You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'Development' tag.
Erle Frayne Argonza
Good morning!
We just received a few days back the gladdening news that the Philippines, my beloved country of embodiment, garnered the 6th top rank among the best Gender Empowerment countries. This is no small feat, or is in fact a giant feat for a nation that is still struggling to get out of the clutches of its colonial past and born anew as a prosperous and mighty nation.
As the report says, the Nordin nations garnered the top posts, and half of the top 10 are Norse in nature. This is likewise a very gladdening news for a region (Nordics) that had for centuries been mired in low culture, authoritarianism, imperial expansionism, and predatory state practices.
Bro. Erle / Guru Ra hereby extends his Big Kudos to the Filipino women and to men as well for re-creating our society into a very gender friendly and liberated land for our women and other genders.
Mabuhay!
[17 November 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]
Erle Frayne Argonza
Good morning from Manila!
It seems the excitement in Iraq’s S&T is moving to higher pitches, despite the noise and flames of the ensuing war there. The policy environment is getting to be more definitive, and a new state institution is being installed to address S&T research and development needs of the country.
See the exciting news below.
[Writ 06 October 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
New authority and law to push Iraqi research
Wagdy Sawahel
26 September 2008 | EN | 中文
Flickr/rxwarren
Iraq is to establish a scientific research authority (SRA) to promote science and technology research and improve science policy, and will consider a new law offering scientists significant financial benefits.
The SRA was announced by Abd Dhiab al-Ajili, the Iraqi minister for higher education and scientific research last week (15 September).
It will function independently from the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR) and have a separate, as yet undisclosed, budget. Its exact start date has yet to be decided.
The authority will oversee all of the science and technology centres associated with universities and have the capacity to fund research directly. It will also prepare science policy reports reviewing subjects including best practice for funding research, measuring the quality of scientific research, and methods for knowledge dissemination.
The SRA will suggest educational programmes and provide analysis for the MHESR on Iraq’s needs to build its scientific and technological capacity. It will also provide advice to the MHESR and university science centres on topics such as ethics, socioeconomic impact, health and environmental concerns and intellectual property rights.
The Iraqi government is also set to consider a new law aiming to persuade scientists, innovators and engineers abroad to return to the country.
Samir Ibrahim Abbas, deputy director-general at the Iraq Ministry of Science and Technology and a member of the ministerial committee preparing the law, says a draft will be ready within six weeks and submitted to the government.
The proposed law also offers incentives to top scientists and innovators working in Iraq.
These include increased salaries — currently on average less than US$1,000 a month — of 300–350 per cent making it equivalent to the Iraqi deputy ministerial salary level. Other benefits include exemption from the mandatory retirement age of 63 years and preferential treatment and reduced prices when buying land for housing.
Abbas says the law will reward different levels of scientists and innovators depending on their scientific achievements.
Scientists would be expected to apply for the benefits, overseen by a central body comprising representatives from scientific committees in different scientific and technological fields who would be responsible for the evaluation and assessment of candidates.
Erle Frayne Argonza
From Lima beans to Lima community-based XDR-TB treatment, Lima got it! The exciting news about lessons that we can cull from Lima’s health teachings is that the components of the community-based approach are comprehensive and not just “let me inoculate you Patient so you won’t be vector to your household members and neighbors” sort of dinosaur treatment.
Below is the news about the special TB treatment that Lima shares to us all.
[28 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
We can learn from XDR-TB treatment in Lima
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
11 August 2008 | EN | ES
A nurse prepares TB drugs in Peru
World Lung Foundation
A new report from Lima, Peru, offers hope for tackling extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in the developing world, says Mario C. Raviglione in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The report shows that with “aggressive and appropriate” management, XDR-TB can be cured in most cases.
Raviglione highlights some of the factors that may have contributed to Peru’s success in treating the disease. All patients were given systematic drug-susceptibility tests and were treated with powerful second-line drugs, including a fluoroquinolone and an injectable drug. Where necessary, treatment regimens were reinforced with known effective drugs.
