record number of people under Thailand’s infamous lèse-majesté legislation and the equally draconian Computer Crimes Act.
    [Show full text]
  • Telling Stories to a Different Beat: Photojournalism As a “Way of Life”
    Bond University DOCTORAL THESIS Telling stories to a different beat: Photojournalism as a “Way of Life” Busst, Naomi Award date: 2012 Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal. Telling stories to a different beat: Photojournalism as a “Way of Life” Naomi Verity Busst, BPhoto, MJ A thesis submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Media and Communication Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Bond University February 2012 Abstract This thesis presents a grounded theory of how photojournalism is a way of life. Some photojournalists dedicate themselves to telling other people's stories, documenting history and finding alternative ways to disseminate their work to audiences. Many self-fund their projects, not just for the love of the tradition, but also because they feel a sense of responsibility to tell stories that are at times outside the mainstream media’s focus. Some do this through necessity. While most photojournalism research has focused on photographers who are employed by media organisations, little, if any, has been undertaken concerning photojournalists who are freelancers.
    [Show full text]
  • Dossier Presse IMAGINE EN.Indd
    Imagine. Reflections on peace musée international avenue de la paix 17 de la croix-rouge ch-1202 Genève et du croissant-rouge +41 22 748 95 11 2. From 16 September 2020 to 10 January 2021, the In- ternational Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum will be running Imagine. Reflections on Peace, a photo exhibition that looks at peace-building and how it is experienced in everyday life. What does peace look like, apart from the images we make of it? VII Foundation The exhibition, developed in collaboration with the , invites us to imagine an ideal peace that exists outside the headlines. What form – or forms – does peace take in everyday life in places where combatants have laid down arms after years of conflict? Some of the world’s leading photojournalists set out to explore this question by returning to the places where they carried outDon their McCullin first assignments, sometimesBeirut more than 20 years ago. Nichole Sobecki • gives us a glimpse of in the grip of civil war, while takes us back to the city’s streetsRoland as Neveuit attempts to heal despite the scars left by conflictPhnom – a journey Penh made all the more relevant byGary recent Knight events. • witnessed the Khmer Rouge takeover of in 1975. Forty-five years later, ’s photographsRon Haviv show Cambodians still grapplingBosnia-Herzegovina with the conflict’s aftermath. • coveredGilles thePeress civil warStephen in Ferry and later returned to reportNorthern on the situation Ireland there today. Colombia • Reporting by and sheds light on the peace process in two decades after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, and in , where the 2016 peace deal remains little more than a promise.
    [Show full text]
  • Gemma Andreone Editor Bridging Gaps Between National, Individual
    Gemma Andreone Editor The Future of the Law of the Sea Bridging Gaps Between National, Individual and Common Interests The Future of the Law of the Sea Gemma Andreone Editor The Future of the Law of the Sea Bridging Gaps Between National, Individual and Common Interests Editor Gemma Andreone Institute for International Legal Studies Italian National Research Council Rome, Italy ISBN 978-3-319-51273-0 ISBN 978-3-319-51274-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-51274-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017936385 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017. This book is an open access publication Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. This work is subject to copyright. All commercial rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
