Document(s) 6 of 11

News

Message from the Regional Director

Another year is coming to an end and it is time to look into what has been done and what we hope for the future. The economic crisis of past years have brought on social and political crisis in the region, revealing the level of vulnerability our countries are being exposed to. In addition, the integration of trade blocs represent a challenge and governments' stability is being affected by these processes. A large number of LAC countries are experiencing a deepening of social inequalities which particularly affect women, indigenous peoples and youth, frustrating the efforts of social integration, for example, in terms of exercising rights and citizenship.

Without losing this perspective, we can face the future by looking what we have accomplished during the past year, which is not little, as well as face the new windows of opportunities which will undoubtedly open for our work in the region. The Centre has been consolidating an important stock of capital on management of transnational knowledge generation and on the exercise of helping implement and follow-up regional networks. We are currently aiming not only at the fostering of knowledge but at enhancing the perception of research as a public good which has to be used and appropriated by regional institutions and communities as well.

Bearing this in mind IDRC will continue its efforts to implement new strategies which may bring targeted, innovative and highly visible initiatives and to promote the intellectual capital and capacity building to tackle the urgent problems of the countries of the LAC region.

It is our hope that the new year brings peace and understanding among all and that your personal aspirations be fulfilled.

Federico Burone
Regional Director

Assessment of our electronic bulletin

We wish to thank everybody who sent us valuable contributions through the assessment form that we launched in the month of November. We have received an endless number of suggestions and comments. This will enable us to optimize and adapt our bulletin to our readers' needs. Undoubtedly, this has been an enriching exercise and its outcome is to be reflected in the very near future.

During the visit that Mr. Jean-Marc Fleury, IDRC's Communications Division Director, paid to our Regional Office, we proceeded to the drawing of the purchase order of IDRC Publications of our "Booktique" ( http://www.idrc.ca/booktique).It came up with the following two winners: Ms. Giuseppa Bentivegna from Canada's Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, and Mr. Rubén Ibáñez from the Asociación Civil Grupo Redes of Argentina.

Congratulations to both of them and many thanks to our constant readers for having participated. Let us recall that you may always forward your comments to us: lacroinf@idrc.org.uy

Creation of a Regional Model Forest Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean

The Regional Model Forest Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (RMFC-LAC) has been recently created. The RMFC-LAC will be hosted at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) country office in Santiago, Chile, under a joint agreement signed by the UNDP, the International Model Forest Network Secretariat (IMFNS), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Argentina, Canada, Chile, and the Dominican Republic.

The IMFN Secretariat is housed at Canada's International Development Research Centre, and is supported by IDRC, Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Natural Resource Canada/Canadian Forest Service, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(DFAIT).

For further information visit: http://www.idrc.ca/imfn/

New website for the Mining Policy Research Initiative

IDRC's Mining Policy Research Initiative (MPRI) has launched a new interactive website. We invite you to visit it and send your comments. The new website is at: http://www.iipm-mpri.org/

Competitive funds, fellowships, contests and vacancies

Call for research proposals on small-scale mining

IDRC's Mining Policy Research Initiative (MPRI) calls to institutions from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela to submit their proposals for the national coordination of the Research Network Project on Organization and Institutionalization of Artisan and Small-scale Mining.

Deadline for reception of proposals: December 31, 2002

For further details visit: http://www.iipm-mpri.org/mpe/

Call for Proposals: Research on Economic Policy and Poverty

The Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Research Network, supported by IDRC, announces its first call for proposals. Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals related to either of the following two research areas: poverty monitoring, measurement and analysis; and economic modeling and policy impact analysis.

Applications must be received by December 31, 2002

For further information visit: http://www.crefa.ecn.ulaval.ca/develop/pep.html

Call for proposals on local development in Latin America

Call for proposals on case study reports: "Local development: its links with the labour market, informal employment and new social safety nets: towards a new link between policies and society".

Deadline for applications: January 7, 2003

For further information visit: http://www.desarrollolocal.org/ or send an e-mail deslocal@claeh.org.uy

AGROPOLIS Awards

2003 Post-doctoral awards in Urban Agriculture - New this year

AGROPOLIS is an International Research Awards Program that supports innovative research in the field of Urban Agriculture. Starting this year, the AGROPOLIS Program will offer up to two (2) post-doctoral awards to promising researchers who have obtained a Ph.D. in urban agriculture or in a related field and who wish to specialize further in their field.