Strict community-based supervision was enforced, comprising psychological support, nutritional support and financial incentives. Additionally, intense bacteriological and clinical monitoring allowed for readjustments where necessary.
Raviglione believes that applying such an approach on a more global scale would help minimise, and effectively manage, drug resistance.
“In 2008, scaling up is indeed the major challenge faced by most complex health interventions worldwide … Effectiveness of a complex intervention depends on coordinated work among all forces.”
Erle Frayne Argonza
As late as a century ago, Americans and Spaniards made the public claims that Filipinos were “monkeys without tails.” Before they left the islands, the Spaniards believed that “Indians (including Filipinos) are animals that talk like humans.”
That being the case, then let us say to those Americans and Spaniards: “thanks Brothers!” Yes, we are all siblings on Earth, and if one regards the other as monkeys then we are all monkeys for that matter.
Now, por las Indias de Peru, there’s good news about their potentials for learning technology through their mother tongue. Read the good news below.
[28 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Erle Argonza is 75% Malayan blood, or is an Indio Bravo, a “monkey without tail” from Manila.]
Perú: mujeres aprenden en quechua a usar computadoras
Zoraida Portillo
15 agosto 2008 | ES
Mil quinientas mujeres rurales hablantes de quechua, están recibiendo capacitación en su propia lengua para emplear tecnologías de comunicación e información (TIC), como parte de un proyecto que busca acortar la brecha digital en América Latina.
Las mujeres pertenecen a 33 comunidades de la provincia andina de Pampa Cangallo, en Ayacucho, una de las zonas más pobres del Perú.
El proyecto se denomina 1@+tú=1€ y es promovido por la Fundación CTIC (Centro Tecnológico de la Información y la Comunicación) de Asturias, institución sin fines de lucro que según un comunicado de prensa de fines de julio, desde 2007 ha capacitado a más de siete mil personas en América Latina. Su objetivo es acercar la sociedad de la información a personas que no tienen un fácil acceso.
En el Perú, el proyecto se denomina “Incorporando las TIC en la Acción Comunitaria de las Casas del Bien Estar” y es ejecutado por la ONG Movimiento Manuela Ramos (MMR), con más de 30 años de experiencia en proyectos de igualdad de género.
Claudia Rosas, asistente del proyecto, confirmó a SciDev.Net que el proyecto ha resultado altamente beneficioso para las mujeres, que ahora se sienten “menos vulnerables, mejor empoderadas y más comunicadas” y ya están enseñando las TIC a más hombres y mujeres de sus comunidades.
Gracias a la capacitación ahora saben, por ejemplo, qué hacer y dónde buscar información sobre sus derechos en cuanto a violencia doméstica y abandono familiar, pueden gestionar demandas, conocer nuevas fuentes de ingresos y realizar actividades de desarrollo comunitario, especialmente en salud.
Como la capacitación se hace en quechua, ellas se sienten cómodas y aprenden con facilidad, precisó Rosas.
Las Casas del Bien Estar han sido equipadas como infocentros. Las mujeres las denominan Rimanacuyta Yachana Wasi (Casa donde te enseñan a comunicarte).
El proyecto, que terminará a fines de agosto, ha permitido incluso que muchas personas ubiquen a sus familiares desplazados de la zona por la violencia política que sacudió a Ayacucho en la década del 80.
Erle Frayne Argonza
Hola compadrinos y compadrinos del pais Chile! Que tal!
I do honestly admire the Chileans for their great drive to propel their country to economic prosperity. And I have no better wish than to see the Chileans let go of that Dark Age past of tyrannical rule by the barracks folks. Chileans might profit the better if they move on in their creative pursuits, undistracted by the impurities of barracks mindsets that they have acquired from their tormentors.
