EDUCATION FOR LIFE AFTER WAR

● SCIENCESPECIALISTSMEET TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE

● PORTRAITA JOURNALISTDEFIES DEATHIN MEXICO

● PRESS FREEDOMSPEAKING OUTIN THE NAMEOF LIBERTY

● HABITATRESIDENTS FIGHTFOR IMPROVEDQUALITY OF LIFE

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CONTENTS

EDUCATION

Life after warEducation for refugees and displaced personsis humanitarian aid that makes sense.........................................................4

SCIENCE

Science under the microscopeThe upcoming world science conference willre-examine the contract between science andsociety......................................................10

IN BRIEFNews from UNESCO's different sectors andregions along with new publications andaudiovisual materials......................................................16

PORTRAIT

In the firing lineMexican journalist and anti-drugs campaignerJesus Blancornelas is this year’s winner of theUNESCO/Guillermo Cano press freedom prize......................................................20

PRESS FREEDOM

Liberty, let me write your nameThe recent annual meeting of the Internationalfreedom of expression exchange (IFEX) fixedits sights on Africa......................................................21

HABITAT

Protests go with proposalsLocal communities in Santo Domingo unite toimprove their lot......................................................22

A return to the norm in times of crisis

His commitment hasmade him a target

There are still too many journalists in jail

is a monthly magazine published bythe United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization. English and French editions areproduced at Paris headquarters; theSpanish edition in cooperation withthe UNESCO Centre of Catalonia,Mallorca 285,08037 Barcelona,Spain; the Chinese edition incooperation with the XinhuaNewsagency, 57 XuanwumenXidajie, Beijing, China; and thePortuguese edition in cooperationwith the National Commission forUNESCO, Avenida Infante Santo N° 42 - 5°, 1300 Lisbon Portugal.

Director of Publication : René Lefort. Editor-in-chief :Sue Williams.Assistant Managing Editor :Christine Mouillère Associate Editors : Nadia Khouri-Dagher, Cristina L'Homme, Ann-Louise Martin, Chloë Fox.Spanish edition : Luis. Garcia (Barcelona), Liliana Sampedro (Paris). Lay-out, illustrations, infography: Fiona Ryan-Jacqueron, Gisèle Traiano.Printing:Maulde & RenouDistributionUNESCO's specialized services

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TO SUBSCRIBE : Free subscription can be obtained forprofessionals, associations, NGOs IGOs andother organizations working in UNESCO'sfields of competence by writing to UNESCO Sources: Subscriptions31 rue François Bonvin75732 Paris cedex 15. Tel. (33 01) 45 68 45.37.Fax : (+33 01) 45 68 56 54.

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This magazine is destined for use as an informationsource and is not an official UNESCO document. ISSN1014-6989.All articles are free of copyright restrictions and can bereproduced, in which case the editors would appreciate a copy.Photos carrying no copyright mark © may be obtained by themedia on demand.

Cover photo: © Penny Tweedie/Panos Pictures

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EDUCATION FOR LIFE AFTER WAR

● SCIENCESPECIALISTSMEET TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE

● PORTRAITA JOURNALISTDEFIES DEATHIN MEXICO

● PRESS FREEDOMSPEAKING OUTIN THE NAMEOF LIBERTY

● HABITATRESIDENTS FIGHTFOR IMPROVEDQUALITY OF LIFE

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EDITORIAL

started attacking human beings some35 million people in sub-Saharan Africahave become infected and almost 12million have died - one quarter of themchildren. Ninety five percent of AIDSorphans live there. Last year alone onthe continent, the virus infected fourmillion people, and two million died.And the worst is yet to come. The pan-

demic is exponential: itwill not just continue tospread, but will accele-rate.However, stating that it is“out of control”, is also toadmit defeat; to declarethat there are no furtherlines of defense. Thisimplies that the stabiliza-tion of the disease wit-nessed in the west, thanksto vast information cam-paigns and intensive care,can only remain a miragefor Africa. It also indicatesthat there no is no natio-nal or international mobi-lization is in sight.The impact of AIDS on

youth is colossal. In Africa, youngpeople account for 60% of new conta-minations. Nine out of every ten infec-ted adolescents aged less than 15, livein Africa. Is it really beyond the realmsof the possible that schools couldthrow a lifeline, at least to those youngpeople who have so far been sparedthis terrible affliction, toteach them how to protectthemselves?

René Lefort

Confronted with thehumanitarian catas-trophe in the Balkans,aid agencies have rallied

to provide shelter, food and medicalcare, and - for the first time - the rapidprovision of education for the tens ofthousands of refugee children forcedto flee from their homes in Kosovo.As the opening dossier inthis issue explains, it’s nota question of ensuringthese kids don’t miss theirreading or maths classes.The main goal is to closethe chapter of pain andshock, to provide a struc-ture and guidelines that willhelp them to reconnectwith “normality”. Thismeans making order of thechaos that has overtakenthem, helping them toexpress and deal with theviolence the conflict haswreaked on them. Theschool in this situationconstitutes not only huma-nitarian aid, but a veritabletool for reconstruction.However, far from the main arena,there is another part of the worldwhere education could quite simplymake the difference between life anddeath. One of the experts from theUNAIDS programme recently decla-red that the epidemic is “out of control”in southern Africa. This statement isdoubly devastating. Firstly, because ofthe statistics on which it is based,which show that AIDS has becomeAfrica’s number one killer. Since it first

EDITORIAL

KNOWLEDGESAVES LIVES

“There is another

part of the world

where education

could quite

simply make the

difference

between life and

death... in

southern Africa

(where) AIDS

has become

(the) number

one killer

3No. 112 - May 1999

”

● In Botswana, Namibia,Swaziland and Zimbab-we, over one person infive between 15 and 49lives with HIV or AIDS

● Girls often becomeinfected younger thanboys. A study of 15-19years old in Kenyashowed 22% of girlswere already infected asagainst 4% of boys

● In some countries ofeastern sub-SaharanAfrica one pregnant wo-man in four has the virus

● ”For too long weclosed our eyes as anation, hoping the truthwas not so real. “ ThaboMbeki, the vice -pre-sident of South Africa

● Campaigns and activecondom promotion inschools and amongyoung people in Ugandaand Tanzania werefollowed by aspectacular drop ininfection rates

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Condemned: mother, 19 anddaughter, 2 weeks

For children who have lost their homes and sometimes theirfamilies in wars or natural disasters, the classroom is not only a secure refuge,but also a means to start rebuilding their lives

EDUCATION

”“

The world today counts some 22million refugees and another 30million displaced persons. Theterrible images of these trauma-tized populations uprooted by war

or natural disaster has become a commonsight on our televisions and in our newspa-pers. Kosovo is but the latest example.

Among the ten major refugee countriesof origin in the world, six are African: Angola,Burundi, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Somalia andSudan. The United Nations HighCommissioner for Refugees cares for 5.7 mil-lion Africans, of which 3.5 million are refu-gees, and 2.2 million are refugees recentlyreturned to their homelands. There are alsoanother 1.5 million internally displacedpeople.

More than half of all refugees are children,many of whom have not only lost theirhomes, but also their families under extre-mely violent circumstances. By the time theyarrive in a refugee camp they are often in astate of shock.

“Once this has passed, these kids fre-quently suffer from traumatic neuroses,”

4 May 1999 - No. 112

says Martine Bousquet, psychologist andprogramme specialist with UNESCO’s SpecialYouth Project. “The most common symp-toms of this are anguish, aggression, depres-sion and functional problems. They haverepetitive nightmares, can suffer from amne-sia or block out anything that reminds themof their experience, refuse to talk or takepart in any activity.”

Their survival and well-being is obviouslythe top priority for those helping them: food,shelter, clothes and medical help come first.But, a growing body of opinion argues, soshould education.

Education helps restore a sense of conti-nuity to children’s lives. Keeping schoolsopen during armed conflict or in the wakeof earthquakes and hurricanes offers children- beyond the lessons taught - a sense of secu-rity and normality in the midst of chaos. “Itserves to normalize the situation by establi-shing routines, thereby decreasing psycho-social stress, addressing the most immediateneeds and preparing for a better post-emer-gency society,” write Pilar Aguilar of UNICEFand Gonzalo Retamal from UNESCO’s

More than

half of all

refugees are

children

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In the midst of chaos, education can restore a sense of continuity and normality

55No. 112 - May 1999

Institute of Education (UIE) in the recentlypublished Rapid Educational Response in

Complex Emergencies (see box). Where chil-dren’s physical and psychological well-beinghave been severely affected, say Aguilar andRetamal, “recreational and educational acti-vities seem crucial in alleviating stress andraising self-esteem.”

“Maintained development”Education is also vital in the longer term.

When it comes to helping refugees to goback home, and to rebuild after war or natu-ral disasters, education is increasingly per-ceived as a humanitarian intervention thatmakes sense: a process of “maintained deve-lopment” for the future generation of humanresources needed for reconstruction of adevastated nation. What future for a country,if its youth is robbed of the knowledge andtools it needs to rebuild it?

With this perspective in mind, the type ofeducation provided to children in emergencysituations becomes all important. Apart fromreading, writing and arithmetic, recreatio-nal activities and survival skills such ashealth and hygiene information (includingHIV/AIDS and cholera prevention), land-mine awareness, environmental, peace andreconciliation programmes, are vitally impor-tant components. For adolescents, life skillsthat will help them earn a living - such as buil-ding, tailoring, small animal keeping andbusiness management also need to be incor-porated. Refugees can spend several yearsin camps, and when they do leave they havefew possessions and little money with whichto start a new life (in Somalia, for example,the UNHCR provides a grant for returningrefugees of $27, nine months’ supply of food,blankets, jerrycans and plastic sheeting).

Schools in boxesUNESCO and its sister agencies in the UN

system are working together to developTeacher Education Packages (TEPs) thatcan be adapted and implemented quickly inemergency situations: “schools in boxes”that can be shipped in along with food,clothes and medical supplies, providing notonly basic materials such a chalk, black-boards, balls and skipping ropes, but also gui-delines for those who take up the task ofteaching. These kits - first developed byUNESCO’s Nairobi-based Programme forEducation for Emergencies, Communicationand the Culture of Peace (PEER - see box thispage) in Somalia and then more extensivelyin Rwanda - have and are being used suc-cessfully in Afghanistan, Ghana, Iraq, Liberia,Mali, Moldova, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania,Zambia and Angola.

