September - October 2015, IDRC Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean bulletin

Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean September-October 2015 SPANISH VERSION News / Calls and awards / Recent and upcoming events / New projects / Publications and project articles

Global Forum of Science, Technology and Innovation Councils On October 22-23, representatives from science, technology and innovation (STI) councils in Brazil, Canada, Korea, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and Uruguay met in Santiago, Chile to exchange experiences and share information on common initiatives. The event, which consolidated a global network of institutions working on STI strategies and agendas, was organized by Canada’s Science and Technology Innovation Council (STIC) and Chile’s National Council of Innovation for Development of Chile (CNID), with funding from IDRC. Read more (Spanish)

Bridging the climate change knowledge gap between scientists and policy makers

Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America (CATHALAC) and the Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG) of the University of South Africa organized the International Workshop "Advancing the application of climate and hydrological information and its translation into policy” in Panama City on October 6-8, 2015. The workshop, was opened by Mr. Emilio Sempris, Vice-Minister of Environment for Panama. Its aim was to develop an approach to address the knowledge gaps that exist between scientists that predict future climate and hydrological changes and policy makers/practitioners that use this information. Participants in the event included IDRC-supported research teams from 12 countries from Asia and

Read more (Spanish)

Business opportunities with social impact

From October 7 to 9, 2015, the international conference on “Inclusive Distribution: a business opportunity with social impact” took place in Mexico City. The event provided a space for dialogue and exchange between experts from corporations, social enterprises, NGOs and academics who use their experience in the field to share valuable knowledge and insights on accelerating the scaling- up of inclusive distribution models.

IDRC, the Citi Foundation and the IDB / MIF collaborate through the SCALA initiative to promote the creation of business opportunities for low-income populations - especially young people and women - by scaling inclusive innovative distribution networks.

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Rural development in post-conflict Colombia Dr. Jose Antonio Ocampo, Head of Colombia's “Mission for Rural Transformation" participated in a public event at IDRC headquarters on September 25 th, 2015. During his presentation he outlined the key concepts and recommendations contained in the report to be presented soon to the Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on rural development in post-conflict Colombia.

Dr. Ocampo is a world leader in the field of international development and in the 1980’s led several macroeconomics projects funded by IDRC. Read more / Watch his presentation (Duration: 1 h. 37 min.)

Brazil, Canada and Mexico share municipal governance experiences Globally, more and more people are migrating from rural areas to cities looking for opportunities to improve their quality of life. By 2025, it is estimated that 80% of the population in Latin America will be living in cities, with this presenting major challenges for metropolitan governance.

The “Metropolitan Governance in Mexico: Learning from the experiences of Canada and Brazil” project worked to identify the characteristics of design, implementation and policies of metropolitan structures that might be applicable and useful in addressing the need for collaborative governance and coordinated action in metropolitan areas of Mexico. The project was developed between 2014-2015 and financed by IDRC. Results will be presented in November at the International Forum on Metropolitan Governance Innovation in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Watch animated video (Duration: 9 min., subtitled) /

Read more /

Visit website

Women in the Latin American labour market In the 1960's only 2 out of every 10 women worked outside the home in Latin America. Today that figure is more than 6. However, since the early 2000s the incorporation of women into the labour

market in the region has decelerated.

Recently published by CEDLAS, the “¿Bridging gender gaps? The rise and deceleration of female labour force participation in Latin America” book presents evidence of this deceleration, explores the causes, assesses implications, and discusses the limitations and challenges of public policies towards promoting the empowerment of women and gender equality.

Read more / Watch animated video (Duration: 2 min. 30 s., subtitled)

Special Issue of Policy in Focus features IDRC supported projects Despite significant development gains in recent decades, developing countries still face considerable challenges in the fight against poverty. Cash transfer programs have emerged as a relevant tool for poverty reduction. However, critics have expressed concerns that such social grants could lead to dependency among beneficiaries, dissuade them from seeking work, or reinforce traditional gender roles.

These issues have been at the core of a series of projects supported by IDRC that have also been prioritised by the International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth's (IPC-IG) research and knowledge-sharing activities. This special issue of Policy in Focus, entitled “Social Protection, Entrepreneurship and Labour Market Activation” summarizes a series of studies and recommendations from Latin America and Africa.

