Issue 3
October 2004
Regional Programme Division <<< NEWSLETTER >>> Regional Programme Division
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Dear Colleagues, Welcome to the third issue of the Regional Programme
Newsletter for the Arab States. As this issue confirms, the regional programme had a busy and productive summer. Perhaps the most tangible indicators of vitality were new signs that we are successfully engaging donors. As you will read below, RPD’s resource mobilization initiatives are taking off, with substantial extra-budgetary funds contributed, pledged or in our firm pipeline. In terms of activities, you will learn about HARPAS’ new initiative with Arab religious leaders and the significant consensus reached at their last meeting in Syria. >From ICTDAR we have news about the training of trainers in Marrakech on the role of ICT for small and medium enterprises. Among the many activities organised by POGAR during this quarter, the Beirut regional workshop on Reform and the role of civil society was a milestone in giving non-governmental actors a platform for constructive change. You’ll also read about CAWTAR’s new publication on adolescent girls, now launched, and see, under the Millennium Development Goals, the efforts made to carry the campaign further in francophone Arab countries and to address the bottom-line question of the costing of these goals. I hope this issue leaves you feeling that the creative work of many RBAS staff is paying off and that our regional operations represent a substantial, catalytic and exciting endowment for the future. Nothing less would do justice to one of the premier UNDP Regional Bureau, which continues to enjoy inspired leadership and dynamic teamwork. Zahir Jamal |
| § Religious Leaders Meet in Syria and Sign Preliminary Consensus on HIV/AIDS Religious leaders, who have legitimacy and long term presence at the community level, are essential to a successful response to HIV/AIDS. HARPAS has initiated a Regional Initiative on Religious Leaders and HIV/AIDS. In partnership with UNAIDS, USAID and Family Health International (FHI), a meeting attended by Muslim and Christian leaders was held in Damascus 28 June - 1 July 2004. A preliminary Consensus signed by all participants and committing them to the fight against HIV/AIDS was one important outcome. It marks a start in enrolling key religious leaders and institutions in the region to help break the silence around the challenge. With the help of the advisory expert panel and HARPAS focal points, follow-up meetings with eminent religious leaders in some Arab countries have taken place, setting the stage for national action. |
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§ ICT for SMEs Workshop in Morocco
ICTDAR conducted a three-day workshop in Marrakech on ICT for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Supported by UNDP Morocco and co-organized by the Centre Des Energies Renouvables, the workshop gave 20 young entrepreneurs the opportunity to share their experiences, learn ICT skills and participate in the development of a concept note for a national portal. A toolkit on ICT for SMEs as well as a training programme will be developed as part of an ICT support centre for SMEs. This toolkit, and the business model of the centre, will be replicated in other Arab countries.
§ Millennium Development Goals discussed in Morocco In Rabat, 12-14 July, RBAS, the UNDP BDP/Poverty Group and the BDP/Institutional Development Group organized a workshop on MDG challenges in the francophone Arab region. Civil society leaders, government officials and parliamentarians from Algeria, Comoros, Djibouti, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia met to discuss how to achieve the MDGs. Topics included tailoring the goals to individual countries, resource management, enlisting the participation of all social, political and economic actors, and approaching the goals holistically. Participants agreed to meet again in July 2005 in Rabat to share information on the progress made in each of the participating countries. They also appealed for the immediate operationalization of the World Solidarity Fund for Poverty Eradication and committed themselves to work for the transfer of technologies and financial resources to help developing countries meet their international commitments. |
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§ E-strategy in Sudan Explored
ICTDAR conducted a mission to Sudan in early August to initiate an e-readiness assessment that will lead to a national e-strategy. The mission included a field trip to the south of Sudan, where UNDP will set up a community access centre to serve Juba, the information-deprived capital of the South.