For the longer term, much effort is beingdevoted to the rehabilitation of sustainableeducation systems in post-conflict periodswhere resources remain very limited and

UNESCO’S RAPID RESPONSE TEAMSConfronted withincreasinglyfrequentemergenciescaused by conflicts,populationdisplacements andnatural disasters,UNESCO isimproving its abilityto act quickly tohelp people in need,especially children.To this end anEmergencyEducationalAssistance Unitwas set up late lastyear: a sort of rapidresponse unit tokick start educationin times of crisis,such as duringarmed conflict, or inthe wake of naturalor ecologicaldisasters andsituations ofextreme poverty.UNESCO’sshowcaseprogramme in thisdomain is theNairobi-basedProgramme forEducation forEmergencies,Communication andthe Culture ofPeace, or PEER.PEER wasestablished in 1993to deal with thecrisis in Somalia,but has sinceextended its scopeto include severalother Africancountries, amongthem Djibouti,Yemen, Ethiopia,Kenya, Angola,Burundi, Rwanda,Sudan and Congo.Its achievementsinclude: • the reintroductionof a standardizedcurriculum and theprovision of textbooks and teacherguides to primaryschools throughoutSomalia and the

Somali refugeecamps in the region.• The developmentand distribution ofthe “school in abox”, known as theTeacher EmergencyPackage (TEP),which is now beingadapted and used inother countries. • The establishmentof short and long-term teachereducationprogrammes to train

teachers andteacher trainers; inRwanda, forexample, some12,000 unqualifiedor under-qualifiedteachers receivedtraining.• The elaboration ofprogrammes forhealth education,mine awareness,environmental andcivic education aswell as amultimedia peacecampaign involvinga roadshow (calledDrop the gun,Rebuild the nation).• Training in schoolmanagement forcommunities toenable them to shift

from donordependence tocommunityownership.“The idea is that inthe wake of acomplexemergency youcannot bringchildren back intoclassroom andteach literacy andnumeracy as ifnothing hashappened,” says Dr.Nureldin Satti, the

director of PEER,“So we introducethese new‘subjects’ in theform of ‘packages’,but we graduallyintegrate them intothe new curricula.“We haveintroduced a newvision of emergencyeducation aid,” headds, “and ourbiggest task now isto ensure thateducation - just likefood and water - isprovided wheneverthere is a crisissituation.”

S.W

The recreational kit: play can be very usefulin helping children work through trauma

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ned elements that fed the eventual conflict,”says Satti.

“Education is an inalienable right as decla-red in the Convention on Human Rights andthe Convention on the Rights of the Child,”reminds Mary Joy Pigozzi, a senior advisor inprimary education at UNICEF. “It is everychild’s right, regardless of the circumstancesin which he or she is thrust.

“In emergency situations ...it is essentialin assisting children to deal with their futuremore confidently and effectively, and can beinstrumental in making it possible for themto develop a peaceful society.”

It can make the difference between main-taining refugees and displaced populations ina state of loss and dependence, and givingthem a chance to rebuild a life, a commu-nity, a country.

Sue Williams

6 May 1999 - No. 112

Burundi: ReconstructionBurundi is one of the world’s ten poorest

countries. With over six million peoplespread over 27,000 km2, smaller thanBelgium, it is Africa’s second most denselypopulated country after neighouring Rwanda.Burundi also has some 470,000 displacedpeople living in 275 camps and another300,000 refugees from Tanzania, and is stilltrying to get to its feet after the bloodyconflict which erupted in October 1993 whenthe assassination of President MelchiorNdadaye pitted Tutsi against Hutu in a civilwar that, according to UNHCR figures, cau-sed the deaths of more than 150,000 people.

Since July 1997, UNESCO has been takingpart in the reconstruction of the country’seducation system through the PEER pro-gramme, in collaboration with the EducationMinistry, UNICEF and UNHCR. Most of theinfrastructure was destroyed during theconflict: houses, dispensaries, schools, roadsetc. “In 1995-96,” says Antoine Gizenga, aUNICEF expert in Bujumbura, “the schoolswhich remained intact were swamped byapplicants and simply could not meet thedemand.”

Bamboo schoolsThe first priority for UNESCO, which

gave an initial donation of $129,000 to theEducation Ministry, was to get children livingin refugee camps into schools, and to rein-force secondary schools. The creation oftemporary primary schools, both in thecamps and near existing schools, is a natio-nal priority. “Temporary schools are consi-dered like regular state schools,” saysGizenga. “The people provide locally avai-lable material for construction, such as bam-boo and leaves, and build the schools. UNI-CEF provides imported material such as

plastic sheets for roofs, nails and blackboards.The Ministry sends the teachers and UNESCOsupplies school material for the children.”When school reopened in September 1997,5,000 displaced children each received a back-pack containing notebooks, slate, chalk, pens,pencils, ruler and eraser. In September 1998,UNESCO provided similar material to 5,700displaced children and 600 others studying inrural schools.

Climbing back“The rise in the number of children in pri-

mary schools shows that these efforts havehad a very positive impact,” notes AgnèsMugozi, an education ministry consultant.“Seventy percent of children were enrolledin primary schools before the conflict inBurundi. That figure fell to 30% during the cri-sis and has now again risen to 52%. Some chil-dren lost a year or two’s schooling, but havemanaged to catch up.

“We accept all children in primary schools,even if they are older, to prevent them fromdrifting,” she continues.

Secondary education was little develo-ped before the crisis. Even today, only 750,000students are enrolled in secondary schools,and they include some 150,000 displaced chil-dren. UNESCO is financing the reprinting ofmore than 200 copies of 59 manuals for tea-chers; 39 have already been distributed and320 unqualified teachers from communitycolleges will soon be trained.

UNESCO’s current efforts focus on adultliteracy and on technical and professionaleducation: $220,000 have been allocated sinceJuly 1998. Three adult literacy manuals havebeen reprinted and fresh pedagogical mate-rial is being developed, including manuals forreading, writing and maths, a guide to train

“”Education

is an

inalienable

right

governments fragile. “In most cases, schools,education infrastructure and even text bookshave been severely damaged if not des-troyed,” says PEER director Nureldin Satti.In Somalia in the early 90s’, apart from thedestruction of school buildings, all educa-tional records were also wiped out. InRwanda in 1994, schools were used ascongregation points for mass killings; otherswere looted,occupied or mined by retreatingsoldiers to claim more victims and deter re-use.

Along with the huge material recons-truction, new management structures mustbe put into place. PEER is breaking newground in this domain, helping communi-ties to build and run their own schools, anddesigning new curricula. “We have foundthat the pre-conflict curricula often contai-

77No. 112 - May 1999

A temporary school

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literacy teachers, and an adult educationcourse aimed at religious schools, which playan important social role in this Christianmajority(85%) country. Two hundred literacyvolunteers have been trained in the centre,north and south of the country, and some 60others will receive similar training in theeast and west.

Women have also been specially targeted.The conflict left a number of widows andfamilies headed by women, so UNESCO hastrained 150 rural women in creating andmanaging micro-projects, of which ten havealready received funding. The organizationis also providing equipment to professionaltraining centres which teach plumbing,masonry, electricity and mechanics: 120 newtechnical teachers have been trained so far.

“People are resettling in the hills theyonce inhabited, Hutus and Tutsis togetheragain, there is more trust. In fact, most ofthe displaced live really close to where theylived before, but their houses were des-troyed, so they live in the camps but returneach day to cultivate their plot of land. Theyare investing in the resettlement,” saysGizenga.

The key to the reconstruction ofBurundi’s education system, indeed of the

country itself, lies undoubtedly in this col-lective desire for a return to normalcy, asmuch as the number of notebooks providedand teachers trained.

Nadia Khouri Dagher and Louis

Bazubwabo, expert UNESCO-PEER in

Bujumbura.

Djibouti: ”No school for us”It is not merely a question of reading and

writing. My dream is to be a doctor andeducation is the way ahead.” SahraMohammed is 17 years old. She’s also a refu-gee, one of the 22,000 who fled to Djiboutifrom Somali during the civil strife there ear-lier this decade. Her home for the past fewyears has been the Holl Holl refugee campsome 37 kms from Djibouti city.

Should her ambitions be considered merepipe dreams given her circumstances? Alongwith 1,250 other pupils she’s working hardin the camp school to give herself every pos-sible chance. She and her two younger sis-ters and brother “never miss school.”

Hito Hassan Allah, 16, feels as strongly.“While my 10 year old sister is at the ‘house’this morning, she will certainly attend theafternoon session (of lessons). Only illnessever forces us to miss school.”

The schools at Holl Holl and the nearbyAli Adde camps were established with thesupport of UNESCO-PEER, which came intobeing in 1993 as the Somali crisis unfolded.The conflict in Somalia saw the destructionof the country’s education system (whichhad begun collapsing even before the figh-ting broke out): teachers quit the professionen masse, schools closed and or were loo-

ted, and teaching materials destroyed. Markettraders would wrap their packages in pagestorn from school text books.

Some 761,000 refugees fled to camps inYemen, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Theschools established and supported withPEER’s help in these camps have providedchildren with basic primary instruction, aswell as an element of stability in their other-wise chaotic lives. But Somalia still doesn’thave a national government, and there arestill thousands of refugee children living andgrowing up in the camps. What to do withthose who’re ready for high school?

OutcastsAt Holl Holl and Ali Adde camps, Hito and

Sahra attend “bridge and skills” courses desi-gned by PEER for children who have com-pleted Class Six. The courses prepare thesekids for secondary chool, encourage them tobe more independent and eventually pro-vide them with the means to find a job. “But,”says a bitter Hussein Ibrahim Hassan, 17,“there is no school for us, and to find a goodjob one has to be educated through secon-dary school.” Thus, the nearly 200 “bridge”graduates remain idle, get married or seeka job as domestic help in Djibouti city.

88 May 1999 - No. 112

The local authorities have refused theintegration of these young people into theDjibouti’s high schools fearing that if theylearned to speak or write French, they would“disappear” into the local francophone popu-lation. Despite the fact that nine years havepassed since the refugees began filing intothe country, and that they still can’t go home,for Ahmed Samireh, the executive secretaryof the government agency responsible forrunning the camps “refugees are temporaryproblems in need of temporary solutions.”

