January 2013– The atlas provides sound scientific information on the connections between weather and climate and major health challenges. These range from diseases of poverty to emergencies arising from extreme weather events and disease outbreaks.

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Most Comprehensive Assessment Ever of Global Emissions Released Ahead of Final Negotiations on New Mercury Treaty

Binding Treaty Can Deliver Major Health and Environmental Benefits in Developing and Developed Countries

Nairobi/Geneva, 10 January 2013 – Communities in developing countries are facing increasing health and environmental risks linked to exposure to mercury, according to new studies by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Parts of Africa, Asia and South America could see increasing emissions of mercury into the environment, due mainly to the use of the toxic element in small-scale gold mining, and through the burning of coal for electricity generation.

The Global Mercury Assessment 2013 reports that emissions of the toxic metal from artisanal gold mining have doubled since 2005, in part due to new and better information, but also due to rising gold prices that are expected to lead to further increases.

Due to rapid industrialization, Asia is the largest regional emitter of mercury, and accounts for just under half of all global releases.  

The UNEP study assesses for the first time at a global level releases of mercury into rivers and lakes. Much human exposure to mercury is through the consumption of contaminated fish, making aquatic environments the critical link to human health.

In the past 100 years, man-made emissions have caused the amount of mercury in the top 100 metres of the world’s oceans to double. Concentrations in deeper waters have increased by up to 25 per cent.

The study, which provides a comprehensive breakdown of mercury emissions by region and economic sector, also highlights significant releases into the environment linked to contaminated sites and deforestation.

The report says an estimated 260 tonnes of mercury – previously held in soils – are being released into rivers and lakes.

Along with a parallel UNEP publication Mercury: Time to Act, the new assessment will be formally presented at the International Negotiating Committee on Mercury (INC5), to be held in Geneva on 13-18 January 2013. Governments attending the major conference are aiming to conclude discussions on a global legally binding treaty to minimize risks to people and the environment from exposure to mercury.

This would reduce cases of neurological and behavioral disorders, and other health problems linked to mercury, as well as the contamination of soils and rivers caused by man-made emissions of the metal.

Governments gave the green light to negotiations towards a global treaty back in 2009 at the UNEP Governing Council held in Nairobi, Kenya.

“Mercury, which exists in various forms, remains a major global, regional and national challenge in terms of threats to human health and the environment,” said United Nations Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

“In 2009 at the UNEP Governing Council, nations agreed to launch negotiations for a legally binding treaty aimed at bringing down releases from sources such as industry and mining, address mercury-containing products, and tackle historical pollution sites—the final negotiations begin in just a few days’ time,” he added.

“Mercury has been known as a toxin and a hazard for centuries—but today we have many of the alternative technologies and processes needed to reduce the risks for tens of millions of people, including pregnant mothers and their babies. A good outcome can also assist in a more sustainable future for generations to come,” said Mr. Steiner.

Mercury released from industry and other man-made sources can circulate in the environment for up to centuries at a time. This means that it is likely to be several years or decades before reductions in mercury emissions have a demonstrable effect on mercury levels in nature and the food chain.

The UNEP studies say this reinforces the need for swift action by governments, industry and civil society to strengthen efforts to reduce mercury emissions and releases. Delays in action, say the reports, will lead to slower recovery of ecosystems and a greater legacy of pollution.

Rising levels of mercury present in the Arctic are also highlighted.

An estimated 200 tonnes of mercury are deposited in the Arctic each year, generally far from where it originated. Studies have shown a ten-fold increase in levels of mercury in certain Arctic wildlife species in the past 150 years, due mainly, it is thought, to human activity.

Global Trends in Mercury Emissions and their Impacts

The UNEP reports state that global emissions of mercury have remained relatively stable in the last twenty years, with 2010 emissions from human activities thought to be just under 2,000 tonnes.

Despite improved availability of data on mercury, the emissions estimate is still subject to uncertainty, and covers a range of 1010 to 4070 tonnes.

Along with coal burning, the use of mercury to separate metal from ore in small-scale gold mining remains the chief source of emissions worldwide.  