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§ E-learning in Abu Dhabi In early September, ICTDAR was invited to give a presentation entitled Knowledge Society in the Arab Region during the E-merging E-learning Conference in Abu Dhabi. ICTDAR met with the minister in charge of higher education and initiated discussions about ICT for the blind at universities in Abu Dhabi. |
§ The Political Context of Governance in the Region Presented in London
POGAR made a presentation on “The Current Political Context in the MENA Region” during a Middle East Seminar organized by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in London on 8 September 2004.
| § UNAIDS UBW Meeting in Cairo AIDS convened its Regional Consultation on the 2006-2007 Unified Budget and Work-Plan (UBW) in MENA in Cairo from 6 - 8 September 2004. All 10 UNAIDS co-sponsors attended the meeting and UNDP was well represented at the global, regional and national levels. The meeting stressed the HIV/AIDS challenges ahead and the rapid pace of change in the environment. Four main issues were taken up: advocacy and awareness raising, strategic information (strengthening data collection, surveillance, documentation and best practices), provision of treatment, care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS, and legislation and legal frameworks. |
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§ MDG Costing Workshop in Cairo
A UNDP internal consultation on costing the MDGs in the Arab States took place in Cairo on 1-2 September. Organized by RBAS, BDP and SURF, the meeting was attended by UNDP staff from Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Yemen. Over two days, the participants reviewed current initiatives in this area, and focused on critical policy issues, such as conducting MDGs needs assessment exercises and establishing peer review mechanisms for costing the Goals. A larger meeting for all UNDP offices in the Arab region and their partners will be organized next.
| § Arab Human Development Report Series Presented at Oxford University During a two week training course, in September, organized annually by UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, and attended by development professionals from around the world; RBAS presented “The Arab Human Development Report: A Roadmap to Arab Reform, Emancipation and Modernization”. The Reports are still having a major impact in different forums worldwide. |
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§ Meeting on Corruption and Good Governance in the Arab states
A POGAR paper titled “A Legal and Economic Framework to Address Corruption in the Arab World” was submitted during a meeting on corruption and good governance in the Arab states, organized by the Centre of Arab Unity Studies in Beirut on 20-23 September 2004.
§ Third annual meeting of the Arab Network for Gender and Development
The third annual meeting of CAWTAR’s Arab Network for Gender and Development (ANGED), a joint initiative with the World Bank, took place September 27th – 28th in Tunis. From Research to Policies: Best Practices and Strategies addressed the relationship between research and policies and legislation. Participants - research Centres, governmental bodies, international institutions and media - presented different bridging mechanisms and discussed ways of improving this relationship.
| § Arts& Media French Kit HARPAS has produced the Arts & Media French kit to be distributed during the upcoming Arts & Media workshop for Arab francophone countries. |
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§ Recent
Additions to Pogar’s List of Publications
The Role of Public Prosecution in Protecting Human Rights, prepared by
Abdallah Khalil.
§ Feasibility
Study for E-Government Institute Completed
ICTDAR’s feasibility study for a regional e-government institute
was completed in June. The institute is envisaged as a centre of excellence
for regional e-government services. The report will soon be available
on the ICTDAR web site, and will be used as the basis for future partnership,
collaboration and exchange with Governments of the region, the private
sector and other UN agencies.
§ New Report on
Adolescent Girls Launched |
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§ Paper on
Human Rights to be Published in the Mediterranean Politics Journal
The paper “Human Rights in the Arab Mediterranean Countries: Intellectual
Discourse, Socio-Economic Background and Legal Instruments” originally
prepared for the 5th Mediterranean Social and Political Research Meeting
held at the European University Institute in Florence on 24-28 March 2004,
will be published in the journal Mediterranean Politics in the fall 2004
issue.
§ Legal Review Initiative
In partnership with UNICEF, the Arab Institute of Human Rights, ILO and
OHCHR, UNDP/HARPAS will launch a Legal Review initiative by the end of
November 2004. This initiative aims at reviewing the legislation of the
Arab countries in order to protect the rights of the people infected and
affected by HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this first meeting is to draw up
guidelines for the consultants and share the experiences of UNDP and UNICEF
in Sub-Saharan Africa and China.
