Updates Links/NGO News

 

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NGO News:] Open Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations (at the ministerial level)

 United Nations the Alliance of Civilizations 

Open Meeting of the Group of Friends of the Alliance of Civilizations (at the ministerial level),

organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). 

This event is planned under the theme ‘New and Emerging Ideological Threats to Global Peace & Co-Existence’ and takes place on 26 September 2014 (08:30AM-01:00PM, Conference Room 3, CB, UNHQs, New York).

This timely meeting of the UNAOC is needed to advance the discussion of the role of the Alliance in combating violent extremism, the role of states in this endeavor, and institutional responsibilities at national, regional and international levels. The International Community can benefit from the lessons learned in efforts to educate youth on the need to build a culture of peace. In this regard, the meeting will also explore the role of the media, the impact of migration and other human expressions that affect global efforts of combating intolerance and incitement to hatred based on faith or background. Recent events in the MENA region, Asia, Africa and elsewhere present clear examples of the challenges facing our global peace and co-existence. 

Programme is enclosed for your information.  Contact person: Hanifa Mezoui

mezouih@un.org. As time permits, questions will be selected to be addressed to the Chair during the event.

                                                    UNAOC is looking forward to the active participation of NGOs to promote partnership initiatives to address issues pertaining to the implementation of the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

  140915_UNAOC GOF Ministerial Meeting Sep 26 Programme-2

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[NGO NEWS:] DESA NGO News – August 2014

DESA NGO News – 28 August 2014

web version

Our monthly newsletter is currently available online in English, French and Spanish. You can also visit our website for up-to-date information in FrenchSpanish and Arabic.

NEWS

Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States

Governments, businesses and civil society organizations are preparing to galvanize action through new and innovative partnerships at the Third Conference on Small Island Developing States (http://www.sids2014.org), which will be held in Apia, Samoa, from 1-4 September. The conference will be an opportunity to highlight the significant vulnerabilities that islands face while also bringing to the spotlight the ways in which this group of countries is making progress addressing global issues such as climate change, access to sustainable energy and environmental degradation.

The Conference will also seek to be a platform to establish new, genuine and durable partnerships between small island developing states and the rest of the world on various issues including sustainable economic development, oceans, food security and waste management, sustainable tourism, disaster risk reduction, and health and non-communicable diseases, youth and women.

Registration deadline extended for the High-level meeting of the General Assembly on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

Registration for accredited NGOs for the High-level meeting of the GA on the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the CRC (http://www.unicef.org/crc/index_73962.html), which will take place on 20 November 2014 in New York, has been extended until 12 September.

Registration is open to civil society organizations with ECOSOC status or those that are in a collaborative relationship with UNICEF. Kindly note that due to space constraints, a maximum of 3 representatives of each organization is permitted. Please register here: http://bit.ly/1vojfjN

EVENTS

27 – 29 August: 65th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference

A major civil society gathering at the UN, the Conference will provide an opportunity for civil society, international networks and activists to develop an “Action Agenda” to mobilize messaging, advocacy strategies, partnerships and accountability frameworks in the lead up to the launch of intergovernmental negotiations at the beginning of the 69th Session of the General Assembly for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda, due to culminate at a summit in September 2015.

http://csonet.org/?page=view&nr=259&type=13&menu=14

28 August – 4 September: UN Conference on Small Island Developing States, Apia, Samoa

The Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States will be held from 1 to 4 September 2014 in Apia, Samoa, to be preceded by activities related to the conference from 28 to 30 August 2014, also in Apia, Samoa. The conference will focus the world’s attention on a group of countries that remain a special case for sustainable development in view of their unique and particular vulnerabilities.

http://csonet.org/?page=view&nr=213&type=13&menu=14

5 September: Panel Discussion – Child, Early and Forced Marriage Worldwide, including the Elaboration of the Post-2015 Development Agenda

In its resolution 68/148, the General Assembly decided to convene a panel discussion on child, early and forced marriage worldwide, including the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda. The panel discussion will build on the report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on preventing and eliminating child, early and forced marriage, which was prepared pursuant to the Human Rights Council’s resolution 24/23, and the related summary report of the panel discussion convened by the Council on 23 June, 2014 during its twenty-sixth session. As is the usual case, ECOSOC accredited NGOs will be accommodated in the third floor gallery of the Trusteeship Council Chamber on a first-come basis.

