As Akanu Ibiam Airport Enugu Welcomes International Flights

As Akanu Ibiam Airport Enugu Welcomes International Flights

11 Aug 2013

Ethiopian Airlines 

On August 24, the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu will receive the first international flight to the Coal City. Ethiopian Airlines issued a statement late last month indicating its readiness to be the first international carrier to fly to the airport.

The euphoria which has greeted the announcement, especially among Ndigbo and the nation in general, is understandable. It underscores the strategic nature of the development to the nation’s and the South East’s economy. The Deputy President of the Senate, who is also the highest political office holder from the zone, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, in commending President Goodluck Jonathan over this, rightly described it as a “major milestone in the infrastructural renewal of the South East and a monumental boost for both trade and Direct Foreign Investment for the entire country”.

According to him, “For many decades, the people of the South East, the local and international business community have waited seemingly endlessly for the commencement of international flight operations at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, and the people of South East will remain ever grateful to President Jonathan for the breakthrough.”

What a new dawn. For decades, successive administrations had exploited the subject of international flight operations in the South East, to the extent of making it a recurrent object of political rhetoric. They promised more and delivered nothing. It was not because this is not most deserving and needful. Ndigbo are known as great business people. From Onitsha to Nnewi and Aba, the South East speaks of robust economic and technological prowess, but which great potentials are abandoned to rust in gross disuse.

Unfortunately, for ages, I dare say a combination of political irresponsibility, assorted parochial interests and considerations, promise and fail syndrome, and if you like, willful sabotage and conspiracy, had kept the operation of international flight in the South East far from reality. This had led quite many to conclude, rightly or wrongly, that there was an unwritten code to ensure that the enclave did not have direct contact with the outside world, even donkey years after the civil war.

Thus, if the people of the South East took the November 14, 2007 statement by the then Minister of Aviation, Diezani Allison-Madueke announcing President Yar’Adua’s approval of the upgrade of the Akanu Ibiam Airport to the status of international airport with a pinch of salt, they were not to blame. And when the former Minister of Aviation, Babatunde Omotoba was credited with a statement during the flag-off of rehabilitation work at the Akanu Ibiam Airport on November 30, 2009, to the effect that the Federal Government had not given international status to the Airport, the cloud of doubt and forlornness thickened.

However, all that has become mere part of the South East’s long walk to hosting an international aviation facility.
As Nigerians, especially the people of South East wait breathlessly for August 24, there are hallmarks in leadership by key players in pursuit of this breakthrough that need to be highlighted.

First, we must note that the more we have Presidents who see the whole country as their constituency through equitable development and opportunities, the less likely Nigerians are to clamour for Presidents of their own ethno-religious extraction. It must not be lost on us that the late President Yar’Adua who took the initial practical steps towards the realization of this dream was from Katsina State, while the incumbent President who has boosted and guided the initiative to fruition, though closer home, is from Bayelsa in the South South. Yar’Adua not only pronounced Enugu an international airport, but also awarded the first contract in the sum of about N4.1 billion towards the project. Who knows what contrary pieces of advice and even hushed protests both Presidents might have contended with? Much as leadership, especially in a pluralistic society like ours should go round to give each section a sense of belonging, it will always be more important to have a fatherly “Nigerian President”.

The second lesson is the sense of policy and project continuity shown by President Jonathan. Discontinuity syndrome is one of the major banes of development in Nigeria. And it is driven mainly by politics of ego, vendetta, and corruption. Laudable projects have been abandoned because incumbents were no longer on good terms with their predecessors or the projects were cited in “wrong places” or someone just wants to feather his/her nest. The Projects Assessment Committee set up by President Jonathan in 2010 to take census of all abandoned and ongoing Federal Government projects across the country identified a whooping 11,886 projects. The states do not fare better either. This is calamitous.

In contrast, the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Jonathan on October 19, 2010 reaffirmed the upgrade of Enugu Airport to an international facility and awarded a reviewed contract of about N6.1billion to bring the total cost to about N10.03 billion. Under Jonathan, the Airport was finally gazetted as an international airport. The gazette was important to lay to rest the initial fears caused by Omotoba’s statement. Just last May, Mr. President commissioned the remodeled Enugu Airport and laid the foundation for a new international terminal.