Annual emissions from small-scale gold mining are estimated at 727 tonnes, or 35 per cent of the global total.

Greater exposure to mercury poses a direct threat to the health of some 10-15 million people who are directly involved in small-scale gold mining, mainly in Africa, Asia and South America. An estimated 3 million women and children work in the industry.  

Mercury-free methods and other low-cost solutions for reducing emissions during gold extraction are available, but socio-economic conditions, and low awareness of the risks of mercury, are barriers to adopting safer techniques.

“Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is recognized as a major challenge in efforts to reduce emissions from mercury,” said Fernando Lugris (Uruguay), Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee.

“While taking into account the impacts on national development, we must move to set national goals and reduction targets. Other efforts should work towards the formalization of the sector, which is largely unregulated. As well as reducing health risks from mercury, this could give workers greater rights under labour laws,” added Mr. Lugris.

Coal burning is responsible for some 475 tonnes of mercury emissions annually, or around 24 per cent of the global total.

Despite increased coal combustion in certain regions, more stringent regulations on pollution in several countries have contributed to reducing overall mercury emissions from coal burning and off-setting part of the emissions arising from increased industrial activity.

Other sources of mercury highlighted in the UNEP publications include:

·        Metal and cement production, through fuel extraction and combustion of fossil fuels
·        Consumer products such as electronic devices, switches, batteries, energy-efficient light bulbs and cosmetics such as skin-lightening creams and mascara. Mercury contained in such goods can also enter the waste stream.
·        Dentistry: Around 340 tonnes of mercury are used annually to make fillings and other dental products, of which up to 100 tonnes are likely to enter the waste stream
·        Plastic production – particularly the manufacture of poly vinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is in high demand in many countries where there are extensive building projects
·        Chlor-alkali industry (production of chlorine and caustic soda from salt)
·        Primary mining – although the practice is now limited to a handful of countries with only one (Kyrgyzstan) still exporting

Action on Mercury

Efforts to tackle the environmental and health threat posed by mercury have grown over recent decades, according to the reports.

Notable actions include:

·        The UNEP Mercury Products Partnership has set the goal of reducing demand for mercury-containing thermometers and blood pressure devices by 70 per cent by 2017
·        USA has finalized the Mercury and Air Toxics Standard which predicts to reduce mercury emissions by 20 tonnes by 2016
·        European Union banned mercury exports in 2011 and the USA has just started an export ban from 1 January 2013
·        UNEP has supported National Action Plans by Argentina, Uruguay and other countries to find environmentally-sound solutions for the storage and disposal of excess mercury and waste products

Yet despite such steps, coordinated action on a global level to reduce environmental and health risks posed by exposure to mercury has been comparatively slow.  

The UNEP studies state that accelerated action, such as finalizing a global, legally binding treaty, promoting the availability of low-mercury technologies, and other measures, can support a sharp decline in demand for mercury.

To achieve this, primary mining of mercury should be ceased as soon as possible, and demand met by investing in improved recycling measures.

Governments should ensure regulatory frameworks and incentives to promote the transition to viable, safe and commercial alternatives, resulting in reduced releases of mercury and other pollutants.

Notes to Editors

UNEP produced its first Global Mercury Assessment in 2002 and a subsequent study in 2007. The 2013 assessment is the most comprehensive to date, and includes information on the release and impacts of mercury in aquatic environments for the first time.

Mercury: Time to Act is available at: http://www.unep.org/PDF/PressReleases/Mercury_TimeToAct.pdf

Statistics on regional emissions of mercury can be found in Chapter 3 of the 2013 Global Mercury Assessment.