Chileans should in fact thank their tormentors, as the tempest they all experienced, which we Filipinos did pass through as well, have tempered them all for greater challenges, strengthened their collective wills-to-prosperity, and ascend the ladder of national success. Let go of that past, Chilean fellows, please.
Here is a good news from Chileans about the renewable energy potentials of the country.
[28 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
Chile: alto potencial de uso de energías renovables
Paula Leighton
15 agosto 2008 | ES
[SANTIAGO] Las energías renovables no convencionales (ERNC) y el uso eficiente de la energía eléctrica podrían satisfacer hasta el 40 por ciento de los requerimientos energéticos de Chile en 2025.
Así lo demuestra un estudio de las universidades de Chile y Federico Santa María, difundido el pasado 8 de agosto, que estimó el potencial aporte de energías como la eólica, hidráulica, biomasa, geotérmica y solar en el país.
La cifra supera largamente las metas impuestas por la Ley de Energía aprobada en marzo pasado.
Según esta ley, entre 2010 y 2014 las empresas generadoras y distribuidoras deberán proporcionar cinco por ciento de la energía que comercializan a partir de fuentes renovables y llegar al diez por ciento en 2024.
En 2025 la demanda del Sistema Interconectado Central (SIC) alcanzará a 105.560 GWh. Para ese año, las ERNC y el uso eficiente de la energía eléctrica podrían contribuir con cerca de 40.000 GWh, estima el informe.
“Esto significa un mejoramiento de la calidad del servicio, disminución de la dependencia energética, aumento de la competitividad y productividad de las empresas y reducción de los impactos ambientales locales”, dicen los investigadores.
Así, el uso de ERNC reduciría la emisión de CO2 en 16 millones de toneladas por año, estiman los autores.
Según dijo a SciDev.Net Sara Larraín, directora de la ONG Chile Sustentable, incluso considerando que el potencial económicamente factible de las ERNC es de alrededor de 17 a 28 por ciento de los requerimientos para 2025, “el porcentaje triplica la meta obligatoria fijada por el gobierno en la ley de energías renovables”.
Por eso, agrega, “la legislación es el único instrumento que tiene el Estado para obligar a las empresas a desarrollar esta opción, que es a largo plazo más barata”.
Para impulsar el potencial de las ERNC, el estudio propone crear una Agencia Nacional de Energías Renovables autónoma.
Erle Frayne Argonza
If there is anything I wish from the Dominican Republic, it is that the leaders of this esteemed nation will tell the world powers and all other countries to “shut up you bellicose lunatics and take down your armies!” Should the DomRepublicans say that, I will re-echo the message here in ASEAN and say “shut up you blabbermouth warmongers and close down your armies!”
That’s a mere wish thing though. More realistically, a news from our esteemed DomRepublican friends pronounced the increasing usage of ICT in their home country. Latin Americans better pay attention to this news, such as Mexico which seems bent on fattening its oligarchs’ purses from non-sensical if not criminal rent-seeking engagements at the expense of high-tech progress.
The great news is contained below.
[28 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
Crece uso de las TIC en República Dominicana
Fuente: 7 Días
13 agosto 2008 | ES
73,4% de los dominicanos tiene celular
El 67,1 por ciento de los hogares dominicanos tiene acceso al teléfono celular; el 24,5 por ciento al teléfono fijo y el 5,1 por ciento a Internet.
Además, el 34,3 por ciento de las personas mayores de 12 años usa la computadora y el 25,4 por ciento Internet. En este mismo rango de edad, el 73,4 por ciento de los dominicanos tiene acceso al teléfono celular.
Así lo revelan datos preliminares de la Encuesta Nacional de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples (ENHOGAR), en su versión de 2007, difundidos el pasado 7 de agosto, según consigna el diario 7 Días.
De acuerdo con el diario, para el director de la Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas, Pablo Tactuk, estos datos muestran que los esfuerzos por insertar al país en la sociedad de la información han dado sus frutos.
