community-based science and technologies

African academies urge politicians not to ignore them

> Science and Development Network

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm (...)

Governments must not ignore how science academies can help improve and assess policy decisions, African scientists warned in the first statement ever issued by the Network of African Science Academies.
The scientists, who met in Yaoundé, Cameroon on 12-16 November, pointed to the absence of science academies from the agenda for the upcoming African Union summit on science and technology in January 2007.
African academies - which are frequently short-staffed and cash-strapped - are also not included in the agenda of the Conference of the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) currently underway in Cairo, Egypt.  read

date of on-line publication : 21 November 2006

dossier

The gender digital divide in francophone Africa : a harsh reality

> Enda Editions, Etudes et Recherches, n°244, Dakar, 2005, 90 p.

http://www.famafrique.org/regentic/a (...)

"The Gender Digital Divide in Francophone Africa : A Harsh Reality" is part of the French-language series "Etudes et recherches" published by ENDA. These occasional papers are series of monographs, published as a supplement to the journal African environment - Environmental studies and regional planning bulletin. This document presents the main results of the research on the "Gender digital divide in Francophone Africa : data and indicators", which was carried out in 2004-2005 by the Gender and ICT Network (Réseau genre et TIC), with the sponsorship of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) based in Ottawa, Canada.
The "Gender Digital Divide in Francophone Africa" research project, undertaken by the Gender and ICT Network, found that women overall have one chance in three less than men of benefiting from the African Information Society in the six countries included in the study (Benin, Burkina FasoBurkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal). Furthermore, any connection between gender and ICT issues is largely unrecognised. The quantitative and qualitative evidence presented by the research, which justifies the alarms raised by gender specialists within the information society, appeals to public and civil society policymakers to implement actions towards a more inclusive and fair society in terms of gender.

• To read the document click here

date of on-line publication : 3 November 2006

Genetic Engineering and Omitted Health Research: Still No Answers to Ageing Questions

> Biosafety Information Centre

http://www.biosafety-info.net/articl (...)

Some of the most crucial scientific questions concerning health effects of GE and GEOs (genetically engineered organisms) were raised up to twenty years ago. Most of them have still not been answered at all, or have found unsatisfactory answers. We believe, as Mayer and Stirling said, “in the end it is often the case that those who choose the questions determine the answers”. Will another twenty years pass before societies realize the urgent need for public funding of genuinely independent risk- and hazard-related research? The time for such investment is now so that a new scientific culture with working hypotheses rooted in the Precautionary principle (PP) can discover other, possibly even more important questions of safety.
In the present article we will mainly confine ourselves to putative health hazards related to GE plants (GEPs) used as food or feed, with some brief notes on GE vaccines as well as the novel si RNA- and nanobio-technologies. This does not mean that we do not recognize the paramount, indirect threats to public health posed by social, cultural, ethical, economic and legal issues.  read

date of on-line publication : 27 October 2006

The economic impact of telecommunications on rural livelihoods and poverty reduction

> TelAfrica.org

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/info (...)

Aimed at a policy audience, a study looks at the use of various communications technologies in villages in Gujarat, Mozambique and Tanzania. It reveals that in all three research countries telephones are the preferred means of communications for emergencies and family networking; mass media are the preferred ICTs for general information such as news and weather and face-to-face communications is overwhelmingly the main method of communications for specific information in all three countries, including information about education, farming, business and government services

• Download the document in PDF, 447 pages: http://www.telafrica.org/R8347/file...

date of on-line publication : 27 September 2006

KJELL, Petra, SIMMS Andrew, WOODWARD, David

Mirage and Oasis: Energy choices in an age of global warming

> New Economic Foundation, June 2005, 56pp.

http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sy (...)

Nuclear power has been promoted in the UK and globally as the answer to climate change and energy insecurity. Yet, this report argues, as a response to global warming, nuclear power is too slow, too expensive, too limited, and, in an age of terrorist threats, a security risk. As an alternative, this report calls for a combination of renewable energy sources to be used, combining the full range of technologies (micro-, small-, medium- and large-scale). Although the report focuses largely on the situation in the UK it also highlights the potential of “micro-renewables” more generally.  read

date of on-line publication : 6 January 2006

BORGER Julian

USA: The Pharmaceutical Industry Stalks the Corridors of Power

> CorpWatch, Feb 2001

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php (...)

Whilst now out of date in view of current developments, this article gives insights into the power the pharmaceutical industry yields within the White House, and consequently at a global scale also. Furthermore, it brings to attention the reality over the industry’s claims that it needs to protect itself financially to fund new R&D (Research and Development), by highlighting the US government’s role in R&D.  read

date of on-line publication : 13 December 2005

SRINIVASAN Sandhya

Indian Guinea Pigs for Sale: Outsourcing Clinical Trials

> India Resource Centre, Sep 2004

http://www.indiaresource.org/issues/ (...)

This article, which begins by exposing unapproved clinical trials of genetically engineered drugs in India, details some of the current trends for outsourcing clinical trials from the West. As well as presenting opinions from within the pharmaceutical and research sectors (for example, the benefit of using populations in developing countries which are “drug naïve”), it also looks at the ethical issues surrounding the practice, stressing the need for research which involves informed voluntary consent and is relevant to the host country’s most pressing health needs.  read

date of on-line publication : 13 December 2005

CAPDEVILA Gustavo

Activists Take Issue with WTO Decision on Cheap Drugs

> Other News, Dec 2005

http://www.other-net.info/index.php? (...)

Following the criticisms regarding the declaration at the Doha Cycle meant to allow access to generic drugs for poorer countries in cases of public health emergencies, a temporary measure was introduced in 2003 to allow poor countries to waive patents to import cheaper generic versions of drugs. This article describes the WTO’s decision to make this a permanent measure with a new accord, and why these proposals have drawn further criticism from NGOs and activists.

• see MSF’s criticims of the decision

date of on-line publication : 13 December 2005

SHARMA Sudhirendar

Little space for grassroots innovations

> 3 May 2005, India Together

http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/ma (...)

This article reflects on the role technology can play to lift people out of poverty and how the media should reflect this. Taking the example of India’s demographic situation, the author questions why we should believe that one model fits all. Lack of funding for appropriate technology programmes - which could be simple in design but ultimately carrying a tangible positive impact on communities (e.g. those using renewable energy) contrasts with the investment in purely market-driven ‘hi-tech’ programmes. Conversely, the article continues, new patent laws will allow companies to pool the informal knowledge that exists.  read

date of on-line publication : 18 November 2005