a royal mission – fighting cancer in jordan and the middle ... · photographs rana wintersteiner...

A Royal mission – fighting cancer in Jordan and the Middle East MIFTAH: the key of hope for Palestinians � IEF holds energy symposium in South Africa

Vienna High-Level Symposium reviews aid effectivenessVenezuela’s Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra visits Austria � Save the fish: food for thought?

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PUBLISHERS

THE OPEC FUND FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (OFID)

Parkring 8, P.O. Box 995, A-1010 Vienna, Austria

Tel: (+43-1) 515 64-0; Fax: (+43-1) 513 92-38

Email: [email protected]

www.ofid.org

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mauro Hoyer Romero EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Audrey Haylins

CONTRIBUTORS Reem Aljarbou, Sam Ifeagwu, Anna Ilaria-Mayrhofer,

Verena Ringler, Fatimah Zwanikken, Project Syndicate (Tarun Khanna)

PHOTOGRAPHS Rana Wintersteiner (Unless otherwise credited) PRODUCTION Susanne Dillinger

DISTRIBUTION Hala Elsayed DESIGN etage.cc/krystian.bieniek PRINTED IN AUSTRIA Stiepan Druck GmbH

OFID Quarterly is published four times a year by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).

OFID is the development finance agency established in January 1976 by the Member States of OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum

Exporting Countries) to promote South-South cooperation by extending development assistance to other, non-OPEC developing countries.

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COMMENT

Strengthening aid effectiveness 2

COVER STORY

A Royal mission – fighting cancer in Jordan and the Middle East 4

OUTREACH

MIFTAH: The key to hope for Palestinian Society 10

Society’s forgotten victims 14

AIDS vaccine breakthrough 18

OFID partners with Standard Chartered PLC 22

OFID Diary 24

Meetings attended by OFID 25Loan signature photo gallery 26129th Governing Board photo gallery 28

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

HIV/AIDS: protecting the vulnerable 30

IEF holds energy poverty symposium in South Africa 34

Asian footsteps in Africa Chinese Premier pledges US$10 billion in aid to Africa 36

Migration as an engine of human development 39

Vienna High-Level Symposium reviews aid accountability and transparency 41

Arab countries debate climate change 43

MEMBER STATES FOCUS

Kuwait hosts Arab Thought Foundation Annual Conference 46

Venezuela’s Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra visits Austria 48

PARTNERSHIPS

OPEC Secretariat moves to new location 51

SPOTLIGHT

Save the fish: food for thought? 53

Cover photo: HRH Princess Ghida Talal and HRHPrincess Dina Mired of Jordan’s King Hussein Cancer Foundation during theAmman International Marathon, where3,000 people participated in the name of the Foundation.PHOTO: KHCF

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January 2010

he availability of financing fordevelopment may be one of theless talked about casualties of

the global financial crisis, but itswounds are nonetheless deep. By stran-gling aid and other capital flows, therecession has exposed the inherentfragility of the global developmentframework and thrown into sharp re-lief the imperative of getting the mostout of every single cent – in otherwords the issue of aid effectiveness.

Aid effectiveness is a term coined todescribe the degree to which aid objec-tives are achieved and target problemsresolved. It is more about quality thanquantity, although the latter is also veryimportant when it comes to measuringactual results.

In recent years, important strideshave been made towards improving thequality of aid. Representatives of donorand recipient countries and multilateraland bilateral development institutions –including OFID – have stood united intheir determination to build a more in-clusive and accountable aid cooperationframework. The Second High Level Forum

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COMMENT

Strengthening aid effectiveness

on Harmonization, Paris, France, 2005,and the Third High Level Forum on Aid Ef-fectiveness, Accra, Ghana, 2008, are goodexamples of this initiative, as are theoutcomes of these meetings: the 2005Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness andthe 2008 Accra Agenda for Action.

These events created a powerful mo-mentum to change the way aid donorsand recipients work on the ground andspawned the establishment of a multi-plicity of mechanisms for aid effective-ness, including the International AidTransparency Initiative, the Open Forumon Civil Society Organization Aid Effective-ness, and the Better Aid Platform.

Such momentum, however, hasslowed in the face of the global financialcrisis and its repercussions. Some donorcountries have cut back on the amountof funding made available, while othershave tied the provision of funds to theacquisition of their own goods and serv-ices. These circumstances have served tohighlight the relevance and importanceof the concessional and untied supportprovided by OFID for more than threedecades.

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COMMENT

a central tenet of its opera-tional philosophy.

However, we must bemindful that aid effective-ness depends not just onthe donors but on the recip-ients too. So results-orienteddevelopment cooperationmust include open, respect-ful dialogue with develop-ing country partners – whatOFID calls a “contract amongequals.” We must support

their choices and actively encouragethem to take control of their own future.

Yet, as the target date of 2015 forreaching the eight Millennium Devel-opment Goals (MDGs) draws nearer, thesigns are that the pace of progress hasremained too slow. If the MDGs are ameasure of aid effectiveness, then as aglobal community we are failing onmany counts. Much more must be doneto accelerate implementation of the ob-jectives set out in the Paris Declarationand the Accra Agenda for Action.

Meanwhile, in regaining the mo-mentum, let us not forget what remainswhen we strip away the rhetoric – bil-lions of men, women and children, whoare depending on us to help build a bet-ter future. What greater inspiration dowe need? �

The quantity of OFID aid isnot related to the economicperformance of OFID Mem-ber Countries, or to the aver-age spot price of the OPECreference basket of selectedcrudes, or to the value ofMember Country petroleumexports. OFID financing fordevelopment is consistentand predictable – two of theprerequisites for enhancedaid transparency, accounta-bility and effectiveness.

Recognizing the need for continuedimprovement of the quality of South-South and Triangular cooperation, OFIDhas also been an active participant inthe Development Cooperation Forumand in the Coordination Group of theArab Funds, the Islamic DevelopmentBank and OFID. OFID has also playedan active role in the dialogue betweenthe Coordination Group and the Devel-opment Assistance Committee of theOrganization for Economic Coopera-tion and Development.

OFID looks forward to continuingconstructive dialogue – including withnew partners – on issues related to aid ef-fectiveness and reform of the interna-tional financial and aid architecture. ForOFID, maximizing the impact of its development assistance has always been

“OFID financing

for development is

consistent and

predictable – two

of the prerequisites

for enhanced aid

transparency,

accountability

and effectiveness.”

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COVER STORY

The King Hussein Cancer CenterEstablished by Royal Decree in 1997, KHCChas evolved into the leading cancer hospital in

the Middle East, with state-of-the-art facilities providing life-savingtreatment to over 4,000 patients every year, many of them children.


A Royal mission – fighting cancer in Jordan and the Middle East

The name is not all that is royal about Jordan’sKing Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF). Leading the dedicated team of medics, supportstaff and fundraisers are two royal princesses –Princess Ghida Talal, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, and Princess Dina Mired, Director-General. Unlike some royal patrons, however, the princesses are more than just figureheads, as the OFID Quarterly discovered during a recentinterview with Their Highnesses.

by Audrey Haylins

HRH Princess Ghida Talal (left) and HRH Princess Dina Mired (right)are tireless advocates for excellence in cancer care in Jordan.

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ogether, they make a formidableduo. Utterly committed to their

cause, the Princesses Ghida and Dinaare powerful protagonists in Jordan’sfight against cancer – the country’s sec-ond biggest killer after heart disease. Behind their steely determination lies a special understanding borne out oftheir own first-hand experiences. As ayoung bride, Princess Ghida helped herhusband successfully battle Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, while PrincessDina has nursed her young son throughleukemia.

“We have both lived cancer in all itsfacets – from the terror to the taboo. Weunderstand all the steps that go with it,

because we’ve actually been there. It isthis that gives our passion an extra edge,”explains Princess Ghida.

And it is the princesses’ passion thathas helped establish KHCF’s medicalarm, the King Hussein Cancer Center, asthe leading hospital of its kind in theMiddle East.

Established by Royal Decree in 1997,the Center has evolved into a comprehen-sive, state-of-the-art facility that is theequal of anything anywhere in the world.Testament to its standing is its accredita-tion as a “disease-specific” healthcareprovider by the internationally-recog-nized Joint Commission on Accreditation ofHealthcare Organizations (JCAHO).

“We were the first cancer hospital out-side the United States to receive this ex-ceptional distinction from JCAHO, soit’s something we are very proud of,”says Princess Ghida. The Center has alsorecently been awarded membership ofthe prestigious College of AmericanPathologists.

In order to augment KHCC’s pool ofexpertise and experience, the princessesand their team have labored hard to forgeaffiliations with some of the top cancercenters in the world, among them theUSA National Cancer Institute, St. JudeChildren’s Research Hospital, USA; andGeorgetown University Lombardi CancerCenter, USA. Ties are likewise being nur-

Surviving breast cancer: Sahar’s story

Sahar Mifleh Jarrar, 49, is an educated woman with a master’s degreein social sciences and population studies. In 2004, while conducting anearly detection test for breast cancer at the King Hussein CancerCenter, a lump in her left breast was discovered. Even before gettingthe results of her biopsy, she knew she had cancer. The tests confirmedher suspicions.

Sahar says: “Dr. Yasar Qutaiba, the head of the early detectionclinic, explained to me that I would need a partial or full mastectomyand that the lymph nodes in my armpits would have to be examined torestrict the spread.”

On her second visit, Sahar met with surgeon Dr. Mahmoud AlMasri, who informed her that she was in the early stages of the diseaseand so recommended a partial mastectomy. Sahar, however, insisted ona full mastectomy to guarantee a higher chance of recovery. “I disre-garded the affect it may have on my psychology as a woman, due to thethreat to my feminine appearance. I was completely convinced of theimportance of giving priority to recovery.”

Sahar underwent the operation and her left breast was removed.“The surgery was followed by four sessions of chemotherapy as a pre-ventative measure, although the doctor insisted I did not need it. Thechemotherapy was my choice, although post-op tests showed thelymph nodes in my armpits to be disease free; even the removed lumpitself was small at a size of 1.5 cm.”

Sahar’s chemotherapy treatments were not easy. She recalls, “I could hardly endure the third session and during the fourth, I startedto cry hysterically before any needles were put in. I still suffer from thenegative effects of the chemotherapy, as I feel a weakness in my jointsand an increase in my weight due to the hormone treatment. However,

exercise and volunteering with the ‘SanadSupport Group’ program helped me over-come such negative effects.”

Sahar remains confident, saying: “Inspite of the psychological, physical and socialsuffering I went through, the support of myhusband, family and friends helped me toovercome my ordeal and recover. My 13-year-old daughter was my reason for endur-ing the disease and treatments and ultimatelythe reason for my survival. She used to say:‘Mom you have to live to see my children. I love you as you are, with or without abreast, with or without hair. The important thing is that you are stillalive and that you are beside me, talking to me and holding me close.’”

Sahar speaks in glowing terms of the care she received at KHCC:“It is not an exaggeration to say that I received wonderful health andpsychological care, from the reception staff to the medical team. Norcan I forget the social team which alleviated the burden of treatmentamong the patients. My volunteer work at the Sanad Support Group allowed me, in turn, to help others as well as offer psychological andmoral support.”

Today, Sahar has resumed living a normal life, playing all the rolesrequired of her as a wife, mother and effective woman in society, with-out problem. She admits that battling cancer taught her the importanceof love and loved ones in our lives through their continuous supportin times of need.

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tured with the University of Texas M. D.Anderson Cancer Center as well as the or-ganization Susan G. Komen for the Cure,the USA’s largest grassroots network ofbreast cancer survivors and activists.

Located in the Jordanian capital Am-man, KHCC’s 180-bed hospital boastsstate-of-the-art medical equipment andservices, including surgical and intensivecare facilities, and treats over 4,000 newcancer patients every year, including chil-dren. Its first-class team of oncologistsand other healthcare professionals isdrawn from around the world, with theaim of providing the highest quality ofcare. Innovations include a tele-synergyunit, which allows for real time consulta-tions on difficult cases between specialistsin two or more countries, and a multi-modality clinic, where the patient istreated holistically by a chemotherapist,psychiatrist and neurologist.

According to Princess Ghida, the“real jewel” in KHCC’s crown is its bonemarrow transplant program. The Centerconducts around 100 of these delicate,life-saving procedures every year, on bothchildren and adults, with a very high suc-cess rate. “A bone marrow transplant isusually the last resort for a cancer patient,the only option left when the treatment isnot working,” explains the Princess, whois quick to emphasize the importance ofthe program: “As the only transplant serv-ice in Jordan and the most advanced inthe region, our work in this area is invalu-able.”

Despite the remarkable success of thebone marrow transplant program, bothroyal princesses agree that the Center’smost outstanding achievement lies in itsleadership of Jordan’s national breast can-cer campaign. Launched about threeyears ago by the Ministry of Health, thisinitiative seeks to offer comprehensiveservices for the early detection andscreening of breast cancer for all womenaged between 40 and 59.

Until very recently, 70 percent ofwomen diagnosed with breast cancer inJordan were presenting at an advancedstage of the disease and were often be-

yond the chance of a cure. Today, thanksto a nationwide awareness campaign thathas helped break down the taboos sur-rounding the “Big C,” this statistic hasbeen almost halved.

“It’s amazing to see how in such ashort time we have managed so emphati-cally to decrease mortality among Jordan-ian women, who were dying so unneces-sarily,” declares Princess Dina. “Now weare receiving women mostly with stageone and stage two cancers, and we areeven seeing the emergence of a stage zero,where only minimal intervention isneeded to effect a cure.”

Advances in treatment notwith-standing, like every other cancer hospi-tal KHCC is witnessing a steady rise in pa-tient numbers, which are growing at therate of about 1,000 per year. PrincessGhida believes that the rise is due to anumber of factors, including a general in-crease in cancer rates, higher awareness,screening campaigns and early detection,as well as fewer taboos.

The number of outpatient visits,meanwhile, has multiplied 10-fold in just six years. This, assures Princess Dina,is a positive development: “The whole �

Two young cancer survivors unveil the “KingHussein Wall of Hope,”which raised US$820,000in funding for the hospital.Each brick in the wall represents a donation andis engraved with the nameof the donor or loved-one.


