GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
In this section:
$9 Million to Keep Turkish Kids in School
Aid Flows to Children After the Tsunami
Intellectual Property at Risk
$5 Million Justice Reforms in Mexico
U.S. Aids Venezuela and Guyana
$9 Million to Keep Turkish Kids in School
ANKARA, Turkey—To help poor Turkish families
keep their children in school, U.S. and Turkish officials
signed an agreement Feb. 7 giving the Turkish Social Solidarity
Fund’s Social Risk Mitigation Project $9 million, provided
through the World Bank.
“We admire the work of the Social Solidarity Fund,
which is working through local foundations and schools—people
who best know the local families—to ensure that all the
children of Turkey have access to basic education,” U.S.
Ambassador Eric Edelman said during the signing ceremony at
the Turkish Treasury. “Increasing enrollment rates for
students from poor families and, in particular, increasing
enrollment rates for girls are critical objectives that Turkey
has defined for itself, and that we are delighted to support.”
Aid Flows to Children After the Tsunami
WASHINGTON—USAID announced Feb. 4 it will match
a $1 million contribution from U.S. candymaker Mars, Inc.
to help children in Indonesia and India affected by the aftermath
of the December tsunami.
Funds will be channeled to international and local relief
organizations working in the affected areas.
“The Mars Alliance is a great example of the U.S. government
helping channel the overwhelming generosity of the private
sector to help vulnerable children during this crisis,”
said James Kunder, assistant administrator for Asia and the
Near East.
Virginia-based Mars is a family-owned producer of confectionery,
food, beverage, and electronics products.
Intellectual Property at Risk
NEW YORK—A new book from the World Bank warns
that people from poor countries must find ways to reap the
benefits of turning their knowledge into commercial success.
“The United Nations has estimated that developing countries
lose at least $5 billion annually in unpaid royalties to multinational
corporations that appropriate traditional knowledge,”
said Coenraad J. Visser, a contributor to Poor People’s
Knowledge: Promoting Intellectual Property in Developing Countries.
The book discusses the kinds of knowledge from which developing
countries can earn money—including craft designs, music,
and medicines—and points out some of the problems encountered
in trying to patent or copyright products that have evolved
over generations.
“For example, of the approximately 120 pharmaceutical
products derived from plants in 1985, 75 percent were discovered
through the study of their traditional medical use,”
said book contributors Kerry ten Kate and Sarah A. Laird.
Yet benefit-sharing agreements between the holders of traditional
knowledge and the pharmaceutical corporations are still relatively
rare, they added.
$5 Million Justice Reforms in Mexico
WASHINGTON—USAID will provide $5 million over
the next four years to support justice reforms in Chihuahua,
Mexico. The money will be used for legal education, technical
assistance, and professional exchanges for state prosecutors,
judges, and defense attorneys.
Tony Garza, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, announced the
initiative Feb. 3, and said the program would advance justice
reform and assist crime victims.
He added that part of the U.S. assistance would facilitate
legal assistance and provide mental health services to help
with the anguish and trauma suffered by families of the hundreds
of women killed over the last decade in the state of Chihuahua.
Since 1993, approximately 340 women have been slain in the
Juarez area.
Garza said the new initiative will help ensure “the
safety and well-being of both Mexican and American citizens.”
U.S. Aids Venezuela and Guyana
WASHINGTON—USAID is providing $50,000 to the
Venezuelan Red Cross for the purchase and distribution of
emergency relief items after heavy rains, landslides, and
persistent flooding in north-central Venezuela that began
Feb. 7.
The Agency has given another $1.2 million to cope with rains
in Guyana.
Aid to Guyana includes the cost of a high-capacity mobile
water pump designed to remove water from flooded areas. The
pump is crucial, since rainfall exceeded 42.3 inches in January
alone, and the May-June rainy season is not far off.
The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) is
also providing hygiene kits, oral rehydration supplies, and
drinking water in Venezuela and Guyana.
Some 15 deaths have been reported in Venezuela, where President
Hugo Chavez declared a state of emergency for Caracas and
the states of Aragua, Carabobo, Miranda, Vargas, Falcon, and
Yaracuy Feb. 9. More than 3,700 homes have been destroyed,
and some 14,800 people have been evacuated. There are widespread
power outages and damage to highways and roads.
Some 290,000 people were affected by the heavy rainfall,
flooding, and disease in Guyana.
USAID was hoping to separate contaminated floodwaters and
livestock from the affected population to prevent the spread
of disease. Through the Amazon Malaria Initiative, USAID’s
Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean will have $200,000
at its disposal to combat malaria in the flood-affected administrative
regions of West Demerara/Essequibo Islands, Demerara/Mahaica,
Mahaica/West Berbice, and the capital city of Georgetown.
Back to
Top ^
|