http://csonet.org/index.php?page=view&nr=271&type=13&menu=14

9 September: High-level forum on Culture of Peace

The one-day High-level Forum will take place on 9 September, 2014 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. It will comprise of an opening segment and two multi-stakeholder interactive panels and a brief closing segment. The two panels will focus on: (1) the role and contributions of women and the young to the Culture of Peace; and (2) global citizenship as a pathway to the Culture of Peace.

http://csonet.org/?page=view&nr=266&type=13&menu=14

10 September: Interactive Meeting with Civil Society for the High-level Stocktaking Event on the Post-2015 Development Agenda: Contributions to the Secretary-General’s Synthesis Report

This interactive meeting will provide civil society, including NGOs, the media, the private sector and other relevant stakeholders with the opportunity to reflect upon the various post-2015 development-related processes which have occurred during the current session of the General Assembly with a view to providing them with an opportunity to identify possible inputs to the Synthesis Report of the Secretary-General; to the work of the 69th session of the General Assembly; and to the elaboration of the Post-2015 Development Agenda itself.

http://csonet.org/index.php?page=view&nr=267&type=13&menu=14

15 – 26 September: Committee on Enforced Disappearances, 7th Session

At its forthcoming 7th session in September 2014, the Committee on Enforced Disappearances will examine the efforts of Belgium and Paraguay to implement the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

http://csonet.org/index.php?page=view&nr=260&type=13&menu=14

17 – 18 September: First Preparatory Committee of the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III)

The Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) and its preparatory process welcome the participation and contributions of all relevant stakeholders, including parliamentarians, civil society organizations, regional, local government and municipality representatives, professionals and researchers, academia, foundations, women and youth groups, trade unions, and the private sector, as well as organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental organizations.

http://csonet.org/index.php?page=view&nr=269&type=13&menu=14

22 September: Special Session of the General Assembly on ICPD Beyond 2014

The Review will identify progress and achievements towards the goals set out in the landmark International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), when 179 governments committed to a 20-year Programme of Action of delivering human rights-based development. The ‘Beyond 2014’ Review process will engage world leaders from governments and civil society and create a renewed consensus and global commitment to create a more equal and more sustainable world.

http://csonet.org/?page=view&nr=214&type=13&menu=14

22 – 23 September: World Conference on Indigenous Peoples

The high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly will meet on Monday, September 22 and Tuesday, September 23, 2014, in New York. http://csonet.org/?page=view&nr=215&type=13&menu=14

20 October – 7 November: 59th Session – Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

The Committee will meet in Geneva and will examine the reports of the following countries during its 59th session: Belgium, Brunei Darussalam, China, Ghana, Guinea, Poland, Solomon Islands and Venezuela.

http://csonet.org/index.php?page=view&nr=270&type=13&menu=14

10 – 13 November: Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction – Prepcom II

The Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and its preparatory process welcome the participation and contributions of all relevant stakeholders, including parliaments, civil society, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, non-governmental organizations, national platforms for disaster risk reduction, focal points for the Hyogo Framework for Action, local government representatives, scientific institutions and the private sector, as well as organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental organizations.

http://csonet.org/index.php?page=view&nr=262&type=13&menu=14

20 November: High-level meeting of the General Assembly on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. On this occasion, the General Assembly passed a resolution to organize a high-level meeting. This is a critical moment to take stock of progress, suggest ways to bridge implementation gaps and make a strong call for make the vision of the Convention a reality for all children, as well as to highlight innovative approaches that can transform the lives of children everywhere.

http://csonet.org/index.php?page=view&nr=268&type=13&menu=14

USEFUL LINKS DESA NGO Branch http://csonet.org

ECOSOC Main page http://www.un.org/en/ecosoc

Daily updates on Twitter  http://twitter.com/un_ngo

ECOSOC on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/unecosoc

NGO Liaison Office, United Nations Office at Geneva http://unog.ch/ngo

United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS)  http://www.un-ngls.org

UN Department of Public Information, NGO Relations  http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection

OHCHR Civil Society Section  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/AboutUs/Pages/CivilSociety.aspx

OHCHR Civil Society Update Subscription  http://conta.cc/can6Gf

AT YOUR SERVICE

Committee on NGOs Home Page

http://csonet.org/index.php?menu=80 How to Apply for Consultative Status  http://csonet.org/index.php?menu=100