COVER STORY

� movement worldwide for cancer is togo for outpatient treatment, which is farbetter for the individual than spending alot of time in hospital.” KHCC fully sup-ports this idea and has introduced the useof portable “CADD” pumps that enablechemotherapy to be administered safelyand effectively in an outpatient setting sothat patients are able to continue livingtheir lives as normally as possible. “With

the CADD pump, people can have theirchemo at home and even continuingworking if they feel well enough,” saysPrincess Dina. “This allows us to treatmore patients every month.”

As a non-profit NGO, the Founda-tion relies almost exclusively on fundrais-ing to finance its day-to-day operations.Patients with the means to do so pay fortheir treatment. But the hospital’s policy

HRH Princess Ghida Talal,Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of KHCF and

OFID Director-General, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish,

conclude the grant agreement.

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is to open its doors as much as possible to everyone in need. As Princess Ghidapoints out: “Cancer does not differentiatebetween rich and poor.” A full course oftreatment, she estimates, can cost fromUS$40,000 to US$50,000.

Low-income Jordanians have theirtreatment subsidized by the Royal Courtor the government. For patients whocome from other Middle Eastern coun-tries, most notably Palestine where healthservices are very basic, the Foundationhas what is known as a Goodwill Fund,from which treatment, travel and accom-modation can be financed. A separate,special fund for Iraqi citizens has so farraised over US$2 million, mostly fromwealthy compatriots.

“To be honest, funding is a huge bur-den,” Princess Ghida admits. “Our pock-ets are not bottomless, so we are heavilydependent upon donations.” Financialsupport for KHCF comes from a wide va-riety of sources, including philanthro-pists, private companies, foreign govern-ments and national, regional or interna-tional agencies, such as OFID.

OFID’s partnership with KHCF began in 2006 with the donation ofUS$400,000 towards the purchase of adigital mammography machine, whichhas been key in promoting early diagno-

sis. “This is hi-tech digital mammogra-phy,” explains Princess Dina. “It is incred-ibly precise and allows for much greaterdetection. Best of all, it has somethingknown as a Mammotome system, whichenables doctors to perform breast biop-sies as an outpatient procedure.”

OFID’s latest contribution, a grant ofUS$600,000, will co-finance a new state-of-the-art interventional radiology suitewith special high-resolution imaging ca-pabilities to improve accuracy and effi-ciency and, in many cases, eliminate theneed for surgery for routine procedures.Princess Ghida explains:

“With cancer, you normally have totarget all the cells, the good ones and thebad ones, but of course we strive con-stantly to harm as few healthy cells as pos-sible and focus on the malignant ones.The images produced by this machine areso detailed they can provide us with aroad map to do exactly that. So, for exam-ple, we can see where exactly to insert aradioactive pellet for the treatment ofprostate cancer, or a Hickman Line for thedelivery of chemotherapy, and all with-out a general anesthetic and the atten-dant side-effects. The benefits for the pa-tients are incalculable.”

If all goes according to plan, the newradiology suite will be up and running by

the end of 2010, marking another step inKHCC’s journey to consolidate itself asone of the world’s leading cancer centers.In the meantime, the Princesses Ghidaand Dina have another royal battle ontheir hands – how to raise the US$100 mil-lion needed to realize their expansionplans for the hospital.

“There is so much more we need todo,” says Princess Dina. “We’ve never really believed in fancy buildings or bigspaces, but we are so overstretched thatwe simply have to build a bigger hospital.We’ve already established the institu-tional capacity – the substance thatmakes a good hospital truly great – wejust need to be able to accommodatemore patients.” She adds that the planshave already been drawn up and includean expansion to the bone marrow trans-plant unit and an entire floor dedicatedto breast cancer.

Big dreams they may be, but giventhe princesses’ tireless passion and deter-mination, one thing can be guaranteed:they will not remain dreams for long. �

Equipped with cutting-edge technology and afirst-class medical staff,KHCC boasts a clutch ofinternational accredita-tions for its work.


ne of the most amazing dimensionsof the legend that is Dr. Hanan

Ashrawi, is her ability to articulate thePalestinian cause with such profoundconviction. Dr. Ashrawi was recentlyelected to the Executive Committee of thePalestine Liberation Organization (PLO),making her the first and only woman onthe committee since its inception.

A regular guest at OFID headquar-ters, Dr. Ashrawi in her capacity as theChair of the Executive Committee of thePalestinian Initiative for the Promotionof Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), presented Director-General Al-Herbish with a report on a project fi-nanced through a grant from OFID.

During the meeting, Dr. Ashrawi focused on the evident commitment anddedication of civil society organizations(CSOs) and non-governmental organiza-tions (NGOs) to the overall developmentof the many facets of Palestinian society.She thanked the Director-General forOFID’s sustained attention to Palestine’sproblems and the ongoing conflict facingher people. Mr. Al-Herbish conveyedOFID’s strong dedication to the peopleof Palestine and pledged the institution’sunwavering support to providing long-term assistance.

In December 2007, OFID extendeda grant of US$170,000 under the Spe-cial Grant Account for Palestine to MIFTAH. Established in 1988, MIFTAH is


OUTREACH

MIFTAH: The key to hope for Palestinian Society

In October, OFID welcomed once again to its headquarters renowned Palestinian scholar and political activist Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who called on Director-General Al-Herbish to brief him on the achievements of her NGO, MIFTAH.

In a wide-reaching discussion, Dr. Ashrawi also spoke about her vision for Palestine, her activism within civil society networks, and her efforts to bring a woman’s approach to government.

MIFTAH means KEY in Arabic

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by Reem Aljarbou

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Dr. Ashrawi is the founder of the MIFTAH movement – the Palestinian Initiative for the Promo-tion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, of which she has been Secretary General since 1998.Ashrawi is also a member of a number of NGOs and institutions, including Woman for Peace andJustice in Palestine, and the National Reform Committee. In 2004 she became a member of thePalestinian Legislative Council Affairs Committee and in 2009 she was the first woman to beelected to the Executive Committee of the PLO. Dr. Ashrawi is also a former member of the UnitedNations Secretary-General’s Dialogue between Civilizations.

*

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OUTREACH

a Jerusalem-based NGO that is dedicatedto fostering democracy and good gov-ernance within Palestinian societythrough the promotion of public ac-countability, transparency and the free flow of information. As MIFTAH’sfounder, Dr. Ashrawi had called onOFID for assistance with a project to em-power marginalized groups in rural ar-eas and enhance their involvement inthe development process. The primaryfocus of the project was the promotionof income generating initiatives thatwould grant women and youth greatereconomic opportunities and improvedliving standards. �

To help Jordanian womenand youth become more self-sufficient, MIFTAH

works to promote income-generating activities, such as

this beekeeping enterprise.

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OFID and the Palestinian people

The relationship between OFID and the Palestinianpeople dates back more than three decades. Duringthis time, OFID has worked hard to lay foundationsfor the empowerment of Palestinians in the WestBank and Gaza Strip, as well as for those in refugeecamps in neighbouring countries. OFID’s support to Palestine reaches deep into people’s everydaylives, building human capacity and focusing on projectsthat offer Palestinians the hope of a long-term, sustainable future.

Targeted assistanceIn response to escalating needs, OFID in 2002 tooksteps to intensify its involvement in Palestine by setting up a special program to accelerate the deliv-ery of assistance. Endowed with its own resourcesand officially known as the Special Grant Account for Palestine, this program provides support primarilyto areas of long-term concern, such as basic infra-structure and essential health and social services.

Education is a key focus of the program, whichsince its launch has provided ongoing support to helpuniversities and colleges remain open by subsidizingthe tuition fees and subsistence costs of students. Another important initiative is the Scholarship Fundfor Talented Palestinians, which was launched in 2009by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency forPalestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). OFID played a major role in developing this initiativeand was its very first sponsor. Under the scheme, all talented Palestinian youth can apply for funding toattend a degree course of their choice, at a universityof their choice, including overseas institutions.

OFID’s special program for Palestine also pro-vides funding to hundreds of grassroots civil societyorganizations in the West Bank and Gaza, where en-forced movement restrictions continue to impedeeconomic activity and drive poverty levels and unem-ployment ever higher. Operating at community level,these NGOs provide a wide range of essential serv-ices, including working with the disabled and youngchildren, supporting rural development and buildingcapacity among women.

Micro-financingAnother important component of OFID’s support to Palestine is the PalFund, a micro-enterprise program. Since its launch in 2004, the PalFund hasprovided small loans to several thousand micro-entrepreneurs and artisans. The amounts injectedinto the scheme by OFID have been ‘recycled’ manytimes, as successful entrepreneurs pay back their loanamounts and borrow larger sums to expand theirbusinesses. All repaid amounts are channelled backinto the ‘revolving’ PalFund scheme. Administered byUNRWA, the PalFund is the largest micro-financingprogram operating in the region.

PHOTO: IFAD/WENDY SUE LAMM


� Project activities included the forma-tion of a steering committee comprisingspecialized representation from the pri-vate sector, the local community, donorsand civil society, and a member of the lo-cal council. The project also facilitated co-ordination with local councils andwomen’s associations in marginalizedcommunities in the Ramallah and BirehDistricts.

MIFTAH’s strategic objectives in-volve the dissemination of discourse todecision-makers as well as the ability toinfluence policy and legislation in en-suring civil rights and good governance.Additionally MIFTAH works to empowereffective leadership and raise awarenesson civil rights and positive citizenship.

Dr. Ashrawi talked about Palestin-ian women’s perseverance on theground in the Occupied Territories, espe-cially in rural areas, stressing that “weneed women to find solutions.” Empha-sizing social developments and the over-all situation in Palestine, Dr. Ashrawidiscussed the building blocks of the proj-

ect which brought true change to peo-ples’ lives. She said: “I have noticed im-mensely that women are the ones tomake a difference, they are the paceset-ters, the ones who break the barrierswithin society.”

In covering issues regarding the in-tegration of Palestinian society and gov-ernment, Dr. Ashrawi focused on the im-portance of female leadership in eco-nomic, political and social factions. Onher new position in the Executive Com-mittee of the PLO, she stressed the im-portance of gender integration addingthat “it is crucial to bring a female per-spective into the political arena for thesurvival of programs supporting Pales-tinian civil society.”

In their exchange of views on ongo-ing cooperation between OFID and Pales-tinian CSOs and NGOs, Mr. Al-Herbishreiterated the importance of partnershipswith such entities, adding that “themechanisms and active in-depth dialoguethat MIFTAH works on is essential for theprogress of Palestinian livelihoods.” �

A group of women nurture their greenhouseseedlings under anotherMIFTAH project. MIFTAHseeks to provide marginal-ized groups with greatereconomic opportunities.

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ccording to Professor le Coultre, thedisabled in the developing coun-

tries are very often overlooked or castaside in favour of more high-profilecauses: “In terms of allocating more fundsto the disabled, it’s simply not a priorityfor many governments and health min-istries. So if the SFD and donor organiza-tions such as OFID didn’t provide thisvaluable niche, these vulnerable peoplewould be truly forgotten by society.”

It is particularly difficult to raisefunds for a cause that isn’t headline news,she notes. While the plight of landminevictims used to be a highly publicized is-sue; today you hear little about the topic.

According to the World Health Organiza-tion, over 600 million people across theglobe experience some form of disability.Approximately 80 percent live in develop-ing countries and are poor; and thus, areunable to access the medical and rehabili-tation services that would enable them tore-integrate into society. One of the mostprevalent afflictions in these countries ismissing limbs resulting from accidents.While in some cases these injuries arecaused by auto- or work-related mishaps,in other cases, the individuals are victimsof landmines and unexploded ordnance.

“It’s a terrible situation for anyoneto face, no matter where one lives,” says


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For many years, the International Committeeof the Red Cross Special Fund for the Disabled(ICRC/SFD) has worked to help physically disabled people in poor countries regain theirmobility and self-respect and lead productive,fulfilling lives. In the following interviewwith the OFID Quarterly, Professor Claudele Coultre, Chairwoman of the SFD Board,

highlights the plight of these “forgotten people” and the challenges they still face, even with support from institutions like OFID.

Society’s forgotten victims

A “However, even if there is no longer waror conflict in these countries, those leftdisabled are still there – and require assis-tance.” she says.

Which is why OFID has previouslyextended support to SFD’s regional cen-ters in Nicaragua and Vietnam, and morerecently to help bolster operations in 15SFD collaborative national centers in East-ern Africa, as well as to its regional officein Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. “OFID has re-ally made a difference to the SFD, as itsupports activities that aren’t necessarilyin the spotlight,” concludes Professor leCoultre. “We consider OFID to be one ofour key stakeholders.”

by Anna Ilaria-Mayrhofer

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“To walk and work again” is SFD’s watchword. Here, anSFD physiotherapist helps a beneficiary get used to his newprosthesis. Renewed mobilitywill make it easier for him to obtain gainful employmentand become self-sufficient.

Professor le Coultre. “But to lose a limb orbecome otherwise disabled in resource-poor countries brings insurmountableobstacles, as the victim usually cannotwork and support their family.”

New amputees must also grapplewith the psychological aspect of theirdisability and often face stigmatizationand social exclusion. According to theProfessor, this is particularly true forwomen, who are typically the most vul-nerable members of poor societies. “Hav-ing a missing limb, for example, mightmean that they won’t be considered suit-able for marriage, which, in many coun-tries, is seen as the primary means forwomen to achieve proper social status.”

These challenges would indeed beinsurmountable were it not for the ded-icated efforts of the SFD. Established in1983 by the ICRC to streamline efforts toassist the disabled in impoverished ar-eas and to continue projects where theICRC no longer operates, the SFD’s mainthrust is to provide rehabilitation cen-ters in low-income countries with thetechnical support and training, as well asthe equipment needed to produce low-cost, high quality prosthesis and or-thoses (devices that provide support toan improperly-functioning limb). TheFund also provides walking aids, such ascanes and crutches, and wheelchairs,and even pays travel costs for patients toreach a center. In 2009 alone, some15,000 people in 30 countries were ableto benefit from rehabilitation servicessponsored by the SFD.

The SFD operates out of three mainbases. The Africa region is covered by aprosthetic/orthotics center (POC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which providesspecialized training to orthopaedic tech-nicians and physiotherapists, and offersbasic coursework and refresher coursesfor those working at assistant-level posi-tions. Other regional centers are in HoChi Minh City, Vietnam and Managua,Nicaragua.