There is particular interest this year in applications focusing on any of the following themes:

a) Quantifying the contributions of the Urban Agriculture sector to national and urban economy
b) Managing Health Risks associated with Urban Agriculture
c) Urban Planning and Policies for Urban Agriculture
d) Land Use Planning, tenure and Urban Agriculture

For further information visit:
/ev.php?ID=11173_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

AGROPOLIS also offers for 2003 a series of awards that supports graduate-level field research that is designed and implemented in collaboration with non-academic partners. As the end-users of the research, these international, national, or local partners will be actively engaged in sectors of development in which urban agriculture can make a contribution. The award will cover justifiable field research expenses to a maximum of CAD $20,000 per year. Award tenure corresponds to the period of field research, normally no less than 3 months and no more than 12 months. Up to 14 awards will be granted annually, with at least 5 awards supporting field research at the master's level.

For further information visit:
/ev.php?ID=4714_201&ID2=DO_TOPIC

Deadline for both awards is January 31, 2003

MINK'A DE CHORLAVI Small Grants

The results of the 2002 Fondo Mink'a de Chorlaví: "Systemization of Rural Territorial Experiences Small Grants" are available. Eleven of the 189 proposals received this year were selected. The project leaders of the selected proposals will participate in a workshop to further develop the coordination and implementation of their research. The workshop will be held in Bolivia on February 24-26, 2003. The Minka Fund is financed by IDRC (project 100730)

For further information on the selected proposals visit http://www.fondominkachorlavi.org/

New IDRC approved projects

IDRC has approved the following projects in the LAC Region:

• 101385 "Internet Training Program in Community Forestry Management for Latin America"
  /ev.php?URL_ID=22219&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201& reload=1040157487
• 101391 "SIPAZ, Community Radio for Peace - Phase III" /ev.php?URL_ID=24578&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201& reload=1040158390
• 101416 "Mercury Exposure and Ecosystem Health in the Amazon - Phase III"
• 101420 "Virtual Information Centre on Water in the Altiplano - Phase II"
• 101423 "Regulation of Rights in the Water Law" (Bolivia)
• 101630 "Managing Small Scale Fisheries" (Caribbean)
• 101650 "Competition Issues in CARICOM"
• 101662 "Mistica 2: Ensuring the sustainability of the LAC network of researchers on ICTs"
• 101666 "National Connectivity Plans in LAC"
• 101689 "Andean Water Vision from an Indigenous and Peasant Perspective"
• 101691 "IV Congress of Municipal Health Secretaries of the Americas"
• 101699 "Third Sub-Regional Interamerican Forum on Health Leadership"
• 101712 "Towards a New Link between Policies and Society"

For further information visit the IDRIS Database. The database has more than 7000 records containing information of all projects financed by IDRC in the last 30 years. Searches can be done by title, country, institution and will result in an abstract with basic information of the research study and links to related documents (some of them in full text).

The database has been updated with information up to December 2002. It can be accessed at http://idrinfo.idrc.ca/

New IDRC publications

The Spanish version of IDRC publication "Outcome Mapping: Building Learning and Reflection into Development Programs by Sara Earl, Fred Carden and Terry Smutylo is available. http://archive.idrc.ca/booktique/

Documents resulting from IDRC funding (full text)

1) "Trade Policy Research in the Commonwealth Caribbean. A Scoping Study" Prepared for the International Development Research Centre's Trade, Employment and Competitiveness Program Initiative (TEC) by NSI Researchers, Ann Weston and Chantal Blouin. Available at http//www.nsi-ins.ca/download/caribbean.pdf

2) "Virtual Information Centre on Water resources in the Altiplano", CD Multimedia CIED http://www.agualtiplano.net/

Documents in IDRC Reports:

"Amerindian Researcher Brings Grassroots Views on Mining to Fore"

Conferences

International Forum on Ecosystem Approaches to Human Health Montreal, Canada, May 18-23, 2003

The goal of the Forum is to provide a platform for a discussion of the ecosystem approach to human health, the evidence from the field, and the relevance of the approach to improving health and well-being. The Forum offers the opportunity for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and civil society representatives from around the world to share knowledge, and for institutions to consider strategies for a way forward.

For further information visit: http://www.idrc.ca/forum2003/

III Sub-regional Inter-American Forum on Health Leadership

On 16-17 December 2002, the III Sub-regional Inter-American Forum on Health Leadership took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This event, addressed preferentially to the Southern Cone's health vice-ministers and state or provincial health officials, focused on the challenges of reform and government viability in the health sector, pinpointing the following topics: Generic drug policies, Health insurance: innovation and equity, and Citizens' participation and governance.

The forum was organized by the Fundación Mexicana para la Salud (FUNSALUD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and IDRC.

