Saturday, October 12, 2013
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Training Opportunity: The Tribal Emergency Management Association
iTEMA
The Tribal Emergency Management Association
October 23, 2012 -- 12:00 Noon Eastern
EMForum.org is pleased to host a one hour presentation and interactive discussion Wednesday, October 23, 2013, beginning at 12:00 Noon Eastern time (please convert to your local time). Our topic will be the recently founded Tribal Emergency Management Association (iTEMA). Among its activities, the association supports education and training, and earlier this month announced a partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha for a certificate program in tribal emergency management.
Our guest will be Jake Heflin, President and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of iTEMA. An enrolled member of the Osage Nation, Mr. Heflin has been involved with emergency services for over 22 years and serves as an adjunct instructor for FEMA/EMI teaching tribal emergency management, CERT Train-the-Trainer, and CERT Program Manager throughout the country.
Is your organization interested in becoming an EIIP Partner? Click here to review our Mission, Vision, and Guiding Principles and access the Memorandum of Partnership.
The Tribal Emergency Management Association
October 23, 2012 -- 12:00 Noon Eastern
EMForum.org is pleased to host a one hour presentation and interactive discussion Wednesday, October 23, 2013, beginning at 12:00 Noon Eastern time (please convert to your local time). Our topic will be the recently founded Tribal Emergency Management Association (iTEMA). Among its activities, the association supports education and training, and earlier this month announced a partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha for a certificate program in tribal emergency management.
Our guest will be Jake Heflin, President and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of iTEMA. An enrolled member of the Osage Nation, Mr. Heflin has been involved with emergency services for over 22 years and serves as an adjunct instructor for FEMA/EMI teaching tribal emergency management, CERT Train-the-Trainer, and CERT Program Manager throughout the country.
Please make plans to join us, and
see the Background
Page for links to related resources and participant Instructions.
On the day of the program, use the Webinar
Login link not more than 30 minutes before the scheduled time.
As always, please feel free to extend this
invitation to your colleagues.
In partnership with Jacksonville State
University, EIIP offers CEUs for attending EMForum.org Webinars. See http://www.emforum.org/CEUs.htm for details.
Is your organization interested in becoming an EIIP Partner? Click here to review our Mission, Vision, and Guiding Principles and access the Memorandum of Partnership.
Date and time:
|
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 12:00 pm
Eastern Daylight Time (Indiana, GMT-04:00) Change time zone |
Panelist(s) Info:
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Our guest will be Jake Heflin,
President and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of iTEMA.
|
Duration:
|
1 hour
|
Description:
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You may login at the right 30 minutes in
advance of the scheduled time.
The Tribal Emergency Management Association
Our topic will be the recently founded Tribal
Emergency Management Association (iTEMA). Among its activities, the
association supports education and training, and earlier this month announced
a partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha for a certificate
program in tribal emergency management.
|
International Food Policy Research Institute
As an emergency manager within your EOC (Emergency Operations Center) consideration for your Emergency Support Function (ESF) that handles water, and food should think 'outside of the box' that each of these areas may become a natural disaster within itself that will require coordination and our expertise in planning, and long-term recovery efforts for our communities.
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=93ac90ba409f6d49d0e4ba408&id=07bf029f20&e=78ad2d805a
NEW@IFPRI
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=93ac90ba409f6d49d0e4ba408&id=07bf029f20&e=78ad2d805a
NEW@IFPRI
Books | ||
Book on methodology for including socioeconomic considerations in regulatory decisionmaking. | ||
Book on the benefits, costs, and risks for African countries of adopting GM crops. |
Annual Report | ||
CGIAR Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health Annual Report. |
CNN: Where does aid money really go....
- Impact of international aid is hard to measure, says Charles Lwanga Ntale
- large amounts of aid money never actually leave rich countries, he adds
- But extreme poverty cannot be ended without international aid
Editor's note: Charles Lwanga Ntale is director for Africa forDevelopment Initiatives, a not-for profit organization that focuses on the role of information in ending poverty by 2030. Investments to End poverty can be downloaded at www.devinit.org
(CNN) -- What is the value and impact of international aid? In an era of global austerity, this is a question that is frequently posed by policymakers and the citizens they represent.
The truth is, it is actually quite hard to measure. But there are important questions about both the quantity and quality of aid that must be answered.