More information on the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Mercury (INC5) to be held in Geneva on 13-18 January 2013 is available at:
http://www.unep.org/hazardoussubstances/MercuryNot/MercuryNegotiations/tabid/3320/language/en-US/Default.aspx

For more information, please contact:

Nick Nuttall, Acting Director, UNEP Division of Communications and Public Information, on +254 733 632 755 /+41 79 596 5737, E-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org

Bryan Coll, UNEP Newsdesk, on Tel. +254 207623088 or E-mail: unepnewsdesk@unep.org

NEW DEHLI and PLANO, TX December 18, 2012/ – Rovia (http://rovia.com) is proud to announce it was awarded World’s Leading Travel Booking Website at the 2012 World Travel Awards held in Gurgaon, New Delhi, on December 12, and  was selected over other leading booking engines such as Orbitz, Expedia, Priceline, and Travelocity.  World Travel Awards is one of the most prestigious awards programs in the global travel and tourism industry, hailed by The Wall Street Journal as “the Oscar’s of the travel industry”.

Rovia is the largest provider of curated group travel experiences in the world, annually producing and managing hundreds of unique pre-packaged experiences for groups numbering from a few dozen to a few thousand. Rovia’s advanced travel technology offers unmatched features and benefits.  The company’s booking engine delivers unparalleled convenience and cost reliability, including an assurance of best prices.

The annual World Travel Awards program is highly comprehensive, honoring several industry segments, such as Airlines and Airports, Hotels and Resorts, Honeymoon Destinations, and Car Hire.  In 2011, 791,358 individual votes were cast by travel professionals and consumers in 171 countries.

“Winning World’s Leading Travel Booking Website in the 2012 World Travel Awards reaffirms Rovia’s position as a prominent online travel company,” Rovia President Mike Putman said.  “Rovia is a travel industry innovator and this award is testament to the fact that our customers can book their travel with security and confidence as we continue to set the ultimate standard for their online travel experience.  We are honored by the mutual public and worldwide travel community’s expression of confidence as an industry leader.”

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Rovia.

About Rovia:

Rovia is a leading online travel company with offices in South Carolina and Texas.  Established by the convergence of two well-respected travel companies with more than 50 years of experience in the travel industry, Rovia is the largest provider of curated group travel experiences in the world. The company annually produces and manages hundreds of unique pre-packaged experiences for groups numbering from a few dozen to a few thousand.

For inquiries, contact:

Hadas Sasson-Zitomer

Email: press@rovia.com

GSK announces further initiatives to advance openness and collaboration to help tackle global health challenges

-          Tuberculosis (TB) ‘compound library’ to be made available to help stimulate research into TB

-          Investment in GSK’s Tres Cantos Open Lab to be doubled with an additional £5m funding awarded

-          Detailed data from GSK clinical trials to be made available to researchers to further scientific understanding and knowledge

LONDON, United-Kingdom, October 11, 2012/ – GSK (http://www.gsk.com) today announced new measures to further advance its commitment towards greater openness, transparency and collaboration. Speaking at a meeting hosted by the Wellcome Trust in London today, GSK CEO Sir Andrew Witty will outline new steps to build on the encouraging signs of progress resulting from GSK’s ‘open innovation’ approach to R&D, designed to help develop new solutions for the world’s most serious health challenges.

Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/glaxosmithkline.jpg

Over the past few years, GSK has been making fundamental changes to its business model to become more open to sharing its intellectual property and knowledge, and to forming partnerships to help stimulate more R&D into diseases that most affect the world’s poorest people. Building on that progress, today GSK will set out new measures to help develop new and faster-acting treatments for tuberculosis (TB), a huge global health need where R&D has been at an impasse, and to support independent research into diseases of the developing world.

GSK will also outline new commitments to share detailed clinical trial data to enable additional scientific inquiry and analyses to further scientific knowledge and help bring benefit to patients.

Commenting ahead of the meeting, Andrew Witty said: “As a truly global healthcare company, I believe we have a responsibility to do all we can at GSK to use our resources, knowledge and expertise to help tackle serious global health challenges. However, the complexity of the science and the scale of the challenge mean that we cannot solve these problems alone. We need to take a different approach – one focused on partnership, collaboration and openness. By being more open with our clinical trial data, we also hope to help further scientific understanding. I am pleased with the progress we have made so far to evolve our business model but we recognise there is more we can do and the new initiatives outlined today will enable us to build on this work.”