For further information visit: http://www.claeh.org.uy/

IV Plenary Meeting of the LATN Network

The "IV Plenary Meeting of the LATN Network" was held during 12 and 13 December in Santiago de Chile, at ECLAC headquarters. On the occasion, sessions dealt with such issues as "The crisis in Latin America: learning the hard way"; "Rethinking governance problems"; "Liberalization of
regulations and services"; etc.

For further information visit: http://www.latn.org.ar/

IV Congress of Municipal Health Secretaries of the Americas

Last Tuesday 26th November, Roberto Bazzani (IDRC, Senior Program Officer) made a presentation of the new Program Initiative on Governance, Equity and Health, as part of the Panel supported by IDRC in the context of the IV Congress of Municipal Health Secretaries of the Americas, that took place in Rosario, Argentina on November 25_27, 2002. The Panel was also composed by Susana Belmartino (CESS, Argentina) who exposed about the regional challenges and conceptual framework of governance and health policies in Latin America, Liliana Findling (REDE-UBA, Buenos Aires), who referred to Equity issues in the South Cone, Mauricio Torres (Colombia) referred to Citizenship and Health Reform in Colombia, and Fernando Borgia (Latin American Social Medicine Association) reflected on the impacts of the current financial crisis on the health systems of the Southern Cone.
http://www.saludamericas2002.org/index2.htm

ICA - Hemispheric Advisory Board

The ICA Hemispheric Advisory Board (HAB) met on November 21-22, 2002 for the second time. The Advisory Board includes digital pioneers active in ICT for development in the Americas, representing the private sector, government, educational institutions, and civil society in the hemisphere. South America, Central America, North America, the EU and the Caribbean are reflected in the Board membership.

For further information visit http://www.icamericas.net/

NetAmericas / OAS Conference

Three networks funded by IDRC's Program Initiative on "Trade, Employment and Competitiveness" played an oustanding role in the recent NetAmericas Conference held in Washington, D.C., on 20-21 November, and organized by the Trade Unit of the Organization of American States (OAS).

• The Mercosur-Network organized a special session devoted to examine the role of the "MERCOSUR - USA negotiations within the FTAA process". The participating panellists were Marcel Vaillant, Universidad de la República Oriental del Uruguay, Silvia Laens from the Centro de Investigaciones Económicas (CINVE), David Tarr from the World Bank. Comments were in charge of Sidney Weintraub, from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). http://www.redmercosur.org.uy/conferencia/netamericas.htm

• The Project "Central America in the World Economy of the 21st century" coordinated a panel on regional issues. Presentations were made by Pablo Rodas-Martini, "Key Issues for Central American Integration"; Reny Bake, "The Free Trade Agreement with the United States"; and Randall Arce, "Puebla-Panama Plan". Ennio Rodriguez from the IADB chaired the session. The discussants were Pablo Schneider, CABEI's President, and René León, Ambassador of El Salvador before the US Government. http://www.asies.org.gt/ca/programa_oct_22.pdf

• The Latin American Trade Network (LATN) also organized two panels on "Governance issues in international trade: the case of developing countries " and "Antidumping and anti-competitive practices". For further information on LATN visit: http://www.latn.org.ar/

For further information visit: http://www.iipm-mpri.org/noticias/

ICA Consultation Meeting in the Caribbean

The second in a series of regional events on the use of ICTs for development was held October 28- 30, in Barbados. Chaired by the ICA and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Caribbean ICT Roundtable is being hailed a huge success. More than a hundred high profile participants, representing the region from various sectors, attended the working event that focused on the creation of a regional strategy for ICT development. On the final day of meetings, the ICA brought leading financial institutions together with development partners to discuss joint funding initiatives. Among others, the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Caribbean Development Bank, UNESCO, and USAID, were in attendance.

More information on the event, including links to discussion groups: http://www.icamericas.net/workshops/caribbean/

Launching of new publications

Last 17 October, two books were launched in Montevideo: "Mining within the Context of Land Use Planning", introduced by Roberto Villas Bôas / CETEM /MCT and "Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development in South America", presented by Cristina Echavarría (MPRI) from the IDRC. The event was convened by the National Direction of Land Use Planning (Ministry of Housing, Land Use Planning and Environment / Uruguay), the National Direction of Mining and Geology (Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining / Uruguay) and UNESCO's Regional Office of Science for Latin America and the Caribbean in Montevideo.

For further information visit http://www.iipm-mpri.org/

From our readers:

Oxfam Americas Branch has recently launched a multimedia CD - Rom "Indigenous Peoples of Latin America: Challenges for the new millenium" by Richard Chase Smith and the Instituto del Bien Común. Issues covered include: land, economy, policies and cultural identity of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, Central America, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brasil. For copies of the CD and publication, please send an e-mail to ichiroque@oxfamamerica.org

Document(s) 6 of 11