Logistics and other excusesThe Djibouti government is also opposed

to the establishment within its borders of asecondary school for refugees only. Similarly,authorities in neighbouring “Somaliland”(n.w. Somalia) - which has declared itself anindependent nation - and which, unlike thesouth, is secure, have also indicated thatthere is no room there for the returnees.“Authorities in Hargeisa (the capital) arereluctant to mix ‘foreign’ pupils with theirown,” explains one source who wants toremain nameless. Even a proposal by PEERto start a new secondary school at Zeila onthe Somaliland/Djibouti border has beencomplicated by “logistical issues”: a surveyhas shown that there are not enough localpupils; there are no trained secondary tea-chers available; the UNHCR, while ready tobuild the school, wants others to furnish it,maintain and administer it, but the EuropeanUnion, which is financing a major secondaryeducation project in Somaliland, is hesitant.PEER has decided to go ahead anyway...

“Unless we find a solution for the ‘Bridge’graduates, there is a real risk they will remainjobless, lose hope and turn to illegal activi- ©

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The Holl Holl camp schoolin Djibouti

Somalia: Learning to go it aloneThere is a strong sense of ownership for

the school. It is ours, and because of thisownership, we have to invest in its success.”Maimun Noor Mohammed is the chairpersonof the Community Education Committee(CEC) that runs the Darwish School in thetown of Garowe, the capital of the newly-declared state of Puntland in north-eastSomalia. With the support of UNESCO-PEERthe education system there is being rebuiltfrom scratch, and on radically different foun-dations: schools are owned and managed bytheir communities.

Since it started in 1993, PEER has beentackling problems such as lack of institutio-nal infrastructure for managing education,inadequate school buildings, poor qualityand demoralised teachers, lack of teachingmaterials, including text books, traumatizedand unstable children and lack of opportu-

nities for skills training. While there has beenmarked success in addressing most of theseproblems, one of the issue now at the coreof PEER’s work is how to make the educa-tion system sustainable in a country wherethere is no national government or budget.

The Puntland initiative, concentrated inNugal, one of the four regions that make upthe new state, initially targeted ten schools,chosen on the basis of enrolment numbers(hence parental commitment). However,enthusiatic parents ‘forced’ five more into thesystem as well.

“While community management ofschools is new to us, all parents are sup-portive of the new format,” says MohammedFarah Dhere, the CEC vice-chair of Garowe’sIntermediate School. “We are all agreed thatour government needs time before one canexpect it to develop a resource base to contri-

ties,” says Ahmed Abdi, the head teacher ofHoll Holl primary school.

“PEER sees repatriation as the best longterm solution. This is what we have beenworking towards in the camps,” saysMudiappasamy Devadoss, the programmecoordinator of UNESCO-PEER . “But theycan’t go home until their safety can be assu-red. “

In the meantime, their hopes must bekept alive, their frustrations released and asense purpose maintained. Their continuingeducation is not only the best way of ensu-ring this, it is also the only way to equipthem,when they do go home, for the hugetask of rebuilding their war-ravaged country.

S. W. with Pamphil Kweyuh

in Djibouti

99No. 112 - May 1998

bute meaningfully to education. There is aconsensus that our children must be educa-ted and so we have thrown in all resourcesto support it.”

Committed but poorUnder an agreement reached between

the CECs and UNESCO, parents contribute10,000 Somali shillings ($4) per child enrol-led. This amount will eventually pay tea-chers salaries - currently $50 and $75 monthlyfor teachers and headteachers respectively.“While the payment is low, it is up to date,”says Mohammed Hersi, the headteacher atWabberi primary school, built with fundsfrom Diakonia, a Swedish non governmentalorganization.

At Burtinle Elementary School in Garowe,which was rehabilitated via a World FoodProgramme “food for work” scheme, a sta-tionery shop contributes about 4% of tea-chers salaries and this should rise “to 10%within a year” says Abdillahi Yussuf Noor, thehead teacher. “We are also planning to buy aminibus to extend the shop’s reach, and to runa refreshments bar.”

The system is so far working well in theregion’s bigger towns. But there are pro-blems in smaller centres and rural settle-ments.

At Jalam, a village of 830 families stradd-ling the road that links Garowe and the live-stock trading centre of Galcaiyo, the parents

UNESCO is at the forefront of research into emergency education throughits International Bureau of Education (IBE) in Geneva (Switzerland) andthe UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) in Hamburg (Germany).Both have recently published works that examine the “paradigm shift ”taking place in this domain, and propose a new way forward.Education as a Humanitarian Response, edited by Gonzalo Retamal and

Ruth Aedo-Richmond, (IBE andCassell, London 1998) outlines howto best set up and manage practicaleducation programmes underextreme mental, physical andfinancial pressures. The authors allveterans of humanitarian crises,make a clear appeal to thegovernments, humanitarian anddevelopment agencies andeducational planners to review their

priorities and action. “The current ‘heroics’ of humanitarian interventionlack a long-term perspective. Rapid responses to complex emergenciesstill follow a medical-relief model. Educational intervention, either as amobilizing instrument for peace and reconciliation or as a central activitylinked to the reconstruction of the human resources of the country, ishardly addressed by this dominant model.“ Rapid Educational Response inComplex Emergencies is a joint publication of the IBE, UIE, UNICEF andUNHCR. This 48-page booklet provides “a practical tool, and to explainand illustrate each phase of an emergency response.” There is also anexcellent website devoted to the subject athttp://ginie.sched.pitt.edu/rapid_edu/index.html.

A “PARADIGM SHIFT”

are equally committed, but much poorer.“The livestock trade has virtually collapsedbecause of drought and a ban slapped on alllivestock from eastern Africa after an out-break of Rift Valley Fever last year,” saysthe local school’s CEC chairperson. Againstthis backdrop, he says, it is difficult for themto go it alone.

Ready for a bigger roleWhile conceding that some communi-

ties may find the going tough,MudiappasamyDevadoss feels the time isripe for a bigger role by both government andparents. Puntland’s main towns are witnes-sing a boom in construction. The port townof Bossaso is functioning, as are the fledglingstate’s airstrips, radio, power and telephoneservices. “Revenue collection is quite deve-loped, yet social services financing is vir-tually nil,” he says.

To keep things moving in the right direc-tion, PEER has undertaken teacher trainingas well as community leadership pro-grammes to upgrade the skills of the schoolmanagers Some 85 teachers have been recrui-ted and 1,400 children enrolled. This is expec-ted to double in the near future, which willresult in a student teacher ratio of 35:1 - thefigure PEER believes necessary to ensure theproject’s viability and sustainability.

Much progress has certainly been made.But there is still a long way to go. Accordingto a 1998 survey by UNICEF, only 20% ofSomalia’s school age children - or some120,000 - actually get there.

S.W. with Pamphil Kweyuh

in Puntland

Unlike the camp schools in Djibouti, girls sometimes outnumber boys inclasses in Puntland

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Kosovo’s next

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10 May 1999 - No. 112

SCIENCE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

SCIENCE The old, unspoken contract between science and society isdisintegrating. The upcoming World Conference on Science willattempt to rewrite the rules.

The 20th century has been a boomtime for science. This century hasseen increases in scientific know-ledge that changed our worldbeyond recognition. In all fields of

science, revolutionary discoveries have beenmade.

But as the century draws to a close, thescientific community finds itself confron-ting some challenging questions. Of late,there has been a decline in public confidencein science. There is no single reason for thisdecline, with economic, cultural, environ-mental and social factors all playing a part.

UNESCO and the International Councilfor Science (ICSU) recognise that there is acrisis looming between society and scien-tists. As a result, they will convene in

Budapest, Hungary on June26 for a week-long confe-

rence to discuss thecurrent situation inthe scientific world.They will also consi-

der the manner inwhich science can best

meet the needs andexpectations of society,

and be given the resourcesto do so.

The previous, unwritten contract bet-ween science and society saw governmentsfunding science in universities and otherresearch institutions, with few instructionsabout how that money would be spent. Theuniversities and institutions were then expec-ted to deliver exploitable knowledge thatbenefitted society. Defence-related researchaccounted for a large part of the investmentin science. With the end of the Cold War thishas changed, marking a decrease in govern-ment funding for research. And while theold contract expects an implicit trust andunderstanding in society’s attitudes towardsscience, that trust and understanding no lon-ger exists.

Essential messagesThe Executive Director of ICSU, Mr Jean-

François Stüyck-Taillandier says that it is a‘matter of urgency’ to convene world lea-ders in science and their governments to dis-cuss this issue. “Science does have a res-ponsibility towards the community, that iscertain,” he says. “But the community has tounderstand that science cannot do every-thing; that we are fallible as well. We have toexplain this to society. After all, withoutsociety’s support, science dies.”

The main reason for the deterioratingrelationship between science and society isthat people now realise the benefits offeredby modern science have negative conse-quences as well. Society resents the ideathat scientists cannot control their own chi-meras; that scientific and technological res-ponsibility towards humanity does not seemto be a consideration.

“People remember the bad as well as thegood,” says Howard Moore says, editor ofUNESCO’s World Science Report and secre-tary of the World Conference on Science.“There is no longer this blind faith in scientists.But unfortunately, scientists are not alwaysthe best communicators. So they fail to getessential messages across to the public, whichthe public reads as arrogance,” he says.

Although scientific progress has givenus cures for disease, better health care and©

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1111No. 112 - May 1999

increased life expectancy, we have also rea-ped a much deadlier harvest with the deve-lopment of sophisticated atomic, biologicaland chemical weapons. Not to mention theethical dilemmas we now face over issuessuch as cloning or genetic engineering.

Another complex problem is raised by theavailability of scientific knowledge. Those inthe South see the social and economic bene-fits offered by science bypassing them. Thegap between communities who have accessto scientific knowledge and those who do notis widening. The issues of poverty, diseaseand environmental degradation are not beingaddressed, with the priority they merit.

“ Without science, one cannot be an equalcitizen of the world,” says Professor C.N.R.Rao, who will speak on the division betweenthe North and the South at the conferencein June. Equality is a long way off if the sta-tistics are correct: the United States spends

$184 billion on scientific research and deve-lopment every year - while Gabon spends justover $1 million, most of it in basic research.