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Innovation and the new service economy in Latin America and the Caribbean The service sector has become one of the most important economic sectors in the global economy in both developed and developing countries. Today, the service economy provides more than 60% of employment and GDP in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, the slow productivity growth in the service sector has been an obstacle for the growth of productivity in the region. In this context, innovation in the service sector is particularly relevant.

This book, published by the Centro de Investigaciones Económicas (CINVE), presents research results from eight countries in the region and received funding and technical assistance from IDRC and the IADB. Read more (Spanish)

Urban connectivity in three big Latin American cities How are different devices - tablets, smartphones, computers – used to access the Internet in three large Latin American cities? How much are poor and marginalized groups participating in and receiving the benefits from new levels of connectivity across the region? How does social interaction change with technologies that promote open access?

As part of the project “Information Networks and Social Inclusion in Latin America” DIRSI undertook a qualitative survey on the uses of ICTs in Buenos Aires, Lima and Guatemala City.

The study pays special attention to educational or learning activities, work activities or job searches, communication/interaction with the government and, entertainment or information searches.

Read: Global report | Guatemala report | Buenos Aires report | Lima report (Spanish)

Training on intersectoral health management

On November 14, 2015 the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the National University of Rosario is organizing the "1st Conference on Intersectoral Health Governance" in Rosario, Argentina.

This activity is part of IDRC funded project “Toward More Equitable Primary Health Care in Argentina and Latin America through Intersectoral Approaches”.

Read more (Spanish)

New and improved FUNDAUNGO website The Dr. Guillermo Manuel Ungo Foundation (Fundaungo) has just launched a new and improved website, in multiple languages which will facilitate greater diffusion of the research work carried out in El Salvador and Central America. The FUNAUNGO research agenda focuses on three programs: democratic governance, land management, and citizenship and public policy studies. FUNDAUNGO is funded by the Think Tank Initiative. Read more

Former IDRC recipient awarded On October 14, 2015 the Guatemalan Dr. Claudia Paz y Paz received the “Civil Courage Prize 2015” awarded by the Train Foundation. Dr. Paz y Paz became Guatemala's first female attorney general in 2010 and was founder and director of the Institute of Comparative Studies in Criminal Sciences in Guatemala (ICCPG), an academic institution working on issues related to human rights and criminal justice. Since the early 2000s, IDRC has provided support on several occasions to ICCPG research and its work bringing together judicial and human rights defenders to monitor the criminal justice system in Guatemala.

We take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Paz y Paz for this recognition!

Read more (prize) / Read more on IDRC support to ICCPG

Video of the month - Use of ICTs in the care of landmine victims in Colombia Colombia is the country with the second highest rate of landmine victims in the world, where 22% of cases occur in the Department of Antioquia. Ninety percent of these accidents occur in remote rural areas far from health centers. The University of Antioquia leads the “Home Telemap” program which uses ICT’s for early patient care.

In 2014 the Regional Fund for Digital Innovation in Latin America and the Caribbean (FRIDA), recognized the work of the Home Telemap program under the category “Mobile Internet for Social Inclusion, Growth, Political Participation, and Active Citizenship”.

The FRIDA Awards seek to acknowledge the best ICT initiatives from the region by identifying existing practices that can be scaled-up and to showcase good experiences among decision makers in the region.

Watch documental video Programa Telemap (Duration: 16 min. 50 s., subtitled)

Call for Masters and PhD students to study in Canada The 2016 call for students is now open. The objective of this call is to build human resource capacities in Uruguay’s extractive industry by supporting a series of awards for Masters and PhD students in Canada in fields related to the extractive industries.

These awards are administered by the National Agency for Research and Innovation (ANII).

Read more (Spanish) Deadline: March 31st, 2016

The future of extractive industries in Latin America and the Caribbean

The South American Network on Applied Economics/Red Sur has opened a call for research proposals on “The Future of Extractive Industries in Latin America and the Caribbean: science, technology and innovation (STI) challenges and opportunities” to fund 5 research projects, each with a six month duration.