Working out of the regional hubs,experts make regular visits to local reha-bilitation centers and also conduct on-

site training. As it is a highly specializedfield, prosthetic/orthotic techniciansmust undergo three to four years of rig-orous training. And here, too, the SFD iswilling to help, by means of a scholar-ship program, which is available to assis-tant technicians or physiotherapistswho have completed basic courseworkat the POC. Successful candidates attenda school selected by the SFD “to insurethat the graduates receive a diploma thatis internationally recognized by the Soci-ety of Prosthetics and Orthoses.”

On-site evaluation is also carried out.For instance, a team of SFD experts regu-larly carries out visits at rehabilitation �

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How old were you when you had your accident?

I lost my leg when I was 13 yearsold. I was playing with a landminethat my friends and I had found. Iwas curious. I heard some rattlingand wanted to see what was inside.When I tried to open it, it ex-ploded. I remember it very clearly.Surprisingly, I didn’t feel any pain,probably because the nerves in myleg were burned. I mostly feltshock because it happened so fastand I didn’t expect it.

I live in a small village and it took awhile to get treatment. We firsthad to see the police, to reportthe accident. When we reachedthe hospital, 25 minutes away, theytold me I couldn’t be treatedthere. I had to go to another hos-pital that could help me.

My mother died when I was fiveyears old so I was always working,doing odd jobs like shoe shining.After the accident I wondered howI could continue to work.

Is it difficult walking with anartificial leg?

I was so eager to walk. When thelimb-fitting centre gave me my firstartificial leg, I started running andthe thing broke! But it wasn’t diffi-cult learning how to walk with anartificial leg. I could do it immedi-


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Case study: Ethiopia

Tesfahun Hailu from Ethiopia lost his leg and part of his arm six years ago in a landmineaccident. Thanks to an artificial leg provided by the ICRC/SFD, Tesfahun was able to return to school. Now 19, he is determined to become a doctor.

ately, even though the first onewas heavy and not very comfort-able. I later learned about the Spe-cial Fund for the Disabled andabout the Prosthetic OrthoticCentre that made lighter ones,which made walking much easier.

I have had to get a new leg everysix months. There have been sevenso far, because I’ve grown soquickly. I’m one metre ninety now,but I don’t think I will have to go tothe Centre so often because I’vestopped growing.

Has the Centre looked after you well?

All the people at the centre havelooked after me – they’re like fam-ily now. They don’t just fit artificiallimbs, they want to make sure I’mdoing well. They give me advice if Ineed it and a lot of encouragement,especially with my studies. They’vereally made a difference in my life.

What advice can you give otherpeople in a similar situation?

First, people need to learn aboutthe dangers of landmines. Bothparents and children must knowwhat can happen if they hold orplay with one. If they are injuredlike me, they need to accept thatthey are disabled and not let it defeat them.

A lot of disabled people sit athome and feel useless because so-ciety doesn’t give them a chance.But if they are given a chance theycan really lead full and active lives.They must exercise and practiceusing their artificial limbs so theycan be independent.

Even with a disability, you can doalmost everything, but it does takehard work. Me, I plan to go to uni-versity to study to become a doc-tor. In the village where I live,there is only one doctor for 6,000people. We need more doctors.

Source: ICRC

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� centers throughout Africa. Each re-mains at the center for three to fourweeks, where they conduct comprehen-sive patient evaluations and providestaff – who are mostly local – with thor-ough feedback on the devices that havebeen produced and fitted there. “Wewant the local technicians to understandthat they must carry out this delicatetask as perfectly as possible,” explainsProfessor le Coultre.

For a rehabilitation center to receiveassistance from the SFD, it has to un-dergo an evaluation process to ensurethat it has the necessary infrastructureand technical capacity to treat patients.It must also possess some level of finan-cial and managerial autonomy.

“What also must be borne in mindis that the rehabilitation centers are pro-viding continuous services to each pa-tient,” says Professor le Coultre, who ex-

plains that a prosthesis needs to be re-placed every two to three years or aboutevery six months in the case of children.“We estimate that someone first fittedwith a prosthesis at the age of five wouldneed approximately 25 replacementsthroughout life.”

Physiotherapy is also vital for help-ing an individual become accustomed tothe new device, learn to walk and carryout day-to day-tasks. “It gives patientsconfidence, and the staff at the centersare also on hand to talk to these peopleand help ease their fears about this newchapter in their lives,” says the Professor.Indeed promoting mobility is the SFD’sultimate aim, as captured in its motto:“To walk and work again.” �

Becoming a prosthetic/orthotictechnician requires three-fouryears of rigorous training. SFD sponsorship helps reha-bilitation centers develop these vital skills.

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For more information about theICRC/SFD, visit their website athttp://www.icrc.org/fund-disabled


In furtherance of its mission to fight the global AIDS pandemic, OFID in December pledged its support to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). An OFID grant of US$3.5 million will bolster IAVI’s research and development program, as it works to develop a vaccine to limit further transmission of the virus.

AIDS vaccine breakthrough OFID supports clinical trials

Village women in India holding AIDS vaccine trial kits provided by the International Aids Vaccine Initiative.

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ince the initial identification byscientists of HIV as the cause of

AIDS, the relentless spread of the diseasehas transformed it into the worstrecorded pandemic in human history.While billions of dollars have beenpoured into initiatives that seek to halttransmission by raising awareness ofprotection methods, for example, IAVIis the only global organization dedi-cated exclusively to developing an ef-fective AIDS vaccine.

According to Dr. Seth Berkley, Pres-ident and CEO of IAVI, the severity ofthe pandemic is such that it is vital tolook beyond temporary, stop-gap meas-ures: “The world is unfortunately fo-cused on short-term issues, and in thiscase it is an emergency and rightfullyso, yet we must focus on the long-termissues. Short-term interventions do notwork, so the question is how to balanceour efforts, recognizing the long–termissues as well.”

The OFID grant comes at a crucialpoint in IAVI’s research, coincidingwith the announcement of modestachievements in Phase II of the Initia-tive’s clinical trials. Says Berkely: “Thissmall success can only mean positive re-sults.”

IAVI was born out of discussionsstemming from a meeting of the Rocke-feller Foundation with of 24 authoritieson the disease in Bellagio, Italy, a decadeafter HIV was identified. The initiativewas formally launched at the start of 1996,as a non-profit public-private product development partnership. Its first chal-lenge was to make AIDS vaccine develop-ment a priority on the global publichealth agenda. Today, IAVI has a strongnetwork of research center and operatesin 25 countries worldwide, many of themfunctioning as regional hubs.

IAVI’s chief hub is its clinical re-search center in Kenya, where a high in-cidence was discovered of women whowere exposed to the virus yet remaineduninfected. Scientists began to study thetype of immune responses these womenhad and recreate it via a vaccine. These

findings led to trials being conducted inNairobi and the creation of a KenyaAIDS Vaccine Initiative (KAVI). IAVIlaunched its first vaccine developmentpartnership in 1998 with KAVI and hassince conducted six HIV vaccine clinicaltrials and seven epidemiology studies.The OFID grant will target further studyon identifying the relevant antibodieswith a view to eventually providing pro-tection before exposure.

In parallel to the Kenyan efforts,IAVI began work in India in 2000 aftersigning a memorandum of understand-ing with the Indian Ministry of Health �

Dr. Seth Berkley, President and CEO of IAVI with OFID Director-General Al-Herbish.

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� and Family Welfare. IAVI believesIndia to be a strong partner because ofits rich pool of medical professionalsand scientists together with a successfulpharmaceutical industry. Its potentialin playing a leading role in the AIDSvaccine research and developmentpushed IAVI to activate its efforts in thecountry in 2001.

In its global efforts IAVI has cre-ated a broad program that covers tech-nical capacity-building, reaching out tothe local communities, advocacy andpolitical engagement. IAVI believesthat these elements together form thefoundations for creating the long-termsolution necessary for eradicating theepidemic.

High-level political support andsound policy are also essential to thesustainability of the AIDS vaccine ef-

fort. With this in mind, IAVI systemat-ically cultivates and sustains such sup-port in its worldwide initiative. Dr.Berkley considers the sustainability ofpolitical support to be an essential as-pect for the success of any trial: “In theend, bad science will destroy a trial, butso will bad politics or misunderstand-ings,” he states.

Another integral part of the trial isIAVI’s strong emphasis on reaching outto the community. Much of IAVI’s activ-ities in each country are followed withthorough attention to different religiousand cultural community groups andstrong collaboration on the specificneeds of each community. What makesIAVI’s work so valuable is the strong eth-ical human research component in con-ducting its trials. IAVI believes that rely-ing on community relationships allows

Achievements in clinicaltrials have raised hopesthat progress is beingmade in identifying antibodies that couldform the basis of a vaccine against the HIV virus.

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for a deeper understanding of the limi-tations, one of which is cost: for everytwo people put on treatment, anotherfive infections go untreated.

IAVI understands that communitybind is critical and requires layers ofsupport. One of the main areas IAVI fo-cuses on is women and their participa-tion in the clinical trials. Due to genderconstraints in many of the communi-ties it operates in, IAVI pays special at-tention to all elements that are genderspecified, allowing for access to specificneeds, from counselling, to medicalcare and advocacy in relation to stigma-tization.

One of the major trends in IAVI’sprograms in Asia and Africa is the smallnumber of women enrolments due toconstraints such as marital issues andpregnancy as well as cultural factors. Acrucial element in the success of the tri-als to date is the considerable researchinto why women were not participatingand the substantial efforts that followedto ensure their integration.

IAVI continues to work closely withcommunities on the ground to workaround difficulties relevant to thosecommunities. On the other hand, IAVIdiscovered that due to its standardizedlab values and strong technical capacitybuilding, the operations within Africaand India have an even better standardthan in the west. “We need to know thata vaccine tested in Africa can be testedelsewhere,” says Dr. Berkely.

OFID’s grant will support IAVI’sextensive research and developmentprogram in Africa and India. The IAVI/OFID partnership also includes capacity-building measures and provision ofsupport to IAVI’s highest-priority re-search program at its clinical researchcenter in Kenya, under the Kenya AIDSVaccine Initiative. At the signature ofthe grant agreement, Dr. Berkley ex-pressed his appreciation of OFID’s sup-port to the initiative and stated that,“We will find a vaccine, not only forthose communities, but for the wholeworld.” �

IAVI in brief

IAVI is a global non-profit organization working to speedthe search for a vaccine to prevent HIV and AIDS. IAVIsponsors public-private research partnerships to buildvaccine candidates and test them in humans. Followingits official launch in 1996, and with the support of organ-izations and partner countries, IAVI helped build an advocacy initiative that resulted in the G8 issuing a “Callfor Action” on HIV vaccines in 1997. The following year,the young product development partnership producedthe first Scientific Blueprint for AIDS Vaccine Develop-ment, which called for greater international collaborationto fast-track the parallel development of multiple HIVvaccines, and for a stronger focus on vaccine candidatesdevised to combat strains of HIV circulating in Africa and Asia. IAVI also advocates on behalf of vaccine developers worldwide, and for public policies that assureaccessibility.

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The severity of the AIDSpandemic is such that isis vital to look beyondtemporary, stop-gapmeasures. Short-termemergency needs need tobe balanced with the pursuit of a long-term solution.


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OFID partners with Standard Chartered PLC

he agreement with Standard Char-tered provides for implementation

of a program of risk-sharing in an amountof US$500 million. This would be equallyshared between the two partners. Theagreement is expected to generate an esti-mated incremental trade of US$2 billionannually.

The accord was signed on behalf ofOFID by Director-General Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, while Ms. Karen Fawcett,Standard’s Global Head of TransactionBanking, signed for the bank. Eightybanks in 18 emerging markets and devel-oping countries stand to benefit from theprogram, which may be expanded to in-clude more countries and more banks asdemand manifests itself.

At the signature ceremony, Mr. Al-Herbish said OFID sees the programas part of its strategy of “scaling up sup-

port” to cooperating countries to helpalleviate difficulties relating to access-ing credit “in these days of credit dis-ruption.” The agreement will build onStandard Chartered’s global networkand trade origination capacity. This isin line with OFID’s Trade Finance Facility (TFF), which was initiated in2006 to promote economic develop-ment (through trade financing) andstrengthen the financial systems of part-ner countries.

In her own statement at the signa-ture ceremony, Ms. Fawcett said theagreement and the expected incrementaltrade would be “an excellent example formultilateral agencies and private sectorfinanciers looking for a well-structuredmethod for supporting trade originatingfrom developing economies in these diffi-cult times.”

As the circle of partners and cooperating countries involvedwith OFID in trade financing continues to grow, the institu-tion in October, 2009, signed a risk sharing agreement withStandard Chartered Bank PLC, to help boost trade, particularlySouth-South trade, and encourage greater financing for emerging markets and developing countries.

T


expand their engagement with globaltrading partners, but uncertainties regard-ing performance may inhibit potentialsuppliers and customers. Internationalbanks may not be able to accept letters ofcredit or other guarantees offered by localbanks, reflecting concerns about thespeed and effectiveness of payment or ex-posure to political and commercial risks.Through the TFF, OFID can help over-come these obstacles. All developingcountries, with the exception of OFIDmember states, are eligible to benefit fromthe facility.

For its part, Standard Chartered islisted on the London- and Hong KongStock Exchange. It ranks among the top25 companies in the Financial Times’FTSE-100 by market capitalization. Withheadquarters in London, the StandardGroup has operated for over 150 years in

some of the world’s most dynamic mar-kets, leading the way in Africa, Asia andthe Middle East. The Group’s income andprofits have more than doubled over thelast five years, primarily as a result of organic growth.

Standard Chartered earns around 90 percent of its income and profits inAsia, Africa and the Middle East, from its Wholesale and Consumer Bankingbusinesses. The Group has over 1,600branches and outlets located in more than 70 countries. OFID is pleased to be involved with the Bank in pursuit of economic development, in low-incomecountries, via trade financing. �

OFID’s TFF took off to a speedy start andhas seen a trajectory of growth not pre-dicted at its establishment. The facilitytakes the form of guarantees, lines ofcredit and straightforward loans. It is re-sponding to growing demand for financ-ing to help overcome obstacles.

For OFID, trade financing is a naturalprogression in its efforts to align with theeconomic development demands of part-ner countries. Trade financing comple-ments OFID’s broadening range of fi-nancing windows, which include long-and medium-term projects and programsin the public and private sectors. OFID’sTFF promotes development by meetingthe trade financing needs of institutionsin partner countries, including govern-ments, banks and private enterprises.

Many low-income countries havethe resources and technical ability to

Ms. Karen Fawcett, Global Head of Transactional Banking, Standard Chartered, and Mr. Al-Herbish, OFID Director-General.