Even those in the North are finding theiraccess to the results of scientific researchincreasingly restricted. The end of the ColdWar brought a reduction in the amount ofmoney offered by governments to researchinstitutions. Universities have tried to solvethis problem by working closely with theprivate sector.

Changing relationshipsPrivate companies now fund more than

60 % of scientific research in the UnitedStates. Thus a problem is raised by the publicperception of self-interest in the private fun-ding of science; subsequently the results ofthat research are often questioned. Whatonce existed for the public good is now per-ceived as a private commodity. Scientificresearch could become subject to the law ofthe market, the productivity race and short-term requirements: all factors which pre-clude long-term, explorative research.

Clearly, the relationship between scienceand society is changing. People no longerhave the blind faith in scientific progressthey once had - and scientists do not perhapsunderstand their democratic responsibilityto inform the public of their actions, espe-cially those actions that could have seriousglobal consequences.

“The distance covered by the first trialflight ever made can now be encompassedwithin the body of a Boeing 767,” points outJean-François Stüyck-Taillandier. “This ishow far we have come.”

Chloë Fox

Gross domestic expen-diture on R & D (GERD) asa percentage of GrossDomestic Product (GDP) fordifferent regions in theworld, 1994. (Source: WorldScience Report 1998).

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The weight of responsibilityEighteen years since he stopped being

Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs,emeritus Professor Jim Dooge sometimeslooks up from his hydrology research atUniversity College Dublin to keep an eye onthe opinion polls. Especially the ones thatrate the public’s fondness for the variousprofessions. Scientists used to be highlyregarded in such surveys, he says with somewistfulness. Now they are slipping badly,headed for the bottom of the table where thejournalists and politicians dally.

In general terms, he says, the issues havenot changed in thousands of years. Hereaches for a book and quotes Cicero, from44 BC: “To everyone who proposes to have

a good career, moral philosophy is indis-pensable.”

But for most of the centuries sinceCicero’s remark,he adds, scientists opera-ted in ivory towers, working hard but usuallyalone, without much funding - and withoutmuch accountability.

‘In the past, scientists have always consi-dered their main duty is to their science.They would become very pretentious andcall themselves ‘servants of truth’ from timeto time,” he says. “But also, in those timesscientists were not asking society for largeamounts of money to support their work.”

All that changed in the middle of thiscentury, he says, with the Second World War©

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and the tremendous public investment inscience, but also because the position of theindividual scientist became more complica-ted.

He recalls the case of Professor JosephRotblat, the 91 year old British physicist whotook part in the Manhattan Project to buildan atomic bomb because it seemed like theonly way to stop the march of Adolf Hitler.But when it became clear that the Germanswere making no real progress on their ownbomb, some scientists took a stand.

Ethical dilemmas“Rotblat went and said ‘We shouldn’t

continue this work- there is no longer anecessity for it.’ It was a purely moral consi-deration. He had settled in the United States,he was seeking American citizenship - thisof course was immediately denied to himand he was shipped back to London,” saysProfessor Dooge.

The dilemma that faced Rotblat, in effecthaving to make a choice between the goodof society and his own welfare, is often repea-ted nowadays, with complicating factors.

“Let’s take a case of a man working for abig multinational company, in their researchunit. He thinks that something they are doing,to which his work contributed, may be - ormay not be - unethical. What does he do? He’sworking there, his wife has a job in the schoolnearby, his children are happy. How does hebalance this real ethical doubt that he hasagainst his duty to his own family?” asksProf Dooge.

“Does he resign quietly and walk away?Or does he whistle-blow?

“If you’re in a debating society it’s easyto take a strong view, but if you’re making adecision that effects your career and youwhole family, it’s much more difficult,” hesays.

And now that the Cold War is over, thepolitical end of science is less clear-cut thanit was when there were two big politicalblocs. What should a scientist do, forexample, when governments refuse per-mission to a colleague from a developingcountry to travel to a conference?

Cut the jargonWhat is crucial, he says, is that the scien-

tific community as a whole supports groupswithin its own ranks to discuss and takeaction on ethical issues.

“In regard to certain things, the individualscientist may not have any immediate moralimperative or duty, but the scientific com-munity cannot neglect it - some scientists ,not necessarily all scientists — must beconcerned with these things.”

Professor Dooge thinks scientists acceptpublic criticism, pointing out that scientificauthorities who say genetically-modifiedfood is safe are the part of the same scien-

tific world that said the world was flat, Bhopalwas safe, and DDT was harmless. Scientists,he says, are well aware of their fallibility.

“Scientists, by training, are doubters. Themodern scientific approach, in a simplisticform, is that you can never prove that some-thing is true, you can only prove it is false,so scientists are always trying to prove thingsfalse,” he says.

He does not deny that some scientistsare arrogant, as are some members of allprofessions: “There is a temptation to arro-gance in anyone who is very good at their job.But scientists are, absolutely, bad commu-nicators. Again, the individual scientist hasnot got a duty to communicate, but scienceas a community has.”

As we face the new century, he says,scientists should do several things to addresstheir responsibilities to society.

First, they should cut down on the jargon:“When you use jargon, this facilitates com-munication within the group, but impedescommunication with other groups.”

ImprovementSecond, while it was flattering, scientists

have also suffered from the high esteem inwhich they were held in the past by the publicat large, where ordinary people believed theyknew everything. Now, he says, there is aneed to show, and feel, some humility.

“Scientists as a group have to have a grea-ter sensitivity in regard to the role of othersand to the nature of non-scientific know-ledge. This situation has improved over thelast few decades, but we need to keep up oreven increase the level of improvement,”Prof Dooge says.

Above all, he believes, is the need to lis-ten “People are far too apt to talk and not tolisten. The dialogue on some of the key pro-blems between science and the public and thedecision-maker is very often like a cocktailparty, with everybody talking and nobodylistening.”

He adds: “I think the key to the future isin us all determining to listen to people withother interests, from other groups, with thesame intent at understanding that we listento listen to experts within our group.”

Séan Mac Cárthaigh

Dublin

1313No. 112 - May 1999

A divided worldScientific innovation and knowledge will

be the biggest commodity of the nextcentury. And without science, one cannot bean equal citizen of the world,’’ says ProfessorC.N.R. Rao, the president of the JawaharlalNehru Centre for Advanced ScientificResearch (JNCASR) in India, and president-elect of the Third World Academy of Sciences(TWAS).

Having dedicated his life to science (inhis mid-60s, he continues to work at his labo-ratory seven days a week and regards mostother things as a distraction) he is impatientat the lackadaisical Indian attitude to science,which he sees as the key to advancement forany society. It is easy to empathise with ProfRao, who lives in the south Indian city ofBangalore. Regarded as India’s Silicon Valley,it nonetheless has frequent power cuts, andmany of its residents get drinking water onlyon alternate days.

Unprecedented problems“There are more than 120 countries in the

South - comprising three-fourths of the worldpopulation - and they must have optimumcompetence in science to be global players,”he argues. Especially, he adds, at a timewhen the world is facing “unprecedentedproblems of human population and migra-tion, accompanied by an increasing dividebetween the less developed and the advan-ced countries. For example, in India, we willsoon have a population of a billion. It is trulysad that, after 50 years of independence, westill have malnutrition, poverty and diseaseafflicting a majority of citizens. Illiteracyand obscurantism are still dominant.’’

The gap between the scientific “haves”and “have-nots” is wide and deep. Accordingto UNESCO’s 1998 World Science Reportalmost 75% of the world’s scientific activitytakes place in North America and WesternEurope. At the end the scale are the Arab

”“It is not

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300

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Industrializedcountry average

Worldaverage

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Report 1998

States and Sub-Saharan Africa whichaccount for only 0.7% and 0.8% respectively.And, logically, most of the world’s scientistsare where the science happens: the develo-ping countries average only 300 scientistsand engineers per million people, forexample, as against 3,300 per million in theindustrialized nations.

Hijacked However, the problem is not only one of

what resources are available, but also howthey are used. All too often, the nationalscientific programme is hijacked by a poli-tical agenda, as has happened in the case ofIndia, says Professor Rao. “Of a total scien-tific investment of Rs 40 billion ($950m) inscience, barely two billion is spent for basicresearch in physics, chemistry, biology andengineering, on which industry depends.The remaining 38 billion is channelled intodefence projects and nuclear reactors. It isnot enough to explode a bomb. We need tohave a vision.’’

However, he warns that “we may be infor an era of technological colonialisation.’’According to the World Science Report morethan 70% of patents in India are filed byforeigners, for example.To this end, he says,it is vital to preserve our traditional know-ledge and to sustain our of biodiversity. Weare rediscovering traditional water harves-ting and preservation techniques such asthe qanats of Iran and the aqueducts of theMediterranean and West Asia, as well astraditional medicine such as the Oriental,Ayurvedic, Arabic and Unani systems.’’

Government emphasis on science canalso lead to major economic turnarounds. AsProf Rao points out, “South Korea, for ins-tance, had very few graduates when it wonfreedom 50 years ago. Today, thanks to inves-ting 5% of its GDP in scientific capacity, ithas become an OECD country. On the otherhand, countries like Singapore, which havemainly invested in commerce-related indus-try, now realise they require much morescientific investment to sustain their pros-perity. I feel every nation should invest abare minimum of 1% of GDP on science.“

The international scientific communitycould also play a much bigger role in fillingthe science gap. Today’s communicationsmake such networking and information sha-ring easier and faster than ever before, pro-vided, of course, that those who have theinformation want to pass it around.

Meenakshi Shedde

Bangalore

14

“”

14 May 1999 - No. 112

Who owns the knowledge?When Marie Antoinette was told the

people had no bread, legend has it sheresponded: let them eat cake. Then camethe revolution. When the World IntellectualProperty Organization (WIPO) was told thatscientists would be severly impaired withoutfree access to databases, WIPO responded:let them develop their own. Now comes theresistance.

Academic research scientists have orga-nized to persuade WIPO that it should sus-pend its lobbying for expanded copyrightprotection, until the unintended conse-quences of such laws or treaties have beenfully considered and dealt with.

