Transcript Indigenous Knowledge and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals Nicolas Gorjestani

Indigenous Knowledge and
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals
Indigenous Knowledge -- Learning from Local Communities
Global Distance Learning Course
March 28 – April 1, 2005
Colombo
Dar es Salaam
Delhi
Kampala
Nicolas Gorjestani
Senior Advisor
Africa Region
World Bank
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Overview
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Knowledge and Learning Context
IK and Millennium Development Goals
The Challenges Ahead
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Knowledge
is
experience
---
everything
else is
information
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Knowledge is not the exclusive
domain of rich countries, nor of
the rich in poor countries
Local
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Global
Indigenous Knowledge Course Objectives
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Goal:
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Provide the participants practical tools and approaches to
help incorporate IK into development policies and programs;
Promote South-South collaboration and peer-to-peer learning
among IK practitioners
Approach:
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Address the development challenges through the unique
perspective of Indigenous Knowledge (IK)
Demonstrate the potential role of IK in helping achieve the
Millennium Development Goals
Focus on success stories in using IK to help increase food
security & agricultural productivity, reduce maternal mortality,
and treat opportunistic diseases associated with HIV/AIDS
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
What are the
Millennium Development Goals?
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The 2000 United Nations Millennium Declaration
formulates eight goals to be achieved by the year 2015
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The goals cover the areas of poverty, hunger, education,
gender, health, and environment
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The MDGs place human development at the center of
social and economic progress, and emphasize the value
of global partnerships for development.
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
What is
Indigenous Knowledge?
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Unique to ANY community or culture
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Embedded in community practices and institutions
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Basis for local decision making pertaining to
food security, human and animal health, education,
natural resource management, governance, etc.
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Indigenous Knowledge and the Poor
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Indigenous Knowledge is the social capital of the poor
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Indigenous Knowledge is the basis for their decision making
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Indigenous Knowledge provides local solutions to
development challenges facing poor communities
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By building on Indigenous Knowledge and leveraging other
knowledge, poverty can be addressed jointly with the poor
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Why Use IK in the Development Process ?
For Example, in Health:
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Most of the poor who live under $1/day depend on
traditional medicine;
About ¾ of Africans do not have access to modern
health services and have to rely on traditional medicine;
There is a strong business case for utilizing traditional
healing approaches to reach the poor and help them
live healthier lives;
Development programs need to build on such local
knowledge systems;
Upgrading the capabilities of traditional healers and
birth attendants could help them to more effectively
contribute to providing healthcare needs of the poor.
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Indigenous Knowledge
Could Help to Achieve the MDGs:
Health
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Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other Diseases (MDG 6)
 Case Study from Tanzania: Tanga AIDS Working
Group combats HIV/AIDS using traditional medicines
Reduce Maternal Mortality (MDG 5)
 Case Study from Uganda: Public health services
and traditional birth attendants collaborate to help
reduce maternal mortality by 50% over three years
Day 2
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Indigenous Knowledge
Could Help to Achieve the MDGs:
Poverty Reduction and The Environment
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Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1)
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Case Study from India: Farmers reclaim sodic
lands and increase production
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Ensure environmental sustainability (MDG 7)
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Case Study from Sri Lanka: Conservation of
medicinal plants and documentation of their
medicinal value produces income for communities
while at the same time conserving the environment
Day 3
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Indigenous Knowledge
Could Help to Achieve the MDGs:
Education, Gender, and Infant Mortality
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Achieve Universal Primary Education (MDG 2)
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West Africa: School curricula incorporate indigenous
knowledge and use local languages
Promote Gender Equity (MDG 3)
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Senegal: Women and traditional village authorities
partner to abolish female circumcision
Reduce Infant Mortality (MDG 4)
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Ethiopia: Infants receive traditional medicine and child
rearing practices to treat common infant diseases
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Indigenous Knowledge
Could Help to Achieve the MDGs:
Partnerships
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Develop Global Partnerships for Development (MDG 8)
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East African and South Asian practitioners learn jointly
about IK practices and promote IK in early childhood
development, conservation of medicinal plants and
benefit sharing
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Researchers, traditional healers and policy makers
join to validate medicinal practices for safety and
efficacy
Day 4
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Enriching the Development Process -An Action Plan:
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Scale up successful IK practices
Enhance the capacity of local communities to develop,
share and apply their indigenous knowledge systems
Develop innovative tools for the validation and
protection of indigenous knowledge
Design a results framework for monitoring indigenous
knowledge and measuring its impact
Establish an innovation fund to promote successful
indigenous knowledge practices
Organize a global indigenous knowledge conference to
galvanize the support of the development partners for
the above agenda
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Challenge: Help Incorporate IK in Development
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Raise awareness at local and national level
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Help communities to document, share and
develop IK
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Mainstream IK into your “operational activities”
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Promote creation of conducive policy
environments for application of IK
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Adapt development solutions to the local context
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank
Farmers
Healers
Hunters
Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program
Nicolas Gorjestani, World Bank