How to Submit a Quadrennial Report http://csonet.org/index.php?menu=99

How to obtain a UN Grounds Pass  http://csonet.org/index.php?menu=86

Ask a question on my organization’s status  http://csonet.org/index.php?menu=82

ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31  http://csonet.org/content/documents/199631.pdf

Learn how to participate in the work of the United Nations

http://bit.ly/i6Wi0D

CONTACT US / (UN-)SUBSCRIBE You have received this message because you have registered or accepted our invitation to receive e-mail from DESA NGO Branch. We are located at S-2586, UN Secretariat, New York, New York. Tel: 1-212-963-8652, Fax: 1-212-963-9248. Please DO NOT respond to this message for questions. If you have a question about your organization’s status, please see the links “At Your Service” above or the “Contact Us” at our website, http://csonet.org . We will respond within 48 hours to your query. At your service: in New York: Alberto Padova, Nahleen Ahmed, Diego Rumiany, Elena de Jesús, Maria Marchione-Novoa, Hanna Denekew, Erdwine Antoine, Irma Perez, and Carlos Gusukuma. In Geneva: Sandrine Burel, Ricardo Espinosa, Adriana Fuentes, Nathalie Dérudet.  Unsubscribe here. Subscribe or see archives of this newsletter here. © 2014 UN DESA. All right reserved. United Nations, New York, NY, 10017. Connect with us: Facebook | Twitter | SlideShare | RSS

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Poverty line and the post 2015 agenda

Interesting article on the poverty line. The $ 1.25 a day is still referred to as the poverty line in the post 2015 development agenda.  

However, the author of the article (please read below) argues that the “$ 1.25 threshold is absurdly low”. He adds “This is a pressing concern; the UN is currently negotiating the new Sustainable Development Goals that will replace the Millennium Campaign in 2015, and they are set to use the same dishonest poverty metrics as before. They will leverage the “poverty reduction” story to argue for business as usual: stick with the status quo and things will keep getting better. We need to demand more. If the Sustainable Development Goals are to have any real value, they need to begin with a more honest poverty line – at least $2.50 per day – and instate rules to preclude the kind of deceit that the World Bank and the Millennium Campaign have practised to date 

According to Peter Edwards of Newcastle University, if people are to achieve normal life expectancy, they need roughly double the current IPL, or a minimum of $2.50 per day. But adopting this higher standard would seriously undermine the poverty reduction narrative. An IPL of $2.50 shows a poverty headcount of around 3.1 billion, almost triple what the World Bank and the Millennium Campaign would have us believe. It also shows that poverty is getting worse, not better, with nearly 353 million more people impoverished today than in 1981. With China taken out of the equation, that number shoots up to 852 million”. 

Michel 

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/08/exposing-great-poverty-reductio-201481211590729809.html  

Exposing the great ‘poverty reduction’ lie

The UN claims that its Millennium Development Campaign has reduced poverty globally, an assertion that is far from true.

Last updated: 21 Aug 2014 10:49

Jason Hickel

Dr Jason Hickel lectures at the London School of Economics and serves as an adviser to /The Rules

The received wisdom comes to us from all directions: Poverty rates are declining and extreme poverty will soon be eradicated. The World Bank, the governments of wealthy countries, and – most importantly – the United Nations Millennium Campaign all agree on this narrative. Relax, they tell us. The world is getting better, thanks to the spread of free market capitalism and western aid. Development is working, and soon, one day in the very near future, poverty will be no more.

It is a comforting story, but unfortunately it is just not true. Poverty is not disappearing as quickly as they say. In fact, according to some measures, poverty has been getting significantly worse. If we are to be serious about eradicating poverty, we need to cut through the sugarcoating and face up to some hard facts.

False accounting

The most powerful expression of the poverty reduction narrative comes from the UN’s Millennium Campaign. Building on the Millennium Declaration of 2000, the Campaign’s main goal has been to reduce global poverty by half by 2015 – an objective that it proudly claims to have achieved ahead of schedule. But if we look beyond the celebratory rhetoric, it becomes clear that this assertion is deeply misleading.

The world’s governments first pledged to end extreme poverty during the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996. They committed to reducing the number of undernourished people by half before 2015, which, given the population at the time, meant slashing the poverty headcount by 836 million. Many critics claimed that this goal was inadequate given that, with the right redistributive policies, extreme poverty could be ended much more quickly.