    [Show full text]
  • ACP Exhibition Records
    Appendix!A! ! Exhibition!Records!(197472007)! Appendix!A!–!Exhibition!Records!(1973<2007)! ! ! ! Aspects of Ian!Dodd,!Ken!Middleton,!Grant!Mudford,!Max! ! Australian Jan Pam,!Phillip!Quirk,!John!Walsh! Nov 7 7 1974 Photography 18 21 !! ! ! ! !1975% !! ! ! A Statement of Henry!King! ! Fact - Henry Jan Feb 7 7 1975 King 1955- 22 15 !! 1923 ! ! Graham Graham!McCarter! ! McCarter Jan Feb 7 7 1975 22 15 !! ! ! A Question of Richard!Harris,!John!Williams! ! Attitude Feb Mar 7 7 1975 18 15 !! ! ! Selected Robert!Capa,!Werner!Bischof,!August!Sander,! ! Masters Apr Edward!Steichen,!F.M.!Sutcliffe! Mar 7 7 1975 10 18 !! ! ! Work in Various! ! Progress Apr Mar 7 7 1975 10 18 !! ! ! Time and Greg!Weight!and!Roger!Scott! ! Space Apr May 7 7 1975 15 10 !! ! ! Elliott Erwitt - Elliott!Erwitt! ! Photographs Jun May 7 7 1975 and Anti- 14 13 !! photographs ! Instant Images ! Various! ! Jul - Polaroid Jun 7 7 1975 progress 12 17 !! ! !!!!! a! ! ! ! ! 1976! 1976! 1975! 1975! 1975! 1975! 1975! 1975! 1975! 1975! Appendix!A 167Mar! 177Feb! ! 27Dec! 27Dec! 217Oct! 237Sep! 197Aug! 167Jul! 167Jul! June! 107Apr! 137Mar! ! 177Jan! 177Jan! 297Nov! 187Oct! 207Sep! 167Aug! 167Aug! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Sidetripping From theLand Viewpoints '75 Melbourne Gundagai 1930 Retrospective Max Dupain Aesthetic Californian The Snapshots Time series The Road Viewpoints - 1975 Charles!Gatewood!(USA) John!Cato!and!Laurie!Wilson ! ! Dr!Charles!Gabriel Max!Dupain Ed!Douglas ! Sue!Ford Wesley!Stacey Olivieru!Juscan,!Minor!White!and!others [Jeanloup!Sieff?],!Josef!Surlek![Josef!Sudek?],!
    [Show full text]
  • Agency, Identity, and Authority in Rwanda: 1950S Political Rhetoric As a Bridge to Post-Colonial Genocide
    Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Spring 5-8-2020 Agency, Identity, and Authority in Rwanda: 1950s Political Rhetoric as a Bridge to Post-Colonial Genocide Amanda E. Rollinson Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Part of the African History Commons Recommended Citation Rollinson, A. E. (2020). Agency, Identity, and Authority in Rwanda: 1950s Political Rhetoric as a Bridge to Post-Colonial Genocide (Master's thesis, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/ 1889 This One-year Embargo is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. AGENCY, IDENTITY, AND AUTHORITY IN RWANDA: 1950s POLITICAL RHETORIC AS A BRIDGE TO POST-COLONIAL GENOCIDE A Thesis Submitted to the McAnulty Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By Amanda E. Rollinson May 2020 Copyright by Amanda E. Rollinson 2020 AGENCY, IDENTITY, AND AUTHORITY IN RWANDA: 1950s POLITICAL RHETORIC AS A BRIDGE TO POST-COLONIAL GENOCIDE By Amanda E. Rollinson Approved on 31 March 2020 ___________________________ ___________________________ Robin P. Chapdelaine, PhD Andrew T. Simpson, PhD Assistant Professor of History Assistant Professor of History (Thesis Director) (Thesis Reader) ___________________________ ___________________________ Kristine L. Blair, Dean John C. Mitcham, PhD Dean, McAnulty College and Graduate Chair, Department of History School of Liberal Arts (Committee Member) iii ABSTRACT AGENCY, IDENTITY, AND AUTHORITY IN RWANDA: 1950s POLITICAL RHETORIC AS A BRIDGE TO POST-COLONIAL GENOCIDE By Amanda E.