Sin embargo, agrega 7 Días, al referirse a la penetración de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC) en el país, Tactuk “reconoció que existen diferencias ‘notables’ atendiendo a las características socioeconómicas, geográficas y de escolaridad en el acceso a estas tecnologías por lo que llamó a redoblar los esfuerzos para incluir a los sectores que están rezagados”.
Erle Frayne Argonza
So many of our scientific models of ecological reality need gross revisions. I am aware for instance that the model for the ‘water cycle’ is badly flawed, yet the scientific community has not done much to revise it.
Here is another facet of reality—climate change—where the existing models are found to be flawed. From East Asian scientists, notably Beijing, come the observation that the existing models ‘ignore brown carbon’. It need not belabored that the models must be revised.
The news about the observations regarding the model is contained below. What is gladdening is that scientists were able to uncover the flaw, which will ensure revision of the model and the practical technologies coming out from the labs later.
[28 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
Current climate models ‘ignoring brown carbon’
Sun Xiaohua and Jia Hepeng
15 August 2008 | EN | 中文
Smog over Bangkok, Thailand
Flickr/gullevek
[BEIJING] Scientists have found that air pollution from East Asia contains an abundance of ‘brown carbon’ particles and say that atmospheric models need updating to incorporate their effect.
Current climate models take into account two types of aerosol carbon — organic carbon and black carbon — that arise from the burning of fossil fuels or biomass.
Black carbon strongly warms the atmosphere by absorbing light, while organic carbon absorbs light at a negligible level and has no warming effect.
It has already been claimed black carbon plays a much larger role in global warming than estimates made by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (see Black carbon climate danger ‘underestimated’).
But this approximation is too simple, according to Peter Crozier, an associate professor at Arizona State University (ASU) in the United States, whose team published their research in Science last week (8 August).
According to the authors, the method that is currently used to measure the warming effect of different types of particle doesn’t take into account the wide variations that can occur between types of carbon from different sources.
They instead used a technique based on a specialised type of electron microscope to directly determine the optical properties of individual carbon particles, and found that samples taken from above the Yellow Sea, east of China, have an abundance of brown carbon particles.
“Brown carbon has light absorbing properties that lie between strongly absorbing black carbon and materials that only scatter light and do not absorb,” co-author James Anderson, a research scientist at ASU’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, told SciDev.Net.
He adds that brown carbon both cools the Earth’s surface and warms the atmosphere, resulting in a complex role in global warming, hence the necessity to incorporate it into climate models.
Hu Guoquan, a senior scientist at the Beijing-based National Climate Centre, welcomes the study, saying it highlights the uncertainties of IPCC models.
“But more studies on the chemical structure and size of brown carbon particles must be done,” he told SciDev.Net.
In addition, Hu says, as many carbon aerosols pollutants are emitted by China or India — which have massive combustion of fossil fuels and biomass — judging their accurate warming or cooling effect must be done cautiously and avoid claims without sufficient scientific evidence, as this will contribute to determining the nations’ responsibilities in global warming.
Erle Frayne Argonza
Tuberculosis could be a way to contract HIV, and cases encountered in the field are replete with this route to the dreaded disease.
From Cape Town comes a welcome news about a wonder drug that is most effective for treating patients who become sick of HIV precisely thru the TB way.
The good news is contained below.
[28 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila]
Scientists reveal ‘most effective’ drug for HIV/TB patients
Carol Campbell
15 August 2008 | EN | 中文
Efavirenz capsules
Flickr/MikeBlyth
[CAPE TOWN] The antiretroviral drug efavirenz has been recommended for tuberculosis patients who then contract HIV.
Researchers compared the effectiveness of the antiretroviral drugs efavirenz and nevirapine in 4,000 South African HIV patients. Some already had tuberculosis (TB) and were taking rifampicin.
Nevirapine — the cheaper of the two drugs — was found to be less effective in patients with existing TB, with higher HIV loads in their blood than those on efavirenz.
