Noticias de otros medios

He lives in Washington, but his job requires him to have a global vision.  Juergen Voegele, senior director of the World Bank’s Agriculture Global Practice visited Argentina recently, where his work agenda sought to link topics such as climate change, poverty, technology and agricultural production. There he met with officials of the Ministry of Agribusiness and private-sector representatives. In an interview with La Nación, Voegele said that climate change was an “opportunity” for Argentina given the agricultural technology it uses and global food consumption trends. Why is the World Bank interested in agriculture and climate change? As an organization, the World Bank has two goals: to reduce poverty and to improve incomes of the population living in developing countries. The latter should occur in conditions of equality, equity and sustainability. We know that 70% of the poor live in rural areas and most of them depend on agriculture. So, if we want to reach the poor, we must work with agriculture. What do you mean when you say sustainable? We are talking about sustainability of the land, the soil and biodiversity. It is crucial for humanity to reduce the carbon footprint. Agriculture is a significant contributor to climate change. Globally, it is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. But just as it is part of the problem, it is also part of the solution because it allows for reabsorption of carbon dioxide. What role does technology have in this process? It plays a key role because some technologies are climate-smart while others are not. We believe that farmers should adopt smart technologies. This involves three dimensions. First, high yields are needed to increase production. In 2050, we will need to feed 9 billion people, but in a sustainable way. Second, resilience and adaption to climate change must increase. And third, we should use technology that helps to reduce the carbon footprint. No-till farming, which has a long tradition in Argentina, is a good technology. Planting trees and producing biogas are other examples.

IBRD Credit: US $55 million equivalent Terms: Maturity = 33 years, Grace = 6 years Project ID: P153366 Project Description: The objective of the loan is to increase levels of compliance with tax and customs obligations in Guatemala by improving the transparency, Integrity and Institutional Development in the Superintendency of Tax Administration (SAT), the strengthening of Tax Collection Functions in Internal Revenues and Customs and the Strengthening of Integrated Tax Intelligence and Tax Enforcement. Contact: Àngels Masó, (503)7860.8019, amaso@worldbank.org For more information, please visit here: http://www.bancomundial.org/es/country/guatemala  

WASHINGTON, January 18, 2017 – The World Bank Board of Directors approved two loans totaling US$ 100 million yesterday to improve the transparency and efficiency of the tax administration in Guatemala and to improve urban infrastructure and prevent violence in the Gran Ciudad del Sur Commonwealth in the south. “These projects are extremely important for Guatemala since they will support two key pillars of the country’s development: to improve the tax administration and to reduce violence, which in turn are crucial for reducing poverty,” said Guatemalan Finance Minister Julio Héctor Estrada. The “Project for Tax Administration Transparency and Efficiency,” with a loan of US$55 million, will work to increase compliance with tax and customs obligations by individual and corporate contributors. To this end, the project will support the transparency, integrity and institutional development of the Tax Administration Authority (SAT), and will strengthen tax collection mechanisms and customs operations. Another objective is to strengthen comprehensive fiscal intelligence, control processes and the new tax appeal system, all with a view to improving institutional efficiency and transparency. This will contribute to increasing tax collection. Guatemala has one of the lowest tax-collection rates in Latin America and the world (10.2 percent of GDP, in comparison with an average of 16.9 percent for Latin America and the Caribbean).   Additionally, the “Project for Urban Infrastructure and Violence Prevention,” will allocate US$45 million to better living conditions in the Gran Ciudad del Sur Commonwealth. Specifically, this project seeks to improve access to services and basic infrastructure and to mitigate the key risk factors for crime and violence. According to World Bank statistics, violence cost Guatemala 10 percent of its GDP in 2014. “While Guatemala faces major challenges such as high rates of poverty and inequality, the country has enormous potential to address its challenges and to offer a better future to its citizens. Projects such as those approved strive to provide better opportunities to vulnerable populations,” said Homa-Zahra Fotouhi, World Bank representative in Guatemala. Planned activities include small-scale investments in urban and peri-urban infrastructure; capacity-building of municipalities; implementation of baseline surveys to identify the most affected communities; improvement of municipal records offices; strengthening of inter-municipal coordination; and, support to crime and violence observatories. Contacts: Washington: Marcela Sánchez-Bender, +1-202-473-5863, msanchezbender@worldbank.org Guatemala: Àngels Masó, (503) 7860.8019 amaso@worldbank.org Learn more about the work of the World Bank in Latin America and the Caribbean: www.worldbank.org/lac   Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/worldbank Be updated via Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BancoMundialLAC   For our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/BancoMundialLAC   News Release 2017/147/LAC  