The scientists argue that the openexchange of research data and results amongscientists has for centuries been the enginedriving scientific progress. OxfordUniversity’s Sir Roger Elliott warned recentlyabout the current “tendency to strengthencopyright laws in response to the perceivedrisk of piracy in the electronic environment.”

Since 1996, WIPO has been lobbying forcopyright laws that would not only prohibitthe unauthorized use of an author’s work, butalso the unlicensed use of raw data, a pro-tection traditionally granted only to the newand original use of raw data rather than justtheir compilation.

A major voice opposing this position isthe International Council for Science (ICSU),an organization of about 95 nations and 25scientific union members worldwide. It wasfounded in 1931 to support natural sciencesresearch and its benefits to society.

The chair of ICSU’s ad hoc Group on Dataand Information, oceanographer FerrisWebster PhD is a professor at the Universityof Delaware College of Marine Studies, andhas a number of concerns about new lawsbeing proposed to restrict the exchange ofenvironmental information.

“Meteorological information is being res-tricted more now than ever in the past. Somecountries have realized such data have value,and they’re holding it up for payment. ICSUthinks data like that collected by govern-ment meteorological agencies, should beopen for scientific and educational use,” hesays.

In 1996, scientists became alarmed afterreading the terms of a draft treaty on data-base protection unveiled by WIPO. The treatywas to apply to private and government gene-rated data and it provided for a pay-per-usepolicy; strong civil and criminal penalties; andpotentially perpetual protection arising froma database owner’s ability to extend protec-tion beyond the 15 year limit every time thedatabase was significantly revised.

Dependent on the U.S.The treaty was tabled. In 1998, the U.S.

Congress defeated a bill with similarly-wor-ded provisions, but the legislation was rein-troduced in the House of Representativesthis year. The success of WIPO’s plan for aglobal database treaty will depend on theoutcome of the U.S. legislation simplybecause the U.S. owns a majority of the data-bases in existence today.

The Director of WIPO’s Copyright LawDivision, Jorgen Blomqvist rejects any claimthat WIPO is behind the push to extend copy-right protection to databases. He believes thatthe tension between scientists and propertyrights advocates can be worked out.

“WIPO is run by member governmentsand obviously the developments will be deci-ded by the political views of the individualgovernments,” he says.

Dr Webster’s reaction to this is one offrustration.“These issues are legal,” he sighs.“I’m an oceanographer. Global climate changeis an example of a key issue that preoccupiespeople around the world today. And how doyou know climate is changing? You makemeasurements around the world, comparethem with what happened 100 years ago,and then extend that into the future, parti-cularly if you want to know about humaninfluences, about what’s going on aroundthe globe.

“Data are the lifeblood of science, and scien-tists are both users and producers of data-bases... The most appropriate action for WIPOnow is to undertake a serious, impartial, broad-ranging study of the issues without any pre-conceptions. And the scientific and educatio-nal communities should participate fully inthese deliberations,”Webster concludes.

Rita Farrell

Delaware© S

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1515No. 112 - May 1999

Private science vs. Public demandSince the end of the Cold War, scientific

research and development funding hasbeen increasingly dominated by privateindustry. As government funding for sciencedecreases, pharmaceutical companies havebeen more than willing to step in and fill thefinancial gap. In the United States, more than60% of research and development projectsare funded by private organisations. Giventhat the scientific paymasters have changed,what are the implications for scientists andthe public?

Professor Albert Fischli from the RocheResearch Foundation in Basel, Switzerland,says there is no question that the field ofscientific research is now dominated by pri-vate funding, but maintains that there is a stilla significant role for governments to play inthe process of scientific discovery. As uni-versity liason manager for the pharmaceu-tical company F.Hoffman-La Roche, he appre-ciates both sides of the privatization debate.

Astronomical costs“The overwhelming majority of drugs

now come from private industry,” ProfessorFischli explains. And when you look at theresults, this is a good thing. For example, TheNational Cancer Trust in the USA has beenthe catalyst for a fair few drugs, but to launchthem, they needed private industry.Governments tried in the past to come upwith these drugs, but it just didn’t happen.”

The astronomic cost of developing a drug,from idea to reality, is one thing that prohi-bits government involvement. It costs anestimated $500 million to launch a new drug,and even then it may not live up to marketexpectations, and be written off.

Professor Fischli insists that govern-ments’ role in the scientific research field ischanging, not decreasing. “It is true that

government-funded research institutions areless active than they were, let’s say, 30 yearsago,” he says. “But look at what’s involvedin creating a new drug: first you have dis-covery, then you go through a whole scien-tific process until finally, the drug has to beaccepted and regulated by the government.In this process, the government is at theboth the beginning and the end. The wholeissue of regulation is becoming more impor-tant.”

Working togetherProfessor Fischli says that the beginning

- ideas, creation, discovery - of the researchprocess implicitly involves governments,because of education - and he believes edu-cation is specifically government’s jurisdic-tion.

“Universities have a crucial role. Theydo this basic research to create new know-ledge,” he says.

“Once your work has been tried and tes-ted in the universities, the results are quickto appear. The creation of knowledge is veryimportant, and so the universities are extre-mely important. One of the problems with pri-vate industry research is that much know-ledge within pharmaceutical companies isprotected and remains unpublished. Thisslows down research. It can take 18 monthsto patent a discovery, which means at least18 months in which information is not avai-lable to other scientists.”

Although private companies do not allowpublic access to all their findings, it doesn’tpreclude them from carrying out research inthe public interest. For example, TheWellcome Trust and ten other large multi-national, pharmaceutical companies havejust launched a charitable consortium tofund the creation of a $45 million publicdatabase of gene markers.

Through this database, an improvedunderstanding of the biological basis ofdisease is expected to lead to more and bet-ter treatments. Much of the research will becarried out with universities, such as theWashington University School of Medicine.

“The SNP Consortium is an example ofwhat can be done when people work toge-ther, “explains Professor Fischli.

“Countries need to work out long-termstrategies about public access to privateknowledge. I should make it very clear thatthe boundaries here are not fixed, and cer-tainly not forever. We have to examine themafresh, as new knowledge emerges. It is anissue that cannot be dictated just by the mar-ket.“

Chloë Fox

American farmers love Monsanto’s protein-rich soybeans, but Europeanconsumers won’t touch them

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IN CHINA...the government isconverting 242research institutes into“self-supportingenterprises” reports theBritish science weekly,Nature (vol 399). Theinstitutes will choosetheir own research andcommercial strategies,but will be “stronglyencouraged” tobecome technologicalenterprises that cancarry out R & D...Theinstitutes involved arelinked to the coalindustry, mechanics,metallurgy, petroleumand chemicals, lightindustry and textiles.Sun Chuanyao,president of the BeijingGeneral Institute ofMining and Metallurgywarns that “after thisno one may beprepared to do workwhich is less lucrativebut which the statereally needs.”While operating likeprivate firms,administratively theywill be responsible tolocal government.

16 May 1999 - No. 112

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

WOMEN

CULTURE OF PEACE

AFRICAN EXPEDITIONA plan for a cultural expeditionto Africa to coincide with theInternational Year for the Cultureof Peace in 2000 was launchedjointly by the Korean governmentand UNESCO in Seoul on April 27.The $10 million expedition, orga-nised by the newspaper KoreaDaily News with UNESCO’s sup-port and aimed at encouraginginter-cultural dialogue, will lasttwo years — from January 2000until December 2001 — visit 45African countries, cover 80,000kms and involve 17 researchers,photographers and cameramen.It will focus on the environmentand people, human rights,women, minorities, education,ancient African culture and heri-tage, the colonial legacy and the

HumanitiesA declaration of general humanresponsibilities and duties, draf-ted and adopted in Valencia(Spain) by 75 prominent figures,was delivered to UNESCO direc-tor-general Federico Mayor onApril 28. The statement, whichaims to strengthen observance ofthe UN Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights, was the idea ofthe Valencia Foundation for theThird Millennium and the ADCNew Millennium association. Itcontains 41 articles, divided into12 chapters, and will be presen-ted to UNESCO’s member-coun-tries.

WAR HEROLast month, UNESCO paid tributeto Raoul Wallenberg - the

World Marchof WomenUNESCO has thrown its weightbehind the World March ofWomen in the Year 2000, an intia-tive launched by the Fédérationdes femmes du Quebec (QuebecWomen’s Federation) to combatpoverty and violence againstwomen.“We support the march bcause itcoincides with UNESCO’s prio-rities: to act in favour of womenand girls and of gender equality;to fight poverty and help womenfight poverty; finally to ensurepeace through the constructionof a culture of peace,” said Breda

●●● To find out more:Yolanda AlbaPlaza de Carlos Trías Beltrán, 7.28020 Madrid, EspagneTél: (34-91) 580 37 29Fax: (34-91) 580 35 50

EDUCATION

EXHIBITION

Slave TradeMore than 100 secondary schoolsfrom all around the world willparticipate in the educationalproject, “Breaking the Silence -the ASP net Transatlantic SlaveTrade Education Project.” Anintegral part of the UNESCOSlave Route Project, this newproject is an attempt to improvethe teaching of history by tellingthe whole story of theTransatlantic Slave Trade. Theproject emphasizes the signifi-cance of the TST, the suffering itcaused and its social, cultural

and econolic impact on theworld. The project is funded byUNESCO and the NorwegianAgency for development Co-ope-ration (NORAD).www.unesco.org/education/educprog/asp

Pavlic, the director of UNESCO’sUnit for the Promotion of theStatus of Women and GenderEquality.More than 1,600 groups in 121countries have so far joined themarch. Events connected to itwill start of March 8,International Women’s Day, andend on October 17, which is theInternational Day for theEradication of Poverty.

slave trade, cultural identity inthe face of modernity and tradi-tion and languages in danger ofdying out.

Swedish diplomat who savedthousands of Hungarian Jewsfrom deportation to Nazi deathcamps - with an month-long exhi-bition aimed at young people.The exhibition “A Tribute to RaoulWallenberg” featured photos anddocuments lent by The RaoulWallenberg Committee of theUnited States. On the first day ofthe exhibition, May 10, USCongressman Tom Lantos made asolemn tribute to the man whosavec him from the Nazi campsin 1944. Wallenberg was born in1912 and worked as a foreignrepresentative for a centralEuropean trading company. In1944 he was sent by the SwedishForeign Minister to Budapest.