Charles Lwanga Ntale, director for Africa for Development Initiatives
Contrary to popular perception, aid is not one homogenous entity or a single transfer of money from donor to recipient countries. The term "international aid" actually covers a wide variety of things, including food and commodities, advice and training, and debt relief.
In 2011 -- the last year we have comprehensive data for -- total development aid from rich countries stood at nearly $150 billion, according to the Investments to End Poverty report. Only $59 billion identifiably involves the transfer of actual cash to, for example, recipient governments, NGOs operating on the ground or special project funds.
Aid in kind makes up another $25 billion. Most of this is food aid, which is used to tackle acute hunger -- but even this form of aid is not without controversy. Many donors avoid shipping actual food to developing countries, aware that it destroys local markets and harms local farmers.
Research demonstrates that food aid can be poor value for money, especially when food grown in donor countries is shipped to the developing world. Sorghum shipped from the United States is 200% more expensive than it is in Chad and almost 100% more than in Sudan, according to Development Initiatives calculations. Despite this, the United States and Japan continue to make extensive use of food shipments.
Large amounts of aid money never actually leave rich countries.
Charles Lwanga Ntale, Development Initiatives
Charles Lwanga Ntale, Development Initiatives
Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that large amounts of aid money never actually leave rich countries.
As much as $22 billion -- or 20% of bilateral aid spending -- is spent on activities in donor countries or put towards the cancellation of debt. This includes funds to cover housing, food and other services for the first 12 months of refugees' stay in the donor country. It also includes public spending on universities to cover the costs for students from developing countries. In 2011, $4.5 billion was spent on refugee costs, $3.5 billion on university costs and around $7.5 billion on debt relief.
As important as these expenditures may be, they do not result in any transfer of resources to developing nations. These schemes may of course be beneficial to recipient countries in the long term -- for example, contributing to capacity development if students return to their countries. But it is undeniable that these schemes are at odds with the common perception of aid as financial support transferred from donor to recipient countries to fight poverty.
These different elements of aid obviously have very different effects on economic development and growth. A dollar of cash will have a very different impact to a dollar's worth of food or a dollar's worth of a consultant's time. It is difficult to understand just how bundling all of these items into one lump sum can allow us to draw meaningful and reliable conclusions about the value of aid.
This lack of clarity was part of the motivation for Investments to End Poverty -- a major new report that analyzes aid in all of its complexity. AtDevelopment Initiatives we reviewed each individual record of foreign aid from OECD donors over the period 2006-2011 -- over a million rows of data. Now, for the first time ever, we can see just how much aid flows between specific countries and, crucially, what that aid consists of.
The results are striking. For example, according to our calculations, Italy and Denmark both gave very similar levels of bilateral aid, just above $2 billion, in 2011. But almost 70% of Italy's aid stayed in the country, spent on refugee costs and debt relief, whereas around 70% of Denmark's aid resulted in a transfer of resources to developing countries.
On the recipient side, some countries that appear to receive considerable funds in fact receive a lot less than advertised. Our research found that of the $7.5 billion in aid reported as given to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2011, more than $5 billion was not transferred to that country, and consisted instead of debt relief.
All of this matters because we are at a crossroads in international development. In the last few decades, we have seen unprecedented progress in alleviating poverty, as recognised by world leaders meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September. There is a growing consensus that we can end extreme poverty by 2030.
The truth is that we cannot meet this goal without international aid. While FDI and remittances undoubtedly contribute to economic growth in developing countries, aid is the only international resource flow which can be targeted explicitly to improve the lives of the poorest people around the world.
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 400 million people live in extreme poverty and require interventions that are targeted and complementary to existing support to lift them out of it. Without the support of international aid, most poor people will be left behind.
If we want to maximize the impact and reach of international aid, we need to ensure that every dollar is spent as efficiently as possible. We can only do this with better information and a clear understanding. Then policymakers in both donor and recipient countries can make better and more informed decisions, and civil society can better monitor progress and hold them to account.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Charles Lwanga Ntale.
MWCOG: Climate and Energy 2012 Progress Report
Check with your local government for similar reports.