Deadline: November 30, 2015 Read more

Oct. 07-09, 2015 Oct. 08-08, 2015 Oct. 15-17, 2015 Oct. 22-24, 2015 27-29 Oct. 2015 27-31 Oct. 2015 10-12 Nov. 2015

Distribución Inclusiva: una oportunidad de negocio con impacto social, Ciudad de México Advancing the application of climate and hydrological information and its translation into policy, Panamá City, Panama LACEA 2015, Santa Cruz, Bolivia Global Forum of Science, Technology and Innovation Councils, Santiago de Chile, Chile “Open Government Partnership Summit”, Mexico City XI Conferencia Anual sobre Compras Gubernamentales de las Américas, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana XXVI Seminario Anual CIES 2015, Lima, Peru

Toward a New Architecture for Global Mental Health This project aims to upgrade the capacity of Latin American and Caribbean and Canadian institutions to conduct and disseminate research on global mental health. It supports improvements in research capacity for innovation, as well as knowledge sharing and transfer, to influence policies and practices and improve learning capacity in Global Mental Health. Research Centres from Canada, Chile and the University of the West Indies in Jamaica participate in this project.

Read more

Improving Quality of Maternal Health Care for Indigenous Women in Argentina, Mexico and Peru Latin America is the region with the greatest inequities in the world - including access to quality health services.

Indigenous peoples living across Latin America experience health indicators far inferior to the rest of the population.

Among the indicators of greatest concern among indigenous communities is the high rate of maternal mortality.

This project examines quality of care as both a cultural construct and a technical consideration in three indigenous communities of Mexico, Peru and Argentina. Each of these three case studies will explore perceptions of quality care

among indigenous women, as well as collect and analyze various structural and contextual factors using a customized framework for quality of care indicators. As part of the effort to improve quality of care, the implementation of an integrated health service delivery network in all the three countries will also be examined. The research will be coordinated by teams at the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos (UAEM, Mexico), the Cayetano Hereda Peruvian University (UPCH, Peru), and the Center for the Study of the State and Society (CEDES, Argentina).

Want to stay up to date on the information published by the media on the projects we fund in Latin America and the Caribbean?

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HIGHLIGHTS •

CIFOR BLOG – Journalist Harry Pearl wrote an article on “Las crecidas del Amazonas: la adaptación empieza en casa” highlighting the results of the “Sociocultural Adaptation of Caboclos Communities to Extreme Tidal Events in the Amazon Estuary of Brazil” project funded by IDRC.

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Universidad Efait (Colombia) –N° 166 of Universidad EFAIT’s scientific journal published the article “Buscan reducir la problemática ambiental en la bahía de Cartagena“ on IDRC-funded project, Basic , which studies the interactions between watersheds, the ocean and communities in the coastal area of Cartagena, Colombia.

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Radio Canadá Internacional - Journalist Leonora Chapman carried out an interview entitled “Publicidad en televisión que engorda a chicos argentinos” with Lorena Allemandi on the advances of the Television Food Advertising to Children in Argentina research project being led by the Interamerican Heart Foundation in Argentina with funding from IDRC.

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Observa TV (Uruguay) – Interview with Uruguayan researchers from the project “Addressing the Emergence and Spread of Leishmaniasis in the Borders of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay”

Agriculture and Environment • •

“Minería y su impacto sobre el desarrollo”, Bernaby, Montevideo; 2015 “Entre el activismo y la intervención: el trabajo de organizaciones de la sociedad civil y su incidencia para la salud de mujeres indígenas en México. Principales Hallazgos y Aprendizajes”; López Ricoy, M.E.; Freyermuth, L.G.;

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Alternativas y Capacidades A.C.; 2015 “Mental health and citizenship”; Onocko-Campos, R. Universidade Estadual de Campinas – UNICAMP; 2015 “Estructura agraria y dinámica de pobreza rural en el Perú”, Escobal, J.; Armas, C.; Documento de Investigación 79; GRADE, 2015