As also rightly observed by Senator Ekweremadu, the project has gone on smoothly under the tenures of Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke who was Minister of Transport at the time discussion was opened with late President Yar’Adua on this project, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze who sustained the actual construction as Minister of Aviation, and the current Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah who has driven this vision with tremendous commitment, passion, and vigour to the point of reality today.

Importantly, the actualisation of the Enugu Airport dream is a testimony in leadership, synergy, and legislative masterstroke on the part of Senator Ekweremadu and the South East Caucus of the 6th National Assembly, NASS, which opened the request with a letter to President Yar’Adua signed by Senator Ekweremadu on behalf of the rest. Thus, the Caucus, with the Deputy President of Senate in the driver’s seat, began the legislative diplomatic rounds to the Villa to drive the dream.

The meetings were fruitful from the outset as President Yar’Adua was said to be seriously touched over the absence of an international airport in the South East that he, there and then, minuted approval on the letter of request. It was on the strength of this that Mrs. Allison-Madueke also issued a statement announcing the designation Akanu Ibiam an international airport. The release of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, was discussed at the meeting. Yar’Adua honoured this request too.

Meanwhile, the commitment of the Chairman of the Committee on Aviation in the 6th Senate, Senator Anyim Udeh and his House of Representatives counterpart, Hon. Bethel Amadi as well as their successors, Senator Hope Uzodinma and Hon. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha have helped to push the dream in no little measures. With the concerted lobby and efforts the South East Caucus in both the 6th and 7th National Assembly, it has never been difficult for their fellow federal lawmakers to see the economic reasons, the equity and justice in ensuring adequate budgetary provisions for the project from the days of late President Yar’Adua till date.

Worthy of special commendation are the uncommon wisdom, unity of purpose, and sense of sacrifice shown by the Enugu State Caucus in the 6th NASS. With eyes fixated on the bigger picture, the Caucus, at a point, channeled the entire funds for Constituency Projects that would have accrued to Enugu Federal Constituencies and Senatorial Districts in one fiscal year to the project. This, they told President Yar’Adua, was to shore up budgetary provisions for the upgrading project. Which President would not be moved by such show of commitment? The masterstroke worked like magic as the Federal Executive Council under President Yar’Adua subsequently broke the jinx by awarding a contract in the sum of N4.1 billion to upgrade the Akanu Ibiam Airport.

In all, the deftness displayed by the South East federal lawmakers led by Senator Ekweremadu, the great support shown by the South East Governors (especially Governor Peter Obi both in his official capacity as Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum and his personal capacity too), political stakeholders, and indeed numerous others towards the actualization of the vision shows how much a people can achieve if they work together in articulating and pursuing common, legitimate agenda. There is also a big lesson in smooth executive/legislature relations as well as intra-executive and intra-legislature synergy.

Indeed, it is an uncommon breath of fresh air as Enugu and the South East is opened up to the outside world. Peaceful repose Yar’Adua; long live Jonathan; well done Stella-Oduah et al; and kudos Ekweremadu (the silent achiever), and the entire South East compatriots in the 6th and 7th NASS.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/as-akanu-ibiam-airport-enugu-welcomes-international-flights/156006/
Mr. Anichukwu is Special Adviser (Media) to Deputy President of the Senate

SA.it > ANSA English > News

House speaker calls slurs against Kyenge 'shameful'

Boldrini voices support for first black minister

30 April, 14:52

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(ANSA) - Rome, April 30 - House Speaker Laura Boldrini spoke out on Tuesday about racist insults directed at newly appointed Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge, calling them "shameful for a civilized country". The former spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Boldrini said that "like many of the men and women who saw Kyenge sworn in, I feel that Italy is making an important step forward, not only for the new generation but for all of us, because we understand how enriching an encounter between cultures can be". Kyenge, a 48-year-old MP for Premier Enrico Letta's centre-left Democratic Party (PD), was sworn in as Italy's first black minister on Sunday.