Climate and Energy 2012 Progress Report Publication Date: 10/9/2013 Publication Number: 20137468 2012 Progress Report details the extensive work done by area governments in Metropolitan Washington to advance regional climate and energy goals. The report is issued by COG’s Climate, Energy and Environment Policy Committee (CEEPC), which works to ensure that the region meets the goals established in the 2008 National Capital Region Climate Change Report and Region Forward. |
The Future of Democracy & Development in Africa and the Caribbean
Press
Release
Contact:
Don Rojas
Phone:
410-844-1031
Email:
donjbrojas@gmail.com
African and Caribbean
Leaders to Speak at IBW Symposium in Washington, DC
Democracy,
Development, Reparations on the Agenda
Washington,
DC, October 9, 2013 – Dr.
Ralph Gonsalves, current Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and
Hon. Pedro Pires, former President of the Republic of Cape Verde will deliver
keynote addresses to an international symposium on The Future of Democracy
& Development in Africa and the Caribbean at the Metropolitan AME
Church, one of Washington DC’s most historic African-American institutions
(1518 M Street, NW).
Members of the US Congressional
Black Caucus, ambassadors from the African and Caribbean diplomatic corps,
along with prominent academics, policy experts, journalists and activists will
participate in the October 17-18 symposium organized by the Institute
of the Black World 21st Century (IBW), a research, policy
and advocacy group focused on issues that impact Black countries and Black
communities around the world.
PM Gonsalves will speak at the
Opening Session on October 17 at 7 pm and as a leading proponent of the growing
reparations movement in the Caribbean region, he is expected to draw
connections between future socio-economic development and the current demands
of CARICOM (the 15-nation Caribbean community of states) for reparations from
European countries. This session is free
and open to the public.
CARICOM leaders at their summit meeting
in Trinidad & Tobago in July agreed to the formation of a region-wide
Reparations Commission to seek compensation from Europe “for native genocide
and enslavement of Africans” during 300-plus years of colonization.” Gonsalves
will assume the chairmanship of CARICOM in January 2014.
On October 18, President Pires
will speak on the historical experience, evolution and development of the
Republic of Cape Verde emphasizing its successes in democratic governance and
its unique model of including the diaspora in the country’s governing
processes. This session is By Invitation
Only.
For his efforts in good governance when he was president
from 1995-2006, Pires was named as the third man to receive the “Ibrahim
Prize,” a $5 million award given by Sudanese-born telecommunications executive
Mo Ibrahim to African leaders who “raise the bar for good governance and
leadership.”
During the symposium, the
Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW) will present its
Pan-African Service Award to Prime Minister Gonsalves and its Legacy Award to
President Pires.
“We are deeply honored to have
Prime Minister Gonsalves and President Pires, two esteemed statesmen from
Africa and the Caribbean, speak at our symposium,” said Dr. Ron Daniels,
President of the IBW. “Their speeches, along with contributions from our other
distinguished panelists, will advance IBW’s international work in promoting a
process of shaping a progressive 21st Century vision and practice of
non-exploitative, people-oriented, community building and nation building.”
Daniels hopes that the gathering
will produce a consensus on a framework and process for on-going and in-depth
deliberations on key issues addressed in the symposium, with IBW functioning as
the deliberative vehicle. The Institute plans to publish the proceedings as a
resource to inform and engage broader audiences in the conclusions and
recommendations coming out of the symposium.
“We are delighted to be hosting
this important international gathering,” said Rev. Ronald Braxton, senior
pastor of the Metropolitan AME Church, which is celebrating its 175th
anniversary this year.
“It is fitting that these
deliberations be held here given that several of our members are former US
diplomats who have served in Africa and the Caribbean, that Presidents Obama
and Clinton have worshiped in our sanctuary in the past and that the church
hall where the symposium will be held is named in honor of the great 19th
Century abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass, who often gave speeches at
this church.”
The symposium’s opening session
will be streamed live and later archived for on-demand retrieval on IBW’s Web
site—http://www.ibw21.org.
Training Opportunity: Washington, D.C. Metro Area. Public Safety Chaplains Training Day. November 18, 2013
PUBLIC SAFETY CHAPLAINS
TRAINING DAY - 2013
The COG Public Safety Chaplains Subcommittee
in collaboration with the
Joint Force Headquarters Military District of
Washington
and the
Fairfax Community Chaplains
PRESENTS
“Death Notification – Suicide Awareness and
Prevention”
… which will be held on Monday,
November 18, 2013 here at the Metropolitan Washington Council of
Governments (COG), 777 North Capitol Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002 in
the COG 3rd Floor Boardroom, beginning at 8:00 AM with the Meet And
Greet and 9:00 AM Opening Prayer. The training will close at
approximately 4:00 PM. Suicide Awareness and Prevention is a very
important topic and the regional Public Safety and Military Chaplaincy
participation is sought here at all levels.