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October - December 2009

OCTOBER 2

Emergency assistance grant approved Indonesia and the Philippines.US$750,000. This grant helped toprocure emergency supplies andfinance relief operations for earth-quake and typhoon victims. Thegrant was channeled through theInternational Federation of RedCross and Red Crescent Societies(IFRC). The proceeds were distrib-uted to the National Red CrescentSocieties of each country as fol-lows: US$500,000 to the Republicof Indonesia and US$250,000 tothe Republic of the Philippines.

OCTOBER 2-6

Public Sector loan agreements signedEthiopia. US$15 million.Nekemte-Bedelle Road.

Colombia. US$30 million. La Linea II (Centennial) Tunnel.

Congo Republic. US$7 million.Rural Development in the Lik-ouala, Pool and Sangha Departments.

Haiti. US$15 million. Péligre Hy-droelectric Plant RehabilitationProgram.

Rwanda. US$10 million. Electricity Access Scale-Up.

Mauritius. US$8.07 million. TerreRouge Verdun Ebene Road (Phase II).

Paraguay. US$29 million. NationalRural Roads Program (Phase II).

OCTOBER 5

Trade Financing agreement signed OFID and Standard CharteredBank signed a US$500 million risk sharing agreement to helpboost trade and to encouragemore trade financing to emergingand developing countries. See story, page 22.

OCTOBER 9

128th Session of the Governing Board approvesUS$170 million in freshfinancing

Project loans approvedBotswana. US$40 million. Integrated Transport.China. US$10 million. Gansu Healthcare.Cuba. US$17 million. Las TunasProvince Water Supply System Rehabilitation.Malawi. US$11 million. Teacher Training Colleges.Philippines. US$30 million. Road Sector Institutional Develop-ment and Investment Program.Tajikistan. US$13 million.Kulyab-Kalaikhum Road.Tanzania. US$12 million. Poverty Reduction, Phase II.Turkey. US$36.8 million (€25 mil-lion). Ankara-Istanbul RailwayUpgrading.

Grant approved under theSpecial Grant Account forHIV/AIDS OperationsOFID/IAVI (International AIDSVaccine Initiative). US$3.5 mil-lion. This grant will co-finance ajoint initiative of OFID and theIAVI, the only global organizationdedicated exclusively to develop-ing an effective AIDS vaccine. See story, page 18.

Grant approved under theSpecial Grant Account forPalestineAssistance to Civil Society Organizations in the West Bank,Palestine, Phase II. US$2.5 mil-lion. This grant will be distributedamong 25 Palestinian NGOs thatare providing vital assistance inthe areas of education, health and agriculture, as well as socialand community development.The funds will help ensure thatthe NGOs can continue deliver-ing services that would otherwisebe unavailable to the Palestinianpopulation.

Technical assistance grants approved

United Nations High Commis-sioner for Refugees (UNHCR).US$1 million. This grant will sup-port the reintegration assistanceactivities of the UNHCR, which isensuring the safe return of Mauri-tanian refugees from Senegal andMali. UNHCR plans on providingreturnees with the support servicesneeded to facilitate their reintegra-tion; ensuring that they receive access to basic social services; and developing projects aimed atassisting communities that will accommodate the returnees.

International Committee of theRed Cross Special Fund for theDisabled (SFD). US$800,000.This grant will support operationsin 15 SFD collaborative nationalcenters in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia,Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Somalia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe), as well as the SFD regional office in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia. See story, page 14.

King Hussein Cancer Center.US$600,000. This grant will co-finance the upgrading of radiology equipment at the KingHussein Cancer Foundation(KHCF) in Jordan. See story, page 4.

OCTOBER 13

Emergency assistance grant approvedWorld Food Program (WFP).US$500,000. This grant was approved to assist global effortsto battle growing hunger acrossthe world. It was announced onWorld Food Day, which this yearhad the theme Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis. Proceeds from the OFID grant,which will be channeled throughthe WFP, will be used to supportthe organization’s latest emer-gency food assistance program in low-income countries.

OCTOBER 16

OFID Director-General receivesMoroccan national awardOFID Director-General, Mr.Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, wasawarded the Moroccan Order ofWissam Al Alaoui. The honor,with the Grade of Commander,was conferred on Mr. Al-Herbishby HE Dr. Omar Zniber, Ambassa-dor of Morocco to Austria and Per-manent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, acting on behalf of KingMohammed VI of Morocco. Mr. Al-Herbish was praised for accomplishments relating to theworldwide engagement of OFID andthe institution’s support towardthe promotion of socio-economicdevelopment in Morocco.

NOVEMBER 2-4

OFID Director-General meetswith Albanian President OFID Director-General, Mr.Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, led a high-level delegation to Tirana, Albania. One of the highlights of the mission was an audiencewith the Albanian President Professor Dr. Bamir Topi. The Director-General delivered akeynote address at the 2nd Inter-national Conference on ForeignInvestment in Albania and held anumber of meetings with variousgovernment officials. The delega-tion also visited sites of two OFIDco-financed projects.

NOVEMBER 17-20

Al-Herbish heads high-levelmission to LebanonMr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, OFIDDirector-General, led a high-level,four-day mission to Lebanon,where he met with Lebanese Presi-dent, General Michel Sleiman,and attended the Second AnnualConference of the Arab Forum forEnvironment and Development(AFED). See story, page 43.


OFID DIARY

NOVEMBER 23

Research grants approved

Center for World Food Studies.US$150,000. This grant will spon-sor a project entitled ImprovingPastoral System’s Drought Resiliencein Afar State, Ethiopia. The projectwill implement a Decision SupportTool, which will assist policy-makers in the planning of drought-coping strategies for pastoralist societies in the Awash Basin.

Fransalian Organization for Social Transformation, Educa-tion and Renewal (FOSTER).US$100,000. This grant will support the construction of a secondary school and hostel forhomeless and impoverished children and youth in Tabora,Tanzania. The scheme will also ensure that beneficiary childrenare provided with clothing, meals, medical care and shelter.

University of Vienna, Austria.US$15,000. This grant will sponsor the translation of the Virtual Museum of Islamic Artwebsite from German to English.This project will enable non-German speaking public internetusers, as well as university libraries,journalists, museum staff andscholars, to benefit from the website.

DECEMBER 9-10

Mr. Al-Herbish heads delegation to Kuwait OFID Director-General, led a delegation to Kuwait to attend the FIKR 8 Conference, which was organized by the ArabThought Foundation. The Conference was co-sponsored by OFID with a US$100,000 grant. See story, page 46.

DECEMBER 14

Public Sector loan agreement signed

Panama. US$1.8 million. Participative Development and Rural Modernization.

DECEMBER 16

Trade financing agreement signed

Amrahbank of Azerbaijan. US$2 million Line of Credit.

DECEMBER 17

129th Session of the Governing Board approves 10 public sector loans

Project loans approvedAzerbaijan. €20 million. Janub Power Plant.

Benin. US$11 million. Kandi-Segbana-Nigeria Border Road.

Burundi. US$8 million. Ntamba-Ndora Road.

Central African Republic.US$9.3 million. Commodity Import Program.

Jamaica. US$10 million. Eastern Jamaica Rural Roads Rehabilitation.

Kenya. US$10 million. Dundori Olkalou Njabini Road(Supplementary Loan).

Morocco. US$30 million. Rural Roads Rehabilitation andConstruction – Phase II.

Sri Lanka. US$16 million. Kalu Ganga Development.

Tanzania. US$12 million. Same Water Supply.

Uganda. US$22.95 million. Vocational Education.

Technical assistance grants approvedAustrian Red Cross (ARC).US$450,000. Since 1983, the ARChas been working in cooperationwith the Nepalese Red Cross Society to help reduce poverty insome of the poorest areas in thecountry by carrying out commu-nity development programs. The present scheme will conduct similar activities in nine villages in the Rukum District in Nepal.

Carter Center. US$500,000. This grant will support an ongoing Guinea Worm Diseaseeradication program in six en-demic African countries: Ethiopia,Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria andthe Sudan. The program, which is in its final phase, aims at achiev-ing full eradication of the illnessby the end of 2012. OFID has alsoprovided support to earlier phases of the program.

Center of Arab Women forTraining and Research.US$500,000. This grant was extended to support a project thataims at helping improve socio-eco-nomic conditions among womenin six Arab countries; namely, Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Jordan,

the Sudan and Yemen. This will beachieved by carrying out capacity-building among NGOs and gov-ernmental institutions that targetthe needs of disadvantagedwomen.

Grant approved under theSpecial Grant Account forHIV/AIDS OperationsWorld Health Organization(WHO). US$3.5 million. Thisgrant will support an OFID/WHOPartnership on the Prevention ofTransfusion-Transmitted HIV/AIDSand Hepatitis Infections in PriorityCountries. Activities will be carried

out in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan.

Grant approved under theSpecial Grant Account forPalestineUnited Nations DevelopmentProgram (UNDP). US$2 million.This grant will support interven-tions necessary to increase the efficient use of water for irrigationin the northwestern districts ofthe West Bank. Works to be car-ried out include the upgrading ofgroundwater wells and irrigationsystems, as well as the construc-tion of water storage facilities.

Meetings attended by OFID

OCTOBER 7VIENNA, AUSTRIA20th Anniversary of the AustroArab Chamber of Commerce

OCTOBER 2-7ISTANBUL, TURKEY2009 World Bank/IMF AnnualMeetings, G-24 Ministers Meet-ing, Development CommitteeMeeting and the Meeting of the Multilateral Finance Institutions

NOVEMBER 1-3RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIAMeeting of the CoordinationGroup of Arab/OPEC/IslamicDevelopment Aid Institutions

NOVEMBER 13-14OXFORD, UKOxford Energy Institute BoardMeeting / Oxford Energy PolicyClub Session

NOVEMBER 17-18BEIRUT, LEBANONByblos Bank Africa, ByblosBank Syria Board Meetings

NOVEMBER 16-18ROME, ITALYWorld Food Summit on FoodSecurity, FAO

NOVEMBER 18-19LONDON, UKSierra Leone Investment andDonor Conference

NOVEMBER 16-17WASHINGTON DC, USAJoint Conference of the Bankfor International Settlements(BIS), European Central Bank(ECB) and the World Bank

NOVEMBER 19-20BEIRUT, LEBANONAnnual Conference of the Arab Forum on Environmentand Development

NOVEMBER 25ROME, ITALYAssembly of Parties, Annualmeeting of the InternationalDevelopment Law Organization

DECEMBER 7-11COPENHAGEN, DENMARKUnited Nations ClimateChange Conference (COP 15)

DECEMBER 8-9JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICAInternational Energy ForumSymposium on Energy Poverty

DECEMBER 9-10KUWAIT CITY, KUWAITFIKR 8 ConferenceArab Thought Foundation

www.ofid.org


LOAN SIGNATURE

October 3HE Sufian Ahmed, Minister of Finance and Economic Development of Ethiopia (far left)shakes hands with Mr. Al-Herbish after signing a US$15 million loan agreement fora transportation project.October 5

HE Dionisio Borda, Minister of Finance ofParaguay, secured aUS$29 million loan tohelp upgrade rural roadsin a number of moun-tainous parishes.

OFID DIARY

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December 14Mr. Luis Enrique Martinez,Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of the Republic of Panama

in Vienna, concluded a US$1.8 million loan in

support of a multi-faceted rural development project.

October 3HE Daniel Dorsainvil, Minister of Economy and Finance of Haiti, signing the loan agreement.The US$15 million credit will help finance upgrading of the Péligre Hydroelectric Plant.

December 16Mr. Emil Mammadov, Chairman,

Amrahbank. The Bank has taken a US$2 million line of

credit to help expand its services.

OFID DIARY

The full list of loan signatures can be found on pages 24-25.

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OFID DIARY

Meeting in its 129th Session in Vienna, the Governing Board of OFID approved over US$160 million in fresh financing for development. The funds will support public sector projects in 10 countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean in sectors as diverse as agriculture, education, energy, water supply and transportation. Six grant-financed initiatives were also approved.

HE Jamal Nasser Lootah, Chairman of the Governing Board.

Mr. Elboueshi M. Ellafi, Governor of the GSP Libyan AJ to OFID.

129th Session of the Governing Board


OFID DIARY

Mr. Mohamed Benmeradi, Governor of Algeria to OFID.

HE Dr. Ochi Chinoyerem Achinivu,Nigerian Governor to OFID.

Mr. Azez J. Hassan, Iraqi Governor to OFID.


HIV/AIDS: protecting the vulnerable

A decade ago, our TV screens were alive with stories and pictures ofchildren affected by AIDS. Today, millions of youngsters are still living with the fallout of a pandemic that has fractured their familiesand changed their lives forever. As experts gear up for the July 2010 XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria, the OFID Quarterly asks what lessons these children have taught us.


Education and awareness are key tools for shaking off the ignorance and stigma that surround AIDS, especially among young women, who remain the most susceptible to infection.

by Verena Ringler

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polokeng and Sello are the faces ofthousands of children confronted

with enormous odds: Both Mpolokeng,an 18-year-old girl, and Sello, an 18-year-old boy, live in Lesotho, where HIV/AIDSprevalence among adults stands at 23.2percent. Both youngsters recently losttheir parents to AIDS; both are headingtheir households and taking care ofyounger siblings; and both are strugglingto make ends meet. Mpolokeng has hadto drop out of school; Sello takes care ofthe family’s few remaining cattle.

Mpolokeng and Sello are just two ofan estimated 17 million children world-wide who have lost one or both parents toAIDS. Many more are affected in otherways by HIV/AIDS in their communities.All of them face a complex set of problems.

Governments and experts continueto pay into large programs to combatHIV/AIDS among children – just considerthe robust commitment of OFID andUNICEF in 17 countries from Guyana toAngola to Sri Lanka (see box). Medical ef-forts include prevention of mother-to-child transmission and direct treatment.Celebrity ambassadors like Annie Lennoxparade the PR-catwalk to promote theunity of purpose needed in this over-whelming struggle. Three decades intothe global spread of HIV/AIDS, the devel-opment community realizes just howprofoundly HIV/AIDS has challenged usto debunk truisms, break taboos and ad-mit truths.