Sir Mark Walport, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said: “In its commitment towards more openness and collaboration, GSK is setting an example of how the pharmaceutical industry must adapt to help drive forward medical advances. Real breakthroughs do not come out of nowhere, but are borne of scientists sharing their knowledge and learning from each other. GSK’s moves are bold and innovative, a very positive sign of its commitment to tackle some of the greatest health challenges facing the world today.”

GSK’s TB ‘compound library’ to be made freely available

GSK scientists have screened the company’s entire pharmaceutical compound library of more than two million compounds for any that may inhibit tuberculosis (TB) bacteria and will publish in a scientific journal the results of this process – about 200 promising hits that could act as new starting points for the discovery of new medicines for TB.

This is the first time a pharmaceutical company will have made public its own proprietary compounds which have demonstrated signs of activity against TB. It is hoped this will encourage others to pursue a fully open approach to research in to a disease that causes around 1.5 million deaths around the world every year.

This builds on a similar work carried out by GSK in 2009 to place all of its malaria compounds in the public domain. Since the publication of this data in 2010, GSK’s anti-malarial dataset has been shared with research institutions around the world, resulting in a number of promising research projects now underway.

An additional £5m funding awarded to GSK’s ‘Open Lab’

In a further move to foster the sharing of scientific knowledge and learning across the scientific community, GSK will double its funding for its ‘Open Lab’ at Tres Cantos, Spain, awarding it an additional £5m.

The ‘Open Lab’ was established in 2010 to allow independent researchers access to GSK facilities, resources and knowledge to help them advance their own research projects into diseases of the developing world.

Two years since the ‘Open Lab’ was established, there are now 16 research projects in the portfolio. For example, iThemba, a company supported by the South African Government, has worked on a project at the ‘Open Lab’ to identify potential new compounds against tuberculosis (TB), specifically multidrug, extremely drug resistant TB and co-infection with HIV-AIDS. There are further projects underway at Tres Cantos looking at TB, malaria, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and sleeping sickness.

The majority of these projects are supported by the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organisation established with £5 million in funding from GSK. Overseen by a board of leading scientists, the Foundation provides funding and support to researchers to help them develop and advance new ideas that could lead to new medicines to treat diseases of the developing world. Researchers supported by the Foundation are encouraged to share their work to ensure their discoveries are also accessible to other researchers.

Detailed data from GSK clinical trials to be made available

GSK is fully committed to sharing information about its clinical trials. It posts summary information about each trial it begins and shares the summary results of all of its clinical trials – whether positive or negative – on a website accessible to all. Today this website includes almost 4,500 clinical trial result summaries and receives an average of almost 10,000 visitors each month. The company has also committed to seek publication of the results of all of its clinical trials that evaluate its medicines – regardless of what the results say – to peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Expanding further on its commitments to openness and transparency, GSK also announced today that the company will create a system that will enable researchers to access the detailed anonymised patient-level data that sit behind the results of clinical trials of its approved medicines and discontinued investigational medicines. To ensure that this information will be used for valid scientific endeavour, researchers will submit requests which will be reviewed for scientific merit by an independent panel of experts and, where approved, access will be granted via a secure web site. This will enable researchers to examine the data more closely or to combine data from different studies in order to conduct further research, to learn more about how medicines work in different patient populations and to help optimise the use of medicines with the aim of improving patient care.

This initiative is a step towards the ultimate aim of the clinical research community developing a broader system where researchers will be able to access data from clinical trials conducted by different sponsors. GSK hopes the experience gained through this initiative will be of value in developing and catalysing this wider approach.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

GlaxoSmithKline (http://www.gsk.com) one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit http://www.gsk.com

GlaxoSmithKline Enquiries:

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Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

Under the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, GSK cautions investors that any forward-looking statements or projections made by GSK, including those made in this announcement, are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that may affect GSK’ s operations are described under ‘Risk factors’ in the ‘Financial review & risk’ section in the company’s Annual Report 2011 included as exhibit 15.2 to the company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for 2011.

