Group items tagged

"Morocco has a population of about thirty million inhabitants, 45 percentage of who live in rural areas. This rate has been declining steadily for the past fifty years, though the rural exodus rate seems to have slowed down over the past decade. With a population growth rate that has also slowed down (1.4 percentage per year), the country is going through a demographic transition, or 'demographic windfall', with a significant increase in the working population estimated at 11.2 million people in 2005. On the whole, agriculture employs 43 percentage of the economically active population, but this rate goes up to 80 percentages in rural areas. Keeping in mind the 'entries' and 'exits' from the work force, the additional number of the individuals able to work was estimated in 2005 at 460,000 people, and the additional number of jobseekers is estimated at 380,000 per year for the next ten years. "

"The Farmers' Forum, born in 2005, is an on-going, bottom-up process of consultation and dialogue among small farmers' and rural producers' organizations (FOs), IFAD, and governments, focused on rural development and poverty reduction. Engagement with rural organizations at field level, and dialogue at regional and international levels, are articulated as mutually reinforcing processes. Fully aligned with IFAD's strategic objectives, and rooted in concrete partnership and collaboration at national and regional levels, the Forum meets every two years for global consultation, in conjunction with IFAD's Governing Council. The forthcoming global meeting of the Farmers' Forum will be held between 17 and 20 February 2014. "

"On 2 September 2014, Ms Katerina Ananiadou, Programme Specialist at UNESCO-UNEVOC, participated in a conference of the Global Network on Education & Youth. Organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and entitled "Youth - Lost in Transition?" the conference aimed at identifying the challenges of young people to transit to adulthood and what organizations can do to contribute to easing this transition. The conference aimed at providing a platform for cooperation and exchange between policy experts, scholars and practitioners, and covered topics including youth policy, formal and non-formal education, employability, violence prevention, political and civic participation."

"TVET experts from the European Union met in Brussels on 17 November to discuss the preliminary findings of a study on the Internationalization of TVET in EU countries, and the European Commission's role in this. The purpose of the study is to map policies and practices from the EU, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member states (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland), Australia and five International Organizations that support international cooperation in TVET, including UNESCO. A set of recommendations for future actions at the European and national levels will be included in the study's final report. UNESCO was represented at the meeting by Katerina Ananiadou, programme specialist at UNESCO-UNEVOC. The study was commissioned by the Directorate-General for Education and Culture and carried out by International http://www.icfi.com. The Commission and the contractors gathered feedback on the preliminary findings from national and international experts. Their feedback will be incorporated in the final version of the study, which is due to be published in December 2014."

Brief description of the Assignment: The objective of this assignment is to support the operationalization of the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy, elaborated as a response to Africa's youth unemployment and underemployment crisis. Specific objectives include the development of a strong pipeline of projects under the umbrella of the Bank's Job creation initiative for at least 15 Bank's Regional Member Countries. The scoping exercises aims to learn lessons on best and scalable practices at country level. The junior consultant will also support other activities which has a focus on job creation. The junior consultant will work closely with the Department for Human and Social Development and will further help coordinate at Bank wide level and across the Bank's task force on 'Jobs for Youth'

The ceremony was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Madagascar, in the presence of Omer Beriziky, Prime Minister of the High Authority of Transition of Madagascar, Rasoloson Dolin, President of the Supreme Council of Transition, members of the Government of Madagascar, the chief diplomat Comorian and Chairman of the IOC, Mohamed Bakri, representatives of the IOC member countries, the diplomatic corps and development partners. This initiative, in accordance with the decision taken at the 28th Council of Ministers of the IOC on the 17th January in Seychelles, aims to strengthen the diplomatic role of the IOC in Madagascar to support the process of crisis. "

"Kenya organized a national policy seminar to discuss IIEP research findings In the past few years, IIEP has coordinated extensive research on the implementation of decentralization in the education sector in Eastern and Southern Africa, in particular in Kenya, Lesotho, and Uganda, with a focus on one actor - the District Education Office - and one policy - school grants. The research has been conducted with technical and financial support from UNICEF, and in collaboration with Ministries of Education and national research institutions. While the research findings have been discussed during policy seminars organized at the regional level (Entebbe, Uganda, in February 2010, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in March 2012), the next step is to hold in-depth discussions with the main stakeholders at the national level. "

"The African Union Commission (AUC) and the NEPAD Agency will hold the 9th Comprehensive African Agriculture Development (CAADP) Partnership Platform (PP) from March 25 to 26, to evaluate progress and achievements made in implementing CAADP. CAADP is the Continent's main development programme to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture. It has a clear objective to raise agricultural productivity in Africa to at least 6 per cent annually and requires African countries to commit at least ten per cent of their national budgets to agricultural development. The PP is an annual high-level partnership platform, bringing together key stakeholders such as African governments, policy makers, civil society organisations and farmers' organisations to assess progress made in implementing the CAADP goals."