But instead of making the goals more robust, global leaders surreptitiously diluted it. Yale professor and development watchdog Thomas Pogge points out that when the Millennium Declaration was signed, the goal was rewritten as “Millennium Developmental Goal 1” (MDG-1) and was altered to halve the proportion (as opposed to the absolute number) of the world’s people living on less than a dollar a day. By shifting the focus to income levels and switching from absolute numbers to proportional ones, the target became much easier to achieve. Given the rate of population growth, the new goal was effectively reduced by 167 million. And that was just the beginning.

After the UN General Assembly adopted MDG-1, the goal was diluted two more times. First, they changed it from halving the proportion of impoverished people in the world to halving the proportion of impoverished people in developing countries, thus taking advantage of an even faster-growing demographic denominator. Second, they moved the baseline of analysis from 2000 back to 1990, thus retroactively including all poverty reduction accomplished by China throughout the 1990s, due in no part whatsoever to the Millennium Campaign.

This statistical sleight-of-hand narrowed the target by a further 324 million. So what started as a goal to reduce the poverty headcount by 836 million has magically become only 345 million – less than half the original number. Having dramatically redefined the goal, the Millennium Campaign can claim that poverty has been halved when in fact it has not. The triumphalist narrative hailing the death of poverty rests on an illusion of deceitful accounting.

Poor numbers

But there’s more. Not only have the goalposts been moved, the definition of poverty itself has been massaged in a way that serves the poverty reduction narrative. What is considered the threshold for poverty – the “poverty line” – is normally calculated by each nation for itself, and is supposed to reflect what an average human adult needs to subsist. In 1990, Martin Ravallion, an Australian economist at the World Bank, noticed that the poverty lines of a group of the world’s poorest countries clustered around $1 per day. On Ravallion’s recommendation, the World Bank adopted this as the first-ever International Poverty Line (IPL).

But the IPL proved to be somewhat troublesome. Using this threshold, the World Bank announced in its 2000 annual report that “the absolute number of those living on $1 per day or less continues to increase. The worldwide total rose from 1.2 billion in 1987 to 1.5 billion today and, if recent trends persist, will reach 1.9 billion by 2015.” This was alarming news, especially because it suggested that the free-market reforms imposed by the World Bank and the IMF on Global South countries during the 1980s and 1990s in the name of “development” were actually making things worse.

This amounted to a PR nightmare for the World Bank. Not long after the report was released, however, their story changed dramatically and they announced the exact opposite news: While poverty had been increasing steadily for some two centuries, they said, the introduction of free-market policies had actually reduced the number of impoverished people by 400 million between 1981 and 2001.

This new story was possible because the Bank shifted the IPL from the original $1.02 (at 1985 PPP) to $1.08 (at 1993 PPP), which, given inflation, was lower in real terms. With this tiny change – a flick of an economist’s wrist – the world was magically getting better, and the Bank’s PR problem was instantly averted. This new IPL is the one that the Millennium Campaign chose to adopt.

The IPL was changed a second time in 2008, to $1.25 (at 2005 PPP). And once again the story improved overnight. The $1.08 IPL made it seem as though the poverty headcount had been reduced by 316 million people between 1990 and 2005. But the new IPL – even lower than the last, in real terms – inflated the number to 437 million, creating the illusion that an additional 121 million souls had been “saved” from the jaws of debilitating poverty. Not surprisingly, the Millennium Campaign adopted the new IPL, which allowed it to claim yet further chimerical gains.

A more honest view of poverty

We need to seriously rethink these poverty metrics. The dollar-a-day IPL is based on the national poverty lines of the 15 poorest countries, but these lines provide a poor foundation given that many are set by bureaucrats with very little data. More importantly, they tell us nothing about what poverty is like in wealthier countries. A 1990 survey in Sri Lanka found that 35 percent of the population fell under the national poverty line. But the World Bank, using the IPL, reported only 4 percent in the same year. In other words, the IPL makes poverty seem much less serious than it actually is.

The present IPL theoretically reflects what $1.25 could buy in the United States in 2005. But people who live in the US know it is impossible to survive on this amount. The prospect is laughable. In fact, the US government itself calculated that in 2005 the average person needed at least $4.50 per day simply to meet minimum nutritional requirements. The same story can be told in many other countries, where a dollar a day is inadequate for human existence. In India, for example, children living just above the IPL still have a 60 percent chance of being malnourished.