"Maybe not everyone likes this road we are on, but vulgar racism aimed at someone - mostly on the Internet, but not only - is in no way tolerable," Boldrini said.

"This is not a question of freedom of expression, but incitement of racial hatred, which is a crime, even if carried out on the Internet," she said.

The House Speaker also noted that Kyenge is not the only supporter of proposed reforms to Italy's citizenship law for children born in the country to foreigners that has been criticised by the regionalist, anti-immigrant Northern League.

Kyenge, along with Moroccan-born PD MP Khalid Chaouki, PD MP Roberto Speranza and ex-PD leader Pier Luigi Bersani, have proposed a change to the current citizenship law which dictates that only the children of Italian citizens can automatically become citizens themselves, while those born on Italian soil to non-Italian parents become eligible on their 18th birthday.

A famous example is AC Milan Striker Mario Balotelli, one of Italy's biggest soccer stars and a forward on the national team, who was born in Italy to parents from Ghana but did not become a citizen until he applied when he turned 18.
http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2013/04/30/House-speaker-calls-slurs-against-Kyenge-shameful-_8634836.html
Photo: Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge

EMPOWERING AFGHAN WOMEN

Q&A: Al Jazeera meets photojournalist Reza
After witnessing inequality, veteran photojournalist Reza started Aina, a media training NGO to empower Afghan women. D. Parvaz Last Modified: 04 Nov 2011 18:39 inShare2
One of Aina's students, Mehria Aziz, co-directed the Emmy nominated Afghanistan Unveiled [Reza Deghati] Reza, who goes only by his first name, has spent 25 of his 30-year career as a photojournalist in war zones. In that time, he noticed the real cost of war - the destruction of cultures and of human relations. He then noticed that in Afghanistan - where he's spent a lot of time since the early 1980s - most NGOs tend to focus on rebuilding the things that have been physically destroyed by bombs. In other words, schools were built, but little attention was paid to where the education provided in those buildings would come from. Motivated by a heady mixture of frustration and hope, in 2001 Reza - a celebrated Paris-based photojournalist and documentarian for National Geographic - sold off some of his own prints and equipment to kick off Aina (Farsi for "mirror"), a program aimed at providing media media training to women (whose stories he said male foreign correspondents could not tell) and educational material to children. In the decade that has past, Aina has trained at least 500 Afghan women in audio and video techniques, teaching them how to report, photograph and document their own lives. Aina has also produced an educational magazine, Parvaz (pronounced Par-vaaz and no relation to this writer) and completed pilot projects in Sri Lanka, Uganda and more. Reza, who had started informal photography training in Pakistani refugee camps in 1983, spoke to Al Jazeera when he was at the World Innovation Summit for Education in Doha, Qatar, participating on the "Learning from Game Changers" panel. Parvaz: Tell us about your first trip to Afghanistan - what was the situation like then? Reza: The fist time was in 1983, when Afghanistan was occupied by the Russian army. I was working for Time magazine at the time ... During the Russian invasion, Afghanistan was still a really old, traditional country, and the Russians were really trying to emancipate Afghan women, and this was the biggest mistakes the Russians made. They tried to push women to the front too fast, and it created a lot of reactions [among] the people. Parvaz: Then you kept going back. Reza: I kept going back. I was there for the collapse of the Russians and the pro-Russian government, and I went there many times during the time of the Taliban, all during times of war. And this was not only a photographer, In 1990, I worked as the director of operations for the United Nations in Afghanistan, so I was very engaged with the condition of women there. Parvaz: Does what's being reported about the state of Afghan women comport with what you're observing on the ground? Reza: First of all, even the female journalists coming from the outside and trying to work with Afghan women, they are not really allowed to enter the intimate lives of the women because they are somehow always surrounded by male drivers, male interpreters, male security - that's whey even foreign women don't have a chance to intimately understand Afghan women. The only way to have the stories told was to train Afghan women themselves. And through their eyes, we were able to hear and see much deeper stories. Parvaz: So there's no reluctance for these women to tell their stories, they just need the right way to tell it. Reza: They need to be able to really work with people who they trust. When we train women there, they work with other Afghan women. And they have all suffered the same things. Parvaz: The US invaded/occupies Afghanistan for a number of stated reasons, one of them to improve the state of human rights in the country, especially for women. Have things improved for women there? Reza: The way that foreign countries came and started to emancipate women was wrong. For them it was "Hey, everybody, let's take off the burqas and go out onto the street. Even better with a miniskirt." This is the concept of freedom that was shown to them by international organisations, while we know how many generations it takes to bring cultural change to a country. They don't want miniskirts, but they want rights - they want to be educated, they want access to jobs, they want equality. But all this, when you look at the Afghan culture, it takes time ... When Afghans see women in Bermuda shorts, wearing sleeveless shirts and no bra, talking to men on American military bases, they ask me: "Is this democracy?" Parvaz: Has the situation for women improved, and how, specifically? Reza: Yes.They're not living under the Taliban now and they have more economic comforts. There are more women getting educated, and what my organisation is doing is training as many women as possible to enter communication and information centres.The effects of this will show in two or three generations, when more and more women will be running media organisations. And what they are writing, producing and broadcasting now comes from Afghan women, and they know how to spread their words and their education ...even if the Taliban come back into power, these women are there as the seeds of the resistance. Parvaz: What is the future for women in Afghanistan? Reza: It will be very tough. They were given false signals by the coalition forces that they would get freedom - [the] same for Afghan men, but women suffered more. Aina will stay there after US forces leave - I've been there for 30 years. I've seen Russians coming and leaving; I've seen Taliban coming and leaving, I've seen al-Qaeda coming and leaving, I've seen Pakistan's army coming and leavin http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/11/201111425558372171.html