Social and Economic Policy • • • • • • • • • •

“Metropolitan Governance in Mexico : Learning from the experiences of Canada and Brazil; final technical report (July 1, 2014 to May 31, 2015)”; Markey, S.; Hernandez, G. ; Aguinaga, E. ; McRae, J.; Centre for Sustainable Community Development, Simon Fraser University; 2015 “Planeación de una gobernanza efectiva en las áreas metropolitanas de México”, Aguiñaga, E.; Aranda, A.; Ardis, L.; Castro, E.; do Livramento Clementino, M.; Markey, S.; Hernandez, G.; Simon Fraser University; 2015 “Planning for effective governance in metropolitan areas in Mexico” Aguiñaga, E.; Aranda, A.; Ardis, L.; Castro, E.; do Livramento Clementino, M.; Markey, S.; Hernandez, G.; Centre for Sustainable Community Development, Simon Fraser University; 2015 “Urban Mexico: the need for Metropolitan governance”; Aguiñaga, E.; Aranda, A.; Ardis, L.; Ferguson; G.; Mejia, S. ; Centre for Sustainable Community Development, Simon Fraser University; 2015 “Segundo Diálogo Nacional sobre Crecimiento Verde e Inclusivo en Bolivia”; Red LATN; 2015 “Atlas de la violencia en El Salvador: 2009-2012”; Córdova, R.; Tablas, V.; Salguero, J.; Figueroa, M.; FundaUngo; 2015 “Una nueva mirada a los desafíos de cobertura del Sistema de Pensiones en El Salvador: la densidad individual de las cotizaciones”; Argueta, N.; Bolaños Cámbara, F.; Rivera, M.E; FundaUngo; 2015 “¿Qué significa manejar bien el dinero? Análisis comparativo entre usuarias de JUNTOS que han recibido y no han recibido Educación Financiera”; Caballero, E.; Serie Miscelánea N° 35; IEP; 2015 “Encuentro Regional de Inclusión y Educación Financiera en América Latina y el Caribe.Lecciones aprendidas y desafíos”; Prim, C.; Villada, I.; Yancari. J.; Serie Miscelánea N° 36; IEP/FOSIS; 2015 “Decline of General Intelligence in Children Exposed to Manganese from Mining Contamination in Puyango River Basin, Southern Ecuador”; Betancourt, O.; Tapia, M.; Méndez; I.; Ecohealth Journal, Vol. 132015

Technology and Innovation • • • •

“ICT sectors and clusters, local firm performance and employment generation in Latin America: final report”; Monge-González, R.; Hewitt, J. Fundación Comisión Asesora en Alta Tecnología (CAATEC); 2015 “La conectividad urbana en América Latina - Informe global de la Encuesta sobre uso de Internet”; Barrantes, R.; Agüero, A.; Vargas, E.; Diálogo Regional sobre Sociedad de la Información – DIRSI, Septiembre 2015 “La conectividad urbana en América Latina. Una mirada a Buenos Aires”, Barrantes, R.; Agüero, A.; Vargas, E.; Diálogo Regional sobre Sociedad de la Información – DIRSI; Septiembre 2015 “La conectividad urbana en América Latina. Una mirada a Ciudad de Guatemala”, Barrantes, R.; Agüero, A.; Vargas, E.; Diálogo Regional sobre Sociedad de la Información – DIRSI; Septiembre 2015

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“La conectividad urbana en América Latina. Una mirada a Lima” , Barrantes, R.; Agüero, A.; Vargas, E.; Diálogo Regional sobre Sociedad de la Información – DIRSI; Septiembre 2015

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“Discrimination in online contracting: Evidence from Latin America”; Galperin, H.; Vicens, M.F.; Greppi, C.; DIRSI; July 2015 "Internet en los tiempos de El Pilar: redes, cambios y desigualdades en una comunidad nativa con la llegada de conexiones de banda ancha a la Internet"; Vila, G.; Serie Jóvenes Investigadores; DIRSI; Septiembre 2015

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“How Transformational Mobile Banking Optimizes Household Expenditures Optimizes Household Expenditures: A Case Study from Rural Communities in Mexico”, Rentería, C.; Information Technologies & International Development, 11(3), 39–54

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean Avda. Brasil 2655, 11300 Montevideo, Uruguay Tel: +598 2 7090042 Email: lacro@idrc.ca www.idrc.ca/lacro

Comments or suggestions write to lacro@idrc.ca