According to Peter Edwards of Newcastle University, if people are to achieve normal life expectancy, they need roughly double the current IPL, or a minimum of $2.50 per day. But adopting this higher standard would seriously undermine the poverty reduction narrative. An IPL of $2.50 shows a poverty headcount of around 3.1 billion, almost triple what the World Bank and the Millennium Campaign would have us believe. It also shows that poverty is getting worse, not better, with nearly 353 million more people impoverished today than in 1981. With China taken out of the equation, that number shoots up to 852 million.

Some economists go further and advocate for an IPL of $5 or even $10 – the upper boundary suggested by the World Bank. At this standard, we see that some 5.1 billion people – nearly 80 percent of the world’s population – are living in poverty today. And the number is rising.

These more accurate parameters suggest that the story of global poverty is much worse than the spin doctored versions we are accustomed to hearing. The $1.25 threshold is absurdly low, but it remains in favour because it is the only baseline that shows any progress in the fight against poverty, and therefore justifies the present economic order. Every other line tells the opposite story. In fact, even the $1.25 line shows that, without factoring China, the poverty headcount is worsening, with 108 million people added to the ranks of the poor since 1981. All of this calls the triumphalist narrative into question.

A call for change

This is a pressing concern; the UN is currently negotiating the new Sustainable Development Goals that will replace the Millennium Campaign in 2015, and they are set to use the same dishonest poverty metrics as before. They will leverage the “poverty reduction” story to argue for business as usual: stick with the status quo and things will keep getting better. We need to demand more. If the Sustainable Development Goals are to have any real value, they need to begin with a more honest poverty line – at least $2.50 per day – and instate rules to preclude the kind of deceit that the World Bank and the Millennium Campaign have practised to date.

Eradicating poverty in this more meaningful sense will require more than just using aid to tinker around the edges of the problem. It will require changing the rules of the global economy to make it fairer for the world’s majority. Rich country governments will resist such changes with all their might. But epic problems require courageous solutions, and, with 2015 fast approaching, the moment to act is now.

Dr Jason Hickel lectures at the London School of Economics and serves as an adviser to /The Rules

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 Dear Friends and Colleagues, 

Included in the updates and links from SADC REEP of particular note are updates on 

•  SADC Protocol on Environment Approved

 http://www.sadc.int/documents-publications/protocols/ 

UNESCO on their Education for Sustainable Development initiatives

http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/ 

• Issues that Matter for Youth

Involvement of youth in disaster risk management and promoting social inclusion were other topics of importance for youth in the Pacific region

http://www.un.org 

• Change Agents in Higher Education for Sustainable Development

 http://www.iau-hesd.net/en/news/2274-state-higher-education-sustainable-development.html 

And more.  Thank you WESSA 

All the best,

Pam Puntenney and Bremley Lyngdoh

UN SD Education Caucus Co-Chairs

Co-Coordinators Climate Change 

E-mail:  pjpunt@umich.edu

Cell:  (734) 330-0238

Voice/Fax: (734) 994-3612

Volume 14: No 4 (August 2014)

 Monthly Environmental Education (EE) News Flash of the SADC Regional Environmental Education Programme 

CONTENTS

1. NEWS 2. TRAINING 3. EVENTS/OPPORTUNITIES

4. PUBLICATIONS 5. NETWORKING 

Please note:  Kindly address any emails to

sadc-reec@wessa.co.za 

1.NEWS 

1.1 SADC Protocol on Environment approved 

The SADC Protocol on Environment was approved by the SADC Summit on 18th August 2014 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Like other Protocols it shall soon be published on the SADC website:http://www.sadc.int/documents-publications/protocols/ 

WESSA and the SADC REEP are delighted to have been part of the developmental process through supporting and facilitating some aspects of the work over the years. 

1.2 News from UNESCO on Education for Sustainable Development. 

UNESCO’s has published their first issue of the Education for Sustainable Development newsletter- The Zoom.   

Each month, the Zoom will bring you news stories on exciting ESD initiatives from around the world. And until November, you’ll also find updates on the forthcoming UNESCO World Conference on ESD taking place from 10-12 November 2014 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. Your input, feedback, comments and suggestions for content are most welcome and you are encouraged to share the Zoom with colleagues and the ESD community at large.

For More information you can visit (http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/).