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The criteria of awarding was based on frequency that is the number of times of science and technology coverage, diversity, amount of space allocated to science and technology stories, in house training of the media staff in areas of science and technology journalism, illustrations of science and technology in terms of photos and quality of space and stories.

Science journalists receive awards on behalf of Media Houses for their excellence in science communication

The categories that were awarded include: Print, Radio and Television. The Daily Monitor emerged winner in the Print Category followed by The New Vision as 1^st Runner Up and The Observer was the 2nd Runner Up. Prime Radio 98.6FM emerged winner under the Radio Category while Trans Nile Broadcasting Station Moyo – 98.6FM emerged 1^st Runner Up.  The Television Category was won by the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation Television (UBC TV) followed by Wava Broadcasting Services (WBS). Other media houses that were recognized include the Nation Television (NTV), Farmers Media and the Sunrise Newspaper.

Science is seen by a big portion of the Ugandan society as complex. Awards are one way of encouraging communicators, including media houses to continue improving on their work and to pay more attention to science and technology as a benchmark for development.

The Executive Director of the Uganda Media Centre, Mr. Fred Opolot, presided over the awards and thanked UNCST and USJA for organizing the awards and emphasized that this is a good way of promoting science communication for socio-economic transformation of Uganda and the world at large.

Aminah Bukenya

Science Officer (Public Relations)

Uganda National Council for Science and Technology

The Central African hub is the fourth hub established by the Institute. The East African hub has its operations in Tanzania; Southern African hub in Lusaka, Zambia; while the West African hub is based in Nigeria. The West African hub also hosts the headquarters of the Institute in Ibadan.

The hub concept aims to accelerate the Institute’s response to the different opportunities and threats to food security in sub-Saharan Africa.

At the inauguration of the hub, IITA Director General, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, said that the choice of DR Congo “is important because of the country’s agricultural potential, which serves as a focal point for research for countries of the Central African region.”

According to him, the inauguration of the building in Kinshasa is part of the Institute’s strategy for efficient delivery of research outputs and to ensure more effectiveness.

In Central Africa, IITA will work with national agricultural research systems such as Institut National pour l’Etude et la Recherche Agronomique (INERA), universities, nongovernmental organizations, farmers and the private sector.

Dr Sanginga said the establishment of the hub would also consolidate the long-time collaboration between IITA and partners in that region.

For instance, since 1974, IITA has been contributing in strengthening the capacity of INERA. Both institutions have been involved in the breeding of disease-resistant varieties of cassava against major diseases such as cassava mosaic virus. Such collaborations and many more will continue in the years ahead.

The Prime Minister of DR Congo, His Excellency Augustin Matata Ponyo, commended IITA for establishing the hub in DR Congo. He expressed optimism that with research, DR Congo could tap its agricultural potential for economic growth and development, and could feed the entire sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to improved varietal development, IITA and INERA research activities will focus on natural resource management to boost crop production and to improve livelihoods.

Dr Sanginga was accompanied by Prof. Paul Mafuka (INERA Director General and IITA Board member) and Dr Nzola Mahungu (IITA DRC Country representative).

###

For information, please contact: Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org

For close to two decades Somalia has not had a central powerful government since the overthrow Siad Barre regime in 1991 and has had 18 regions from corner to corner The country has an estimated population of about 9 million in 1995, of which 75% in rural areas.

The Secretary General of the African Federation of Environmental Journalists (AFEJ) Mr. Daud Abdi Daud made a tremendous presentation for the current status of Somalia telecommunication on Wednesday July 18^th , 2012 when he was attending  the East Africa Consultations on ITRS and Internet Governance Forum at Jacaranda hotel in Nairobi, Kenya  from 17 – 19, 2012.

