MASHAV - ISRAEL’S AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION CONTENTS 1 FROM THE DESK OF THE HEAD OF MASHAV DANIEL CARMON 3 THE GOLDA MEIR MOUNT CARMEL INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTER CELEBRATES ITS JUBILEE! MAZAL RENFORD AND YVONNE LIPMAN 7 GREEN ECONOMY, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ERADICATION ILAN FLUSS 11 WHERE THERE’S A WILL THERE’S A WAY INTRODUCING CHANGE IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN KUMASI, GHANA AVIVA BEN HEFER AND JANETTE HIRSCHMAN 15 EMPOWERING SMALLHOLDER FARMERS IN ETHIOPIA USAID-MASHAV-MOA JOINT TECHNICAL PROGRAM DR. AVIHAI ILAN 18 DEVELOPING THE HUMAN RESOURCE: CONTENTSYOUNG LEADERS OF ECUADOR CAROLINA DÁVILA EGÜEZ AND MARCO DÁVILA ALARCÓN 21 UPGRADING EMERGENCY MEDICAL INFRASTRUCTURES AVNIT RIFKIN 26 THE PHILIPPINE-ISRAEL CENTER FOR AGRICULTURAL TRAINING SHAIKE STERN AND NAVOT HAKLAY 28 A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO SLUM UPGRADING YOSSI OFFER 30 SHALOM CLUBS 32 MASHAV NEWS 39 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR MASHAV Shalom Magazine for the Alumni of MASHAV Training Courses is Israel’s Agency for International published by Haigud - Transfer of Technology for Development. Development Cooperation Haigud, a government company and non-profit organization, serves Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the financial and administrative arm of MASHAV, and functions as a professional unit to assist in the implementation of MASHAV activities. State of Israel II 1 F fter serving my country as Ambassador and Deputy Permanent A Representative at Israel’s Mission to the United Nations in New York ROM and returning back home, it is a great pleasure for me to address you in my new capacity as Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Head of MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation. For over 53 years, MASHAV has been promoting projects all over the world THE focusing on the centrality of human resources enrichment and institutional capacity building in the area of development. It is very exciting to join this effort and become part of an extraordinary professional mechanism committed to cooperation throughout the developing world. D MASHAV is dedicated to providing developing countries with the best of Israel’s experience in development and planning. As a country which has gone ESK through the process of switching from an underdeveloped state in the 1950s to a recent membership in the OECD, we feel we can share with others our firsthand experience in development. In recent years, Israel has intensified its commitment in international cooperation OF and its involvement in international development diplomacy. That is why in December 2007, during my tenure at the UN, Israel initiated a resolution on Agricultural Technology for Development which enjoyed an overwhelming support THE from the international community, in which the United Nations General Assembly H EAD OF MASHAV From left to right: Ambassador Daniel Carmon, Head of MASHAV; Mr. Sha Zukang, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs; Israeli Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ms. Orit Noked; and Mr. Ilan Fluss Director of MASHAV’s Policy Planning and External Relations Department, during the joint Israel- UN DESA High-Level Expert Group Meeting on Using Green Agriculture to Stimulate Economic Growth and Eradicate Poverty II 1 Ambassador Carmon (right) and Israel’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Oded Ben-Haim (center) visiting a Micro-propagation laboratory within the framework of MASHAV-USAID-MoARD cooperation program called upon member states to make greater efforts to promote the development and transfer of appropriate technologies. Let me take this opportunity, this time as the Head of MASHAV, to reaffirm my commitment to continue expanding our technical cooperation programs in the coming years, for the benefit of those who need it most. A large part of the world is facing severe long-term development challenges aggravated by the climate, economic, food and energy crises. Often, our attention is preoccupied with more immediate crises, and long-term challenges are put on the back-burner. Yet, for many countries, they are an urgent matter. We must therefore reach out to ensure social, economic and environmental sustainable development, joining the international community’s efforts to implement the Millennium Development Goals and providing a better livelihood for millions of people around the world. MASHAV will definitely be part of this effort! Sincerely, AMBASSADOR DANIEL CARMON Head of MASHAV Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation 2 1961-2011 THE GOLDA MEIR MOUNT CARMEL INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTER CELEBRATES ITS JUBILEE! MAZAL RENFORD AND YVONNE LIPMAN he year 2011 marked the 50th anniversary of