1.3 DESA News Islands 2014, Youth, Sustainable development goals.

Empowering youth for sustainable islands

With less than two months until the UN Conference on Small Island Developing States in Samoa on 1-4 September, Conference Secretary-General Wu Hongbo brought together youth representatives from small island nations for a Google+ Hangout on 24 July 2014. Under the topic, ‘Samoa 2014: Empowering Youth for Sustainable Islands’, young people from Mauritius, Barbados and Samoa were invited to discuss with Mr. Wu, issues of importance to achieve sustainable islands and a healthier planet. 

UN General Assembly’s Open Working Group proposes sustainable development goals

The UN General Assembly’s Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals forwarded to the Assembly its proposal for a set of Goals that consider economic, social and environmental dimensions to improve people’s lives and protect the planet for future generations at the conclusion of the Group’s thirteenth and final session at UN Headquarters on Saturday, 19 July.

The proposal contains 17 goals with 169 targets covering a broad range of sustainable development issues, including ending poverty and hunger, improving health and education, making cities more sustainable, combating climate change, and protecting oceans and forests.

Issues that matter to youth
The need for capacity building, quality education and employment opportunities were some of the issues brought forward by Molly Homasi, UNMGCY focal point for Samoa/National Youth Council Representative. Involvement of youth in disaster risk management and promoting social inclusion were other topics of importance for youth in the Pacific region

To read more on this you can visit (www.un.org) 

1.4 Dear change agents in higher education for sustainable development,  

From:  International Association of Universities (Higher Education for sustainable development Portland)

The UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development is coming to its end and the new UN Global Action Programme on ESD is about to be launched.  In this context, we are pleased to invite you on board a new study project on the state of higher education for sustainable development, aiming at investigating critical factors supporting higher education institutions, NGOs and policy on how to scale and improve sustainability processes in the nexus of higher education institutions, society and policy.
for more information  you can visit: http://www.iau-hesd.net/en/news/2274-state-higher-education-sustainable-development.html 

2.TRAINING

2.1 Forthcoming training:

2.1.1 Environmental Educators NQF L5 (12 Credits) course: Umgeni Valley NR – 8 to 12 September 2014 

2.1.2 Institute of Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) is offering the following short courses in 2015.  

 Attached with this are complete details on these courses for your consideration. Please do let us know your interest in applying or nominating candidates for these courses at the earliest as the deadline is approaching soon.

Netherlands Fellowship Programme is available for these courses for the 2015 intake, for candidates that are looking at fellowship options.

The IHS offers specialized post graduate education, training, advisory services and applied research in the fields of urban management, housing and urban environment with the mission to develop human and institutional capacities to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life in cities.

 Courses

Green Cities for Eco-efficiency 2015

Duration: 3 weeks – March 2015 to April 2015

Tuition fee – E 2,750

 Contents

Concepts and strategic systemic approaches to green cities

· Spatial Development for Green Cities and Urban Containment: tools, techniques and policies

· Transport, buildings and Energy Approaches for Green Cities: Netherlands and International experiences

· Greening of Urban Services in time of water extremes: water supply, Sewerage Treatment, Drainage, and solid waste

· Green Financing and green economy

Sustainable Local Economic Development 2015

Duration: 4 weeks – April 2015

Tuition fee – E 2,750

 Increased knowledge about SMEs and their role in the local economy.

· Analyse the local economy and value chains in which local enterprise agglomerations and clusters are inserted

· Analyse policies and develop instruments that support local businesses

 Developing Social Housing Projects 2015

Duration: 4 weeks – 

November 2015

Tuition fee – E 2,750

Housing policy – Social housing context in Netherlands

· Housing need assessment tools

· Financing social housing and cooperation with public and private partners

· Technical and management aspects of social housing

 Urban Management Tools for Climate Change 2015

Duration: 4 weeks – June  2015

Tuition fee – E 2,750

Introduction to Climate Change and Vulnerability

· Climate change adaptation: Land, water and disaster management

· Climate change mitigation: Energy, transport and carbon markets

· Local climate change action plans

IHS is proud to announce that this course is jointly developed with UN-HABITAT.

Eligibility:

1. To have at least a bachelor’s degree from a recognised university or similar institute in a field related to the chosen course.