Somalia Pre-war Telecommunication

After the independence Somalia has not been develop the telecommunication industry due to the following reasons:

1. It was not a priority Issue.
2. It was dominated by a State owned monopoly in basic network and services.
3. The Ministry of Post and Telecom was the sole provider and self-regulator of telecom services.
4. As of 1993 private Telecom Companies have emerged (9 Companies).
5. Competition began with very limited infrastructure by most measures.
6. Different operators enter/out the market competing basic telecom services both local and International.
7. Each Operator offers local and international services to its own customer on its own network.
8. No Interconnection (Many Small Islands).

Telecommunication Privatization Benefits

• Privatization in Somalia increases the scope of telephone coverage (See the Map).
• Competitive environment expanded the services, efficiency, and lowers prices.
• Competition brought technological advancement.
• Telecommunication sector in Somalia opens up a whole new range of economic possibilities.

Statistical Figures

• From 1960 -1980 Somalia had 6890
• 1980 – 1991  Somalia had 17,000
• 1991 – 1993 Somalia had Zero lines
• From 1960 -1980 Somalia had 6890
• 1980 – 1991  Somalia had 17,000
• 1991 – 1993 Somalia had Zero lines
• Internet Penetration:
•    5300 Subscribers
•    89000 users Approximately
•    Internet Coffee: 59 Centers

Mr. Daud met Kenya’s permanent secretary ministry of information and communications honorable Mr. Bitange Ndemo both discussed the regional communications away forward and internet governance related issues. Dr. Bitange he further introduced Mr. Daud few ladies among the ministry staff.

During the conference, it was observed that research oversight in Uganda is fairly developed compared to other Least Developed Countries. However there is still lack of sufficient data on responsiveness of research to community needs. This is partly due to an effective monitoring and evaluation systems which could s be attributed to resource constraints. It was further noted that while most of the research provides positive results, seemingly negative results are useful for guiding researchers on alternative methodology that can also be useful for further research.

Non-involvement of the community in the research process can frustrate well designed and well intentioned projects. There are ongoing efforts by UNCST and stakeholders to engage the community through establishing community advisory boards and community representation on Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).  Researchers in Uganda are currently challenged with lack of funds for research on rare diseases which are affecting the community such as nodding disease, as most of the funds from development partners target – HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (ATM).  Then there is the challenge of implemented research targeting communities such as the Batwa who have developed “research fatigue.”

Prof. Nelson Sewankambo the winner of the 2012 Bioethics award

The highlight of the 4^th ANREC was the announcement of the winner of the 2012 National Bioethics Award – Prof. Nelson Sewankambo, Director of Makerere University College of Health Sciences.  Nominees for this year’s Award included:  Prof. Charles Rwabukwali; Prof. Florence Mirembe; Prof. David Guwatudde; Prof. Peter Mugyenyi and Dr. Peter Olupot-Olupot. According to Dr. Hannah Kibuuka, the Chairperson of the Planning Committee for the 4^th ANREC, the selection criteria was  individual’s contribution in the areas of: advocacy, training and mentorship, attendance and contribution at ethics meetings, among others.

The Conference recommended that the Government urgently sets priorities for health research. A well-coordinated national research data management system should be put in place to keep track of all the research going on in the country and the need to harmonize Research guidelines across the East African Community as well as country wide distribution of the local and Global research guidelines.

Dr. Peter Ndemere, the Executive Secretary, UNCST officially closed the conference and thanked the partners and other participants who dedicated their time to organizing and attending the ANREC. He pledged UNCST’s commitment work with stakeholders to promote   the rights and protect the welfare of research participants and the environment by ensuring that quality research is conducted ethically. He reiterated that “We must be sensitive to the needs and priorities of the communities, there is therefore need for research ethical responsibility”.

Aminah Bukenya

Science Officer (Public Relations)

Uganda National Council for Science and Technology

The program aims at producing professionals who use engineering tools to utilize, protect and manage natural resources as well as address concerns like agricultural, environmental and food safety concerns across the entire production-processing systems like irrigation and drainage, waste management among others. The program started with twenty one (21) students in 2008 including seventeen (17) female and four (4) male who are currently awaiting graduation. Currently, seventy eight (78) students have been admitted in the program.