    [Show full text]
  • The Foot Soldiers of Change: an Investigation of the Human Factors Operating in Maternal Health in Non-Western Cultures Through the Agency of Photography
    The Foot Soldiers of Change: An Investigation of the Human Factors Operating in Maternal Health in Non-Western cultures through the Agency of Photography Author McIlvenny, Kelly Published 2016 Thesis Type Thesis (Professional Doctorate) School Queensland College of Art DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/745 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367607 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au The Foot Soldiers of Change: An Investigation of the Human Factors Operating in Maternal Health in Non-Western cultures through the Agency of Photography Kelly McIlvenny BDigitalMedia(Hons) Queensland College of Art Griffith University Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Visual Arts July 2015 ABSTRACT This research investigates and engages with the layers of intervention involved in Nepali women seeking biomedical care during pregnancy and childbirth, through the agency of photography, interviews and participant observation. Documenting the layers of medical intervention in this manner allows for a cultural critique of how such immense social change, visible in the statistical analysis of maternal health indicators, is playing out on a micro level. This research engages with the women who have gained enough social capital to influence birthing practices both in biomedical intervention and social practice. This research is based on photographic documentation and participant observation conducted with women either in the process of birth or afterwards whose survival is due to the assistance they have received. This exegesis outlines the contextual elements surrounding my photographic work, discussing the challenges and opportunities of cross-cultural visual documentation.
    [Show full text]
  • Living with Disasters and Changing Climate Children in Southeast Asia Telling Their Stories About Disaster and Climate Change First Published 2010
    Children in Southeast Asia telling their stories about disaster and climate change Save the Children fights for children’s rights. We deliver immediate and lasting improvements to children’s lives worldwide. Save the Children works for: • A world which respects and values each child. • A world which listens to children and learns. • A world where all children have hope and opportunity. Title: Living with disasters and changing climate Children in Southeast Asia telling their stories about disaster and climate change First published 2010 © Save the Children Publication Project Coordinator: Sophapan Ratanachena Author: Wannachan Apple Chaimontree Editor: Terry Durnnian Design and Layout: Karakade Sriparinyasin Front cover photograph : Athit Perawongmetha Copies of this pubication can be obtained from: Save the Children Sweden Southeast Asia and the Pacific Regional Office 14th fl., Maneeya Centre 518/5 Ploenchit Road, Patumwan Bangkok 10330 Thailand Tel +66 (0) 2 684 1046-7 Fax +66 (0) 2 684 1048 Email: [email protected] http://seap.savethechildren.se www.savethechildren.net Acknowledgements Stories in this book were compiled from both field visits and secondary source from Uttaradith, Phayao, Nakon Srithammarat, Table of Content Ranong, and Tak Province in Thailand; Jakarta and Langkat in Indonesia; Yen Bai Province in Vietnam; and Manila in the About this book 4 Philippines. Special thanks go to all children and adults who shared their stories to be Part 1: Introduction 4 featured in this book. Recognition to Save The world of increasing disasters and climate change 6 the Children country programmes and local partners who are working with children What Save the Children does to save children’s lives in disasters? 8 and their communities on DRR and climate Impacts of disasters on children’s lives – from their perspective 13 change in the region.
    [Show full text]
  • Toponym Disambiguation in Information Retrieval
    Toponym Disambiguation in Information Retrieval Davide Buscaldi Dpto. Sistemas Inform´aticosy Computaci´on Universidad Polit´ecnicade Valencia A thesis submitted for the degree of PhilosophiæDoctor (PhD) Under the supervision of Dr. Paolo Rosso 2010 October ii Abstract In recent years, geography has acquired a great importance in the context of Information Retrieval (IR) and, in general, of the automated processing of information in text. Mobile devices that are able to surf the web and at the same time inform about their position are now a common reality, together with applications that can exploit these data to provide users with locally customised information, such as directions or advertisements. Therefore, it is important to deal properly with the geographic information that is included in electronic texts. The majority of such kind of information is contained as place names, or toponyms. Toponym ambiguity represents an important issue in Geographical Infor- mation Retrieval (GIR), due to the fact that queries are geographically con- strained. There has been a struggle to find specific geographical IR methods that actually outperform traditional IR techniques. Toponym ambiguity may constitute a relevant factor in the inability of current GIR systems to take advantage from geographical knowledge. Recently, some Ph.D. theses have dealt with Toponym Disambiguation (TD) from different perspectives, from the development of resources for the evaluation of Toponym Disam- biguation (Leidner (2007)) to the use of TD to improve geographical scope resolution (Andogah (2010)). The Ph.D. thesis presented here introduces a TD method based on WordNet and carries out a detailed study of the relationship of Toponym Disambiguation to some IR applications, such as GIR, Question Answering (QA) and Web retrieval.