2. Be a professional with at least two years’ relevant work experience.

 About the Netherlands Fellowship programme

Fellowship from the Dutch Government: Once a candidate receives a Provisional Admission letter, he/she can apply for the Netherlands Fellowship Programme through an online process. If the candidate is eligible and meets the criteria according to the fellowship awarding body, he/she is awarded a fellowship which covers travelling costs, accommodation, air tickets, visa, tuition fees, etc. For more details on NFP fellowship kindly visit www.nuffic.nl/nfp  Request for nominations /references: 

We request you to nominate some colleagues / friends for these course. We would request you to send us the following details of your nominee:

Name, Organisation, Designation, Mobile Number, Email, Educational Background, Total work experience (in years):

Please send us the following documents along with the application form, should you be interested in applying for the course.

Documents required:
Bachelor / Masters degree certificate
Bachelor / Masters degree transcripts (mark-sheet)

Passport copy
Letter of Reference
Photograph
C.V

For any further information or assistance, please feel free to contact Econfluence (Representatives of IHS,TheNetherlands) Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, The Netherlands
Email:  
ihs.study1@gmail.com
Tel:+ 91 22 427690 87/82

3    EVENTS/OPPORTUNITIES

3.1 Call for contribution at Global Higher Education for Sustainable Development Study: A survey by UNESCO

The survey responses will be analysed and synthesized. The final report is to support higher education institutions’, policy’ and society’ decision-makers to develop and support appropriate mechanisms in order to foster sustainable development within their respective regional contexts.
The outcomes will be presented on behalf of all the participants at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD to take place in Aichi Nagoya in November 
2014 in Japan.
It will take you approximately 10 minutes to complete this survey.  Please do circulate this invitation within your institution to all staff and students.
To access the survey, please click on the appropriate link below:

English:               www2.leuphana.de/infutools/limesurvey3/index.php/628125/lang-en
Arabic:                
www2.leuphana.de/infutools/limesurvey3/index.php/628125/lang-ar
French:               
www2.leuphana.de/infutools/limesurvey3/index.php/628125/lang-fr
Portuguese:     
www2.leuphana.de/infutools/limesurvey3/index.php/628125/lang-pt
Spanish:             
www2.leuphana.de/infutools/limesurvey3/index.php/628125/lang-es

We thank you for your contributions,
Clemens Mader and Christian Rammel,

On behalf of RCE Graz-Styria, Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, RCE Vienna, Vienna University of Economics and Business, UNESCO Chair in Higher Education for Sustainable Development, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Institute for Advanced Studies of Sustainability – United Nations University,  and the International Association of Universities (IAU),

For any questions please contact : hesd@leuphana.de

 3.2. Water Distribution & Management Conference 2014

15-16 October 2014, FNB Conference & Learning Centre, Sandton, South Africa

Dear Water Official

This conference seeks to explore and find lasting solutions to the multiple challenges affecting water distribution and management in Southern Africa. Water is life. Quality water availability, distribution and provision are becoming an ever increasing challenge in SA and many SADC states, and this trend is set to continue.  Halting the depletion of existing water resources by cutting wastage and pollution, and finding solutions to silting of dams and algal build up are key supply side strategies.  Water efficiency remains the key to the sustainability of our water resource on the demand and supply side. Strikes, protests and risks of water-curable diseases such as cholera are likely to become a permanent feature within the region unless efforts to improve water distribution and management are identified and implemented. Main challenges are:

1.       Water leakages and high amount of non-revenue water

2.       Dry taps, water cuts and subsequent strikes and diseases

3.       Dwindling fresh-water availability (high levels of water stress)

4.       River basin pollution affecting aquatic life and ecosystems

5.       Poor water quality for domestic use

6.       Old water infrastructure in urgent need of repair and total overhaul

7.       Acid Mine drainage and industrial waste-water pollution

8.       Climate change induced water scarcity threatening water/food/security in the region

With this in mind the conference will bring together leading civil engineers and senior water governance practitioners to identify and find solutions to water management and distribution within Sothern Africa.

To book your place at this event, contact me as soon as possible on tel.: +27 (0) 11 433-0952 or fax back the completed and signed registration herewith attached to 086 547 3937. I look forward to confirming your participation.

Kind Regards,

Mlamuli Nkomo

0114330952

0837488883

3.3 Call for contributions Capacity Building Newsletter/Lettre d’information sur Renforcement des Capacités

From: Transboundary Conservation SG [mailto:TRANSBOUNDARY@LISTS.IUCN.ORG] On Behalf Of Maja Vasilijevic

Sent: 14 August 2014

 

Dear colleagues,

The World Heritage Capacity Building Newsletter (https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/whcapacitybuilding_newsletter_4_en.pdf) offers an opportunity to report on activities undertaken to promote capacity building for World Heritage. We are aiming at publishing the next issue in October 2014.

