All of five months have passed since UNDP in Armenia hosted a social innovation camp (known as Mardamej locally) and in that time my colleagues and I have delivered a few presentations on our experience and received numerous insightful questions from the development community.
A recurring theme concerns the use of the social innovation camp methodology for dealing with uncertainty within UNDP’s manifold operational contexts.
Late last year, Albert Soer and Balazs Horvath initiated a vibrant debate on Sustainable development and coming to terms with complexity, asking whether sustainable development is a normative outcome of a complex social system or whether a complex system is a product of a sustainable approach to development – a chicken and egg dilemma (almost).
The importance of the debate lies in the fact that both sides seem to agree upon the need for more dynamic programming, and in doing so, question the efficacy of linear thinking and an over reliance on central planning.
Complexity theory, in application, seems to require experimentation, learning and the inclusion of contingency by development agencies. Experimentation with small-scale project prototypes, it is argued, enables quick response programming and learning, but, equally, low impact failure (at least financially).
What do places like Sevelievo (Bulgaria), Padjane (Croatia) and Evangelos – Florakis, (Cyprus) have in common? They are among the many ammunition storage sites where an accident took place in 2011, causing the death of over 440 people, injury to approximately 2,000 individuals, and leaving long-term environmental and infrastructure damage (See: Small Arms Survey report).
In 2011, the rate of accidents at munitions storage sites rose to unprecedented levels – 3.8 incidents per month. According to UN International Ammunition Technical Guidelines, Eastern Europe and Africa are areas of particular concern because countries in these regions possess significant surpluses, much of which are well past their safe storage life.
Given the sensitive nature of the materials, storage facilities require proper management by trained personnel, adequate conditions for storage and constant surveillance for security reasons. In many instances, the government or private owners of the facilities are unable to meet these requirements.
Young Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots organize street festivals to promote peace and tolerance
Citizens have been behind much of the progress in the Cyprus conflict and the building of a positive relationship between the two communities. Cypriot civil society has forged a network called Peace it Together, supported by UNDP, which has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on the role of citizens in peace building and reconciliation (See: the Peace Exchange).
The future role of Cypriot civil society in pushing for peace on the island will depend on the ability to sustain a pluralistic political narrative and press for progress in both national and international fora.
A chance for this will come this month (15 May 2012) when representatives of civil society organizations supported by UNDP will speak at the British Parliament in a public debate.
To mark World Day for Safety and Health at Work, we accompanied Fatma Terlik, health and safety focal point for the UNDP Partnership for the Future Programme in Cyprus, as she toured various on-going construction sites.
With more than 55 civil works contracts awarded in the past five years – ranging from 10,000 to 25 million euros each – and approximately 800 workers employed – health and safety quickly became a priority issue for UNDP in Cyprus. Fatma’s site inspections are all-encompassing, as she inspects personal protection equipment, scaffolding, emergency situation plans, first aid, manual handling and tools to make sure they meet standards.
The most popular video on our new YouTube channel tells the stories of Turkish Cypriot entrepreneurs. It follows the journey of five entrepreneurs trying to align their business to European standards and regulations. Our goal was to raise awareness of the role of standards and the acquis communautaire in the northern part of Cyprus, and to demonstrate that there is a commercial case for adopting them even when they are not compulsory.
Ahmet Cetin for example, still remembers the time when he and his family were manually packaging their products one by one. Now he has a fully automatic packaging machine.
“Thanks to this we have a good standing and reputation in the market, which gives us hope for our children and business future,” he says.
As world leaders meet in Davos, two UNDP experts weigh in on what they see as the major issues on the agenda.
Andrey Ivanov, our human development expert, sees a direct link between the Occupy movement and the World Economic Forum and asks: are the suits in Davos up to the challenge to fix existing patterns of inequality? Check out: People or $: Will Davos answer the call?
Zack Taylor, our conflict specialist, looks at the discontent that has brought the middle class to the streets, and the largely unsatisfactory government response. Answering the call for a political system that supports the middle class is wise in terms of peace and stability. He reminds us of the power of social media to give voice to the ‘have nots’. Check out:Inequality and the “radical middle”?
Global leaders are once again meeting this week in Davos, Switzerland to discuss and – one hopes – find solutions to the increasingly volatile economic and political forces shaping our world.
In a marked change from past get-togethers, mainstream economists will be talking about something more usually associated with the development community: Rising socio-economic inequality.
We have known for some time that the world is getting less equal; so much so that, today, we are hardly surprised to learn that one percent of the world’s population controls 44 percent of the world’s wealth (Global Wealth Report pdf).
Even during the heydays of the great industrialists in the United States – when the Rockefellers and Carnegies were carving up the oil and steel sectors – the richest one percent ‘only’ controlled a third of the wealth.
In short, the ‘haves’ have never had it so good, with the trends in southeast Europe and Central Asia mirroring those in other developing regions. Until very recently, the increasing level of inequality was broadly accepted by most of those living in developed and developing societies alike, as the poor and middle class saw some prospect of social mobility and advancement of the type which could pull them up and afford them a better quality of life than their parents.
RT @MarijaNovkovic: No single prescription for #dev. Best practice or best fit? Embrace experimentation and make small changes. Adapt to ... 19 hours ago
RT @gquaggiotto: Owen: Development policy needs stop looking the missing ingredient. Rather we need to harness & shape evolution #kapu19 hours ago
RT @gquaggiotto: "From best practice to best fit" --> we need a #globaldev sector promoting experimentation #kapu19 hours ago