    [Show full text]
  • Technology Transforming Aid the View from Lloyd's Careless
    ININTERNATIONAL INSURANCE INSIGHTS Technology Transforming Aid The View From Lloyd's Careless Tweeting Costs Lives Rats Sniffing Out Danger 04 Technology Transforming Aid I always find it fascinating to learn more about our clients, Why data is at the heart of modern development planning. many of whom do truly amazing things. In this issue, we feature Charlie Goldsmith Associates, who are helping girls in Africa get the education they 06 Careless Tweeting Costs Lives deserve. You can read about Refugee Rescue, a group Are you managing your digital bubble? of musicians and artists who decided to save lives at sea. And read how PBi2 salvaged the US Black Hawk helicopter wreckage from Bakara Market in Mogadishu. 09 The Four Pillars of Safety We also spotlight the incredible charity APOPO, who use How to keep your people safe. trained rats to sniff out landmines, with 100% success rate. And we bring you advice about managing the digital activity 10 of your people abroad, from SEPAR International. The View From Lloyd’s Why international renewals and premiums are on the rise. Closer to home, we report on how a changing attitude at Lloyd’s may affect your international insurance premiums (see page 10). Plus we identify riskier countries, according 11 Re-insurance Explained to the case load at NGS (page 18), the firm who provide emergency response around the world. Why hurricanes in Miami might affect your premiums elsewhere. Editorial I would like to thank all our contributors, for sharing the rich and varied work they do. I hope you enjoy the read.
    [Show full text]
  • REFLECTIONS on PEACE the VII Foundation
    FALL: 6 OCTOBER 2020 IMAGINE: REFLECTIONS ON PEACE The VII Foundation Photographers : Sir Don McCullin, Nichole Sobecki, Roland Neveu, Gary Knight, Jack Picone, Ron Haviv, Gilles Peress, Stephen Ferry, Nicole Tung. Essays : Padraig O’Malley, Marie O’Reilly, Pedrag Peđa Kojović, Elizabeth D. Herman, Richard Gold one, Samantha Power, Jonathan Powell. Journali s : Gary Knight, Jon Swain, Robin Wright, Philip Gourevitch, Anthony Loyd, Monica McWilliams, Avila Kilmurray, Jon Lee Anderson, Margerita Martinez, Fiona Turner. Personal Stories : Mira Sidawi, Dydine Umunyana, Sophary Sophin, Elvis Garibovic. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION B&W and color photos Bound book, limp cover English version 17 x 24 cm, portrait Printed on high-quality uncoated 408 pages fi n e p a p e r s Price VAT included : 45 €/39 £ 200 photos ISBN : 978-2-490952-09-0 EXHIBITIONS - September 15th - Opening event International Red Cross Museum, Geneva - Exhibit from September 16th - January 10th 2021 - September 17th: Hemeria event, Paris - O ober 5th - November 1 : Bayeux fe ival with Imagine Exhibition The Authors Imagine: Refl ections on Peace is a beautifully Founded in 2001 by Gary Knight and Ron Haviv, designed and bound book of 408 pages, with the VII Foundation is an independent nonprofi t accompanying exhibitions, published in both media and education organization. It was English and French, Fall 2020. established to secure support for documentary practice that addresses complex social, economic, and human rights issues, as well as for vocational • 6 civil wars that have marked Hist ory: media and journalism education. Lebanon, Cambodia, Rwanda, Colombia, North Ireland, Bosnia The Book • Gathered for the fi rst time, contributions from internationally renowned personalities In 2018, the VII Foundation asked more than a on the theme of peace dozen renowned reporters and photojournalists • An overview of peace processes: what PRINTING to revisit countries with which they had become worked, or not Hemeria is associated with achingly familiar during times of brutal confl ict.
    [Show full text]