Nairobi, 24 December-
The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) this month pushed ahead to promote
its Online Access to Research in the Environment
(OARE) programme
in the Republic of Yemen, offering the chance
for the country's science community to gain
greater access to leading scientific journals.
UNEP and Yemen's Environmental
Protection Authority (EPA) and Ministry
of Water and Environment worked together
this month with the World Health Organization
(WHO) to train 30 Yemeni researchers, scientists,
planers, and lecturers about the use of
OARE. The training, which took place in
the capital of Sana'a, was one of UNEP's
efforts to support the country as it faces
increasing environmental challenges as a
result of climate change, food crisis, and
water scarcity.
"We are confident
that this model of collaboration between
UN organizations in supporting our institutions
in Yemen for accessing scientific information
and building capacity will lead to successful
outcomes," said Mahmoud Mohamed Shidiwah,
Chairman of Yemen's Environmental Protection
Agency.
Yemen's economy depends
largely on the oil and fishing industries.
Even though recent reports show a 25 percent
increase in fish product exports and a 30
percent increase in fish volume, according
to a recent World Bank report, the country
is facing an alarming decline in fish stock
and production in some areas.
"We need to do
much more to get to a climate-smart world,"
said Katherine Sierra, Vice-President for
Sustainable Development at the World Bank.
"On the energy
front, we must tackle difficult issues like
technology transfer, investment, and climate
finance. But when it comes to adaptation
and building climate resilience, the challenge
is more complex and the role of knowledge
will be key," she added.
Yemen is one of 108
developing countries which now has free
access to the latest in scientific literature
through the OARE programme. So far, more
than 1,600 institutions are registered with
OARE to use the wide collection of scientific
research and the increasing number of scientific
databases and portals.
OARE's expanding role
in the developing world comes at a time
when the world is focusing on knowledge
and technology transfer in efforts to promote
more sustainable development. Access to
the latest findings in environmental science
will aid the developing countries in their
efforts to adapt to an increasingly changing
environment.
In November, a similar
workshop was organized in Amman, Jordan,
where 35 participants from Jordan and Iraq
were trained on OARE. Other trainings are
scheduled to take place in Tunisia, Morocco
and Afghanistan in early 2010.
The crucial transfer
of scientific information to the developing
world began two years ago when UNEP negotiated
a deal with the leading publishers to build
one of the largest electronic collections
of scientific knowledge in environmental
and related areas. UNEP established a partnership
with WHO, FAO, Yale and Cornell universities,
international publishers and private sector
groups like Microsoft. The result was a
collection that is available online and
contains more than 2,900 scientific and
peer-reviewed journals with a value of around
US$1.5 million a year.
OARE joins other programmes
in the fields of health (HINARI) and agriculture
(AGORA) to expand the availability of information
resources. Yemen and 107 other developing
countries and more than 1,600 institutions
have free access to the OARE programme.
As climate change and
resource degradation continue to hurt the
more vulnerable developing countries, UNEP
is joining the effort to facilitate much
needed science and technology transfer from
the developed countries to the developing
world. Access to the OARE and other scientific
journals will allow these scientists to
help their countries in climate change adaptation
and mitigation work as well as address other
environmental challenges.