U.N.: Norway best in human development

 U.N.: Norway best in human development

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Several countries recorded improvements in human development, but inequities remain between rich and poor nations, the U.N. Human Development Index showed.
The annual Human Development Index -- a combination of life expectancy, literacy, school enrollment and gross domestic product per capita measures -- was calculated for 182 countries and territories and released Monday as part of the annual Human Development Report, the United Nations said in a release.


"Many countries have experienced setbacks over recent decades, in the face of economic downturns, conflict-related crises and the HIV and AIDS epidemic," lead author Jeni Klugman said. "And this was even before the impact of the current global financial crisis was felt."
Norway, Australia and Iceland were the top-ranked countries on the index, which is based on data gathered in 2007, the most recent year full statistics are available for, the United Nations said. Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Japan round out the Top 10.

Across the index, five countries rose by three or more places -- France, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and China -- largely because of improvements in life expectancy and incomes, the report indicated. Luxembourg, Malta, Ecuador, Lebanon, Belize, Tonga and Jamaica fell by three or more places.
At the bottom were Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, Klugman said.
Demonstrating the difference between the top and bottom countries, Klugman said a Norwegian child can expect to live 30 years longer and earn an average of $85 for every $1 earned by the person in Niger.
UNDP REPORT

Quote rosa in Rwanda

In Rwanda il parlamento è donna
di Umberto Martini



In Rwanda il parlamento è donna. La commissione elettorale dello stato centroafricano ha reso noti oggi i risultati delle elezioni politiche terminate il 18 settembre. La notizia è che per la prima volta al mondo, in un parlamento democraticamente eletto, il numero delle donne supera quello degli uomini: su 80 seggi infatti, 44 si declinano al femminile. Il Rwanda – alla sua seconda elezione politica all'indomani del tragico genocidio del 1994 che causò la morte di più di 800 mila persone – supera così la Svezia dove le donne sono il 47% dei parlamentari e Cuba, dove si fermano al 43,2%. La forte presenza femminile in politica rispecchia la composizione della società che è costituita per il 54,9% da donne. Per molti versi, questa è una conseguenza delle persecuzioni razziali tra hutu e tutsi che hanno caratterizzato l'intera storia del Rwanda dal giorno della sua indipendenza dal Belgio nel 1962.La notizia storica del primo parlamento rosa ha fatto passare in secondo piano la vittoria, ampiamente prevista alla vigilia, del partito del presidente della Repubblica Paul Kagame. Il Fronte patriottico rwandese ha infatti conquistato 42 dei 53 seggi disponibili nelle elezioni dirette. In tutto sono 8 le forze politiche del paese, ma soltanto tre sono rappresentate in Parlamento. Oltre al già menzionato Fpr, dei restanti 11 seggi, 7 sono stati assegnati al Partito social-democratico e 4 al Partito liberale.Paul Kagame, eletto presidente nel 2003 con il 95,05% delle preferenze, è stato spesso criticato dalle forze dell'opposizione per non rispettare i principi democratici, ma secondo gli osservatori della Comunità europea, che hanno controllato lo svolgimento della consultazione, le elezioni si sono svolte in un "clima di libertà di espressione e partecipazione al dibattito politico". Il capo degli osservatori, Michael Cashman, si