HIV-infected patients who were already on antiretroviral drugs when they subsequently developed TB were unaffected, highlighting the complexity of treating concurrent HIV and TB infections.
Researchers from the Western Cape provincial health department, Médecins Sans Frontières and the University of Cape Town (UCT) published their findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association (6 August).
Study leader Andrew Boulle warns that the research is not a rejection of nevirapine, which is popular in the developing world because of its low cost, simplicity of use and its safety for pregnant HIV-infected women.
“Four out of five of our patients in the study continued to do well on nevirapine,” said Boulle, a public health specialist from the School of Public Health and Family Medicine at UCT.
The long-standing anti-TB drug rifampicin slows down the liver’s ability to process nevirapine, making the anti-HIV drug less effective and causing an increase in virus levels.
Efavirenz is only slightly affected by rifampicin, said Katherine Hildebrand, another UCT researcher. But it costs twice the price of nevirapine. “We need to get the price of efavirenz down in places with high HIV/TB co-infection,” she told SciDev.Net.
The research also disproves earlier assumptions that people with both TB and HIV may need increased doses of efavirenz. Researchers found that efavirenz in normal doses was ideal for HIV patients regardless of whether they had TB or not.
“Efavirenz should be used unless there are compelling reasons not to use it. Unfortunately many developing countries do not have access to efavirenz which is more expensive,” said Gary Maartens from UCT medical school’s clinical pharmacology division. Botswana and South Africa both use efavirenz extensively.
Link to abstract in Journal of the American Medical Association
Erle Frayne Argonza
Amigos y amigas, Buenos dias again!
Chile has boosted its own path to renewable energy by recently priming up its research & development efforts in biofuels. This is a long shot in the arm for Chile which had moved on to an ‘emerging market’ status over the last two (2) decades.
Below is the brightening news about Chile’s biocombustible development.
Happy reading! Venceremos!
[14 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
Chile enfatiza biocombustibles de tecnología avanzada
María Elena Hurtado
3 julio 2008 | ES
Los bosques sureños son materia prima ideal para producir combustibles líquidos
Instituto Forestal de Chile
[SANTIAGO DE CHILE] La asignación, en los próximos días, de hasta 6 millones de dólares a consorcios público-privados para la investigación, desarrollo y comercialización de biocombustibles de tecnología avanzada, o de segunda generación, confirma el anuncio sobre la prioridad que Chile dará a este tipo de biocombustibles que la presidenta Michelle Bachelet hiciera el 21 de mayo durante la exposición anual al Parlamento .
Los biocombustibles de segunda generación – que se obtienen de materias lignocelulósicas como los rastrojos o residuos de trigo y deschos de la silvicultura y madera – tienen la ventaja de no competir con los alimentos y aprovechar residuos. El proceso de conversión en bioetanol es más largo y complicado que el del bioetanol tradicional y costaría más que los demás biocombustibles
InnovaChile, dependiente del Ministerio de Economía, financiará hasta en un 60%, es decir hasta US$6.3 millones, a consorcios que propongan planes de investigación, desarrollo y comercialización de biocombustibles a partir de material lignocelulósico.
Los consorcios seleccionados deberán constituirse este año y obtener resultados en cinco años como máximo, aunque se espera que en tres años ya puedan entrar al mercado. Dos consorcios formados por empresas forestales y universidades – Bioenercel y ForEnergy – ya están desarrollando proyectos de estas características en el país.
“Aunque la superficie forestal chilena podría abastecer una industria de combustibles de segunda generación…lo más conveniente para el país es continuar plantando los abundantes terrenos forestales todavía disponibles pero con nuevas especies especialmente seleccionadas para uso energético, y de ese modo, evitar una competencia entre los dos tipos de uso de material prima,” comentó a SciDev.Net el Subsecretario de Agricultura, Reinaldo Ruiz.