We know a lot more than we usedto: we know children are not merely anextension of adults. We know childrendeserve to be high on the global AIDSagenda. We know that the current eco-nomic crisis is likely to worsen poverty inhouseholds, which in turn negatively af-fects children’s wellbeing. We also knowthat any effort to help vulnerable chil-dren needs to involve the whole commu-nity in order to avoid abuse and conflict.

On the medical front, we know thatpediatric HIV care and treatment needsto become an integral part of infant andchild survival and health programs. Weknow that, fortunately, many lives have

been saved or improved in the past years,and more mothers can access transmis-sion prevention programs to protect theirunborn children from infection.

But we also know a massive social ef-fort is needed. Even with antiretroviraltreatment becoming more widely available,it is crucial to include human rights, legal,social, psychological, cultural and otherperspectives in our effort against HIV.

We further know that the face of AIDS isincreasingly young and female. Girls insub-Saharan Africa continue to be dispro-portionately vulnerable to HIV infectionand account for nearly 75 percent of all in-fections in young people because ofstrong social, cultural and economic de-pendency. Gender-based discriminationand violence are significant barriers to ac-cessing social services and negatively �

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Peer-to-peer outreach, as in this OFID/UNESCO project inUzbekistan, has proved an effective means of conveying important messages about HIV and AIDS among young people.

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� impact individual ability to exerciseself-protection choices.

Last but not least, we know that peereducation harbors a large potential fortriggering behavioral change among sex-ually active teenagers. Current attemptsinclude the Sister-to-Sister program inMalawi, Tanzania and Namibia. Here, fe-male peer counselors (big sisters) sup-ported by young female health workersare trained to deliver intensive classes togirls. The content of such sessions sur-rounds life skills including sexual topicsand how HIV/AIDS infection can beavoided.

So, our knowledge about HIV/AIDSand how it relates to children has vastlyimproved. But how can we harness theseinsights and turn them into positive ac-tion? Rachel Yates, UNICEF’s Senior Ad-viser on Children and HIV/AIDS, and adevelopment practitioner of many yearsexperience, summarizes the lessonslearned and points to the way forward:

Lesson One: Children living withAIDS need access to treatment. By the endof 2008 only an estimated 275,000 werereceiving treatment out of a total of730,000. Whilst this represents an in-crease of nearly 40 percent over 2007, thegap is still huge.

Lesson Two: Children need the loveand support of families and communities.Institutional care such as orphanagesshould be a temporary measure and a lastresort.

Lesson Three: Orphans and othervulnerable children are often at a disad-vantage when it comes to accessing basicservices such as education. Keeping boysand girls in school is very important toensure continuing access to educationand also to keep children in a supportiveenvironment where they can get accessto other services (e.g. life skills for HIVprevention and psycho-social support forchildren who have lost parents).

Lesson Four: Protecting childrenfrom all forms of abuse is crucial. Chil-dren affected by AIDS are often at higherrisk of being driven into harmful childlabor, or of being physically and sexu-

OFID and UNICEF – making a difference

The joint OFID/UNICEF Mother/Child Global Project to FightHIV/AIDS was launched in 2006 with a number of key objectives: to offer protection, care and support for children made vulnerable byAIDS, including orphans; to provide HIV prevention and life skills development to street children; and, to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV. The initiative covered 11 countries in sub-SaharanAfrica, four in Latin America and the Caribbean, and two in Asia.

By the conclusion of the two-year initiative, great strides had beenmade in all three target areas, with many of the advances the result ofcapacity building and the scaling-up of responses at both national andcommunity levels. In Rwanda, for example, the establishment of a track-ing system for mother-to-child-transmission successfully brought back400 HIV positive children, who had been lost to follow-up. In Haiti,OFID’s grant provided support to a community program offering psychosocial assistance to children and their family caregivers living inPort-au-Prince. And in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, life skills developmentprograms were devised to help support young people and adolescents,especially those most at risk to HIV and AIDS.

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ally abused. Supporting communitychild protection committees can be away to help safeguard children at risk ofabuse.

Lessons Five: Adolescents and youngpeople need comprehensive and correctknowledge about HIV and how to avoidtransmission. Many young people con-tinue to be infected. In 2007 an estimated45 percent of new cases were foundamong young people age 15-24.

Mpolokeng and Sello, the twoLesotho teenagers, would probably agreewith Rachel Yates about her emphasis ona robust combination of social and med-ical interventions. After all, these twoteenage orphans know the particularly vi-cious circle opening up for children af-fected by HIV. Can you go to school? Canyou escape stigma and sidelining in yourcommunity? Can you avoid the avenuesto violence or illegal activities? Can youpursue a career? Do you get information,support, and counselling – and do yournon-affected peers get the same?

Thus, Mpolokeng and Sello wouldlikely not be surprised to hear the tale of15 HIV-positive children at the Mai HoaCentre near Ho Chi Minh City in Viet-nam. On a Monday morning in Septem-ber 2009, they were excited to be startinghigh school. “But when we got to school,the parents of the other children were juststanding there and then they started tak-ing their children home. I was so sad. Be-cause I knew they were scared of us, scaredof our disease,” 12-year-old Tuyen told areporter of the United States NationalPublic Radio. Jesper Morch, Vietnam’sUNICEF representative, took the incidentas a reminder that “the misconceptions,the myths, they exist anywhere and atany time. Stigma and discrimination isclose to unavoidable.”

Mpolonkeng and Sello might also relateto the gender factor which Linda Richter,a Swedish expert on the topic, explores:“While girls are, overall, more vulnerablethan boys, studies of school drop-out,child labor, children’s time-use, traffick-ing and sexual exploitation show thatboys are also vulnerable and should notbe neglected. Moreover, neglect for boys’care may contribute later to the violencemen perpetrate on women and children.”

Mpolonkeng and Sello might fur-thermore subscribe to the best practicepackage for fighting the impact ofHIV/AIDS everywhere: this mix includeshigh level government ownership andsustained leadership in fighting HIV,donors with a good understanding of lo-cal politics and the policymaking process,the involvement of and support by civilsociety organizations, as well as account-ability and political pressure. A success-ful process also needs committed, dy-namic individuals, consultative practices,and the availability of resources.

Despite the great challenges theyface in their own lives in Lesotho, bothMpolokeng and Sello possess what espe-cially vulnerable children need: an as-tounding resilience. These two orphanedteenagers have hopes and dreams for thefuture. The reason for that is a large, ongo-ing participatory effort of providing child-headed households in the country withcash grants. Mpolokeng and Sello are twoof the recipients. “My greatest wish is togo back to school so that I can become ateacher and help other children learn andgrow,” says Mpolokeng. Sello, now an ex-perienced herd boy, voices his passion,saying: “Cows are my life. Now, I can buya new cow. My cattle make sure that wesurvive and that my younger brother andsister can stay in school.” �

Further Reading: The Fourth Stocktaking Report on Children and AIDS, a joint annual effort by UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO, is published atwww.uniteforchildren.org, a site also offering teaching and advocacy kits.The BetterCareNetwork, http://www.crin.org/bcn/, deals with best formsfor protection and care for children, which exclude orphanages.

Lessons learned aboutchildren and AIDS

• Children living with AIDS needimproved access to treatment.

• Institutional care such as orphanages should be a temporary measure and a last resort.

• Children should be kept inschool to ensure access tovital psycho/social services.

• It is crucial to protect childrenaffected by AIDS from abuse.

• Adolescents and young peopleneed to be taught about HIVand how to avoid infection.


he objective of the symposium wasto explore ways and means of re-

versing the difficulties associated withenergy poverty and, via informed dia-logue, move toward achieving the Mil-lennium Development Goal (MDG) of erad-icating extreme poverty and hunger by2015. Participants included officialsfrom developed and developing coun-tries; representatives of government andindustry; finance institutions; non-gov-ernmental organizations and interna-tional aid agencies. They made recom-mendations on ending energy poverty

The symposium followed the recom-mendations of the 11th IEF which washeld in Rome, April 20-22, 2008. TheRome Forum noted that “lack of accessto modern energy services…perpetuatedthe poverty cycle and inhibited eco-nomic development, availability ofclean water and food, while preventingeducation and training and acceptablehealth standards.”

Ministers at the Rome Forum calledfor solidarity among IEF countries and achange in the collective efforts of all rel-evant international organizations to helpachieve the MDGs by halving povertyrates. The message echoed that of the adhoc Jeddah and London Energy Meetings(June and December 2008, respectively),where Ministers called for the intensifica-tion of efforts from national, regionaland international finance and aid institu-tions to alleviate the consequences ofhigh and volatile oil prices on the least-developed countries and agreed on theimportance of multilateral measures tomitigate this effect.

Participants at the Johannesburgsymposium concluded that concerted ac-tion should be taken against energypoverty, as the issue stalls progress inachieving the MDGs. They said capacity

The Republic of South Africa, December 8-9,hosted in the City of Johannesburg, an International Energy Forum (IEF) Symposiumon Energy Poverty. This was a joint effort bythe Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based IEF and theSouth African Ministry of Energy, bringingtogether energy specialists and independentexperts from various countries and interna-tional organizations, among them OFID.

IEF holds energy poverty symposium in South AfricaParticipants call for tangible results in alleviation efforts

for presentation to energy ministers atthe 12th IEF scheduled for Mexico, March29-31, 2010.

The symposium agreed that energypoverty programs are severely under-funded; and that the current financialcrisis has made an already difficult situa-tion critical. Lack of access to, and afford-ability of, modern energy services bur-dens nearly two billion people and con-tinues to impede the achievement of theMDGs. Despite efforts, energy povertyhas retained an upward trend throughrecent years.

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building in statistics was necessary toprovide a basis for the development ofbenchmarks and indicators for energypoverty against which needs could be de-fined and progress measured. A Venezue-lan delegation drawn from the Venezue-lan national oil company, PDVSA, pre-sented a Proposal for a Solidarity-Based En-ergy Cooperation designed to combat en-ergy poverty in the 49 poorest countriesof the world. The delegation posited thatthe potential existed for inter-govern-mental cooperation to assist in the reduc-tion of energy poverty. They called forthe creation of an ad hoc group to discussthe feasibility of their proposal.

In its own presentation, OFIDstressed that it was “not waiting for theannouncement of a new Millennium De-velopment Goal” to step up its fightagainst energy poverty, but had already“intensified its assistance,” using all thefinancing facilities at its disposal. In-deed, OFID has approved a number of en-ergy-oriented public sector loans in re-cent months and expects to see growingprivate participation in the power sectorin response to the huge scale of the in-vestment required.

In general, Symposium participantsobserved that, in addition to their tradi-tional role of lending to public and

private sectors, international financialinstitutions should scale-up their opera-tions, enhance international coordina-tion and effectiveness, support nationalor regional programs and trans-borderprojects and back human resource andinstitutional capacity building. Partici-pants suggested that financing from in-ternational financing institutions shouldbe refocused on infrastructure, regionalintegration projects and local projectsthat have tangible results in alleviation ofthe poverty situation.

Speaking at the close of the sympo-sium, IEF Secretary General, Mr. Noé vanHulst stated that “….no nation in historyhas significantly reduced its poverty levelswithout increasing its energy usage. It iscrystal clear that access to modern energyservices is one of the cornerstones ofpoverty reduction and a key element inachieving the MDGs.”

Symposium participants reviewedthe role of different stakeholders andreached a number of conclusions and recommendations:

• Energy poverty affects nearly every cor-ner of the globe to some extent, but isfelt most in sub-Saharan Africa, SouthAsia and Latin America. Some 2.5 bil-lion people lack access to modern fuelsfor cooking and heating and this figure

Economic growth needs modern energy

This vicious circle inhibits capital spending

Volatile economicperformance

Unreliable,high cost energy

Outdated generating capacity, transmission and distribution networks

Inadequate capital spending,maintenance

Uncertain policy, price regulation

Scarce f inance for investment

is set to increase to 2.6 billion by 2020,according to IEA projections.

• The causes of energy poverty cannot beseparated from the causes of generalpoverty; the two are related.

• Improving energy access may not be asufficient condition to accelerate eco-nomic and social development, but nonation has significantly reduced itspoverty levels without increasing itsenergy usage.

• The use of non-commercial fuels posesa severe health risk, affects longevity,reduces the productive capacity of en-tire communities and makes educationmore difficult.

• Although an international problem,energy poverty has a local dimensionand can be improved through domesticenergy policy reform.

• Energy poverty programs are severelyunder-funded, and the credit crisis hasmade this even worse.

• There is a need for greater dialogue be-tween governments, and internationalefforts can better leverage economiesof scale to reach the largest number ofenergy consumers and help reduce en-ergy poverty.

• The role of developed countries wouldbe to provide financial and technology-related assistance to developing coun-tries, to help and support human re-source development as well as institu-tional capacity building.

• New impetus and more widespreadparticipation are called for in the “En-ergy for the Poor” Initiative.

The IEF is the world’s largest recur-ring gathering of Energy Ministers. IEFmember countries account for more than90% of global oil and gas supply and demand. Through the Forum and its associated events, ministers and energyindustry executives participate in dialoguewhich is of increasing importance toglobal energy security. The next IEF Min-isterial Meeting will be hosted by Mexicoin Cancun, March 29-31, 2010. The co-hosts will be Germany and Kuwait. �


on’t look now, but capitalism – maligned in these bailout-ridden

recessionary days – is reshaping Africa inexorably. What is different today is thatit is emanating from China and India,rather than from the conventional bas-tions of capitalist prowess.

Devi Shetty, a celebrated cardiac sur-geon in Bangalore, brings health relief toIndia’s masses through his Narayanagroup of hospitals. Some years ago, I wit-nessed his early experiments with ruraltelemedicine, especially in the Indianstates of Karnataka and West Bengal. Inmy visit last month, the wall was adornedby a large map of Karnataka festoonedwith colored pins, to indicate that he now served most district capitals in theremotest parts of the state. Moreover, aworld map showed outreach to rural areasof East Africa and Southeast Asia, and the

by Tarun Khanna

Tarun Khanna is Professor of Business Administration at Harvard

Business School. His latest book is Billions of Entrepreneurs: How

China and India are Reshaping their Futures and Yours.

Asianfootsteps

in Africa

With the help of expertise from Indianagribusiness specialists Olam, Mozambique’scashew farmers have increased processing capacity to meet rising demand.

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room has been upgraded to reflect a still-expanding global reach.