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§ Microsoft Partnership Implemented As part of this ongoing collaboration between Microsoft and ICTDAR, a community access centre established by the Moroccan Ministry of Youth was officially launched on July 13. This is the first of an initial series of ten; the centre will serve as a knowledge and capacity-building hub for the community. The Egyptian Ministry of ICT, UNDP, ICTDAR and Microsoft also established a second community access centre in Egypt’s Siwa Oasis. The project will open up opportunities for Siwa's people to access information and technology and to improve their living standards. The first training session for the local NGO supporting the project was conducted in July. |
| § Gender Competitions and Call
for Papers |
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NEW |
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§ Implementing the AHDRS: Partnerships with Donors
RBAS is conducting a targeted outreach strategy to advocate the messages of the AHDR series and engage donors in implementing their main findings. To that end, the Regional Director has undertaken high-level visits to Washington, Brussels, London and Bonn, with other donor country visits planned. Following through on these visits, RPD has been working with several donors to formulate projects and secure funding for addressing the “3 Deficits” at the regional and country level.
| § Freedom and Good Governance: POGAR has attracted extra-budgetary contributions
from: In addition, negotiations on a US$ 1,400,000 United Kingdom contribution to the public prosecutors training project are well advanced and indications are very promising. This would make a total of US$ 6.9 million in additional funding for regional governance activities. |
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| § Knowledge (Higher Education and ICTDAR): The regional Quality of Higher Education programme has received a pledge of 1 million Euro from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). These resources will be channeled to institutionalise the vision of an independent quality assessment of higher education agency. ICTDAR also secured an EU contribution through UNDP (over 600,000 Euros) for the project Promoting the Rights of Women and Children through Information. The project is being implemented in Tunisia, Lebanon and Egypt. ICTDAR is also leveraging assistance from Microsoft, which is contributing directly to joint ICT projects. |
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§ HARPAS
HARPAS has received pledges of support from UNAIDS, OHCHR, UNFPA,
USAID and Family Health International (FHI) in the neighborhood of $200,000
to support both the religious leaders initiative and the legal review.
§ AHDR Trust Fund:
RBAS has established an AHDR trust fund for donor contributions.
So far, Denmark has indicated 6 million Danish Kroner (US$1,000,000) for
country-level projects and programs addressing the 3 deficits. A UK
contribution to this Fund is also under final discussion.
§ EU Pipeline:
A pipeline of project proposals has also been solicited by, and
provided to the European Union.
§ Religious Leaders Colloquium
Capping the religious leaders and HIV/AIDS initiative, HARPAS
will organize a colloquium in Cairo during the second week of December
2004. It will be attended by 90 major religious figures, institutions
and HIV resource persons from all over the Arab region. These leaders
and institutions are identified according to a mapping of religions in
the Arab countries showing the dominant faith groups in Islam and Christianity.
Using this platform, HARPAS plans to develop the preliminary Consensus
into a Declaration, thus setting the stage for new action by Arab religious
leaders.
§ Second Phase UNDP/ RBAS
Project on Arab Universities
The Regional Higher Education Project, which evaluated Business
Administration Programs in 17 Arab universities, completed its second
and final cycle in June. All review stages (internal evaluation, external
evaluation, and reporting) were completed for all but one university,
Al Azhar in Gaza. Those who took part in the project were given copies
of the report in August and the team is currently preparing the final
report for regional distribution. The Project management team is currently
working with the RPD on preparations for the Project’s second phase,
while also preparing, for regional distribution, the overview reports
that were produced by the Project.
§ Computer
Technology for the Blind
ICTDAR has initiated a regional project ICTARB (Information and Communication
Technology for the Blind) which aims at using ICT to help visually impaired
people towards fuller rehabilitation and better job opportunities. In
October ICTARB will start operations in Egypt, Jordan and Yemen.