‘Vidas ocupadas’ de José Pablo García ilustra las dificultades para acceder al agua y medios de vida seguros en Palestina

Organization: The Brooke Hospital for Animals
Country: Nicaragua
Closing date: 05 Feb 2017

Project background

Brooke entered a partnership with Portuguese NGO OIKOS in Nicaragua in April 2013. The project was extended in April 2015 for a further 12 months in order to assess the case for setting up a representative office for Brooke in Central America. This review in October 2015 concluded that a recommendation should be made to the Board of Trustees to establish a Branch office, subject to Government registration, and to invest in a full Brooke programme. The pilot project was extended in April 2016 for a fourth year, to allow time for the Board of Trustees to consider and approve the proposal and for the Government registration process to be completed.

The focus of Brooke in Nicaragua has been on improving animal welfare of working equids in 14 rural and semi urban communities. The main areas of work have been community engagement with participatory approaches for the horse owners and their communities; service provision, providing capacity building to equine service providers and advocacy.

The Brooke/OIKOS pilot project will close in March 2017. Brooke’s contract with OIKOS will end on March 31 2017, as will the contracts of staff working on the Brooke/OIKOS project, who are all employed by OIKOS.

1.1. Specific Objectives for the project: April 2016 – March 2017

Goal: Improve the animal welfare of 543 working equines focusing on four aspects of: Body Condition Score (BCS), hooves, wounds, ecto-parasites, and heat stress.

Objective 1: Improvement of knowledge and practice of those local service providers identified as relevant

Objective 2: Improvement of knowledge and practice of owners/users about feeding, prevention of heat stress, wound treatment and hoof maintenance to acceptable levels

Advocacy specific objective 1: Draft regulations for Law 747 adequately include working equine welfare according to OIE standards.

Advocacy specific objective 2: Specific decision-makers and IPSA are convinced of the importance to include working horses into the existing traceability programme.

Advocacy specific objective 3: Universities and technical schools which offer a career of veterinary medicine recognize the need of emphasizing more animal welfare and equine medicine in their curricula.

Advocacy specific objective 4: Town councils of Brooke’s intervention areas put equine welfare on the agenda.

1 Scope of the evaluation

The main objective of the evaluation is to provide accountability and make sure learning from the “pilot” is used to improve future programme design.

The specific objectives of the evaluation are:

· To identify any successes or sustainable interventions at the end of the pilot project period in March 2017, any significant changes in the welfare of animals or changes in the stakeholders;

· To review the design and relevance of the pilot project. To find out if the existing management and team structure was the right one and if it had the intended outcome;

· To gather any lessons learnt from the intervention that could be applied to other programmes following the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) criteria.

It will require the following deliverables:

1. Inception Report outlining the evaluation methodology to be used by the evaluator and a final work plan;

2. Stakeholder workshop: The evaluator shall facilitate a learning workshop in country to present the draft report and the findings of the evaluation to the project staff and key stakeholders; to gather feedback on the findings and where possible build consensus on recommendations;

3. Draft evaluation report with specific recommendations; lessons learnt and good practices;

4. Final evaluation report (max. 30 pages) incl. executive summary.

Gender equality issues shall be explicitly addressed throughout the evaluation activities of the consultant and all outputs including final reports or events need to be gender mainstreamed.

