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MASHAV and the Ministry of Finance (MOF), responsible for all e-Gov projects designed a 12-day international seminar reviewing the structure, methodology, concepts and solution components: infrastructure, back office and front office setup as well as the bureaucratic model implemented in Israel.

The course took place in June 2008 at the Aharon Ofri Training Center, gathering 24 professionals from 11 countries. The main focus was on areas in which the Israeli e-Gov project excels, including e-Gov Vision and Strategy 2012; Central hosting & e-Gov services (On-line forms, payments and fenders/e-procurement); Security and system protection (Protecting the e-Gov on-line presence from hazards and providing safe surfing from within the government); and Central Back Office Systems (Centrally managed, cross-departmental resource management systems).

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“Share a Lunch Project” in action: Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Zvi Aviner-Vapni (center, last row), Deputy Chief of Mission Yaniv Revach (center, second row), Shalom Club president Zenny Ubaldo (standing, third from left), and fellow Shalom Club members during the event

Shalom Club Philippines (SCP) celebrates this year its 10th anniversary. SCP acquired its legal status in July 1998 under the Philippine laws that govern private corporations, and is a registered Volunteer Organization with the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency of the National Economic and Development Authority. The Club’s mission and primary objective is to promote peace through volunteerism. The theme chosen for this year’s anniversary celebration is Institutionalizing the Role of SCP in Philippine Society through the “Ambassadors of Peace” Program. 

Presently, Shalom Club Philippines has 639 members, active in 27 local chapters. One of the Club’s latest activities, organized jointly with the Israeli Embassy in the Philippines, was the “Share a Lunch and Gift” project, which included distribution of hot meals to destitute children.

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In 2007 MASHAV was active in 112 countries, training thousands of participants in courses focusing on human capacity building. The courses, taught in English, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic, were offered in a wide range of disciplines, including Agriculture, Education, Economic and Social Development, Community Development, Rural and Urban Development, Medicine and Public Health, Science and Technology. Some 2,468 professionals participated in 119 courses in Israel, while 4,765 took part in 92 on-the-spot courses offered in 29 host countries. MASHAV experts were dispatched throughout the world on 110 short-term consultancies and humanitarian medical missions to 43 countries and 8 long-term experts served on MASHAV demonstration projects in 5 countries around the world.

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During the Signing Ceremony at the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center. From left to right: Uri Gutman, Consul General of Israel in Shanghai; Dr. John Howe, President & CEO of Project HOPE; Dr. Joseph Press, Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel; and Dr. Liu Jinfen, President, SCMC

A Letter of Intent was recently signed by MASHAV, the Shanghai Children’s Medical Center (SCMC), the Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel (SCMCI) and Project HOPE.

Cooperation between the two medical centers started in 1998 through the support and coordination of MASHAV and Project HOPE. Cooperation within this framework contributed much to the development of SCMC, helping to medically treat children from the city of Shanghai and from many other parts of China.

Future cooperation between the parties will include exchange visits by medical experts of the two medical centers, and advanced medical and nursing training of Chinese experts in Israel.

On Sunday, May 25, 2008, an Israeli plane took off for the city of Chengdu with humanitarian aid for victims of the earthquake that struck the Sichuan province in southwestern China the previous week.  MASHAV coordinated the aid effort funded by donations from the Israel Corporation, headed by Idan Ofer, and from Jewish philanthropists Diane and Gilford Glazer, through the United Israel Appeal.

The plane carried about 90 tons of medicines and medical equipment, water purification kits, generators, tents, sleeping bags, and clothing intended for the earthquake survivors. The aid came in addition to an earlier donation made by the Israeli Embassy in Beijing to the Chinese Red Cross, to be used for immediate evacuations, and a shipment of sleeping bags and blankets.

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni, together with representatives from the Israel Corporation and the Chairman of the United Israel Appeal, Avi Pozner, presented the aid shipment to the Chinese ambassador to Israel at a special ceremony that took place at Ben Gurion International Airport. At the ceremony, FM Livni told the Chinese ambassador that the aid shipment included also the sincere feelings of the Israeli people. FM Livni said, "What Israel is doing is the minimum that we can do to express the warm relations between Israel and China. We concentrated on items essential to evacuation and rescue operations. Israel's willingness to help out wherever a disaster occurs is an expression of the humanitarian side of Israel's relations with the rest of the states in the world.”

The Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC),  MASHAV’s  flagship training extension for the advancement of the status of women, was established  in 1961, 14 years before the United Nations declared its ‘Development Decade for the Promotion of Women’ and almost 40 years before the UN declaration of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As such it holds a unique place in the international training arena, at the forefront of training for the advancement of the status of women.

Since its inception MCTC has continued to grow and evolve, focusing on socio-economic development as the tool for poverty eradication, constantly stressing the importance of 'bottom-up development' and recognizing the contribution of women to their countries’ development.

MCTC works tirelessly towards the philosophy behind the MDGs -  putting gender issues on the international agenda, promoting poverty eradication through the empowerment of women, early childhood education, and community building by enhancing local capacity for human resource development, micro-enterprise growth and sustainable development.

MCTC’s 2007 Annual Report notes the wide variety of the Center's activities both at home and abroad.

Read MCTC’s Report

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In a meeting held last year in New York between Ambassador Haim Divon, Deputy Director General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Head of MASHAV, and Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute, Columbia University, it was decided that MASHAV would allocate resources towards working together with the Millennium Village Initiative (agriculture) and with the Millennium Cities Initiative (healthcare) in the spirit of the UN Millennium Declaration (2000), and in alignment with The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) has set as its objectives to assist through research and policy analysis mid-sized cities chosen across sub-Saharan Africa located near Millennium Villages. MASHAV is cooperating with the Millennium Cities Initiative in Kumasi, Ghana.

Within this framework MASHAV conducted in cooperation with KATH Hospital in Kumasi, a specially designed Workshop on Cardiac Emergencies, Trauma and Mass Casualty Incident Preparedness. The rationale of the workshop was to offer relevant tools to respond to an emergency situation wherein al the relevant teams are involved in the response, and included a simulation drill at the local stadium.

Read more about MASHAV-MCI Cooperation