"A group of African farmers are producing a commodity, but every season they struggle to access the needed inputs - improved seeds, quality fertilizers and crop protection products - at the right time, in the right quantity and quality, in reasonable proximity to their farms and for a reasonable price. They often do not have the needed cash or credit to pay for the inputs. After harvest, the farmers struggle to sell their goods. Often, they have no choice but to sell their produce at the local market for a low price. They are not organized and do not have the capacity either to negotiate for better prices, or to store their produce until prices increase. Even the basic options needed to add value are beyond their reach."

On May 28, 2013 a ''Memorandum of Agreement'' has been signed between UNESCO-UNEVOC and the BIBB. Present were, amongst others, Dr. Shyamal Majumdar, Director of the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre in Bonn, Mr Borhene Chakroun, Director of TVET in UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, and Dr Eckart Lilienthal, Desk Officer BMBF and Professor Dr Reinhold Weiss, Vice President, BIBB. To honour this event, a reception was held at the UN premises in Bonn. The purpose of the Memorandum of Agreement is the prospect of a synergetic collaboration in projects pertaining to the fields of "Greening TVET" and knowledge management, which is supported by sending two experts from the BIBB to work at UNESCO-UNEVOC. The event was inspired by the rising interest worldwide in Technical and Vocational Education and Training cooperation with Germany. The need for closer cooperation, usage and strengthening of the UNEVOC network, consisting of 280 training institutions worldwide, has been emphasized as a primary aim. Mr Lilienthal stressed the great need for support of UNESCO-UNEVOC's effort to promote the areas of Youth & Skills and Greening TVET in the area of Technical and Vocational Education and Training in and outside of Germany. The two experts, who will support those areas, Dr Uta Roth and Ms Dagmar Winzier, are intended to be deployed to UNESCO-UNEVOC for one year initially.

On December 14, the Brookings Institution and TransFarm Africa organized a workshop titled "CAADP at 10 : Progress Towards Agricultural Prosperity" in Washington D.C. The event gathered about 30 participants from donors, development partners, universities, think tanks and private sectors, aiming to provide a policy dialogue about the progress of CAADP in the past decade, current challenges, and recommendations as the program approaches its 2015 deadline for achieving its commitments

"Call for Papers The JVET Conference Committee are pleased to be able to invite contributions to the highly successful biennial JVET conference. This meeting has been providing a lively and stimulating forum for debates concerning all aspects of work and learning since 1995. Contributions are welcome in the following areas of vocational and professional education and training, and contributions to any area of debate in VET will be considered: Globalization and skills Vocational Education in times of crisis Access to VET for minoritised groups VET policy The changing institutional context of VET Curriculum and assessment in VET The student experience of VET Work-related Learning 200 word abstracts of papers should be submitted by January 31 2013. Acceptance will be notified by 28 February 2013. Email your abstract to Pete Sanderson at p.j.sanderson@hud.ac.uk Enquiries about the Conference can be addressed to Bill Bailey at b.bailey@gre.ac.uk"

"The challenge, conducted in concert with Visualizing.org, was launched in September 2012 to solicit visualisations based on the OECD's data-rich Education at a Glance report. Entries from around the world focused on data related to the economic costs and return on investment in education - both for the individual and for society. Winners Krisztina Szucs and Mate Cziner from Hungary were chosen for successfully breaking down the complex interplay between costs and returns into a form that is easy to compare.[please see below]. Their entry takes a detailed look at public vs. private and men vs. women for selected countries, which can be changed. "

"After Brussels 2008, Rome 2009, Gijon 2010, Gdansk 2011, and Gothenburg 2012, the 2013 European Maritime Day will be held in Malta. The European Maritime Day conference in Malta shall be held on Tuesday 21st and Wednesday 22nd of May 2013 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, the capital. The main theme of the European Maritime Day 2013 Conference will focus on coastal development and sustainable maritime tourism in the wider context of Blue Growth. It will be an occasion to reflect, at high level, on how to make Blue Growth happen through sustainable tourism, connectivity and coastal management. A special focus will be made on the Mediterranean Region."