2 Evaluation arrangements and professional requirements

The evaluator will conduct a final evaluation between 20^th February and 5^th April 2017. The assignment is for approximately 18 work-days during that period. The assignment will require the country office to be visited and Brooke project staff will help in organizing accommodation, arranging meetings and transportation. It is anticipated that the evaluator will visit communities for a process of participatory evaluation with project stakeholders without project staff accompaniment.

Selection of the evaluator will be done by the Performance and Evaluation team and will be based on the strength of the qualifications provided by potential candidates through their expressions of interest for the assignment.

How to apply:

Interested candidates should include in the expression of interest:

1. An updated CV;

2. A detailed presentation of their background and experience in community engagement and technical skills development and application, highlighting significant field experience in the evaluation of development projects relevant to this assignment, which may be livestock / animal welfare related or more generally livelihoods focused;

3. A statement of availability for the entire duration of the assignment;

4. A daily consultancy fee in USD;

5. Two work samples.

Applicants should have a

Relevant degree / equivalent experience related to the evaluation to be undertaken;

Significant experience in coordination, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects;

Skills set combining both participatory evaluation techniques and more formal quantitative data analysis

Good knowledge of the Nicaragua context;

Ability to manage the available time and resources and to work to tight deadlines;

Independence from the parties involved;

Excellent written and oral communication skills in Spanish and English.

The deadline to submit expressions of interest for the evaluation is by close of business on 5^th February. Applicants should submit a complete expression of interest (including all 5 elements highlighted above) via e-mail to mae.tortajadasuils@thebrooke.org and indicate: ‘Final evaluation of Brooke’s Nicaragua pilot project’ in the e-mail’s subject line.

Organization: Plan
Country: Spain
Closing date: 06 Feb 2017

Plan International is searching for an HR Recruiter & Development Officer (HR-R&DO) with previous working experience in the NGO sector (field experience included), knowledge of the HR staffing needs in the NGO sector as well as of the Performance Management System. The candidate shall have a high command of English. French will be an asset.

Overview

Plan is an international child centered community development organization working in 70 countries, 51 of which are developing countries. With a focus on long term sustainable development, Plan works in a participative way with children and families across a range of programmes including education, health, household economic security, protection and water/sanitation. Plan also engages in humanitarian work. Advocacy cuts across all programmes.

Established in 2001, Plan Spain is a dynamic organization that supports Plan’s work worldwide, with a particular focus on Child protection. Funding is received from a variety of sources including child sponsorship, Spanish Government and Regional Governments and also multilateral donors (UE, UN).

In addition, Plan Spain strives to raise awareness of development issues through development education, advocacy, the media and events.

Roles and Responsibilities

• Leading and organizing, in coordination with the HR Manager, the recruitment processes in order to ensure that all vacancies are covered by using different recruitment sources (job announcements in dedicated web sites, working with HR/headhunting companies, social media, etc.), making interviews and other tests (language tests, competencies tests, contact of professional references), reporting about every candidate, following all the candidates all along the recruitment process.

• Contributing to the creation of an HR database of candidates.

• Managing, in coordination with the HR Manager, the performance/appraisal system in following internal deadlines.

• Elaborating and managing the training and development plan in line with the needs identified in the team´s performance/appraisal, as well as those identified at the organizational level.

• Contacting and managing the training providers.

• Organizing the induction/orientation of new staff (making sure that they meet all the departments).

• Coordinating the activities of the HR interns, as well as the volunteers.

• Contacting with other PLAN INTERNATIONAL departments in order to follow up on any HR needs.

Contribute to the development and implementation of the different processes of the HR department and its consequent action plan, in all and each different area comprises by the HR department.

Attributes for the role

• Great communication and relationships skills.

• Great team player skills.

• Deep knowledge of the HR staffing needs in the NGO Sector.