If you are involved or developing capacity building activities related to World Heritage, please send us your contribution. We would appreciate if you could indicate your interest in writing an article by sending us the title and short abstract of the intended article by no later than 5 September 2014.

Please send enquiries and article proposals directly to me at: ll@iccrom.org

I would also appreciate if you could forward this request to other colleagues whom you think could also contribute.

Kind regards,

Leticia

Chers Collègues,

La Lettre d’information sur Renforcement desCapacités pour le Patrimoine mondial (https://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/whcapacitybuilding_newsletter_4_fr.pdf) offre une opportunité de rapporter des activités entreprises pour promouvoir le renforcement des capacités pour le Patrimoine mondial. Nous visons à publier la prochaine édition en octobre 2014.

Si vous êtes impliqué dans des activités de renforcement des capacités liées au Patrimoine mondial, ou si vous en développez, veuillez s¹ilvous plait nous envoyer votre contribution. Nous vous serions gré de nous indiquer votre intérêt à écrire un article pour notre newsletter en nous faisant parvenir le titre et le résumé de l¹article d¹ici au 5 septembre 2014.

Veuillez s¹il vous plaît m¹envoyervos questions et propositions d¹articles directement par email à :ll@icrom.org

Nous vous serions également reconnaissant si vous pouviez transmettre cette demande à des collègues qui pourraient aussi contribuer à notre newsletter.

 Cordialement,

Leticia

3.4 Funding opportunities: Funds for NGOs

Latest Funds
The Whitley Awards of £35,000 GBP each to implement Conservation Projects
Deadline: 31 October 2014
Location: Middle and Low income countries
The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) invites biodiversity conservation leaders working in countries or regions that do not fall under high-income economy by the World Bank to apply for Whitley…[more]

Make Nominations for the Global Teacher Prize worth US$1 Million
Deadline: 5 October 2014
Location: Global
Are you a teacher teaching children between 5-18 years of age? Do you employ innovative and effective instructional practices and inspire the teaching profession significantly…[more]

The Toyota Foundation Research Grant Program 2014 invites Project Proposals
Deadline: 5 September 2014
Location: Global
The Toyota Foundation is inviting project proposals for 2014 Research Grant program entitled ‘Exploring New Values for Society’. The major aim of the research grant is to respond to a diverse array of social issues, with a focus on areas of human and natural environment…[more]

4.    PUBLICATIONS

4.1. The ICLEI Africa August 2014 newsletter is out now!

The ICLEI Africa newsletter updates you with exciting developments from projects across Africa. These highlight different aspects of their work, ranging from resources, approaches, cycles, and processes involved in realizing the vision of a sustainable future.

Click (www.africa.iclei.org) to download the august 2014 ICLEI Africa newsletter

ICLEI is the for International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives.

5.    NETWORKING

5.1 SADC TFCA Network membership and access to TFCA Portal

You have heard about the SADC TFCA Network, it was established last year as a learning & knowledge management network for TFCA practitioners – attached is a document that can give you some background.

The Network until now comprised primarily the SADC Member States, however, they would now like to open this up so as to increase learning & experience sharing among TFCA practitioners. For example we have organized an online discussion on the topic “Free movement of wildlife across TFCAs: moving from theory to practise” which has been scheduled to begin on the portal on 18 August 2014 (we will have different discussion sub topics which will be led by experts for 4 weeks).

Therefore, if you’re interested in joining, please go to à www.tfcaportal.org

Please feel free to inform other colleagues you think may be interested in joining the network.

If you encounter any problems with the registration, please drop an email to:

Nidhi Gureja nidhigureja@yahoo.com

Martin Leineweber martin.leineweber@giz.de

Please submit other relevant EE/ESD activities to the SADC REEP Monthly News Flash and feel free to forward this message to people who might be interested.

Please inform us if you do not wish to receive this EE News Flash.

SADC Regional Environmental Education Centre
E-mail: 
sadc-reec@wessa.co.za

Web Site: www.sadc-reep.org.za
Tel: 
+27-33-330 3931, Fax: +27-33-330 4576

 

WM Wessa image003

 

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