Activity Report - 2002
MASHAV is proud of a rich and varied program of training,
both in Israel and in partner countries and demonstration, extension
and infrastructure projects. MASHAV’s programming takes place in
over 140 countries in five principle languages: English, Russian, French,
Spanish and Arabic. The following are examples of new and innovative
MASHAV programs in the year 2002.
MASHAV-USAID Partnership
in Romania
In early 2002, a Grant Agreement was signed with USAID
Romania for the funding of joint projects in the field of agribusiness.
The MASHAV-USAID partnership in Romania aims at expanding opportunities
for the people of Romania and improving their standards of living by
developing a vital, competitive, export market-oriented agricultural
sector. The program is targeted to achieve measurable increases in exports
of competitive agricultural products through product development, increased
efficiency, improved technology, farm management and seed varieties.
In addition, it will catalyze and support creation of competitive private
agribusinesses. The program intends to achieve the result of moving
portions of the agriculture sector toward becoming commercially successful
exporters through activities for quality improvements in food processing,
agricultural policy and private sector advocacy. The program draws upon
Israeli expertise in agribusiness and in important technologies such
as irrigation for smallholder farms as well as the skills of some of
the 250,000 Romanian speakers now resident in Israel in order to execute
a capacity-building program. The program includes short and long-term
technical assistance missions, training and grants.
MASHAV-Corvus Foundation
Program For Combating Preventable Blindness
In July, the Corvus Foundation of Switzerland entered
into a cooperative arrangement with MASHAV for the joint financing of
“eye camps” for blindness prevention and treatment. In the
framework of this arrangement, ophthalmologists were dispatched in 2002
to Nepal, Micronesia, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda
for two-week missions. During the course of these missions, thousands
of patients were examined and hundreds of operations were performed
to restore sight. In the context of the project, needed medical equipment
for blindness prevention and care was donated to host countries and
local medical staff received training from visiting ophthalmologists.
International Forum
for Training of the Judiciary
In March, MASHAV, in cooperation with the Supreme Court
of Israel, held a conference for 41 Supreme Court Justices, representatives
of the World Bank and other high-ranking judicial personnel from around
the world. The objective of the conference was to encourage, advance
and promote judicial training, to share knowledge and ideas and to offer
assistance to those countries that do not have judicial training organizations.
Professional sessions were held on the guidance and training of judges
worldwide, with one of the main topics the globalization of judicial
training methods. During the conference, the decision was taken to establish
the International Organization for Judicial Training which will work
for the establishment of judicial training institutes, the promotion
of the rule of law, exchanges between judges and the consideration of
common issues for the education and training of judges.
Jordan Management
Training Program
MASHAV held three management training study tours in
Israel for Jordanian entrepreneurs and government officials from various
regions of the country in 2002. The participants came from a wide range
of backgrounds; educators, academics and representatives of the free
professions. The study tours included lectures on management theory
and a range of socio-economic issues, including welfare and education,
combined with observation visits to relevant institutions in the Arab
sector and informal dialogue with members of the Arab population. In
addition, meetings were held with academics on the topic of Jewish–Arab
relations and with members of the Druze community. Each study tour was
adapted to the particular needs and composition of the group. Studies
were conducted in both Arabic and English. The purpose of the program
is both to develop needed skills and to help strengthen the bonds of
peace between Israel and Jordan through encouraging contact between
peoples of both countries.
China-Israel Demonstration
and Training Center for Dryland Agriculture
In August, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed
between Israel, the Ministry of Agriculture of China and the Government
of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region of China. The agreement called for
the establishment of a Sino-Israeli Demonstration and Training Center
for Dryland Agriculture in a severely underdeveloped region of Western
China, where Chinese farmers will be able to receive a wide range of
training, extension and demonstration programming based on Israeli innovations
in dryland agriculture. Among the key subjects to be covered in training
and demonstration activities are: production of different crops under
conditions of water scarcity, watersaving technologies, efficient water
use, fertigation, production of crops under controlled conditions and
management and transfer of know-how. The Center will operate a large
working farm divided into two locations, one 8 hectare farm which will
use greenhouse technology and open fields for raising of flowers and
vegetables and the second, 160 ha. in six different plots, within the
local Dogquan Cadres Agricultural School, of open irrigated fields for
vegetable cultivation. The farm will be used as a basis for a wide-ranging
training program to be implemented both by on-site long-term and short-term
MASHAV experts and by local Chinese staff for farmers, researchers and
government officials from the region. It will also serve as a research
center for testing of methodologies, technologies and seed varieties
for local needs. Construction of the project began at the end of 2002.