Raoul Wallenberg

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EDUCATION: IT’S MYRIGHT “Today’s striking reality - 835 mil-lion functionally illiterate peopleliving in the world; 130 millionchildren, two thirds of whom aregirls, denied access to basic edu-cation - testifies to the unful-filled promises of our cen-tury...Education is a collectiveresponsibility. We must matchour rhetoric with action.” Soconcludes Mary Robinson, theUnited Nations High Commis-sioner for Refugees, in the latestedition of EFA 2000 (No. 35 April-June), which focuses on theright to education. Other articles in the bulletin lookat the obstacles preventing thisright from being exercised inmany parts of the world, inclu-ding war, poverty and discrimi-nation.

Qu

ote,

un

qu

ote.

.

17No. 112 - May 1999

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

CULTURE

Fighting the New Pirates of the SeasThe second meeting of expertspreparing the draft Conventionon the Protection of UnderwaterCultural Heritage was held atUNESCO headquarters from April

19 to 24. About 40 governmentswere represented, as well asbodies like the InternationalMaritime Organisation (IMO),the International Council forMonuments and Sites (ICOMOS)and the International LawAssociation (ILA). The conven-tion aims to protect historicwrecks and archaeological sitesfrom pillaging, which has alreadyresulted in the loss of remainscrucial to studying the origin andhistory of civilisations. “Deep-water technology is less and lessexpensive, so we must act now,”says Lyndel Prott, the draftconvention’s coordinator atUNESCO.

HUMANITY’S ORALTRADITIONUNESCO has created a prizehighlighting the “oral and intan-gible cultural heritage of huma-nity.” The letter of intent establi-shing the Arirang Prize, whichwill be funded by the Koreangovernment, was signed on April26. It will be awarded every two

years to one or more winners -persons, groups or institutions -who have devised projects topreserve, protect or encouragecultural places or forms of popu-lar or traditional expressionwhich an international juryappointed by UNESCO judges tobe “masterpieces of the oral andintangible cultural heritage ofhumanity.”

Protecting the sea

Saving heritage

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BLUE SHIELDFOR EX-YUGOSLAVIAThe International Blue ShieldOrganisation, which has adop-ted the emblem of the 1954 HagueConvention for the Protection ofCultural Property in ArmedConflict, has launched an appealto save ex-Yugoslavia’s culturalheritage. It expresses “its sin-cere sympathies to all who havesuffered from these acts of vio-lence” and “encourages all thewarring parties to make every

effort to protect museums,archives, monuments, librariesand any other site which marksthe history of the people of theregion and is evidence of theiridentity.” The International BlueShield Organisation was set upin 1996 by the InternationalCouncil for Monuments and Sites(ICOMOS), the InternationalCouncil of Museums (ICOM), theInternational Federation ofLibrary Associations (IFLA) andthe International Council ofArchives (ICA).

Three millionyears of historyTwenty years of work by 350 scho-lars has finally come to end, withthe complete edition of UNES-CO’S General History of Africa -a three million-year history ofthe entire African continent -presented in Tripoli by theInternational ScientificCommittee in April. The complete edition of theGeneral History of Africa - eightvolumes of 800 to 1,000 pageseach - is now available in threelanguages (Arabic, English andFrench). Parts have already beenpublished in Spanish (fivevolumes of the complete edition),as well as four volumes inPortuguese, Chinese (also four),three in Japanese, two in Italian,Hawsa, Peulh, Korean (twovolumes of the abridged version)and Kiswahili (one volume).“Despite the long delays, limi-ted distribution and popularity,there is no doubt that from thescientific and academic view-points, the General History ofAfrica has been a phenomenalsuccess and has had an extraor-dinary impact on higher educa-tion,“ said committee PresidentA. Adu Boahen.

“It is to favour thetransition from the

reason of force to thefore of reason that Ispeak of hope.It is atthis price that we mightobtain an immediatecease-fire, the return ofrefugees to anautonomous Kosovo, totheir land, within theircultures and, under theaegis the UnitedNations, favourprogressivenormalization.”

UNESCO Director-General Federico

Mayor on theKosovo crisis

“What characterisesmen is not really

behaviour, it’s notreason - a computer ismore logical than weare - it’s the wealth ofpassions, joy andsuffering.”

Jean-Didier Vincent,Professor at the

Institut Universitairede France and the

Faculty of Medicineof Paris-Sud

“We can, given theappropriate and

enabling environment,still perform miracles.”(speaking at theSecond InternationalCongress on Technicaland VocationalEducation).

UNESCO’s DeputyDirector-General for

Education,Colin Power

“We must reconcilescientific

achievements made inthe past with thedemands of the future.”

VigdísFinnbogadóttir, chair

of UNESCO’s WorldCommission on theEthics of Scientific

Knowledge andTechnology,

speaking in Oslo,Norway

SCIENCE

18 May 1999 - No. 112

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

ARCHAEOLOGYBY SATELLITEArchaeologist Sakuji Yoshimura,of the University of Waseda, inJapan, and remote detectionexpert Toshifumi Sakata, of TokaiUniversity, also in Japan, pre-sented at UNESCO headquarterson May 17 the results of anarchaeological discovery madein Egypt last December 13 afteranalysing satellite pictures.After months of investigation,they unearthed at the ancientsite of Dahashur, 30 km south-west of Cairo, a 3,600-year-oldaristocratic tomb which couldbe evidence of a burial ground atDahashur. The discovery is anexample of the use of satelliteimages by UNESCO’s SpaceArchaeology Programme, whichthe two Japanese scientists havebeen involved with since it wasset up in 1993.

EthicsThe World Commission on theEthics of Scientific Knowledgeand Technology (see Sources No.110) met for the first time inOslo (Norway) from April 28-30.Some 150 participants from 50countries attended.With an eye to its future pro-gramme, the Commission hasdecided to step up its work intothe question of the ethics ofenergy, and to wind up work onthe ethics of the use of freshwater resources. Summing upthe results of this first session,Vigdis Finnabogadottir, the com-mission’s president, stressed itsdetermination to favour chan-ging cultural sensitivity.

BOOKS

The Pursuit ofLiteracyTwelve case-studies of award-winning programmesUNESCO Publishing pp 76A mainstay of UNESCO’sactivities has been the longwar against illiteracy. Throughits advocay of the cause ofuniversal literacy, UNESCO hasmade a unique contribution tothe spread of literacyworldwide.One of the ways in whichUNESCO has kept illiteracy inthe forefront of internationaland national concern has beenthrough the award of prizes todeserving individuals, groups,ministries or agencies thathave been responsibile forinspiring and conductingoutstanding projects.This volume includes twelveaward-winning literacyprogrammes, each verydifferent from the other. Themahor is made between macroand micro approaches. Somecountries have conducted massliteracy campaigns. Manycountries have encouraged orfinanced micro programmes inpursuit of a national or overallpolicy.The first case study is one ofthe most moving: how a young

Coping WithBeach Erosionby Gillian Camberspub UNESCO/Sea Grant, University of Puerto Ricopp 116Coastline changes due tonatural processes and humanintervention represent a majorconcern of coastal plannersthe world over; and also ofordinary citizens who haveinterests in beaches or seasideproperty. While beaches maybe the substance of vacationdreams for some, their disap-pearance through erosion canlead to nightmares for thosewho live, relax and build closeto the shore.UNESCO has been involved inthe search for answers tocoastal problems for well overtwo decades, and supportednumerous projects in thattime. The publication ofCoping With Beach Erosion isone result of such a project.The information and advicecontained in the book are thefruit of more than ten yearsresearch. Particularly relevantto the Caribbean, the bookadvises on practical steps tofollow when contemplating anoceanside purchase - or whena favourite beach suddenly

disappears overnight.It ishoped that the text will helpcoastal dwellers around theworld, and is the first of a newUNESCO series entitled Coas-tal Management Sourcebooks.

ChangingInternational Aidto Educationedited by Kenneth King and Lene Buchertpub UNESCO Publishing/Norrag 1999 pp326, 135FFInternational aid to educationhas been changing in the midto late 1990s, as hasdevelopment assistance ingeneral. Their nature andsignificance are explored inthis book, both at the level ofpolicy and in practice. The newthinking can be identified inthe North with non-governmental organizations,multilateral agencies.

New Zealander struggledagainst great odds to makehimself literate. It casts lighton a problem that is not oftendiscussed - the failure ofschools in the North to teach asignificant percentage ofstudents how to read andwrite. The remaining 11 casestudies look at a diversecollection of programmes:literacy for prisoners inIndonesia, single mothers inTanzania, distance learning inBrazil, and literacy for customsofficers in Thailand.

●●● To find out morePublications and periodicals are soldat UNESCO’s bookshop(Headquarters) and through nationaldistributors in most countries.For further information or directorders by mail, fax or Internet;UNESCO Publishing, 7 place deFontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP. Tel. (+33 1) 01 45 68 43 00 - Fax (33 1) 01 45 68 57 41. Internet:http://www.unesco.org/publishing

19No. 112 - May 1999

IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF IN BRIEF

PERIODICALS

UNESCO CourierMay’s issue of the UNESCOCourier focuses on the upcomingWorld Conference on Science,and the changing relationshipbetween society and science.For many years, the political lea-ders and scientists of the greatpowers called the shots inscience. “Leave it to us,” theysaid to the public, “we’re workingon your behalf, for your securityand your prosperity.”This tacit contract betweenscience and society has had itsday. On the world economic batt-lefield, research is increasinglygeared to the market and tech-nological innovation. The fron-tiers are becoming blurred bet-ween laboratories - both publicand private - and corporate mar-keting services. In a situationwhere science is increasinglymarketed as a commercialresource, how can it yield bene-fits for everyone?The science feature covers glo-bal weather patterns, scientifictrends, pure and applied scienceand commercializing researchin China. Other articles in theCourier include a story on childlabour in Peru, an interview withEnglish comic Mark Thomas.