Additional
Participation
COG appreciates the gravity of this important work and the roles of all of our
regional partners. Due to the significance and magnitude of this subject
matter, additional regional public safety partners will this year be invited to
attend. That being said, the seating capacity of the Metropolitan
Washington Council of Governments Board Room is 120. Historically, we’ve
had almost 100 chaplains at each of the events that we have held over the past
seven (7) years. As such, the public safety and military chaplains
have been given priority for registration and you (chaplains) have until
October 19th (approximately one week) to register before
the registration is made available to all other regional public safety
responder partners. After this window, all other regional public safety
first responder partners will be invited to register, which may very well
create the desired intent of having the COG Boardroom reach its full
capacity. Again, the topic is important!
Public
safety and military chaplains, get your registrations in soonest! Suicide
has gone up by huge proportions in the last two to three years and has been
deemed one the nation’s growing epidemics. Your knowledge base in this
area is urgent indeed.
SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS
Special Guest Speakers for this event are:
1.
Dr. Robert
E. Douglas, National P.O.L.I.C.E.
Suicide Foundation, Inc.
Robert
Douglas is a leading expert in the area of police suicide according to
Dateline, CNN, Time Magazine, and USA Today. He is also the author of
four books: Death with No Valor, Hope Beyond the Badge, Healing for a
Hero’s Heart and soon to be published, The Art of Being You. Bob served
as US Marine, 25 years veteran of two police departments, 24 years as a pastor,
and served several law enforcement agencies as a Chaplain.
2.
Commander
Paul Anderson, Deputy Chaplain
for Joint Plans and Operations, JFHQ, Fort McNair
Chaplain
Anderson is an experienced Navy Chaplain and has served in myriad and diverse
roles in the Navy and Marine Corps. All military Chaplains are trained
and many have participated in Casualty and Assistance Officer (CACO)
calls. In the course of his career, he has made 17 CACO calls.
Among them were victims of the attack on the USS Cole; victims of the attack on
the Pentagon on 9-11 and the first Marine Corps casualty of the Global War on
Terror in Afghanistan. He helped to rewrite the curriculum for training
CACO officers and wrote the script for several video vignettes. Most
recently Chaplain Anderson assisted in the Death Notification Process for a
casualty of the massacre at the Navy Yard.
Chaplain
Anderson began his training in Suicide Awareness and Prevention at the Meninger
Clinic in Topeka Kansas. He was certified by Meninger as a Master Trainer
in 1998. He has stayed current by attending annual training sponsored by
the Army and the Navy. He has augmented his training by adding Critical
Incident Stress Management, Combat Operational Stress Control, and Hope Theory
to his interventional quiver.”
These
experts will provide you with the understanding of the subject, what you need
to know, and how you as a chaplain or first responder clergy may offset or
mitigate this ever growing suicide epidemic.
GUEST PANELISTS
We will have a cadre of guest panelists who will be able to speak to this
subject matter from different and varied perspectives. You won’t want to
miss this!
Thanks
for all that you do to support the Public Safety Chaplaincy and Military
Chaplaincy roles as well as the wonderful support you provide to the first
responders, police, fire, emergency managers, health agencies and families,
locally, regionally and nationally.
UNDERWRITING
There is still an opportunity for you to participate
in the underwriting of this event. We could use your support. If
you would like to support the underwriting of this important event, you may
contact me - Dennis Bailey directly at dbailey@mwcog.org.
LUNCH
Lunch will be on your own. Union Station is close by and there are also
several restaurants including Au Bon Pain and Subway immediately across the
street. Coffee and Donuts will be provided in the AM.
CERTIFICATES
Certificates will be provided to all registrants who have registered at least
one week in advance and who complete the training in its entirety.
REGISTRATION
You may register by clicking HERE or going to the
COG Website at www.mwcog.org and going to the Events Calendar. Remember, Chaplains
have approximately one week to register prior to an open registration to
all first-responder partners.
This topic is very current and has large and
significant implications. Many of our local and regional public safety
and military chaplains, first responders, (including public safety police and
firemen, military soldiers, emergency medical technicians, and families and
friends of those who commit suicide), find themselves having to deal with
this kind of situation for which most often they are not prepared.
The national and regional suicide numbers are staggering.
Please make every effort to be on hand for this
important training.