All this comes from carefully ac-quired experience – technical and socio-logical – with delivering expert medicaladvice through teleconference facilities,aided by satellite links. Shetty’s teamhas successfully participated in telemed-icine consultations – multi-specialty,non-stop availability, and supple-mented by continuing education – withhospitals in 14 African countries. Thiseffort is part of then Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam’s ambitious pan-African e-Network project to link all 53African capitals to tertiary care facilitiesacross India.

Shetty is a healer, first and fore-most. But he is also an entrepreneur, andthis is the latest in his many efforts tocreate successful, low-cost, but cutting-edge medical ecosystems in tough loca-tions worldwide. He aspires audaciouslyto what he calls the universal Walmarti-zation of healthcare – a reshaping ofmedical care that the world’s indigentneed, and in Africa more than mostother locations.

Cynics say that India’s e-Network is cur-rying favor with Africa in exchange fornatural resources. Perhaps. But in thateffort, India must contend with itsneighbor, China, which speaks with alouder voice and carries a larger stick.

Chinese Communist Party Presi-dent Hu Jintao’s peripatetic diplomacy

across Africa has ensured that the Chi-nese are omnipresent there. China hastraded much investment in physical in-frastructure in places otherwise shunned– Angola, Sudan, and Zimbabwe – for ac-cess to natural resources.

Witness also an unprecedentedconvening of 48 African heads of stateand senior officials in Beijing in 2006to signal unequivocally that Chinawould speak with the loudest voice. India tried to mimic the event, with anIndia-Africa summit in New Delhi in2008. Fourteen countries attended to discuss food price inflation, energy needs,etc. Alas, India’s voice was drowned out,not by China’s attempts to provide medicine and education to Africa, but bythe sheer magnitude of Chinese state-owned enterprises’ investments in phys-ical infrastructure.

But loud voices need not be themost effective. Indian influence will nodoubt exploit assets less available to oth-ers, particularly the Indian diaspora incountries like South Africa, Kenya, Tan-zania, and Nigeria. India and Africa havebeen linked over the centuries by trade,religion, and post-imperial political con-sciousness. Gandhi and the Non-AlignedMovement remain important symbols.Indians are more part of Africa’s social �

Chinese Premier pledges US$10 billion in aid to Africa

China is to further strengthen ties with Africa, following an announcement by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the 4th Minis-terial Conference of the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation(FOCAC), in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, in early November. In addi-tion to US$10 billion in soft loans over the next three years,China has pledged to provide US$1 billion for on-lending tosmall and medium-sized enterprises and to write-off governmentloans to certain heavily-indebted poor countries. Other measuresannounced by Wen included closer cooperation in tackling cli-mate change, a China-Africa science and technology partnership,and enhanced access to Chinese markets for African products.

China will also support efforts to boost food security in Africa and otherwise improve human development through investments in the healthcare and education sectors. The newmeasures succeed those put forward by Chinese President Hu Jintao at the landmark Beijing Summit of FOCAC in 2006.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao

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Working out of India, Dr. Devi Shetty has pioneered telemedicine services with hospitals in 14 African countries.


� tapestry than are the Chinese, a fabricthat has been strengthened through op-portunity and adversity through theages.

Consider Olam, a Singapore-head-quartered but Africa-centric globalagribusiness company. From the soy-bean farms of Brazil’s Matto Grosso tothe granaries of Ukraine, Olam is prizedfor its ability to add value in disparateconditions.

Olam was started by Indians in Nige-ria and remains a world-beating trader incotton, coffee, cashews and the like. Tosucceed, Olam has had to work “up-coun-try” – a euphemism for difficult condi-tions far from comfortable port cities – re-quiring it to rely on Indians’ familiaritywith, and willingness to work in, Africa’sinterior. Indeed, so competent is Olamthat when Wilmar, a Southeast Asian firmrun by overseas Chinese and a force in itsown right in China and across Asia,sought to expand in Africa, it sought outOlam in a joint venture.

The connection between Nigerian cashewfarmers and Devi Shetty’s pediatric car-diac surgery is that they both representdecentralized private activity, undertakenthrough the market, unlike the opera-tions of the China National PetroleumCorporation, Sinopec, and others in Dar-fur and elsewhere. They all add value, butdecentralized market-based activity ap-pears likelier to engender additionalgoodwill.

But there is more reshaping to come,again fostered by mutual self-interest,rather than by fiat. The Olam and Wilmarjoint venture is, in a sense, symptomaticof the combination of assets from acrossAsia that can catalyze productive changein Africa. It is fitting that Olam, in He-brew, means “transcending boundaries.”

Such symbiosis requires a healthydisregard for convention. Failures will re-sult, surely. But, to my mind, for the mostpart, decentralized experimentation beatsAfrica’s partial addiction to aid. �

Copyright: Project Syndicate

Olam has set up a cocoa program in Côte d’Ivoire to improve livelihoods among the farming community. Here, workers at a sustainablecocoa farm carry out qualitycontrol on solar-dried beans.

PHOTO: OLAM INTERNATIONAL



Migration as an engine of human development

ost migrants move within theirown country: 740 million people

are internal migrants, almost four timesthe number of international migrants. Ofthe world’s 200 million international mi-grants, the majority relocated from onedeveloping country to another, or fromone developed country to another. Lessthan one-third moved from a developingto a developed country. For example,only three percent of Africans live outsidetheir country of birth.

The Report provides ample evidenceof the positive effects of migration on hu-man development. Contrary to com-monly held beliefs, migrants typicallyboost economic output and give morethan they take: immigration generally

raises employment levels in host commu-nities and does not crowd out locals fromthe job market. While the impact of mi-grants on public finances is relativelysmall, there are broad gains in innovationand investment in new business initia-tives.

Since 1998, workers’ remittanceshave been the second largest source of ex-ternal financing for development afterforeign direct investment. More recently,rising unemployment as a result of theglobal financial and economic crisis re-duced remittances to an estimatedUS$290 billion in 2009, from US$305 bil-lion in the previous year. Nonetheless, re-mittances have shown a far more stabletrend than private capital flows to devel-

oping countries during the global eco-nomic downturn, and continue to out-strip the volume of official developmentassistance (ODA), which was estimated atUS$119.8 billion in 2008. OFID MemberCountry Saudi Arabia remains the secondlargest remittance sending country afterthe United States. As for recipients, Indiareceives the largest share, followed byChina and Mexico.

Most migrants reap the gains in theform of higher incomes, better access toeducation and health, and improvedprospects for their children. Proportion-ately, the poorest and lower-skilled peo-ple of the world stand to gain most fromemigrating: migrants from the poorestcountries saw on average a 15-fold �

According to the 2009 Human Development Report, an annualpublication of the United Nations Development Program

(UNDP), nearly one billion – or one out of seven – people in theworld are migrants. The Report, Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility

and Development, argues that migration is often motivated by unequal socio-economic opportunities – both between and

among nations – including incomes and access to social servicessuch as education and healthcare.

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� increase in income, a doubling in schoolenrolment rates and a 16-fold reductionin child mortality after moving to a devel-oped country. Yet, they also faced thegreatest risk and the largest legal, finan-cial and social barriers.

There is further evidence that migra-tion can empower traditionally disadvan-taged groups, including women, whosemigration often leads to significant gainsin education and income, and who morefrequently send a larger proportion oftheir incomes home than men. In mostdeveloping countries, emigration rates forskilled workers are substantially higher



Emigration rates by Human Development Index and income

Source: HDR team estimates based on Migration DRC (2007) and UN (2009e).

Median emigration rates by origin country HDI group

0 2 4 6 8 10

To developing countries

To developed countries

Median emigration rate (%)

Low HDI

Medium HDI

High HDI

Very high HDI

An ethnic food store in London, England. Contrary to commonly held beliefs, migrants typically boost economic output in theiradopted countries and frequently give more than they take.

among women than men, and womenwith tertiary degrees from developingcountries are at least 40 percent morelikely than male graduates to emigrate todeveloped economies.

However, migration does not alwaysbring the desired benefits. Risks to humandevelopment are present where migra-tion is a reaction to threats and denial of choice, and where regular opportuni-ties for movement are constrained byconflict, natural disaster or severe eco-nomic hardship. An estimated 14 millionrefugees – or about seven percent of theworld’s migrants – have been forced tolive outside their country of citizenship.Moreover, the exodus of highly skilledworkers abroad continues to pose majorconcerns for policy makers in many de-veloping countries.

The Report recommends several pol-icy reform measures to create a more con-ducive environment for migration as apart of national social and economic de-velopment strategies. These include hostcountry restrictions to the movement ofworkers, and ensuring fair treatment formigrants, including labor rights and basichuman rights. In the area of internationalmigration, the Report makes a strong casefor increased access to sectors with a highdemand for labor in developed countrieswith ageing populations, where the de-mand for low-skilled migrant workers islikely to increase over time. �

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Vienna High-Level Symposium reviews aid accountability and transparency

greater coherence to the fragmented land-scape for international development co-operation by offering an inclusive plat-form for global dialogue and policy re-view, and by making recommendations

on means to improve the quality and ef-fectiveness of the development assistanceprovided.

The July 2010 DCF will focus onthree inter-related and mutually reinforc-ing areas: (i) aid policy coherence, (ii) mu-tual accountability and aid transparency,and (iii) South-South and triangular coop-eration.

The Forum will be held in conjunc-tion with the 2010 UN-ECOSOC AnnualMinisterial Review (AMR), a body tasked toreview trends in development coopera-tion and improve coherence in the activ-ities of various development cooperationactors. Organized under the sub-title Im-plementing the Internationally Agreed De-velopment Goals (IADG) and commitmentsin regard to gender equality and the empow-erment of women, the 2010 AMR will assessprogress towards the UN Millennium De-velopment Goals (MDGs) and otherIADGs. Considering the disproportionateimpact of today’s multiple crises onwomen, the 2010 AMR will pay special �

he High Level Symposium on Ac-countable and Transparent Develop-

ment Cooperation: Towards a More InclusiveFramework brought together some 150high ranking representatives from bothNorth and South, UN agencies, multilat-eral, regional and bilateral developmentagencies – including OFID – academia andcivil society. The main objective of thegathering was to review the quality of aidin preparation for the second biennial UNhigh-level Development Cooperation Forum(DCF), which is scheduled to take place inNew York in July 2010.

The DCF was launched in Geneva,in July 2007, as a new biennial functionwithin the UN Economic and SocialCouncil (ECOSOC). The first DCF washeld in 2008. The Forum aims at bringing

As the international development communitygears itself up for the July 2010 Development Cooperation Forum, a preparatory high-level meeting at UN Headquarters in Vienna has beenexamining some of the tools and mechanismsneeded to make development aid more effective.

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Attending an adult literacy class in Kenya. Women’s empowerment has been identified as a critical factor indetermining the quality and effectiveness of aid.

� attention to reviewing progress to-wards achieving gender equality andempowering women by 2015, as set outin MDG3. The AMR will explore keychallenges in achieving the Beijing Decla-ration and Platform for Action adopted atthe end of the Fourth UN World Confer-ence on Women, Beijing, China, 1995,and make action-oriented recommenda-tions on means to help countries bridgethe gender gap.

In the run up to the 2010 AMR, dis-cussions at the Vienna Symposium fo-cused on addressing the major challengesthat donors and recipient countries facein making development cooperationmore effective at the global, regional andnational levels in the three areas of focusset out for the Second DCF.

Among the key issues featured weremeans to enhance mutual accountabilityand transparency and ways to make aidmore predictable and less volatile; the lat-ter a weakness exposed by the current fi-nancial crisis. Participants agreed that in-stitutional capacity building – including astrengthening of the role of national par-liaments, civil society organizations andlocal government – together with sounddata and performance targets are impor-tant requirements for well-functioningmutual accountability mechanisms.

A special session was dedicated togender equality and the empowerment ofwomen and their impact on aid qualityand effectiveness. Participants under-scored the importance of integrating gen-der into mutual accountability mecha-nisms, in line with the December 2008OECD/DAC Guiding Principles for Aid Ef-fectiveness, Gender Equality, and Women’s

Empowerment. Particular attention wasdrawn to the importance of gender-sensi-tive budgeting as a tool for linking financ-ing for development with gender main-streaming.

Preparatory activities in Vienna alsoincluded specific sessions on improvingpolicy coherence and setting commonstandards with respect to South-Southand triangular development cooperation.Participants discussed, amongst otherthings, how such cooperation can pro-mote other types of financing for devel-opment, including domestic sources of fi-nancing, foreign direct investment flows,and worker’s remittances from the per-spective of developing countries.

In view of the growing importanceof South-South and triangular coopera-tion, the need to improve informationand data on the financial flows arisingfrom such cooperation was emphasized.It was recognized that accurately measur-ing such flows is fraught with difficultybecause of the lack of clarity on defini-tions and methodology.

Acknowledging these difficulties,participants proposed to collect data onsuch flows on a voluntary basis in twophases. In a first phase, national datawould be shared on the basis of agreeddata concepts and definitions with a viewto achieving as much international datacomparability as possible. In a secondphase, the data compiled would be re-ported in a standardized database formatto the DCF for the purpose of fosteringknowledge and understanding of thescope of South-South flows as a manifes-tation of solidarity among developingcountries. �



Institutional capacity buildingamong national parliaments,civil society organizations and local government is one of the essential components of well-functioning mutual accountability mechanisms.



Climate change, the vulnerability of Arab countries and the need for regional collaborative action were the key themes of the 2nd Annual Conference of the ArabForum for Environment and Development (AFED), which was held in Beirut, Lebanon, in November. OFID was a key sponsor of the event and its Director-General,Suleiman Al-Herbish, a keynote speaker.

FED’s second conference broughttogether some 500 delegates, rep-

resenting corporations, NGOs, academia,research institutions and the media from22 countries. Ministers and representa-tives of government and international or-ganizations participated as observers. Themain purpose of the meeting was to delib-erate the findings of a report issued byAFED on the Impact of Climate Changeon Arab Countries and to draft recom-mendations ahead of the December 2009United Nations Climate Change Confer-ence in Copenhagen (COP 15).

The Conference endorsed variousrecommendations, including the overallagreement that Arab countries are amongthe most vulnerable to the potential negative impacts of climate change,which were summarized as water stress, �

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Arab countries debate climate changeOFID sponsors and participates in AFED conference

OFID Director-General, Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, delivered a keynote address on thetheme “The way forward for a sustainable environment.”