COMMUNICATION

UNESCO ON THE WEBA “mirror” of UNESCO’s web siteis now available at http://mirror-us.unesco.org. This “copy” ofthe site, based at the Universityof Nebraska, in the United States,will speed up access to theUNESCO web site for people inNorth America, Asia and thePacific. The site has 40,000 pagesof information about UNESCO’sprogrammes and activities allover the world as well as 10 databases. You can also downloadissues of the monthly magazinesSources and the UNESCOCourier. The site is visited everyday by 6,000-7,000 people in 155countries and the number is gro-wing by about 20% monthly.More than a million documentsare consulted each month.Numerous hyperlinks exist withWeb sites of organisations in theUnited Nations system as well aswith those of other UNESCO’smain partners.

http://www.unesco.orgor http://mirror-us.unesco.org

EDUCATION: A RIGHTOR A PRIVILEGE?Student journalists report on theright to education worldwide.There are more than one billionilliterate people in the world, andat least 84 million children ofschool age who do not have theluxury of going to school. Sowhen the International Consul-tative Forum on Education for Alllaunched the InternationalJournalism Contest on the Rightto Education in May 1998, theywanted to find out how adultsand children experience the rightto education. Why is it so impor-tant to go to school?The International ConsultativeForum on Education for All didnot want a study or a report inbureaucratic language — theywanted the opinion of studentsaround the world.The result is a 24-page handbookof articles and photos that strikeat the heart of the matter. It is arefreshing and heartfelt portrait

Dnevni Telegraf, who was assas-sinated on April 11.Mr Curuvija, former editor-in-chief of the independent dailyBorba, founded the weeklyNedeljni Telegraf, the dailyDnevni Telegraf and the maga-zine, Evropjanin. He was one ofthe leading figures of the inde-pendent press in the FederalRepublic of Yugoslavia.

A voice silenced“It is intolerable that journalistsare being killed for their ideasand for their fight to secure pressfreedom. I hope that his killerswill be identified rapidly andbrought to justice,” said UNESCODirector-General FedericoMayor.He was speaking of journalistSlavko Curuvija, the editor of theindependent Yugoslav daily

IN MEMORIAM

SOURCES inCyberspaceReading a current or back issueof the monthly magazine Sourcesis now easier than ever before,with the launch of the magazineonline. Offering quality coverageof UNESCO activities since 1989,Sources is an invaluable resourcefor universities, other media andprivate institutions. Now onlineaccess to all issues publishedsince 1997 is free, as well as asophisticated search engine thatcan help readers find exactlywhat they are looking for. Articles- in English, French and Spanish- and photographs, can be down-loaded and printed. Very soonyou’ll even be able to contactSources’ editorial staff via thewebpage. Why not take a look at the site,by going to http://www.unesco.org/sources

of the state of basic education.It is sad, touching, but most of allit shows the incredible courageand wit of men, women and chil-dren who survive despite poorand difficult situations. (see alsoSources No. 110)

20 May 1999 - No. 112

IN THE LINEOF FIRE

Mexican journalist Jesús Blancornelas is

the winner of this year’s UNESCO/Guillermo Cano

press freedom prize. The award was presented to

him on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, in Colombia

PORTRAIT

On the morning of

November 27 1997,

Jesús Blancornelas is as

usual in his Ford van on

his way to the weekly

magazine Zeta (Zed) of

which he is the director. A

few streets away from his

home, his chauffeur and

bodyguard Luis Valero

Elizalde, notices a car full

of gangsters, “des malan-

drines (bad boys)” he says,

“dealing drugs.” The scene

surprises nobody in this

border region between

Mexico and the United

States: everybody knows

that since the dismantling

in 1995-96 of Colombia’s

Cali cartel, the Mexican

cartels of Tijuana, Ciudad

Juarez and Golfo de Mexico

have become major players

in the region’s drug trade.

But a few streets later the

gangster car is still there.

This time parked across the

street, blocking it totally.

Its front window rolls down

gently and a man points

his machine-gun unhur-

riedly at the van and

shoots. Jesús Blancornelas

understands the message

in the killer’s eyes and dives

for cover. His bodyguard

swings the van into reverse

gear and accelerates but

loses control under a hail of

gunfire. Metal slams

through the vehicle 180

times. One bullet slides off

the van and bounces back

from the pavement to lodge

in the right eye of one of the

killer’s accomplices who

dies on the spot. It is this

man David (Charlie)

Barron Corona, alias CH,

who provides the clue to the

identity of the authors of

the ambush.

They were a group ofyoung Mexicans who grewup in the United States andare part of the “30th streetLogan Heights gang” in SanDiego, near the border.They’re the armed wing ofthe Tijuana cartel. Four bul-lets hit Jesús Blancornelas.It took two operations tosave his life.

NUISANCEWhy such a well-planned

out ambush to kill a journa-list? Was it to teach thepress a lesson, not to stepout of line and stay awayfrom “protected” areas? Asimilar method was used bythe Colombian Medellin car-tel when they assasinatedthe director of El Especta-

dor, Guillermo Cano inBogota in December 1996.

Like Guillermo Cano, JesúsBlancornelas is a nuisance:a committed journalist, hisarea of specialisation hasbeen politics and drug traf-ficking in the region. In1996, he published a bookPasaste a mi lado (You’vecome over to my side) whichtalks about “the origin ofdrug trafficking in theregion, how it functions,with names, places....”

IN DANGERThere are other signifi-

cant facts, all reported inZeta: “A few months earlier,in April, two young drug dea-lers were eliminated by theirown Tijuana cartel,” saysBlancornelas. “Their motherasked me to publish a letteraddressed to the capo,where she accuses him.” Atthe same time, the policecaptured one of the mainfinancial administrators ofthe same cartel.

His arrest was announ-ced by all the media, butJesús Blancornelas mana-ged to go a step further. Heobtained classified officialdeclarations by the gangstergiving details of places,names and sums of money.A week later, two federalagents waiting for their bossbefore a court, were gunneddown by a professional hit-man from Logan Heights(San Diego, USA), the sameCH who died after theambush against Jesús Blan-cornelas.

Things begin to snow-ball, with federal policetaking over the case becausethe local police were sus-pected of corruption and ofbeing “close to the narcos.”Houses were searched,people arrested...”I think allthese factors explain whythe narcos targeted us,” saysthe magazine director.“There were rumours thatsomething would happen tome.”

Sensing he was in dan-ger, the journalist asked forpolice protection, but thesecurity was called off threeweeks before the attack. “Itappears that the police were

His most faithful friend these days is a bullet proof vest

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21No. 112 - May 1999

LIBERTY, LET ME WRITE YOUR NAME

Fifty two journalists and writers were assassinated in

1998 and 1999 isn’t shaping up any better according to media watchdog

IFEX, which swung its spotlight on Africa at its recent annual meeting

PRESS FREEDOM

aware of what was up...they’re still looking into it.But one thing is clear.Several police agents toldmy bodyguard to leave me,because something rathercomplex was probablygoing to occur.”

Since the attempt on hislife, the Mexican army hastaken charge of JesúsBlancornelas’ security - heleaves the house only to goto his office, in an armouredcar and bullet-proof vest.An army vehicle precedeshim and a van with sevensoldiers follows. Accordingto the US Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI) and theDrug Enforcement Admini-stration (DEA) “they want toget close enough to put abullet through my head.”They’d give up to $80,000for this. “Now,” he says, “Idon’t go to restaurants oreven the church, I know mydays are numbered. If I’mnot dead, it’s because I’mdoing something. Someonehas to, after all.”

Moving to the UnitedStates? “I was advised bysome to do so when I gotout of hospital, but I decidedto stay. Leaving wouldundermine the morale of my

colleagues, none of whomhas left the magazine so far.My leaving would mean let-ting the cartel have the lastword. Colombia and Mexicoare not the property of thedrug traffickers.”

ENEMIESJesús Blancornelas is

alone in this battle. “TheMexican government has toshare its evidence with theAmericans, so that the menwho work for the Tijuanacartel can be arrested andsent back to Mexico,” hesays, but he’s aware that hisfirst enemy is Mexican

bureaucracy and the lack ofpolitical will because of thealleged implication of seve-ral highlevel people in drug-trafficking. How else canone explain why nothing hasbeen done despite the iden-tification of seven out of tengangsters? “Those whoshould be arrested are notthe ones who pulled the trig-ger, the intermediaries, butthose who gave the orders toshoot, the cartel bosses....but that seems very diffi-cult,” he sighs.

Cristina L’Homme

David Makali is a luckyman. The Kenyan

newspaper editor had beenkidnapped in Nairobi lastFebruary by a commandoof 12 masked men, beatenup and abandoned in thebush. The attackers wantedthe name of the author of aninvestigative report publi-shed in his paper entitled“Kenya, turned into havenfor drug barons”, whichrevealed the implication ofseveral politicians and localauthorities in a drug traf-ficking network. DavidMakali escaped with his life:other journalists are killedeach year for having daredto publish the truth.

At the annual meetingof IFEX (International free-dom of expressioneXchange), held on April 20and 21 in Cape Town (SouthAfrica), David Makali metthe people who helped himinform the world about theviolations of freedom ofexpression in his country.“Without this network, pro-bably a lot of violations

would occur and therewould be no deterrent totheir escalation ... it’s a kindof protection for us, you getsomebody to lean on.”

IFEX was founded in1992, when organizationsfighting for freedom ofexpression in different coun-tries decided to join forces.UNESCO’s InternationalProgramme for the Develop-ment of Communicationwas one of the foundingmembers and remains amajor backer, notably hel-ping IFEX to set up, rein-force or equip organisationsin the South.

IFEX today comprises42 organisations, includingthe Canadian Journalists forFree Expression, theReporters’ Association ofThailand, Free ExpressionGhana and the EgyptianOrganisation for humanrights. IFEX centralises anddistributes information onviolations of freedom ofexpression, not only of jour-nalists but of all authors,including writers and aca-

demics. The internet andemail have become the maincommunication tool and itswebsite is visited by some20,000 people each month.