Thailand-Israel Techno-Demo
Unit for Irrigated High Value Crops
Thailand and Israel signed an agreement in July calling
for the establishment of a demonstration unit on the campus of the Faculty
of Agriculture at Khon Kaen University in Thailand. The purpose of the
project is to demonstrate water saving techniques that are relevant
to the drought-prone northeastern Thailand ecosystem, such as the effective
application of fertigation, micro-jet, drip and sprinkler systems with
emphasis on smallholders; and multi-cropping and high-value horticultural
production. As part of the project, a demonstration plot will be established
on an area of 2 hectares and there will be regular short-term visits
of Israeli agricultural experts who will provide on-site training for
faculty and staff and project support. Construction of the project will
begin in 2003.
Psychosocial Care
for Children Dealing with AIDS
In 2002, MASHAV introduced a new course topic: Psychosocial
Intervention with Children at Risk as a Result of AIDS. The AIDS pandemic
is one with disastrous human, social and economic consequences not only
for those inflicted with the disease, but also for their communities,
families and, in particular, for the children whose families have been
struck by AIDS. With nearly 15 million children worldwide having lost
at least one parent to AIDS, and countless more living with HIVpositive
family members, millions of children are growing up with the trauma
of family deaths and the burden of having to support themselves and
their family members at an early age. This course is meant to help caregivers,
psychologists and directors of institutions of children at risk address
some of the psychological and social consequences of AIDS on children,
based on Israel’s own experience of helping children deal with
trauma. The first course was held in Malawi, due to the high incidence
of AIDS there. A second course was then held in cooperation with UNICEF
in Zimbabwe. The skills imparted are intended to aid caregivers, grandmothers,
older sisters in a sibling relationship, extended families and the children
themselves to cope with the effects of AIDS on children. Topics in early
childhood development were discussed, with particular emphasis on emotional
development. Various skills were practiced to deal with children at
risk as a result of AIDS. The participants had the opportunity to discuss
many topics which social taboos have prevented them from exploring previously
and to develop together methods for dealing with children in crisis.
Developing and Organizing
a Trauma System
Over the years, Israel has, by unfortunate necessity,
acquired unique expertise and experience in dealing with mass casualty
situations. This expertise is relevant not only for dealing with terrorist
events, but also for responding to natural disasters and other mass-casualty
situations, where speed and quality of response can save countless lives
that would otherwise be lost. In response to a growing number of requests
from partner countries for training in this important field, MASHAV
has launched a course module on developing and organizing a trauma system,
in cooperation with the Rambam Hospital of Haifa. In 2002, an international
course on this topic was held in Israel, aimed at sharing this expertise
with other countries. During the course, medical personnel and officials
in national and local emergency response systems studied topic such
as preparation of and coordination between national and local emergency
response systems, pre-hospital treatment, triage, transport and communications,
treatment in the trauma center, rehabilitation and quality assurance.
Building of Medical
Units in Jordan, Mauritania, Ghana and Peru
Every year, MASHAV builds a select number of needed
medical units for hospitals in partner countries. At the end of 2001,
Israel rebuilt and fully equipped a state-of-the-art intensive care
unit in the Red Crescent Hospital in Amman, which serves much of the
poorest population of the city. Due to security concerns, the Israeli
construction team worked around the clock in shifts in order to finish
the project, from floor tiles to entirely new wiring and distribution
systems, in under four weeks. The project came to a close in 2002, as
Israeli medical teams were dispatched to the Red Crescent Hospital in
order to train doctors, nurses and technicians in the unit in operation
of the ICU. In addition, construction continued on a Cancer Treatment
Center in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and fully-equipped trauma and emergency
medicine units were built in 2002 in Ghana’s Komfo Anokye Hospital
in the city of Kumasi and in Eleazar Guzman Barron Hospital in Chimbote,
Peru. Training of medical personnel for these units will continue to
take place in 2003. MASHAV also upgraded the dialysis unit of the Arzobispo
Loayza Hospital of Lima, Peru, including the donation of three dialysis
machines, continued construction of the Cancer Treatment Center in Nouakchott,
Mauritania, and donated a dialysis machine to L’Hopital Principal
de Dakar in Senegal.
New Agricultural
Projects
MASHAV launched a number of other new agricultural
projects in the year 2002, including the construction of a fish hatchery
in Kazakhstan in the context of a wider program with USAID for the environmental
and economic rehabilitation of the Aral Sea area; the construction of
a tree nursery in Uzbekistan, also in cooperation with USAID, in the
context of a commercial bio-drainage program to deal with problems of
serious flooding in the Ferghana Valley region and to provide the basis
for commercial forestry activities; and the opening of an Irrigation
Demonstration Farm on the Northern Campus of the University of Namibia,
in cooperation with the Faculty of Agriculture there.
Sources: Ministry
of Foreign Affairs |