è complimentato con il Comitato elettorale nazionale (NEC) per l'ordine nei seggi e per la trasparenza nello spoglio delle schede sottolineando che "in confronto alle elezioni del 2003, si sono visti molti miglioramenti anche dal punto di vista dell'informazione".In questo campo, però, il Rwanda ha compiuto pochi progressi rispetto al passato. Al momento, esistono soltanto un quotidiano e un canale televisivo a diffusione nazionale ed entrambi sono di proprietà dello stato. Pochi i media privati ed indipendenti. Uno di questi, Umuseso (in italiano "L'alba"), denuncia di frequente pressioni e minacce da parte di uomini dell'esercito e della polizia. Mentre nella classifica sulla libertà di stampa di Reporter senza frontiere, il Rwanda occupa un poco onorevole 147 posto dietro a Russia, Egitto e Tunisia.Ma in molti settori di questo paese, che ha la più alta densità di popolazione in tutto il continente africano (281 abitanti per km²), si respira un'aria di ottimismo. Da quando Kagame è al potere, gli investimenti stranieri sono aumentati vertiginosamente, mentre sanità ed istruzione iniziano finalmente ad avere a disposizione delle strutture adeguate, malgrado l'aspettativa di vita non arrivi ai 50 anni e oltre il 60 % della popolazione viva sotto la soglia di povertà.Di fatto l'esito scontato di queste elezioni non cambia nulla a livello politico. Paul Kagame, già molto potente, ne esce ancora più rafforzato. Il voto, probabilmente, è stato influenzato anche dal clima di tensione che si respira al confine con il Congo. Secondo il presidente Joseph Kabila, il governo ruandese "non è innocente" nella ripresa dei combattimenti lungo la frontiera del Nord-Kivu tra l'esercito congolese e le armate di ribelli tutsi guidate Laurent Nkundae. Questa delicata situazione, che molte volte ha già rischiato di trasformarsi in una vera e propria guerra tra vicini di casa, può aver spinto i ruandesi a scegliere un leader autorevole e carismatico, capace, come già fece nella guerra di liberazione del 1994, di imbracciare il kalshnikov e guidare l'esercito. Le prossime elezioni saranno nel 2010 quando si eleggerà il presidente della repubblica. Kagame, senza ombra di dubbio, punta ad un secondo settennato e in questo momento nessuno sembra in grado di proporsi come una valida alternativa. Per le vie di Kigali, come per quelle di Butare o Nyanza quando si parla di politica e potere si pensa subito a "mister Paul"!
dal Sole 24ore on line

La nuova pattumiera è il Ghana

Il paese africano usato come discarica dei rifiuti elettronici nocivi
L'organizzazione ha ricostruito la rotta delle nuove navi dei veleni

E-waste, denuncia di Greenpeace
La nuova pattumiera è il Ghana

Le stime Onu parlano di 20-50 milioni di tonnellate di rifiuti ogni anno
Contengono elementi tossici che mettono a rischio ambiente e salute umana
di ANTONIO CIANCIULLO

E' il remake di un film degli anni Ottanta, un brutto film. Gli slum africani utilizzati come pattumiera dei veleni dei paesi ricchi, i primi vani tentativi di bloccare il traffico, la rivolta dei nigeriani che, esattamente vent'anni fa, sequestrarono una nave italiana, con 24 uomini di equipaggio, come arma di pressione per costringerci a risanare la discarica pirata di Port Koko. Adesso ci risiamo. Nella versione tecnologicamente avanzata dell'e-waste, il rifiuto elettronico che fluisce sempre più abbondante. La nuova pattumiera del mondo industrializzato è il Ghana: è qui che finisce una buona parte degli oggetti che fino a un istante prima dell'abbandono sembravano indispensabili e che all'improvviso si sono rivelati inutili, cancellati nella possibilità d'uso da memorie più potenti, software più avanzati.

