About 50 participants – including women at the highest levels from about 30 countries around the world – among them government ministers, members of parliament, and holders of senior positions in civil society and academia arrived for the 26th biennial International Women's Leadership Conference held at the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC) on 8-12 November 2009. Participants at the conference include experts from around the world, researchers in socio-economic fields, and representatives of UN agencies and various international and regional organizations. 

This year's international conference is devoted to The Global Financial Crisis – Implications for Women.  It is hosted in cooperation with Ms. Rachel Mayanja, the UN Assistant Secretary General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI), and under the auspices of MASHAV – Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

The official opening ceremony took place at MCTC in the presence of Ms. Gila Gamliel, Israel's Deputy Minister for the Advancement of Women; Ms. Rachel Mayanja; and Ambassador Haim Divon, Head of MASHAV. The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Jomo Kwame Sundaram, UN Assistant Secretary General on Economic Development, Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

On 30 of October 2009 the Ministry of Health of the Ukraine announced the confirmation of pandemic H1N1 2009 virus infection. This virus has shown its ability to cause rapidly progressive respiratory complications.

On November 2nd, the Ukraine Foreign Minister contacted Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman requesting assistance in face of the present health threat.

Two days later and in response to the request, MASHAV together with the Foreign Ministry’s Euro-Asian Department, organized and sent to Kiev an emergency shipment including medications to treat the pandemic complications, as well as medical equipment and protective gear for the medical teams.

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Ms. Obiageli Ezekwesili, World Bank Vice-President for Africa and Ambassador Haim Divon, Head of MASHAV

Ms. Obiageli Ezekwesili, the World Bank Vice-President for Africa, met in October 2009, with Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to examine ways for future cooperation between the World Bank and MASHAV. Later on, Ms. Ezekwesili participated in a working meeting with MASHAV’s development experts.

In her address, Ms. Ezekwesili expressed her belief about the need to expand the frontiers of partnership for development. She stated the need to team-up and to establish multilateral partnerships to better address critical development issues in the African continent, and conveyed the World Bank’s keen interest in furthering cooperation with MASHAV. Ambassador Haim Divon, Head of MASHAV, together with development experts presented three models for possible cooperation between the two organizations. Both parties decided to meet again to examine concrete plans.

Ms. Ezekwesili, a Nigerian national served as her country’s Minister of Education before being appointed Vice President for the Africa Region in 2007. She oversees more than 1500 staff and is responsible for the delivery of projects and economic and sectoral work in 47 Sub-Saharan countries. In fiscal year 2008, $5.7 billion was committed in new project lending and technical assistance to Africa, in addition to more than 100 analytical studies.

Special aid was sent in October 2009 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC Israel) to Burkina Faso.  The West African country is suffering from a severe humanitarian crisis, due to recent floods, and hundreds of thousands of people have become refugees in their own country.

The Foreign Ministry through MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Cooperation, and in cooperation with JDC Israel (the Jewish Distribution Committee), sent to the stricken country a shipment of tents, blankets, medicines and baby food.

The Mount Carmel International Training Center (MCTC) recently published a comprehensive review of its activities regarding Gender Issues and Linkage to the Platform for Action – Beijing + 15.

In the struggle for sustainable development, the issue of women’s advancement and their role in poverty eradication has long been a main priority. The ongoing dire condition of women and their low status in society in many developing countries, particularly in terms of their equal access to education, vocational training and employment, continue to give a sense of urgency to the need to change prevailing social attitudes towards women and to empower them to claim their rightful role in their nation’s progress.

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FM Liberman takes part in distribution of Israeli-made agricultural equipment to women in Kenya (Photo: MFA)

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman continued his tour of Africa, meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, with President Mwai Kibaki and various government ministers. FM Liberman and Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula signed a declaration of cooperation in the areas of health, agriculture, education, security, emergency services, energy, water and irrigation. Following this agreement, FM Liberman and the Kenyan Minister of Water and Irrigation signed an agreement to increase cooperation between the two countries in the management of water resources and in the introduction of modern irrigation methods to the agricultural sector. 