Hasta fines del 2007 Chile -junto con Ecuador y Venezuela- eran los únicos países sudamericanos que no tenían leyes que promovieran los biocombustibles (Venezuela por ser productor de petróleo).
Pero Chile se ha estado poniendo rápidamente al día. En marzo de este año el Congreso aprobó una ley sobre energías renovables no convencionales que incluye los biocombustibles. En mayo se autorizó la mezcla de bioetanol con gasolina en 2 por ciento y 5 por ciento del volumen resultante de la mezcla. También se eximió a los biocombustibles del impuesto a la gasolina y el diesel, y las empresas estatales de cobre y petróleo – CODELCO y ENAP – empezarán a usar biodiesel en sus maquinarias para evaluarlo.
Finalmente, el 30 de junio se creó la Comisión Asesora Interministerial en Materia de Biocombustibles que asesorará a todos los organismos públicos involucrados en esta materia, fijará directrices, propondrá orientaciones estratégicas y prestará apoyo para implementar políticas.
Erle Frayne Argonza
It seems that under the leadership of the nationalists, Venezuela has been surging ahead in S&T. This situation just wasn’t there during the era of oligarchic rule, to the chagrin of the pro-West elites who wish to enchain the Venezuelans to ignorance and poverty.
From the world of oil companies comes a welcome news about Petrol’s magnanimous efforts to boost science research and development, particularly in the area of health research.
The news item is contained below.
Happy viewing!
[14 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
Venezuela: petroleras aportan US$ 1,7 millón a ciencia
Marielba Núñez
3 julio 2008 | ES
La Unidad de Tecnología Nuclear del IVIC recibió los aportes de la empresa Shell
Cortesía IVIC
[CARACAS] Los consorcios energéticos Shell y Total Oil de Venezuela firmaron el 20 y el 25 de junio, respectivamente, convenios de cooperación con el Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC) para el financiamiento de fondos bibliográficos y proyectos de formación y dotación de equipos en el área de física médica y tecnología nuclear. Por medio de estos acuerdos, el IVIC recibirá el equivalente a US$1.746.000.
La compañía Shell otorgó a la institución más de US$1,5 millón para instalar a través del Plan Nacional de Oncología, equipos de radioterapia para el tratamiento de cáncer y apoyar la formación de postgrado en el área de protección radiológica, radiodiagnóstico, radioterapia y medicina nuclear.
Por su parte, la compañía Total Oil confirió al IVIC más de US$214 mil para apoyar el financiamiento de suscripciones a 103 publicaciones científicas internacionales.
Estas publicaciones son administradas por la Biblioteca Marcel Roche, que funciona en el IVIC, y pueden ser consultadas de forma gratuita por estudiantes e investigadores. El centro fue declarado por la Unesco biblioteca regional para América Latina y el Caribe.
Los acuerdos de cooperación se firmaron en el marco de la Ley Orgánica de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, que obliga a las empresas en Venezuela a otorgar un porcentaje que va entre 0,5 por ciento y 2 por ciento de sus ingresos brutos a proyectos de desarrollo científico.
Edwin Rodríguez, jefe de cooperación técnica del IVIC, declaró a SciDev.Net que estos convenios muestran que la ley ha servido “para establecer alianzas estratégicas entre el sector productivo y el sector científico”.
Erle Frayne Argonza
In the sub-Saharan region, so many exciting developments are going on that deserve our attention. Among these are gigantic projects that are funded by the billions of dollars.
Below is a news briefer about Kenya, Nigeria, and the entire region concerning both ongoing projects and assessment reports about problems that need to be addressed.
Happy viewing!
[14 August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
Sub-Saharan Africa news in brief: 19 June–3 July
3 July 2008 | EN
Kenyan and Nigerian researchers will bioengineer improved cassava
CGIAR
Below is a round up of news from or about Sub-Saharan Africa for the 19 June–3 July 2008.
