IK News Archive

December 8, 1999

National Workshop on IK adopts "Kampala Declaration on IK", December 8-9, 1999, Kampala, Uganda

A national workshop, called by the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) was held in Kampala on December 8th and 9th. Representatives of government, private sector and civil society discussed the potential of IK for Uganda's development.

October 22, 1998

Progress of Indigenous Knowledge for Development Initiative presented to the annual PICTA meeting in Tunis. (October 21-23, 1998)
PICTA members, partners of the IK initiative, expressed their satisfaction with the results achieved so far. The IK- Brochures, the first issue of the IK Notes, the video, and the IK report were distributed and discussed. Based on the discussion, a framework of action was agreed upon for 1998/99.

October 15, 1998

The INDISCO initiative is hosting a donor consultation and planning meeting in Davao City on the Philippines from November 4th to 8th on "Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge into the Development Process". ILO-INDISCO (Interregional Programme to Support Self-Reliance of Indigenous and Tribal Communities through Cooperatives and other Self-Help Organizations).

October 3, 1998

Guus von Liebenstein, Director of CIRAN joined the Knowledge Expo during the Annual Meeting. CIRAN is a partner of the initiative and a hub of a global IK Network. The iniative looks forward to intensify the collaboration with CIRAN.

October 3, 1998

WB President James Wolfensohn reiterates the importance of indigenous people and their knowledge. In his call for a new inclusive approach to development he urges

" Today, in the wake of crisis, we need a second framework, one that deals with the progress in structural reforms necessary for long-term growth, one that includes the human and social accounting, that deals with the environment, that deals with the status of women, rural development, indigenous people, progress in infrastructure, and so on..".

October 3, 1999

A new Online Source on Indigenous Knowledge in Forest Management .

October 1, 1998

The African Regional Vice President Callisto Madavo makes a statement on the Indigenous Knowledge Initiative on the importance of IK to be recognized in the development process in order to "make the poor not only as recipients of knowledge but as contributors to and shapers of their own history." (Video and transcript of video).

June 6th, 1999

New Ethnoveterinary Mailing List

To register send blank email to: join-EVM@lyris.nuffic.nl The list will enable computer users world-wide to share information on local knowledge of animal healthcare and production. It is moderated by an international team and is hosted by the Centre for International Research and Advisory Networks (CIRAN) of NUFFIC, Netherlands.

The field of ethnoveterinary medicine offers great potential for development. It covers what animal raisers, through trial-and-error and deliberate experiments, know and use to keep their animals healthy and productive. This includes herbal medicines, local tools and management practices, and information and beliefs about diseases, animal production and breeding.

The new mailing list is open to all interested in the study and application of ethnoveterinary medicine. Participants include veterinarians, livestock specialists and related disciplines such as ethnobotanists, pharmacologists, economists and social scientists. They can be field practitioners, clinicians, scientists, staff members of government and non-governmental organisations and training institutions, extensionists, healers, farmers, representatives of the private sector, or policy makers.

May 5th

Compas announces it's first newsletter, reporting on indigenous agricultural practices.

Compas partners with IK initiative.

Compas is a collaborative undertaking of 15 development organisations in 10 differ-ent countries in South America, Africa, Asia and Europe. These partner organisations are committed to endogenous devel-opment. They want to understand the worldviews of the rural people with whom they work and seek opportunities to support the dynamics of indigenous knowledge and traditional institutions. The Compas network for COMPAring and Supporting endogenous development started in 1995. Its objectives are to create the space necessary to reach a deeper understanding of farmers’ visions and enabling a dialogue between development organisa-tions that share this concern. COMPAS presently works with 14 partner organisations in 10 countries and is implemented by ETC Ecoculture, The Netherlands.

April, 21st

For a recent summary of an on-line discussion see the Archive of the "Information and Knowledge for Development Discussion List" at Indigenous Knowledge was one of the liveliest discussion topics on the list.

April, 15

New partner CIDA joins Indigenous Knowledge for Development partnership. The first common undertaking is to finalize guidelines for the use of IK in projects, in particular in Environmental Assessment. These guidelines were drafted by CIDA, discussed with representatives of indigenous people, the private sector, donor organizations and numerous individuals. Among others, ILO and CIRAN are involved in this effort.

IK Monitor - Online reports about the IK initiative, the expo at last years annual meeting and the cooperation between the Initiative and our partner CIRAN.

The United Nations Center for Human Settlement (Habitat) Joins the IK initiative.

Habitat's Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme will partner with the Indigenous Knowledge for Development Programme to collaborate in the identification, documentation and dissemination of good and best practices in the application of indigenous knowledge for development. Habitat and the World Bank intend to encourage such initiatives to document their work for the 2000 Dubai International Award for Best Practices. Ten Awards will be presented in October 2000, each consisting of a US$30,000 prize, a trophy and a certificate.

Since 1996, Habitat's Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme has been developing and updating a Best Practices Database. The database currently contains over 650 proven solutions to the common social, economic and environmental problems of an urbanizing world. It demonstrates the practical ways in which communities, governments and the private sector are working together to eradicate poverty, provide shelter, protect the environment and support economic development.

News from Peru (in spanish)

Nature reports on a call for UNESCO to protect Indigenous Knowledge in its February 4th issue. The Nature article.

India is leading calls for the UNESCO to set up a global fund to recognize and conserve knowledge systems that predate the scientific revolution. A meeting of scientists and social scientists from India and eight of its neighbours -- including China, Thailand, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Iran -- pledge to put the issue high on the agenda of UNESCO's forthcoming World Conference on Science in June 1999. Full text of the proposed amendment for UNESCO's draft declaration on science and the use of scientific knowledge as suggested by the scientists in Bangalore January 29th.

Dakar, Senegal, March 11-12, 1999

First International Conference on Traditional medicines and HIV/AIDS

January 10, 1999

Thailand is considering legislation on the protection of indigenous knowledge, reports Financial Times.

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