• Experience in multicultural working environments.

• Deep knowledge of performance/appraisal systems.

• Deep knowledge of the international cooperation sector, project cycle management and renewable energies.

Desirable Skills

• 5 years of professional experience in recruiting staff at the “non profit” sector (national and international positions in development cooperation and humanitarian aid).

• Experience in International Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid sector.

• High level of oral and written English.

• Availability to travel.

Other requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree. Post graduate studies in HR or/and International Cooperation will be valuable.
• French knowledge will be valuable.

How to apply:

Applicants should have a valid work permit at the time of applying to enable them to work in Spain.

The candidates must send application and cover letter to recruiting@plan-international.org with the reference HR-R&DO.

Manos Unidas alerta contra el desperdicio y la mercantilización de los alimentos

El nuevo Gobierno en España debe demostrar que tiene en cuenta y respeta la dignidad y los derechos de las personas migrantes

Amara Moira, prostituta y travesti, lucha por un feminismo que atienda los problemas de las meretrices y del colectivo LGTBI

Este mes se elige nuevo director general de la OMS. Uno de sus retos será trabajar por las metas de desarrollo relacionadas con la salud

La fotógrafa marfileña Joana Choumali documenta, gracias a la Fundación Magnum, las vidas de las mujeres que trabajan en explotaciones de carbón vegetal en el oeste de su país

Cada vez que cae una fuerte lluvia sobre las ciudades o la sequía afecta a alguna región de Brasil, la economía del país sufre un golpe considerable. Los desastres causan daños a la infraestructura, a los cultivos, a los servicios públicos y a la industria. A menudo, los gobiernos gastan más con acciones de emergencia para abordar la reconstrucción que con los recursos originalmente previstos para áreas tales como saneamiento y transporte. En Brasil, las pérdidas por desastres alcanzaron 2.800 millones de dólares anuales entre 1995 y 2014, o lo que es lo mismo: 56.700 millones durante estos 20 años. Eso demuestra que, contrariamente a una percepción muy popular, Brasil sí es afectado por los desastres naturales, aunque no sufre con eventos naturales de gran magnitud, como terremotos (como Chile o Haití) o huracanes (como el Caribe). Conocer el impacto preciso sólo fue posible porque Brasil tiene ahora una base de datos sobre los daños sufridos por los municipios: el Sistema Integrado de Informaciones sobre Desastres (S2ID), de la Secretaría Nacional de Protección y Defensa Civil. Pionero en Latinoamérica, el sistema impulsó un estudio que ha examinado cerca de 53.800 registros de desastres en Brasil entre 1995 y 2014. Los datos fueron recopilados en el informe Daños Materiales y Pérdidas Causadas por los Desastres Naturales en Brasil, publicado a finales de 2016 por el Banco Mundial y el Centro de Estudios e Investigación sobre Desastres, de la Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina. De acuerdo con la encuesta, las sequías – que evolucionan lentamente y, por lo tanto, los gobiernos reaccionan con lentitud – son los fenómenos reportados con más frecuencia por los municipios. "Ellas representan el 48% de los registros y se producen más en el noreste y el sur", explica Rafael Schadeck, uno de los autores del informe. Los desastres relacionados con el exceso de lluvias, documentados principalmente en el sureste, vienen en segundo lugar, con el 39% de los casos. El S2ID se transformó en una fuente de información para los que trabajan en la gestión de riesgos de desastres e hizo posible un importante cambio de mentalidad. "Los municipios sólo reportaban desastres si tenían interés en acceder a los fondos del gobierno federal para ayuda humanitaria y respuesta a los desastres. Más recientemente, se observa que muchos municipios reportaron casos de desastres sin tener estas intenciones, lo que nos permite comprender mejor la magnitud del desafío en Brasil, así como sus características específicas", dijo Frederico Pedroso, experto en gestión de riesgos de desastres del Banco Mundial.