Kenya and Nigeria plan bioengineered cassava trials
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture will next year begin field trials in Kenya and Nigeria on long-lasting cassava roots fortified with vitamins, minerals and protein, bioengineered to resist damaging viruses and requiring less processing time. Kenya’s Agricultural Research Institute and Nigeria’s Root Crops Research Institute will provide support. More>>
DRC benefits first from US$5 billion African hydropower project
Aluminium smelters in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will, in 2010, be the first to receive power from a US$5 billion hydroelectric project on the Congo river. The project, planned since 2003 and jointly owned by the energy ministries of Angola, Botswana, the DRC, Namibia and South Africa, should be complete by 2015. More>>
Yaws disease remains a threat
The crippling and disfiguring yaws disease remains a threat in developing countries, including those in west and central Africa, despite almost being eradicated in the 1960s. WHO specialist Kingsley Asiedu says[171kB], the disease needs to be considered a priority once again — especially since one injection is all a cure needs. More>> [138kB]
South African telescope bid receives boost
Africa’s chances of hosting the Square Kilometre Array — the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the world — has received a boost with South Africa’s approval of the Astronomy Geographic Advantage Bill. The bill gives the country’s science and technology ministry the power to protect astronomical research regions, including the proposed South African site for the array, from development. More>>
‘Non-recommended drug use raising resistance fears in Mozambique
Researchers have expressed ‘concern’ that Mozambican authorities continue to treat malaria with a combination of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and artesunate drugs. All neighbouring countries have abandoned antimalarial drug combinations using SP due to drug resistance problems. Conditions are now ideal for artesunate drug resistance and may even endanger second-line drugs. More>> [205kB]
Couple counselling can help cut HIV risk, African research reveals
Counselling for couples could cut the rate of HIV transmission between partners in long-term relationships by up to 60 per cent, researchers say. Based on the results of their study, conducted in Lusaka, Zambia, and Kigali in Rwanda, they say all African governments should urgently scale up HIV testing, condoms, circumcision and antiretroviral drugs for cohabiting couples. More>>*
Africa lagging on Clean Development Mechanisms
Only 25 of the 1,090 registered Clean Development Mechanism projects in developing countries are in Africa, with 11 in South Africa. Projects in the mechanism aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but companies in South Africa have complained that the amount of time to set up projects is double that stated in provided guidelines. More>>
Namibia moves to boost hydropower
Namibia is negotiating with Angola to store water alongside the Kunene River during the rainy season to help boost its electricity capacity through hydropower. Namibia’s only hydroelectricity station, the Ruacana power plant, stops in the dry season when the river runs dry. Analyst Moses Duma says Namibia also has a good market for wind, solar and gas power. More>>
South African satellite wait continues
South Africa is still waiting to launch its Sumbandila environmental monitoring satellite. A delegation from Russia’s civilian space agency Roskosmos is due to visit South Africa to discuss alternative options after the Russian government blocked the planned launch last year. Meanwhile, South Africa has held its first two public consultation sessions on a proposed space strategy. More>>
*Free registration is required to view this article.
Compiled by Christina Scott. Additional reporting by Frederick Baffour Opoku, Onche Odeh and Sharon Davis.
If you would like to suggest a story for this news in brief, please contact the Africa News Editor Christina Scott (christina.scott@scidev.net).
Erle Frayne Argonza
Good morning!
South-south cooperation has been intensifying in the past years. The coverage of such cooperation has been from basic research to financing projects, and onwards to project implementation.
In Africa, industrial cooperation and research has been boosted anew with the efforts of Egypt to install an industrial center. This center will largely cater to African stakeholders.
The news item is contained below.
Happy reading!
[14 August, 2008, Quezon City, Manila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
South–South industrial centre opens in Egypt
Wagdy Sawahel
3 July 2008 | EN | 中文
The centre will provide technical and industrial support, including training, to less advanced countries
SciDev.Net/Catherine Brahic
[CAIRO] Egypt has opened a US$10 million centre for transferring technology and promoting innovation-based industrial development among African countries.