GUARDA LE FOTO

La denuncia viene da Greenpeace che, con un'azione di "spionaggio industriale" è riuscita a ricostruire il percorso delle nuove navi dei veleni. Il punto di partenza per l'Europa è Anversa, in Belgio, dove confluiscono scarti elettronici provenienti da Olanda, Germania, Italia, Danimarca e Svizzera. Non si tratta di piccoli numeri. Le stime Onu parlano di 20-50 milioni di tonnellate di rifiuti tecnologici prodotti ogni anno: i Raee, ovvero i rifiuti derivanti da apparecchiature elettriche ed elettroniche, rappresentano la tipologia di rifiuti pericolosi in più rapida crescita a livello globale (3-5% annuo, nel 2006 ogni cittadino europeo ne ha prodotto tra 17 e 20 chili all'anno). Contengono elementi tossici e persistenti (metalli pesanti, ftalati, pcb) che rappresentano un rischio per l'ambiente e la salute umana nelle fasi di trattamento, riciclaggio e smaltimento.

Dunque roba da maneggiare con attenzione. Ma le foto che potete vedere mostrano cosa succede veramente. Oggetti pericolosi trattati senza nessuna precauzione anche da bambini, materiale tossico bruciato vicino alle case, pozze di liquame contaminato in cui tutti sguazzano. E' questa la fine che fa una buona parte dell'e-waste occidentale: si perdono le tracce del 75 per cento dei rifiuti tecnologici prodotti nell'Unione Europea e di oltre l'80 per cento di quelli prodotti negli Stati Uniti. In parte restano nei garage e nelle cantine, in parte vengono smaltiti illegalmente nei paesi in cui sono stati usati, ma in buona parte salgono sulle navi dei veleni per arrivare nei luoghi in cui i lavoratori, spesso bambini, sono esposti ai rischi legati al cocktail di composti chimici che questi rifiuti sprigionano quando vengono trattati in modo non adeguato.

In Ghana l'indagine di Greenpeace ha messo in evidenza una rete di cimiteri clandestini. Le navi ufficialmente cariche di "beni elettronici di seconda mano" arrivano nel più grande porto del paese, a Tema, e da lì prendono la strada del centro di smaltimento di Agbogbloshie, ad Accra, la capitale. Oppure si sperdono nel marasma dei piccoli cimiteri sparsi un po' ovunque. Greenpeace ha fornito i dati relativi a quello di Korforidua, ma è un esempio tra tanti.

Un disastro ambientale, sociale, umano che rappresenta l'altra faccia del disastro politico che ci coinvolge direttamente. Vent'anni fa l'Occidente chiuse gli occhi sulle rotte dei veleni finché il contenzioso internazionale divenne troppo aspro per ignorarlo. Ora la capacità di risposta dei paesi che subiscono l'arrivo clandestino dei rifiuti elettronici (dall'Africa alle piazze asiatiche) è più alta ed è prevedibile che la tensione tornerà a salire molto presto.

ENGLISH http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/poisoning-the-poor-electroni

http://www.repubblica.it/2008/08/sezioni/ambiente/africa-rifiuti-elettronici/africa-rifiuti-elettronici/africa-rifiuti-elettronici.html
(5 agosto 2008)

MIGRANT WOMEN FOR DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

CLICK TO OPEN THE PROJECT PROPOSAL PAGE

http://www.iom.int/jahia/webdav/site/myjahiasite/shared/shared/mainsite/microsites/mida/call_for_proposals_en.pdf

We have the pleasure to inform you that we have published the Call for Proposals for projects submission in the framework of the WMIDA – Migrant Women for Development in Africa – Programme, promoted by IOM with the support of the Italian Cooperation .