AFED in brief

The Arab Forum for Environment andDevelopment (AFED) is a non-profitnon-governmental organization, estab-lished in Beirut in June 2006, at the con-clusion of a regional conference on Pub-lic Opinion and the Environment. AFEDhas subsequently earned the status of in-ternational NGO, with the associatedimmunities for its secretariat based inBeirut, and has been endorsed by theLeague of Arab States, the United Na-tions Environment Programme and theArab Gulf Cooperation Council. OFID’scooperation with AFED started in 2006and includes: support to the organizationof AFED’s round table on “Public Opin-ion and the Environment”, held in Beirutin June 2006, sponsorship of AFED’s 1st

Annual Conference in Manama, Bahrain,in 2008, support to the production andpublication of the AFED report “ArabEnvironment: Future Challenges”, andsponsorship of the 2nd Annual Confer-ence, held in Beirut, Lebanon, Novem-ber 19-20, 2009.

Source: Dasgupta et al., 2007 Note: Countries not mentioned did not provide data

A comparison of percentage impacts of sea level rise on the GDP of Arab countries

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� declining food production, rising sealevels, loss of biodiversity and worseninghuman health.

The conference also highlighted thelack of specialized databases and scien-tific expertise to guide mitigation oradaptation efforts that would better pre-pare Arab countries to address climatechange vulnerabilities.

Arab governments were called uponto endorse the 2007 Arab MinisterialDeclaration and the 2009 Statement onClimate Change, issued by the Councilof Arab Ministers Responsible for the En-vironment. They were also encouragedto make climate change a public policyissue by creating strong national bodiesthat would be responsible for climatechange assessments.

The Conference also asked forgreater efforts and resources to be de-voted to monitoring and assessing cli-mate change, and proposed the estab-lishment of a regional centre for the co-ordination of research and scientificknowledge.

In conclusion, the conference resolutionshighlighted the need to formulate a clearArab position for the climate change ne-gotiations at COP 15. This was desirable inorder to reach an effective post-Kyotoagreement that would ensure that green-house gas emissions do not reach criticallevels, support the international goal oflimiting global temperature increase to2°C, and assist developing countries, in-cluding Arab countries, to adapt to thenegative impacts of climate change.

Widely evident in the outcome wasthe call on civil society, mainly NGOs, academia and the private sector, to partic-ipate in the implementation of effectivemeasures. The conference stressed that aprerequisite for carrying out its recom-mendations was securing political will atthe highest level of government in eachArab state.

In his keynote speech entitled “Theway forward for a sustainable environ-ment,” OFID Director-General Mr. Al-Her-bish, touched on many of the issues thatwould later be debated at the Conference.



Mr. Al-Herbish separated the challengesof environmental sustainability in theArab region into three core areas. First,the Director-General focused on the char-acteristics unique to the region, specifi-cally water and desertification, which hesaid required prioritization in investmentcommitments and added scientific ef-forts. Regarding Arab contribution togreenhouse gas emissions, he noted therelative weight of this issue, stating: “Ac-cording to the World Resource Institute,between 1900 – 2005 the Arab regioncontributed 2.3 percent of the world totalcumulative CO2 emissions.” In contrast,the urgency of depleting water resourcesand desertification calls for immediate ac-tion.

The second issue the Director-Gen-eral addressed was the abundant fossilfuel resources that are utilized moderatelyin comparison with industrialized na-tions. He further stressed the presence ofenergy poverty in some parts of the re-gion, where the annual consumption of

electricity is as low as 150 kW-h in com-parison to 10,000 kW-h in industrializednations. OFID, he noted, has allocated 20percent of its overall commitments to en-ergy related projects and is playing an ac-tive role in responding to the global en-ergy poverty initiative.

For the third issue, Mr. Al-Herbishtalked about the wealth of solar energy inthe region and the lack of technology de-velopment and infrastructure whichcould enable it to occupy a bulk share inthe energy mix. He added that, “If OPECcountries are expected to meet the 86 per-cent of increased demand for oil fromnow until 2030 according to the Interna-tional Energy Agency, then moving to-wards renewable energies requires grad-ual repositioning that does not affect eco-nomic conditions that burden the poorpopulations as exemplified in the recenteconomic crisis.”

During the Conference itself, the Director-General also chaired a sessionentitled: Towards Lower Carbon Economy:

Challenges and Opportunities. Other partic-ipants included Dr. Mohamed El-Ashry,former head of the Global EnvironmentFacility and member of the InternationalCommittee on Climate Change and Sus-tainable Development; Ms. Carol Sanford,Chief Executive Officer of DevelopmentEconomics Group International; and Dr. Marwan Iskandar, Economist Con-sultant. The three speakers addressed,from their own perspectives, the chal-lenges and opportunities of transition toa green economy to help fight climatechange.

In a separate session during the con-ference, Mr. Faris Hasan, Director of Cor-porate Planning and Economic Servicesat OFID, presented a study conducted inpartnership with the International Insti-tute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)on Biofuels – Environmental Impact andFood Security Issues. The study was first released at the 4th OPEC InternationalSeminar which took place in March 2009in Vienna, Austria. �

In the course of his visit to Lebanon to at-tend the AFED Conference, OFID Direc-tor-General, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish,met with Lebanese President, GeneralMichel Sleiman. The meeting was a reflec-tion of the high regard in which OFID isheld in Lebanon and an opportunity for Mr.Al-Herbish to brief the President onOFID’s many operations in the country.General Sleiman acknowledged OFID’scontinuous presence and conveyed his ap-preciation for the institution’s active role inLebanon’s development: “OFID has, onvarious occasions, extended much-neededassistance, especially during the recent chal-lenging periods that we have experienced,”he noted. OFID and Lebanon have beenpartners for over three decades.

Lebanese President and OFID Director-General exchange views


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stablished in 2001, the ATF was setup to promote constructive dia-

logue between the business community,academia and civil society, as a means ofcontributing to the future developmentof the Arab region. An integral part ofATF’s work is to foster information ex-change between Arab leaders and theirnon-Arab counterparts in the generationof progressive initiatives and ideas.

The annual FIKR Conference pro-vides an opportunity for various stake-holders to come together to exchangeviews and propose practical solutions tothe complex challenges associated withthe region’s economic growth path. Thegathering also helps raise awareness of theregion’s thought leadership, its businessmodels and its status on the global eco-nomic stage.

December’s FIKR 8 brought together800 delegates from 36 countries, repre-senting corporations, non-governmentalorganizations, academia, research insti-tutions, NGO’s and media entities. OFID,led by Director-General Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, participated actively in the vari-ous sessions and discussions, and held aninteractive exhibit to disseminate infor-mation on its activities worldwide.

Some of the pressing issues ad-dressed during the Conference included:economic integration and trade protec-tionism; prospects for trade and mone-tary union; food security and global agri-culture; Arab corporate social responsibil-ity and the role the private sector; and, Islamic finance and its significance as a

Kuwait hosts Arab Thought Foundation Annual ConferenceFIKR 8 gives voice to Arab youth

Under the auspices of the Emir of Kuwait, HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Arab Thought Foundation (ATF) held its 8th Annual FIKR Conference in early December.Convened around the theme “Integrating ArabEconomies; Partners for Prosperity,” the gather-ing tackled a host of topical issues pertinent tothe Arab region.

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financial model within the global econ-omy. Throughout the Conference, therewas an over-arching focus on the region’syouth, with various panels dedicated tofocusing attention on the agendas mostimportant to young people as the driversof development in the Arab world. Youthengagement was encouraged through thesponsorship of young delegates fromaround the region.

The importance of the youth rolewas summarized in one of the sessions byMs. Soraya Salti, Senior Vice President ofInjaz Al Arab, an independent, not-for-profit organization that focuses on youthdevelopment under the patronage ofQueen Rania of Jordan. Ms. Salti said:“How we invest in our children reflectson our society, where we are, and where

we are heading. We have the highestyouth unemployment in the world andthe lowest female participation”.

ATF estimates that more than two-thirds of the population in the MiddleEast are aged between 25 and 32. Risingunemployment rates across the region se-verely affect this most vulnerable group.Under Ms. Salti’s leadership, Injaz has ex-panded into 12 additional countries,reaching some 500,000 young people.The dedication of Injaz was exemplifiedamong other pioneering stories which re-flect the importance of incorporating astrong youth mandate within the privateand public sectors alike.

In this regard, a unique event at theconclusion of the Conference was the2009 Arab Creativity Awards, which was

covered live by Al Arabiya TV. The eventcelebrated the best of young Arab talentand achievements.

With the aim of creating a platformfor the different issues affecting Arabyouth, ATF has created several programsto tackle some of the most immediateproblems. An example of the many proj-ects ATF works on is the Youth without Bor-ders: e-Arab Youth Network, an online gate-way for open and ongoing debate on cru-cial issues. ATF strongly believes that on-line social networking platforms enableyoung people to share ideas, engage to-gether, and unite in bringing about posi-tive change for their generation. �

HH Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (left), with HRH Prince Khalid Al Faisal Al Saud, Governor of Mecca Province,Saudi Arabia, and President, Arab Thought Foundation.

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Venezuela’s Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra visits AustriaOFID hosts reception

The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela sent young, distinguished represen-tatives to Vienna, Austria, October 2009, to promote relations and mutual interest in classical and brass music. The reference is to a rousing, successfulvisit by the Venezuelan Simón Bolivar Youth Orchestra (VSBYO), which ispart of El Sistema. The orchestra drew admiration and critical acclaim fromacross Austrian society.

by Sam Ifeagwu

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Vienna Concert HouseThe orchestra was hosted by the ViennaConcert House (Wiener Konzerthaus)which paid the orchestra the highestcompliment: the Concert House wouldseek to emulate and replicate the exampleof El Sistema and create similar children’sand youth orchestras in Austria. The Aus-trian objective would be the same: to as-sist children from poorer backgroundsand draw the poorest away from streetlife.

At a packed press conference in Oc-tober, the Concert House announcedpreparations to establish its own “Das Sys-tem,” along the lines of the vision of JoséAntonio Abreu (70, pianist, economist,educator, activist and politician), whocreated El Sistema in 1975.

The Venezuelan youth orchestra per-formed creditably to full houses allthrough their tour of Austria. This in-cluded a number of performances withMr. Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez asconductor. The orchestra paid a courtesycall on OFID, where Director-GeneralSuleiman J. Al-Herbish gave a reception intheir honor. OFID saw the visit as oppor-tune and as coinciding with OFID’s con-tinuing drive to exhibit, whenever feasi-ble, the rich cultural heritage of its Mem-ber Countries.

The 200-strong youth orchestra com-prises young people, aged 12-26. El Sis-tema as a whole employs over 15,000 mu-sic teachers, and includes training in in-strument-making, arts administrationand new media. Specific accomplish-ments of El Sistema are regional children’sand youth orchestras and brass groups. Inaddition, national children’s and youthorchestras have been formed from the se-lection of top players from the regionalorchestras. The VSBYO has entertainedaudiences across the world attracting theattention of top names in the music busi-ness. In 2007, they undertook an epoch-making tour with sell-out concerts inMexico, Los Angeles, San Francisco,Boston and also Carnegie Hall in NewYork, where the orchestra was guest-con-ducted by Sir Simon Rattle. More recentlyin December 2008, the orchestra had adebut-tour of Asia, with concerts in Bei-jing, Seoul and Tokyo.

VSBYO current conductor, Du-damel, 28, in the meantime, one of theworld’s most renowned conductors, wasborn in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. He isalso already an accomplished violinist. Heis co-terminously music director of theLos Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Hepractically began his music career with �

From left: OFID Director-General Al-Herbish welcomes Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of the VenezuelanYouth Orchestra, and José Antonio Abreu, founder of the El Sistema movement, to OFID Headquarters.

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� El Sistema. He rose in the ranks of theorchestra and took up the violin at age10. Dudamel attended the Jacinto LaraConservatory, studying conducting. In1999, he was appointed music director ofthe Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar ofVenezuela.

On the international stage, Du-damel debuted with various philhar-monic orchestras and signed a recordingcontract with Deutsche Gramophone. In2006, his additional guest-conductingappearances included concerts with theCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra,the Dresden Staatskapelle; and the RoyalLiverpool Philharmonic. In September,2007, he conducted the Vienna Philhar-monic Orchestra for the first time at theLucerne Festival.

Yet other accomplishments of Du-damel have been work with the Gothen-burg Symphony at the BBC Proms; the or-chestra at Walt Disney Concert Hall; the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and theStuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. InJuly, 2009, Dudamel was named winnerof the prestigious City of Toronto GlennGould Protégé Prize.

El Sistema was founded by José Anto-nio Abreu, whose initial goal was simplyto contribute to poverty alleviation in hishome country and give hope and perspec-tive to young children growing up in poorcircumstances. El Sistema was his vehiclead hoc. Abreu imagined that via music,the children would acquire education andgo on to live more constructive lives. SaysAbreu: For the children we work with,music is practically the only way to a dig-nified social destiny. Poverty means lone-liness, sadness, anonymity; an orchestrameans joy, motivation, teamwork andthe aspiration to succeed.

Abreu was born in the westernVenezuelan city of Valera. He was trainedas an economist. He holds a doctorate in

economics from the Universidad CatólicaAndres Bello. He served as a deputy in theChamber of Deputies in the old Congressof Venezuela. After his political career, heworked as a professor of economics andlaw at Universidad Simón Bolívar and inhis alma mater. He would return to poli-tics briefly in 1983 to serve as Minister ofCulture.

El Sistema is formally known as theFoundation for the National Network ofYouth and Children’s Orchestras ofVenezuela. Under the guidance of role-model Abreu, El Sistema has participatedin exchange and cooperation programswith Spain, Latin American countriesand the United States. The group was aninnovative youth education method inwhich music was the primary avenue forsocial and intellectual improvement.Abreu received the Venezuelan NationalMusic Prize for his work with El Sistemain 1979. �

An ensemble from the Venezuela Youth Orchestra played to delighted guests at the reception held by OFID to honor the young musicians.

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nesses and inter-governmental institu-tions as well as civil-society and non-gov-ernmental organizations

The new OPEC headquarters openedits portals for business on Monday, No-vember 30. Secretariat staff remarkedthat, geographically, the relocation wassimple. The distance between the twobuildings is less than a kilometer, requir-ing crossing only a natural landmark, the

he old building, alongside theDanube canal, had housed the Sec-

retariat for more than three decades. TheSecretariat had begun life in Geneva,Switzerland – OPEC’s initial, global head-quarters – moving to Vienna in 1965. Atfirst in Vienna, the Secretariat was housedin two small buildings and was later trans-ferred to Vienna’s landmark Ring road.