The South–South Industrial Cooperation Centre (SICC) was opened this week (1 July) to coincide with the 11th African Union Summit held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, between 30 June and 1 July.
The African Union, the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry are funding the Cairo-based centre, Hany Barakat, head of technological development sector at the ministry, told SciDev.Net.
SICC is part of a UNIDO scheme to establish South–South cooperation centres in countries that have highly developed technological or industrial capabilities to provide technical support to less advanced countries.
The first centre opened in India in January 2007. A similar centre is to be set up in China, with further centres in Brazil, Iran and South Africa also envisioned.
Barakat says the aim of the centre is to promote South–South cooperation in science, manufacturing, technology and industrial innovation as well as providing assistance to African countries in their efforts to strengthen their scientific, technological and innovative capacities.
He says the centre is a direct action of the African Technology and Innovation Initiative (ATII) that African heads of state approved at the January 2008 African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The initiative will set up five African networks to develop skills and resources at all stages of the industrial manufacturing process, from product design through to certification of international standards and exports.
“ATII aims at changing Africa, which accounts for only two per cent of global manufactured products, from natural resource-based economies towards manufacturing-based economies,” says Barakat.
The new centre can be considered the first step towards the establishment of the African network of technology transfer and innovation centres that will serve the African continent, says Barakat. In the future, focal points or branches of SICC could be established in different African countries.
An Arab network for technology transfer and innovation promotion is also being set up, says Barakat. So far, seven countries — Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Tunisia — have joined. The network will help Arab companies improve quality and competitiveness by harnessing science and adopting new technologies, and provide professional training.
Erle Frayne Argonza
Middle East countries just had a boost with the setting up of a renewable energy center in Egypt. The center will conduct focused research on renewable energy, and is partly funded by the European Union.
The news item about the center is contained below.
Happy reading!
[13August 2008, Quezon City, MetroManila. Thanks to SciDev database news.]
Egyptian centre to push Middle East renewables
Wagdy Sawahel
2 July 2008 | EN
Flickr/dogwelder
[CAIRO] Egypt has established a US$30 million centre for renewable energy for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The Regional Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, located at Nasser City, Cairo, was opened last week (25 June) at a ceremony in Cairo.
It is supported by grants of US$11 million from the European Union through the European Investment Bank and the European Commission in Egypt, US$9.5 million from the German Agency for Technical Cooperation and US$3 million from the Danish International Development Agency. The Egyptian Ministry of Electricity and Energy is contributing US$6.3 million.
The centre will carry out research on renewable energy, including the testing of solar and wind power technologies.
It will provide consultancy services to governments and private companies, promote knowledge and technology transfer between companies and governments in the region and the North, and run training programmes to help set up technologies around the region.
The centre will also have direct contact with research centres in Europe dealing with renewable energy and take part in formulating policies related to renewable energy.
The initial grants from the Egyptian and European governments will support the scientific activities for the next five years, says Fathy Ameen Mohammad, vice chairman for projects, operations and maintenance at Egypt’s New & Renewable Energy Authority. After this period the centre should be able to finance itself through its consultancy and training services.
The centre will be governed by a board including representatives from member countries including Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen. This board will guide the centre to promote plans for renewable energy in the region as well as helping the private sector to invest in renewable energy.
Wael Hmaidan, executive director of the Lebanon-based environmental group IndyAct (The League of Independent Activists) says, “If we cover only one per cent of the Arabian Desert with concentrated solar power technology, we can produce enough electricity to power the whole planet”.
Hmaidan adds that the region’s strategic location increases the importance of its renewable energy potential. “Situated in the middle of the old world, between Europe, Africa and Asia, we can supply solar electricity through efficient high-voltage lines to all three continents,” he says.
erleargonza
Recent Comments