Like all annual meetings,the one in Cape Town revie-wed the year gone by anddecided on the future courseof action. The focus of IFEX99, the first to be held onAfrican soil, was the situa-tion on the continent. “Fora long time, while we wereliving under military rule in

Nigeria,” says Akin Aking-bulu of that country’sIndependent JournalismCentre, “the internationalcommunity did not haveaccess to information there.Once the IJC was able tobecome a member of theIFEX network we were ableto send out credible infor-mation. A lot of NGOs wereable to develop good poli-cies based on this credibleinformation to put pressureon the government to

MAY 3: WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY●●●UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the UN High Commissionerfor Human Rights Mary Robinson, and UNESCO Director-GeneralFederico Mayor marked May 3rd with a joint appeal calling for the res-pect of press freedom worldwide.The focus of their appeal wasunpunished crimes against journalists. “For whenever one journalistsuffers violence, intimidation or arbitrary detention because of his orher commitment to conveying the truth, all citizens are robbed of theright to think and act according to their conscience,“they said. “Ourdaily diet of accurate information, whether carried by satellite or oceancable, still depends on the daily exercise of courage and integrity byjournalists, on the tenacity of editorial teams, on the commitment ofindependent media to carry high the principles of a profession underpermanent pressure. On World Press Freedom Day, we salute theircourage and their commitment to the universal pursuit of truth andknowledge.“

Local communities in Santo Domingo, capital of the

Dominican Republic, come up with solutions to housing problems

22 May 1999 - No. 112

change. And that actuallyworked.”

The meeting appealedfor the liberation of twojournalists from theDemocratic Republic ofCongo, Mbakulu PambuDiambu, the news directorat Matadi TV, arrested inNovember for “breachingstate security”, and ThierryKyalumba, director of theweekly Vision, arrested inJanuary for “disclosing mili-tary secrets in wartime”.The appeal also welcomedthe release after two weeksin custody of two other jour-nalists arrested on similarcharges in March, ModesteMutinga, chief editor of Le

Potentiel and AndréIpakala, chief editor of La

Réference plus.

PEOPLE DON’T KNOWHowever, public igno-

rance, as much as politicalrepression, is the cause ofthe absence of freedom ofexpression. “Because mediahardly exists in developingcountries - and where itdoes it tends to be for pro-fit, serving small elites andshutting out vast quantitiesof people - FoE work inSouthern countries has toinvolve development andeducational work becausemany people don’t knowthey have a right to freedomof expression and don’t

know they have a right toaccess information fromgovernment and even fromprivate sources,” explainsJane Duncan of theFreedom of ExpressionInstitute in South Africa.

Also on the agenda thisyear, the struggle by South-East Asian media, the NATObombardment of Serbia,and the concentration ofmedia in the North.

Naturally, the meremediatization of abuse willnot put an end to it. Fiftytwo journalists and writerswere assasinated in 1998,and according to IFEX, 1999

isn’t going to be any better.But, an official documentnoted, “we’ve seen lettercampaigns open up prisondoors, lift bans on publica-tions and even save lives.”Moreover, adds Makali,“often we have no supportin our own country - it’s akind of weakness - but eventhe oppressors, our enemiesbegin to be a little afraid ifwe have international sup-port.” Especially, asViktorya Kazlova of Russia’sGlasnost Defence Founda-tion says, “when you are inyour local situation doingyour work, you are losing

the opportunity to thinkopenly - talking to differentpeople from different coun-tries with different expe-riences, you find answers toquestions that were raisedlong, long before this mee-ting. When I go back to mycomputer and write a letter,I’ll be appealing to friends,not in general to the inter-national community.”

Wayne Sharpe, Executive

director, IFEX, Toronto,

Canada

For 30 years they havelived on a patch of mud

next to the discharge ofindustrial effluents. Sur-rounded by rubbish, withoutdrinking water or sanitation,these two poor neighbour-hoods are home to 48,000people. The inhabitants of

HABITAT

PROTESTS GO WITHPROPOSALS

La Ciénaga de Guachapitaand Los Guandules - right inthe middle of the city ofSanto Domingo - are mostlyunemployed or have just arri-ved from the country, out-casts in the heart of a capitalwith nearly one million othermarginalized people.

Little cabins leaning oneagainst the other (70 % ofthem in a ruinous state),have five or six peoplesqueezed into 18-24 m2. Iftheir inhabitants want tohold meetings or bathe theirchildren they have to take tothe street. And what a

street! So muddy it is impas-sable for cars; only themotoconchos (motorbikeswhich with a luggage rackadded serve as taxis) canget through. Some womenand children walk severalkilometres to get water.Most people work as chiri-

peros, selling shoes one dayand coconut, ice cream,home-made cake or fruitjuice the next from a cartelegantly installed in themiddle of the road. If theymanage to scrape together$100 per month per family,

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1947. Pakistan. By Henri Cartier Bresson whose work is featured in this years’ album by theNGO, Paris-based Reporters sans frontières to mark World Press Freedom Day

23No. 112 - May 1999

Living differently to live in hope

they can consider them-selves fortunate. That is whythey all work, whether theybe seven or 65 years old.And those who do not doanything are called vagos,

layabouts..

RESISTANCEThere was no reason to

envy the situation of thepeople living in these neigh-bourhoods. Hence their sur-prise when one day theowners of the land, theVicini family, said they wan-ted their land back andthreatened to evict them.That day, poor and deprivedas they were, the local inha-bitants successfully resis-ted, standing together andsetting up a DefenceCommittee for Local Rights(COPADEBA).

With two mottoes,‘Protests go with proposals’and ‘Construction with par-ticipation’, COPADEBA isseeking solutions to socialproblems in poor neigh-bourhoods. It opposes ille-gal evictions and defendsinhabitants’ rights. In a bidto solve the urban, environ-mental and social problemsof these neighbourhoods ithas proposed to constructan ‘Alternative housingdevelopment’ and has beengranted NGO status giving itsome independence in eco-nomic terms and reinforcingdetermination. It receivesaid from the Italian organi-zations MLAL and MISE-REOR along with UNESCO’sManagement of Social Trans-formations Programme(MOST) via its research pro-ject, “Cities, Environmentand Social Relationshipsbetween Men and Women.”

MOBILISING WOMENThe idea driving the

MOST project was thaturban women - particularlythose affected by difficultliving conditions, changingfamily structures, and thedegradation of the environ-ment - be mobilised andempowered to deal withtheir problems.There weretwo major priorities in the

project: to see cities asplaces of accelerated socialtransformation, and localand regional managementof technological, economicand environmental trans-formations.

The project began field-work in July 1997, with aninitial working period of twoand a half years. In SantoDomingo, MOST works withthe local population toimplement ‘Plan CIGUA’(Ciénaga-Guandules), anabbreviated combination ofthe names of the two neigh-bourhoods concerned.

The aim is to transformthe housing and the envi-ronment and to make themhealthier and more habi-table. Plan CIGUA bringsthe citizens (20 neighbou-rhood associations of bet-ween 15 and 300 people)and the professionals (thearchitects, the town plan-ners, environmentalists and

sociologists) together towork out how best this canbe done.

Implementation of theplan began in early 1997,and its effects on the inha-bitants’ living conditionswere quickly realised.Drinking water that usedto come through white plas-tic tubing, strung togethersomehow or other and trai-ling through the middle ofthe “black water” (wastewater), is now piped andprotected. The people didnot realize that parasitic

diseases (the main cause ofinfant mortality) came fromtheir water: it looked clearenough to them, so theythought it was safe. The 45%of the land that was coveredwith garbage has been madehabitable. This involveddemolishing some of thehuts, mainly the ones closeto the discharge outlets ofwaste water. Eighty per centof this water has now beencovered over and themuddy alleyways are beingcovered with tarmac, impro-ving the neighbourhoods’links with the city.

PLAYING THEIR PARTA dual-purpose chil-

dren’s club supported by themunicipality, the PlanCIGUA experts, and mot-hers who volunteer, pro-vides a day-care service aswell as primary education.It charges fees in order to beindependent, and teachers

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are often recruited locally.Education is crucial, sincethe aim is to train the inha-bitants of poor neighbou-rhoods to play their part inthe community and changetheir own living conditions.The new generations seemto have ‘got the message’ asthey are taking up occupa-tions linked to the economyand the social sector.

A community clinic haseven been provided, but thelocal people are not used toit and still keep going to thehospital. They also refused

the idea of a park, which theexperts thought essential.“A park is for old people,”they said. “We would ratherhave a sports club so thatthe children do not playbaseball among the dust-bins.”

For two years the MOSTprogramme has also beenfinancing a study of this newhousing development andwould like to use it as a basisfor dealing with similarsituations in Latin America.Other equally successfulfieldwork for the Cities,Environment and SocialRelationships between Menand Women study has beencarried out in Senegal,Burkina Faso, Benin, Argen-tina, Brazil, Bulgaria andRomania.

Certainly the experimentin Santo Domingo hasshown how the participa-tion of the people concer-ned, neighbourhood asso-ciations, NGOs, the govern-ment and international sup-port can transform a poordistrict without detractingfrom the dignity of the inha-bitants.

Latin American societiescan no longer wait for thesolution of development tocome from outside. As theAlternative Housing Develop-ment puts it “neighbourhoodrights are also humanrights.”

Isabel RAUBER*

with C.L.

*Head of ‘Pasado y Presente’(Past and Present), a regional dis-cussion group on socio-historicaltopics based in the DominicanRepublic.

on UNESCO’s calendar

next month’s issue :

INTANGIBLECULTURAL HERITAGE

YOUTH :AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

14 and 15 June CULTURE FOR SALE?Is culture just another commodity for sale? Experts from around the world unite at Headquarters for a public debate on the globalization of the cultural market

14 to 24 June EDUCATION ASSESSMENTIn Abidjan (Ivory Coast), a workshop to examine the progress of the programme, Education for All 2000 (EFA 2000)

19 to 22 June ISLANDS OF BEAUTYA seminar on Natural World Heritage in the Caribbean is hosted by UNESCOJamaica in Suriname

26 June - July 1 WORLD CONFERENCE ON SCIENCEIn Budapest (Hungary) the World Conference on Science will unite scientists, private organizations and governments to discuss the future of science

1 and 2 July RELIGION AND CULTUREThe MOST programme hosts the Second Religion and Cultural Diversity Conferenceat Headquarters

1 to 7 July MUSEUM TRENDSThe International Council of Museums organises a meeting on new developments in museum and heritage education and training in London (England)

5 and 10 July WORLD HERITAGEThe 23rd session of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee meets at Headquarters to study new nominations for the famous World Heritage List

10 to 13 July CASPIAN SEAIn Rasht (Iran), a seminar on the development of Marine Scientific co-operation among the Caspian Sea countries