While in Kenya, FM Liberman participated in a signing ceremony renewing Israel's agreement of cooperation with HABITAT - The United Nations Human Settlements Program. Signing on behalf of HABITAT was Executive Director Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka. MASHAV and HABITAT have cooperated for the past three years, addressing the needs and problems of urbanization in Africa, South America, and Asia.

FM Liberman arrived in Ghana on Monday, September 7th, and met with President John Evans Atta Mills, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Alhaji Muhammad Mumuni, and the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Hon. Kwesi Ahwoi. 

FM Liberman and Hon. Mumuni signed a cooperation agreement according to which Israel will assist Ghana in increasing fish production for export and local consumption. The two ministers also signed a joint declaration to expand cooperation in the fields of agriculture, education, medicine, water management, and pisciculture, and to increase trade between the two states.

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The Butajira Center of Excellence for Horticulture in Ethiopia

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman arrived in September 2nd, 2009 in Ethiopia, to begin his visit to Africa. FM Liberman was met at the airport by Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs Seyoum Mesfin. 

FM Liberman opened the Ethiopia-Israel Economic Forum, where he stated that the large Israeli economic delegation that accompanied him demonstrated the significance Israel places on its economic and business ties with Ethiopia. The two foreign ministers met again in the evening in Addis Ababa, where they signed a cooperation agreement between the Israel and Ethiopia and discussed bilateral, economic and security issues. 

During his visit to Ethiopia, FM Liberman inaugurated the Butajira Center of Excellence for Horticulture for developing human resources in agriculture in Ethiopia, a tripartite project of the two countries and the USAID. The Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the State Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development; the Ambassador of the US to Ethiopia and the USAID Mission Director for Ethiopia; and Ambassador Haim Divon, Head of MASHAV attended. During his visit, the Foreign Minister will also visit Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda.

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A special seminar for Israeli and Palestinian businesswomen took place on 19 August, 2009. The seminar, “Women Making Business”, was organized by MASHAV and The Golda Meir Mount Carmel Training Center (MCTC) in cooperation with the Israel-Palestine Chamber of Commerce. 

Deputy FM Ayalon opened the seminar and welcomed the participants. In his address he said that women have the power and the ability to influence and to change society. He added that Israel and the Palestinians can be partners not only in peace but also in economic development. Ayalon reviewed the government’s activities in improving the lives of the Palestinians and called on the Arab world to invest money in Palestinian economic development. As part of its ongoing activities, MCTC, holds special seminars for Israeli and Palestinian women under the title, “Women Build a New Reality.” Since 2004, 17 seminars have been conducted, with the participation of more than 500 Palestinian and Israeli women.

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From left to right: German Ambassador to Ethiopia, Dr. Claas Dieter Knoop; Agriculture and Rural Development State Minister, Beshir Abdulahi; Israel Ambassador to Ethiopia, Oded Ben-Haim. Photo: Andrea Bahm – GTZ

Following the agreement signed in 2008 between Ethiopia, Israel, and Germany, the three parties launched a pilot agricultural development project on June 18, 2009, to enable Ethiopia enhance small-scale irrigation development activities in different parts of the nation. Expected to benefit over 1,000 farmers, the pilot project will be implemented in the Amhara, Tigray, Oromia, and South Ethiopia Peoples’ States. The project will complement the Ethiopian government’s efforts geared toward ensuring food security and self-sufficiency.

The three-year project was launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on the premise of the Israeli Embassy, in the presence of Ethiopia’s Agriculture and Rural Development State Minister, Beshir Abdulahi; German Ambassador to Ethiopia, Dr. Claas Dieter Knoop; and Israel Ambassador to Ethiopia, Oded Ben-Haim.

Speaking at the occasion, Minister Beshir Abdulahi said the main objective of the project is improving capacity of local farmers toward adopting possible climatic changes. The project has three main components: Promotion of sustainable water resources management, improving irrigation productivity, and utilization of non-potable water resources.

Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia, Oded Ben-Haim said on his part the project will have great impact in enhancing cooperation to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change. German Ambassador to Ethiopia, Dr. Claas Dieter Knoop said the launching of the project is important to enhance multilateral cooperation among the governments of Germany, Israel, and Ethiopia.