the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International T Training Center (MCTC) – the first training extension operated by MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation. MCTC was designed for women specializing in topics of socio-economic advancement, and was one of the first training centers in the world in that area of expertise. MCTC’s establishment was the result of the conviction of Golda Meir, then Foreign Minister of the young State of Israel, that her country, with all its recent experience as a new state, was in a particularly useful position to offer meaningful assistance to women leaders in the newly independent African and Asian states, to help them advance the situation of women in their countries. Golda Meir had two strong women supporting her in her effort: Inga Thorsson, Ambassador of Sweden to Israel at that time, and Mina Ben-Zvi, a dynamic Israeli leader, who became MCTC’s Founding Director, a position she held for over 25 years. Indeed, Mina Ben-Zvi’s spirit, energy and personality are reflected in the reputation the Center holds today. Thanks to the efforts of these three women, in May 1961, 66 women participants from African, Asian and Mediterranean countries met in Haifa, Israel, to discuss “The Role of Women in a Developing Society”. The seminar culminated in a signed declaration proposing “establishing a center in Israel … promoting future national and international activities for the advancement of women.” The Mount Carmel Training Center opened its doors in Haifa as the result of that six-week seminar. Golda Meir (who later became Prime Minister of Israel, 1969-74) believed that women should “make the most of (themselves) by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” True to Ms. Meir’s philosophy, MCTC encourages the development of women’s leadership, through its training activities. Biennial international conferences are held for women leaders around the world, and in May 2011, exactly 50 years after the Mount Carmel Center opened, it celebrated its the jubilee at its 27th biennial International Women Leaders’ Conference, under the auspices of MASHAV and in cooperation with its international partner, UNESCO. The 2011 Conference topic was Science, Technology and Innovation: Education and Training for Women and Girls. It was intended for approximately 50 women leaders, active at senior policy-making level – ministers, MPs, professionals from the scientific and academic world, as well as senior officials working in NGOs and international and United Nations specialized agencies in developing and industrialized countries. 2 3 (From left to right) Dr. Asha-Rose Migiro, UN Deputy Conference delegate Ms. Stella Tamang speaking Secretary-General; MCTC Director Mazal Renford and Irina on behalf of all past participants Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO can change for the better – that efforts to ensure equality Its objectives were to advance the situation of women in between women and men can produce real progress. All of science, technology, innovation, exploring: this makes you powerful examples for others.” the availability of scientific and technological education and training to women; H.E. Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz, Israel’s Minister of Science and Technology, brought congratulations to MCTC on behalf “the ideal of equality of educational opportunity without of the government of Israel. He noted that the only way regard to race, sex” (UNESCO’s Constitution, Article 2 (b), to bridge gaps is by talking, and stated that “the ultimate 1945); universal language is that of science and technology.” attaining gender parity for women working in the areas In brief 10-15 minute presentations, each distinguished of science, technology and innovations at all levels; speaker – from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, ways of strengthening collaboration among nations Cameroon, China, Ecuador, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, and international organizations through education and Honduras, Israel, Kosovo, Lithuania, the Maldives, Mexico, training, research and development in science and New Zealand, Romania, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri technology. Lanka and Vietnam, and representatives of the National In addition to knowledge-sharing on topics concerning Innovation Fund (Kazakhstan), Save the Children Norway women in science, technology, and innovation, the and UNECE – presented her case, offering persuasive Conference provided an excellent networking opportunity figures, examples or arguments emphasizing the lack of with relevant stakeholders in the developing world and equity in opportunities for the development of a scientific internationally. career for women, or inequality in access to decision- making sites in research institutions. Equally distinguished Two of the world’s highest-ranking women – the participants from Bhutan,