§ Francophone
Arts and Media Workshop
The manner in which artists and the media portray HIV/AIDS has a crucial
effect on society’s response to the crisis. UNDP is therefore focusing
on the arts and media as key partners. In this framework, UNDP/HARPAS
is holding the Arts & Media Workshop for Arab francophone countries
(Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Djibouti) in Agadir, Morocco from 20-23
September 2004.
§ Arab Ministerial
Meeting on Good Governance for Development
An Arab Ministerial meeting on good governance for development in the
Arab countries will be held under the UNDP-OECD initiative in Amman on
25 - 26 September 2004
§ Meeting
on the Judicial System in Iraq
A meeting titled The Judicial System in Iraq: Reality & Prospects
will be held in Amman on 3 – 4 October 2004. The meeting will be
organized by the United Nations Foundation and the World Bank in collaboration
with the Judicial Council in Iraq and the Ministry of Justice in the Hashemite
Kingdom of Jordan.
§ ICTDAR Women’s Rights
Project Second Steering Committee Meeting
ICTDAR will organize the second meeting of the steering committee of the
project Promoting the Rights of Women and Children through Information
in Beirut with its partners from Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia. The project
includes the production of a CD-ROM with multimedia content related to
family law. The final CD-ROM from each of the three countries should be
available by December
§ ICT4D International Conference
in Abu Dhabi
ICTDAR and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi will co-organize an international
conference on ICT for sustainable development in Abu Dhabi, on 11-12 December.
The conference will bring together ministers and high level Government
decision makers and Chief Executive Officers from international and regional
organizations.
§ Aid Coordination in Morocco
In December, ICTDAR will be involved in a workshop on Aid Coordination
in Morocco. The workshop will build on a similar recent event in Burkina
Faso.
CAWTAR (Centre of Arab Women in
the Arab Region)
For more information on the centre: www.cawtar.org.tn
Regional Programme Coordinator: Ms. Soukeina Bouraoui,
Contact them at: cawtar@planet.tn
HARPAS (HIV/AIDS Regional Programme
in the Arab States)
For more information on their programme: www.undp.org/rbas/regional/aids
Regional Programme Coordinator: Ms. Khadija Moalla,
Contact her at: khadija.moalla@undp.org
Higher Education Project
Project Manager: Mr. Isam Naqib,
Contact him at: isam.naqib@btopenworld.com
ICTDAR (Information and Communication
Technologies for Development in the Arab Region)
For more information on their programme: www.ictdar.org
Regional Programme Coordinator: Ms. Najat Rochdi,
Contact them at: info@ictdar.org
POGAR (Programme on Governance
in the Arab Region)
For more information on their programme: www.pogar.org
Regional Programme Coordinator: Mr. Adel Abdel Latif ,
Contact them at: pogar@pogar.org
REGIONAL PROGRAMME
www.undp.org/rbas/regional/index.html
§ Youth and Poverty in
the Arab States, New RPD Project
New Regional Project on Youth and Poverty in the Arab States
RAB/04/001 launched.
This new project aims at developing youth development strategies through
a participatory approach.
All RBAS Country Offices are invited to collaborate in ensuring impact
at the country level. The project will be managed and monitored by RBAS/RPD
and executed by UNDESA's Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD).
For more information contact :
Ghaith H. Fariz, RBAS/RPD Senior Regional Programme Adviser (ghaith.fariz@undp.org
)
Mr. Oleg Serezhin, UNDESA Social Affairs Officer Social Integration
Branch (serezhin@un.org)
In the following Issue...
We would like to hear from you!
If you have comments, suggestions, questions, would like to add more news,
etc.
Contact Marta Vallejo at marta.vallejo@undp.org
»Francophone Arts and Media Workshop
»Meeting on the Judicial system in Iraq
»ICT4D intl conference in Abu Dhabi
And much-much more!