EXPERT WORKSHOP:Engineering and Technology for Poverty Eradication
Results of the Workshop (TAPE02 24/5/02
UNESCA, Paris, 23-4 May 2002

  The Workshop was attended by eighteen participants from engineering; organisations, the technology and development community and UNESCO. The Workshop is part of a continuing activity and follows two previous meetings in 2000 (initial workshop) and 2001 (focusing on technology and development NGOs).

The professional engineering and technology community underlined a complete commitment to playing a role and practical programme and project activity in poverty reduction.

  The Workshop emphasised that poverty relates to addressing basic needs, enhancing the quality of life and promoting sustainable livelihoods and development of poor people. This includes such areas as water supply and sanitation, food production and processing, housing, energy, transportation, communication, income generation and employment creation.  Access to knowledge and resources for addressing basic needs in these areas consists essentially of the application of technology appropriate to the context of poor people.

  The Workshop recognised that poverty is primarily a reflection of the limited access of poor people to the knowledge and resources with which to address their basic human needs, enhance the quality of their lives and promote their sustainable development. The Workshop recognized that the "digital divide" is in fact a part of a broader picture of the "technological divide" between developed and developing countries.

  The Workshop further recognised that this is a basic human right of poor people, and that failure to address such needs contributes to the marginalisation, social exclusion and alienation of poor people.

  The Workshop emphasised that the overall objective of such activity is to ensure the adaptation, adoption and use of appropriate technologies for poverty reduction in developing countries, and that the priority of such activity should be on poverty reduction in Africa, but including activity in poverty reduction in other areas.

  It was concluded and recommended at the Expert Workshop that the role of the professional engineering and technology community in poverty reduction includes advice, advocacy, information, communication, project and programme activity at the national, regional and international level relating to technology transfer, education and training, human resource development and capacity building in engineering and technology. It was observed that this activity relate to development-related policy  and  decision-makers  in  governments, inter governmental and non-governmental organisations.                                                                                                                                                                           It was agreed that this includes such activity as:

1.    "International Workshop on Technology and Poverty Reduction", to be held in Elmina, Ghana,in 2-3 July 2002 (provisional date, likely change to later September/early October). To be organised by the Technology Consultancy Centre, University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in conjunction with the African Technology Policy Studies network. The purpose of the Workshop is to follow through to various poverty reduction strategy framework meetings in the region in the development of science and technology as a crosscutting tool in poverty reduction and promotion of technology as a pivotal element for poverty reduction in countries of the region.

2.    "International Focus: Engineering and Technology for Poverty Eradication", to be held held in London on 12-13 May 2003 (to be confirmed).To be organised by the Institution on civil Engineers, in conjunction with UNESCO,WFEO,Engineers Against Poverty, the Department for International Development, the Intermediate Technology Development Group and other relevant partners. The Focus will be a meeting of specialists and policy makers in the field of engineering, technology and poverty eradication. The purpose of this Focus is to advocate the role of the professional engineering and technology community in poverty eradication and to discuss, develop and initiate a programme of action promoting the role and activity of the professional engineering and technology community in poverty eradication through the improvement of innovation systems, development of information and information sharing, human and institutional capacity Building.

3.    Development of a pilot project "Technology and Poverty Eradication: Making Knowledge Networks Work for the Poor", to be developed in conjunction with ITDG, VITA and other groups working in the field of appropriate technology. The purpose of the pilot project is to map existing technology information services, asses the potential of a global network, practicalities of shared access and IT requirements, constraints to existing services, identification of good practices in these areas and launch of pilot activities based on this information.

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