The move from Geneva to Viennawas at the kind invitation of the Govern-ment of the Republic of Austria and theCity of Vienna. The Secretariat took pos-session of its penultimate building inMarch, 1977. Management at the Secre-tariat has repeatedly spoken of Austria’s“far-sightedness” with regard to interna-tional relations and the country’s offer of“a congenial working environment” aswell as the sustained warmth and hospi-tality offered by the people. Today, Aus-tria is host to some 30 international or-ganizations, many of them United Na-tions organs and specialized agencies. Yetothers include varied international busi-

OPEC Secretariat moves to new locationManagement and Staff express satisfaction

The Secretariat of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), hitherto based in Vienna’s Second District,moved on November 30, 2009, to a new loca-tion in Vienna’s central First District. In a reportfor the OPEC Bulletin, author Keith Aylward-Marchant, described the new headquartersbuilding as “state-of-the-art.” He reported amove that went smoothly and efficiently, aftermore than two years of planning.

Danube canal, which separates the firstfrom the second district of the city. Thenew Secretariat is located close to Vi-enna’s old Stock Exchange (die Boerse) andthe glass-panelled Faculty of Law of theUniversity of Vienna.

For the Secretariat’s 138-strong staff,the total usable area of the new building isabout 9,000 square metres, which allowsfor possible expansion in the future, �

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� as OPEC takes on new assignments tomeet impending challenges in the inter-national oil market and related areas.Work began on the project in January,2007, with the demolition of an old build-ing, previously housing the Austrian As-sociation of Trade Unions. The architectswere Atelier Hayde Architekten of Austria. Aconsortium carried out the construction.Bene Consulting were responsible for theinterior design and logistics of the move,ACP for the IT work and several othercompanies for the audio-visual arrange-ments. The lease agreement betweenOPEC and the owners, Euro-PRISA, wassigned in September of the same year.

For traditionalists and admirers ofcontinuity, the Secretariat took with it, tothe new premises, a large artefact, whichhad adorned the reception area of the oldheadquarters. Carved from solid blocks ofteak, the five-metre-long, 2.5-metre-highwork of art took three Balinese craftsmenthree months to complete, before it wasflown to Austria. It depicts a scene from

the Great Epic of Bharata and was donatedby the Indonesian Government. Thework was originally unveiled by currentSecretary General, HE Abdalla Salem El-Badri, in his capacity at the time as OPECPresident and Secretary of the GSP LibyanAJ People’s Committee of Energy. StaffMembers were delighted to see the art-work decorating their new building.

The move to a new building necessi-tated an amended headquarters agree-ment between Austria and OPEC. Theagreement was signed on September 30by Secretary General El-Badri, and Aus-trian Foreign Minister, HE Michael Spin-delegger. Also present at the signature cer-emony was HE Ambassador Ernst-PeterBrezovszky, head of the Foreign Min-istry’s Department for International Con-ferences and International Organizations.OPEC formally took possession of thebuilding on October 30, 2009, and the of-ficial opening ceremony will be when theOPEC Conference next meets in Vienna,in March, 2010. �


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OPEC’s move to its new premises was a major logisticalfeat that involved two years ofcareful planning. In the end, it was accomplished without a hitch.

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Save the fish: food for thought?

“The End of the Line – Imagine a Worldwithout Fish,” is the title of a new docu-mentary movie about the devastating ef-fects of overfishing and its direct connec-tion to the tuna roll on our dinner table.The movie chronicles man emptying theocean like there is no tomorrow. It asserts“peak fish”* happened in 1989. What hasfollowed since has resulted in plungingnumbers of fish and a hike in costs. Direc-tor Rupert Murray recounts: “Many placeshave seen fish populations crash. Wetried to tell one story, about one problem,affecting one global ocean. We found itwas, tragically, the same for everyone.”

Murray and script writer Charles Cloverare not the only whistleblowers aboutglobal overfishing.

Fisheries biologist Daniel Paulyjoined the chorus with his 2009 taleAquacalypse Now in The New Republic mag-azine, stating: “It is not just the future ofthe fishing industry that is at stake, butalso the continued health of the world’slargest ecosystem.” A 2006 forecast by 14academics in the journal Science predictedthat by 2048, commercial fish stockswould be generating 10 percent or less oftheir peak catches. Ransom Myers andBoris Worm, authors of a 2003 article in

the magazine Nature, suggested that ouroceans had already lost more than 90 per-cent of their predatory fish stocks – cod,tuna and salmon, for example.

Given that fish move across nationalborders and that the actions of one fish-ing fleet affect the opportunities of others,fish should have been attracting global,holistic attention since fleets were first in-dustrialized in the 1950s. However, fishhave received mostly national and indus-try attention. As a result, a global crisishas long been unfolding, as governmentsand fisheries quibble over quotas, in-crease subsidies, and invest in GPS �

While climate change has conquered global headlines for the past decade, the sorry state of the world’s fish stocks has barely penetrated the publicconsciousness. The tide, however, is about to turn: “Imagine a World without Fish,” suggests a new movie. “Aquacalypse!” cries a biologist. As stakeholders in Europe get set for a massive overhaul of the fisheries sector,the Quarterly looks at the need for reform and explores what insights can be shared with marine resource managers in the Red Sea region.

*A peak in the biomass, or weight, of fish caught from the world’s oceans.

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� and onboard computerized trackers.There is no global regime for controllingwhat may be fished where, when and how.

In the 1990s, scientific studies firstdemonstrated the global fish depletion.Governments watched in awe whenCanada closed the Grand Banks in 1992.By then, two structural rifts in the sectorhad already deepened: first, marine biolo-gists would tend to focus on the oceanicecosystem and exchanged little informa-tion with fisheries biologists, who in turnwere more concerned about the ocean’sprofits and often worked for governmentsor the industry. Second, the public hadnot been properly alerted to the threatfacing their tuna roll or fish and chips.Exploitation of fish stocks has continued,although many other items on our menushave seen a move to eco-friendly, fair-trade products.

The United States was the first to seeits fish crisis unfold. Now, this struggle ison in the European Union which aims to

reform its common fisheries policy in2012. Here, there is not only an environ-mental problem due to overfishing, butthe industry is also expensive and ineffi-cient. In a number of EU member states,taxpayers pay more to support their fish-eries than they get back in terms of prod-uct value. The EU, with the world’s third-largest fleet, still has to import 70 percentof the continent’s fish and aquacultureneeds.

The EU regime is the Common Fish-eries Policy from 1983, which has seenscathing assessments from the EU Courtof Auditors and the British House ofLords. Even the European Commission(EC) – the very body proposing and exe-cuting EU legislation – rang the alarmbells in a Green Paper in April 2009.“Overfished stocks and poor economicperformance in the fishing industry hascreated a momentum for further deterio-ration, a vicious circle...(This) leads toeven stronger pressures from the industry

Without a more responsibleapproach to fishing, abun-dant displays of seafood,like this one at a market inNorway, may soon be athing of the past.

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to let short-term concerns compromisethe long-term sustainability of fisherieseven further. It has proven difficult forgovernments to resist this pressure,” readsthe EC’s Green Paper. Facing overfishedstocks of 80 percent in the EU, the ECconcludes that “industry incentives needto be turned around…to a situation wherefishermen would be made responsibleand accountable for the sustainable useof a public resource.”

Over the past months, Europeanstakeholders have started waking fromtheir slumber. Not only have Greenpeaceand the WWF been calling for reforms.Also, and more remarkably, a new choirof voices has emerged. Ocean 2012, an al-liance formed in 2009, mobilizes and co-ordinates a large cohort of stakeholders,among them organizations representingenvironmental, development and con-sumer interests as well as divers, aquari-ums and scientists. Ocean 2012 was initi-ated by the Pew Environment Group inBrussels, which considered a move tobroader consultations to be long overdue.“Fisheries reforms suffer from a vested in-terest problem. So we expanded thevoices of interest,” says Markus Knigge,Policy and Research Director of Pew’s Eu-ropean Marine Program.

Without much tinkering, Ocean2012 plugs itself right into the EU fisheriesreform process, summarizing stakeholderdemands on four points: First, catch limitsshould be set by scientists and not bypoliticians. Second, fishing capacity mustbe brought in line with available fishingresources. Third, access to fish resourcesshould be based on environmental and so-cial criteria. And fourth, subsidies andother financial instruments awarded in adiscretionary manner by EU memberstates should target facilitating the transi-tion towards environmentally and sociallysustainable fisheries. In other words – aprinciple-centered approach to fishing.

While Ocean 2012 faces three hard-working years ahead, this new alliance al-ready provides a first collection of bestpractice and lobbying lessons from re-gional, sustainable fisheries management.

What would Ocean 2012 members sharewith the seven Red Sea sharing countrieswho have joined up for a Marine Re-sources Management Program (see box)?Just three years ago, analysts looking atthat region concluded dryly: “If fisheriesmanagement means the cyclical and iter-

ative process enunciated in the code ofconduct for responsible fishing, then fish-eries management does not exist to anysignificant extent in countries of the RedSea basin.” Increasing coastal popula-tions, rapid development and human ex-ploitation threaten the sustainability �

Marine resources management in the Red Sea

For the past three years, an important fisheries management project has been un-derway in the Red Sea, a unique waterway shared by seven countries – Djibouti,Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Led jointly by the Foodand Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the InternationalFund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), with co-financing from OFID and theArab Fund for Economic and Social development, this multi-partner initiative hastwo main aims – firstly, to promote the sustainable management of the Sea’s resources; and secondly, to protect the interests of some 850,000 people in theregion who are dependent on the artisanal fisheries sector.

The hub of the project is a regional forum – involving all countries and stake-holders – which is working to enhance national institutional capacities to supportthe development of a common policy framework. Underpinning the frameworkis a comprehensive database on actual and potential Red Sea resources to guidehow all stakeholders operate in future.

According to IFAD, one of the greatest challenges of the project has been to balance the interests of the industrial fisheries with those of the artisanal fisherfolk. This has meant organizing and empowering the latter to better articulatetheir needs, and harnessing their expert knowledge of the local situation for thebenefit of all concerned.

Further Reading


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� and special conservation value of thesea. Yet, marine resources there areamong the globe’s most precious, and thejoint management of fisheries in the re-gion is vital for people, sea and fish alike.Artisanal fisheries alone are estimated tosupport one million jobs in the seven RedSea sharing countries Djibouti, Egypt, Er-itrea, Jordan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, andYemen.

Sure enough, looking at Europe ver-sus the Red Sea, “you need to take the spe-cial oceanographic conditions of the RedSea into account. This is a tropical zone,with particular cultural traditions andgeopolitics,” cautions Brian O’Riordanfrom the ICSF, an Ocean 2012 memberand fishworkers’ collective that con-tributed to the FAO Code of Conduct forResponsible Fisheries.

Yet some insights are generally ap-plicable, suggests Knigge of the Pew Envi-ronment Group. His magic word for re-gional management is “accountability.”He says: “If you set rules for people, youbetter get them to the table. You want toestablish clear objectives, against whichpractitioners are then measured.” Similar

Biologist and Aquacalypse author DanielPauly also suggests a new – albeit contro-versial – approach to fishing rights. Hesays fishermen should do it like ranchers,who, in many countries, pay for the priv-ilege to graze their cattle on federal lands.If governments auctioned off quotas withaccess privileges to fisheries, the highestbidder would secure the right to a certainpercentage of the catch quota. Society asa whole would benefit from providing pri-vate access to a public resource.

While environmental economistsrace over their calculators and graphs totrigger a sea change in regional manage-ment bodies, consumers have their owntool to save the fish literally on their plate.“Everyone can demand sustainableseafood,” proposes Rupert Murray, direc-tor of The End of the Line. He says, “If youconsider how simple and universallyagreed the solutions are … Healthy oceansare a win, win, win situation.”

If the alert signals start travelling,turning the tide seems possible. At a re-ception in July 2009 for instance, PrinceCharles Mountbatten-Windsor publiclydemanded more awareness-raising amongconsumers. The crowd the Prince ad-dressed were fishing industry leaders andcaterers, and the occasion was the 10-yearanniversary of the Marine StewardshipCouncil (MSC).

The MSC promotes sustainable fish-ing via the certification of products. Thedark-blue MSC label on a frozen fish car-ton means the MSC can trace the productback to the fishery and often the very boatthat caught the fish. Two months afterPrince Charles’s address to the MSC, therestaurant group Fifteen, backed by Britishcelebrity-chef Jamie Oliver, said theserestaurants would now commit to usingMSC-labeled fish on their menu. Con-sumers might start thinking: what is goodfor Jamie Oliver, might certainly be goodfor me and my children. �

advice comes from Magnus Eckeskog, apolicy officer with the Fisheries Secre-tariat in Sweden, another Ocean 2012member. Eckeskog suggests fisheries man-agers should “include a wide range of in-terest groups. The public should have atleast as much – or perhaps even more –say than the industry, when discussingthe use of a public resource.”

Eckeskog’s magic word for success-ful fisheries management is “long-ter-mism.” He dreams of an end to discus-sions on annual quotas and outtake, anda move to long term-management basedon the precautionary and ecosystem ap-proach. Also, he suggests reversing theburden of proof so that government bod-ies draw up the general rules, while thefishermen make an Environmental Im-pact Assessment (EIA), showing that theirfishery is not harmful to the environmentand conducted in a responsible manner.Based on the EIA, they would receive orbuy their fishing rights. Hence, the re-sponsibility would be with the fishermen,just like it is with factories or sewageplants in pollution issues. Eckeskog: “Per-haps that is the way to go in the Red Sea.”

The books, “Cod”, by Mark Kurlansky (1998), “The Unnatural History of the Sea” by Callum Roberts (2008), and “The End of the Line: How Overfishing is Changing the Worldand What We Eat” by Charles Clover (2008; DVD 2010) introduce lovers of tuna roll andcod to the consequences of our eating habits.

The EU policy is with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, www.ec.europa.eu. The coalition for transforming European fisheries is Ocean 2012, www.ocean2012.eu. The site www.fishsubsidy.org details subsidy flows to countries and vessels. Globally, stakeholders might consult the MarineStewardship Council www.msc.org. Fishworkers and their organizations, especially artisanal and small-scale fisheries in developing countries, can download the guide, Understanding the Work in Fishing Convention 2007, in many languages, including Arabic,at www.icsf.net.

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