The Call for Proposals is open to women coming from Western African countries residing in Italy and to their associations, wishing to set up social enterprises and co-development projects in their countries of origin. Selected projects will be supported by means of a grant and technical assistance (professional training course and tutoring during the project's start up).

Please find attached the Call for Proposals in three languages – Italian, English and French – and the Project Application Form to be filled in to participate in the selection process. The Call for Proposals contains all the necessary information to present your project, which will have to be submitted in electronic format no later than September, 30^th, 2008.

In case of problems in opening the attached file, please contact us (see reference below): we will send you the Call for Proposals and the Application Form in the desired language.

We are of course at your disposal for any further information or clarification you may need.

Kind regards

MIDA – Migration for Development in Africa

International Organization for Migration

Via Nomentana, 62

00161 Rome

Tel: 06 44 186 223/228 - Fax 06 440 25 33

E-mail: midaitalia@iom.int

----------------------------------------------------------

Nous avons le plaisir de vous informer de la publication de l'Appel à Propositions pour la présentation de projets dans le cadre du Programme WMIDA – Migrant Women for Development in Africa, promu par l'OIM avec le soutien de la Coopération Italienne.

L'Appel à Propositions est ouvert aux femmes de l'Afrique de l'Ouest résidantes en Italie et à leurs associations, désirant démarrer des projets d'entreprenariat social et co-développement dans leur pays d'origine. Les projets sélectionnés seront soutenus par une contribution financière ainsi que par un appui technique (cours de formation professionnelle et accompagnement pendant la phase de démarrage du projet).

Vous allez trouver ci-joint l'Appel à Propositions en trois langues – Italien, Anglais et Français – et la Fiche de Projet à remplir pour participer à la sélection dans le cadre du Programme WMIDA. L'Appel à Propositions contient toutes les informations pour présenter votre projet, qui devra être soumis en format électronique avant le 30 septembre 2008.

En cas de problèmes pendant l'ouverture du document attaché, veuillez nous contacter à l'adresse ci-dessous: nous allons vous envoyer l'Appel à Propositions et la Fiche de Projet dans la langue désirée.

Nous restons à votre disposition pour toutes clarifications et informations supplémentaires.

Sincères salutations

MIDA – Migration for Development in Africa

Organisation Internationale pour les Migrations

Via Nomentana, 62

00161 Rome

Tel: 06 44 186 223/228 - Fax 06 440 25 33

E-mail: midaitalia@iom.int

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Abbiamo il piacere di informarvi dell'uscita del Bando per la presentazione delle proposte progettuali nell'ambito del Programma WMIDA – Migrant Women for Development in Africa, gestito dall'OIM con il supporto della Cooperazione Italiana.

Il Bando è aperto alle donne provenienti da paesi dell'Africa occidentale residenti in Italia e alle loro associazioni, che desiderano avviare progetti di impresa sociale e co-sviluppo nel proprio paese d'origine. I progetti selezionati riceveranno supporto sotto forma di contributo finanziario ed assistenza tecnica (corso di formazione professionale e accompagnamento durante la fase di avvio dell'impresa).

In allegato troverete il testo del Bando in tre lingue – italiano, inglese e francese - e il relativo Modulo di Presentazione Progetti, da compilare per partecipare alla selezione nel quadro del Programma WMIDA. Il Bando contiene tutte le indicazioni per la presentazione dei progetti, che dovranno essere inviati in formato elettronico entro il 30 settembre 2008.

In caso di problemi nell'apertura del file allegato, potete contattarci ai recapiti sottostanti per richiedere il Bando e il Modulo nella lingua desiderata.

Restiamo naturalmente a vostra disposizione per qualsiasi ulteriore informazione o chiarimento relativo alle modalità di presentazione dei progetti.

Cordiali saluti

Programma MIDA – Migration for Development in Africa

Organizzazione Internazionale per le Migrazioni

Via Nomentana, 62

00161 Roma

Tel: 06 44 186 223/228 - Fax 06 440 25 33

E-mail: midaitalia@iom.int