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Two POPIN workshops
held
The end of the year 2003 has been marked
with several activities of interest to the Asia-Pacific
POPIN network, namely a POPIN Workshop held in Bangladesh
in late September and a training workshop on population
database development through digitization at Mumbai, India
at the end of November.
The Bangladesh POPIN Workshop took place
on 23 and 24 September at the Bangladesh Academy for Rural
Development (BARD) at Comilla and was aimed at senior officials
from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) as
well as network members of Bangladesh POPIN.
The purpose of the two-day gathering was
to discuss and advocate the importance of population, reproductive
health and gender issues in the context of development in
this South Asian country. Two ESCAP staff members took part
in the Workshop as resource persons, namely Ms. Ja-Kyung
Yoo, Chief, ICT Applications Section, Information Communication
and Space Technology Division (ICSTD) and Mr. K.S. Seetharam,
Specialist on Population and Development, Population and
Social Integration Section (PSIS), Emerging Social Issues
Division (ESID). They discussed issues related to strengthening
the network of institutions in Bangladesh in the context
of issues relevant to Bangladesh development.
Increased decentralization (including through
strengthened national centres) and extensive use of ICT
for communication among members, information collection,
management, repackaging and dissemination, were cited as
directions to follow for the future of Asia-Pacific POPIN.
"Networking entails mutual obligations for the sharing
of information, services and expertise in order to meet
the information needs of users", Ms. Yoo explained.
She added that the various steps leading to efficient networking
included an agreement on the goals; an identification of
the appropriate structure and activities; an identification
of input (resources), instruments (standards) and equipment;
as well as an agreement on the various partners’ responsibilities.
Addressing the role of a POPIN focal point
and taking into consideration the limitations and constraints
of the particular centre, Mr. Seetharam suggested that clear
and realistic objectives and priorities be defined and a
two-year plan of work developed and implemented. He suggested
the setting-up of a comprehensive mechanism to review the
progress achieved and the strengthening of the use of IT
in information management. Capacity-building of the focal
point and of network members as well as the search for financial
and technical support were among the other suggestions brought
forward by Mr. Seetharam.
A few weeks later, a training workshop on
"Population database development through digitization"
was organized by the International Institute for Population
Sciences (IIPS) in collaboration with ESCAP. The workshop
took place at Data Centre, IIPS, Mumbai (India) from 27
to 29 November.
The aim of the workshop was to enhance the
awareness of online as well as offline population databases
for the benefit of population research centres and departments
of population studies under the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, India. The programme also contributed to a better
understanding of the process of digitization of documents
for the benefit of this same target group.
Ms. Ja-Kyung Yoo, Chief, ICT Applications
Section, ICSTD, ESCAP took part in the training as resource
person, along with Ms. Wanphen Sreshthaputra, Information
Expert, PSIS, ESID. The training was organized in particular
by Prof. T.K. Roy, Director, IIPS and Prof. C.P. Prakasam,
Incharge, Data Centre.
The three-day workshop laid strong emphasis
on first-hand learning and experience with lectures-cum-demonstrations,
exercises and group work. A total of 25 participants took
part in the training; they had come mostly from Mumbai,
central and southern states of India.
"It was very good to initiate this
type of workshop. It has proved very useful and innovative.
The workshop will help lift some of the barriers surrounding
research activities and the sharing of knowledge",
commented Dr. U.V. Somayajulu, Research Director at TNS
Mode, a market research firm in Andhra Pradesh. Another
participant in the workshop, Prof. A. Subbiah, Director,
Centre for Population Studies at Annamalai University (Tamil
Nadu) commented: "The training dispensed during this
workshop will directly impact on our work. Being part of
a department established some 25 years ago, I will for sure
immediately make use of the digitization process. That will
help us become more self-reliant".
The POPIN Workshop in Bangladesh and the
training workshop in India were both organized with financial
support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Four-year UNFPA-ESCAP project cycle
(2000-2003) comes to an end --
A-P POPIN Bulletin farewell issue!
The end of the year 2003 is a turning point
for the Asia-Pacific Population Information Network (POPIN)
and in particular the electronic periodical Asia-Pacific
POPIN Bulletin. December 2003 marks indeed the end of the
2000-2003 Project Agreement between ESCAP and UNFPA entitled
"Compilation, Packaging and Regular Dissemination of
Population Information for Advocacy Purposes". A new
project (2004-2007) has been submitted to UNFPA and is awaiting
approval from the Executive Board of the Fund.
The new four-year cycle is not likely to
include funding for the Asia-Pacific POPIN Bulletin. In
these times of high-speed Internet connectivity and instant
networking, a thrice-yearly publication, relying mainly
on secondary data, faces a rough time trying to add value
to the profusion of information available instantly online.
Thus as regards Asia-Pacific POPIN, the new cycle is expected
to focus on the strength of the Network’s secretariat,
that is its positioning as a knowledge resource-centre.
Built over many years of collaborative efforts among Asia-Pacific
POPIN members, the existing online databases are thus likely
to receive renewed attention. As during the previous cycles,
some training courses on information technology applications
for improved repackaging and dissemination of population
information are also likely to be held in order to keep
pace with fast-changing technologies.
After more than 15 years of publication,
in print and then electronic format, the Asia-Pacific POPIN
Bulletin is taking leave and would like to bid farewell
to its loyal readers. But it will explore new strategies
and surely soon re-emerge in new attractive e-alerts or
perhaps through more dynamic and interactive websites and
databases. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific POPIN Bulletin wishes
you well!
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