Dr. Peter Ndemere, Executive Secretary, UNCST, commissions the computer laboratory while Prof. Callistus Baliddawa (right), the principal Investigator of the project and his team look on.

Dr. Peter Ndemere, the Executive Secretary UNCST officially commissioned the metrological station, Bio systems and   computer laboratory which was equipped by the project and handed over the tractor, books, furniture, vehicle, workshop tools and other assets to the University.  Dr. Ndemere thanked the Principal Investigator, Prof. Callistus Baliddawa and his team for putting the funds to great use and also marked that UNCST had developed a Science and technology Policy which was adopted by the Government of Uganda. He added that the Science and technology plan had been rolled out to stakeholders so as to operationalize the policy.

Dr. Ndemere noted that UNCST in collaboration with other stakeholders had worked hard to ensure that science and technology are given a sector status as it is in Chapter six of the National Development Plan. He pointed out the upcoming science, technology and innovation parks which are yet to be put in place in different regions of the county like Namanve, Busitema, Mbarara, Gulu and Mengo which had been finalized and is awaiting commissioning this year. UNCST thanked Gulu University officials for offering land to UNCST for the science park and promised to put it to good use to promote science and technology in Uganda.

Aminah Bukenya

Science officer (Public Relations)

Uganda National Council for Science and technology

Addis Ababa, 04 July 2012 (ECA) – The second round of the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA), which aims to reward innovation across Africa in key sectors of interest, was launched today at a press conference organized by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Addressing journalists, Ms. Aida Opoku-Mensah, Director of the ICT, Science and Technology Division (ISTD) of the ECA said,“Our focus is the future we innovate.  It’s based on the core belief that the best way to predict the future is to create it. It is a call to action across Africa. To develop our own solutions, bring together our best minds and all our resources.” She added “It’s a global invitation to link arms and use our potential, create efficiencies, and commercialize the very best ideas. This is the future Africa deserves”.

Ms. Opoku-Mensah explained that researchers are invited to propose projects that unlock new African potential under one or more areas which include manufacturing and Service Industry; Agriculture/agribusiness; ICTs; Health and Wellbeing; and Environment, Energy and Water.

She further reiterated that the organizers expect the prize to promote among young African men and women the pursuit of science, technology and engineering careers and business applications. The aims are to:

• Mobilize leaders from all sectors to fuel African innovation;
• Promote innovation across Africa in key sectors of interest through the competition;
• Promote science, technology and engineering as rewarding, exciting and noble career options among the youth in Africa by profiling success applicants; and
• Encourage entrepreneurs, innovators, funding bodies and business development service providers to exchange ideas and explore innovative business opportunities.

In pursuing those aims, the IPA expects the following outcomes:

• Increased commercialization of research and development (R&D) outputs in Africa;
• Increased funding of start-ups, adoption of new and emerging technologies and accelerated growth of an innovative and dynamic private sector; and
• Increased economic activity and African led development that results in lasting impact.

She emphasized the selection criteria, which include market potential, impact, scalability, originality, utility and technical aspects and informed journalists that the winning proposal would be awarded a cash prize of US$ 100,000, with two runner-ups receiving each US$ 25,000. The registration deadline for the 2013 prize has been set for 31 October 2012 with no possibility for extensions.

Ms. Opoku-Mensah reminded journalists that in the first phase of the competition, 458 applicants from 38 countries submitted their projects for consideration, reflecting the strong entrepreneurial spirit and the high potential of innovations in Africa. An Egyptian engineer, Mohammed Sanad, who has designed a base-station antenna that can facilitate upgrades to more advanced mobile networks in developing countries has become the first winner of the Innovation Prize for Africa. The runner up, Zeinou Abdelyamine, an industrial chemist from Algeria, received US$50,000 for his research and development of environmentally friendly, natural insecticides and rodenticides.

For detailed information of competition categories, conditions of entry, and submission procedures, please visit: InnovationPrizeForArica.org

Issued by:

ECA Information and Communication Service
P.O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Tel:  251 11 5445098 Fax: +251-11-551 03 65
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org
Web: www.uneca.org