"28 November-1 December 2016. Nairobi, Kenya. Hosted by the Government of Kenya in Nairobi HLM2 : Took stock of the implementation of development effectiveness principles and commitments Provided a learning space on development effectiveness, showcasing successful examples Identified innovative approaches to sustainable development that can be scaled up Position the Global Partnership to effectively contribute to implementation of the SDGs and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda Based on an inclusive consultation that concluded in Kenya at the Global Partnership's HLM2, the was released on 1 December 2016. This document will help to shape how existing and new development actors can partner to implement Agenda 2030 and realise the SDGs."

"Bonn, 27 Nov 2013. Rethinking rural development__ Opportunities for new partnerships and territorial approaches in a changing rural environment is the lead theme for the Platform annual general assembly in Paris on 22/23 January. Important challenges and new opportunities for development agendas bring about a need for a more inclusive approach to agricultural development. At the moment donors are not always equipped to address the inherent complexity. Could a modern territorial approach be the solution?"

"Sent: 2014-09-29 22:02 #1 Subject: DACUM I - public workshops in Canada From: cvaacfp [cvaacfpbulletin@gmail.com] The next DACUM I - public workshops in Canada will be held on November 3-6 2014 Ottawa, ON November 17-20 2014 Calgary, AB For more information see our site http://cva-acfp.org/training-and-workshops/dacum-i-analysis-facilitator/ DACUM II The dates for the DACUM II public workshops are determined at the end of each DACUM I workshop with participants wishing to take this second module. IN-HOUSE WORKSHOPS Arrangements can be made for the delivery in English or French (or in an other language via an interpreter) of the CVA DACUM Training workshops, either in a standard or adapted format, to address specific requests and needs from private or public organizations / associations in Canada or in other countries. For more information, please contact the CVA DACUM Training Program Coordinator, Pierre Morin at : pmform@yahoo.com or by phone (1-450-463-4313). Follow us Twitter https://twitter.com/CVA_ACFP"

"(20/05/2014) This year's European Maritime Day Conference held over the 19 & 20 May in Bremen, saw industry experts and policy makers from across Europe come together to discuss how innovation and research in the maritime economy can drive a European growth and jobs recovery whilst securing a sustainable future for Europe's seas. The main conclusions drawn by participants included: There is a vast potential for jobs and sustainable growth in the maritime economy. To exploit it we need to invest more in knowledge and innovation and focus on placing sustainability at the heart of Blue Growth. The issues related to seas and oceans can only be addressed at international level - more global governance is of paramount importance. The EU's Maritime Spatial Planning and Maritime Security Strategy are good examples of what can be achieved. Next year's European Maritime Day will be held by Piraeus, Greece, in May 2015."

Madagascar has been entirely unsuccessful in reducing the number of its people that are poor, or extremely so, in the ten years since 2001, when poverty was already at a very high level. This well-known conclusion draws on the analysis of three successive rounds of the national household expenditure surveys (enquete periodiques aupres des menages, EPM) conducted by the Madagascar National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) in 2001, 2005, and 2010. The objective of the analysis in this report is to document the levels and changes in poverty in Madagascar, and provide a detailed review of correlates of poverty and inequality in various dimensions, including gender, age, the structure of households, and place of residence. The report is an assessment of past poverty trends, and while policy implications are highlighted in many cases, the report is focused mainly on the descriptive, rather than prescriptive. It is found that the poverty headcount did not decrease between 2001 and 2005, rising instead from 71 to 75 percent of the population, rather than the 68 percent estimated official headcount for 2005. The methodology is described at length in the report and its annexes.

"HLPE StC Renewal - Call for Nominations The Steering Committee of the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) is to be renewed in 2015, for a 2-year term starting at the closure of CFS42 (2015) and ending at closure of CFS44 (2017). A call for nomination of experts is open from 3 November 2014 to 31 January 2015 (3 months). The letter from the CFS Chair and Secretary, calling for nominations, is available to download here [or in AR, ES, FR, RU]. Nominations can be submitted by all CFS members, participants and stakeholders. Nominators shall request their specific, dedicated, password-protected access to the nomination site by sending an e-mail to cfs-hlpe@fao.org. The given login and password will be specific to each nominating country or organization. The nomination procedure is entirely web-based via an online application form. Read more about the process here"