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Executive Secretary’s Visit to Sweden and Norway
The Executive Secretary of OSSREA visited Sweden and Norway from 30 August – 11 September 2002. The first part of the visit was to Sweden where the Executive Secretary attended the 40th Anniversary Conference of the Nordic Africa Institute. The meeting drew all the former directors, members of the board and Nordic researchers connected to the Institute. Only five African scholars were presenting papers and leading the discussions on collaboration. The Executive Secretary presented a paper titled “Can Indigenous Knowledge Be of Relevance in the 21st Century?” which generated a lively discussion. The same topic was also addressed in a panel discussion open to the public.
However, the main purpose of the visit was to discuss issues related to different projects as well as future cooperation. There was also an opportunity to have discussions with Prof. Anders Hjort of EPOS and Dr. Tade Aina of the Ford Foundation Office in Nairobi who was one of the Africans attending the meeting. Dr. Tade Aina explained why he could not at the moment endorse OSSREA’s application for funding, but he agreed that he would look favourably at future applications.
In Norway, the Executive Secretary held a number of meetings in Bergen in addition to the one he had with NORAD and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Oslo. In Bergen, the discussions focused on the possibility of continuing the Drylands Project, the start of the capacity building programme in the Horn of Africa and the Wetlands Project for the Nile Basin. All participants in the discussions from CDS and CMI were interested in maintaining their links with OSSREA after the term of the present Executive Secretary is over.
In Oslo, a meeting was held with NORAD officers, which was also attended by a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After being briefed on OSSREA’s activities, the meeting focussed on the proposals for funding presented by OSSREA. These included the support for the 7th Congress, the HIV/AIDS Project, the Wetlands Project and the Capacity Building Project.
For the Congress and the HIV/AIDS Project, the reaction was positive and support will be decided upon soon. However, it was agreed that the initial proposal on HIV/AIDS covering eight countries should be sent to NORAD immediately. The Capacity Building Project involving OSSREA, CDS and CMI has to be presented to NORAD in its final form. It was agreed that both Prof. Leif Manger and Mr. Johan Helland will follow this up with NORAD. The Wetlands Project will be considered within a wider framework regarding activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as partners in the Nile Basin Initiative. The CDS has already presented a project in this area and both projects will be considered but it was agreed that this may be a slow process.