Indigenous Knowledge and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

1. Indigenous Knowledge and Achieving the Millennium Development Goals Indigenous Knowledge -- Learning from Local Communities Global Distance Learning Course March 28 – April 1, 2005 Nicolas Gorjestani Senior Advisor Africa Region World Bank

2. Knowledge and Learning Context IK and Millennium Development Goals The Challenges Ahead Overview

3. Knowledge is experience--- everything else is information

4. Local Global Knowledge is not the exclusive domain of rich countries, nor of the rich in poor countries

5. Goal: Provide the participants practical tools and approaches to help incorporate IK into development policies and programs; Promote South-South collaboration and peer-to-peer learning among IK practitioners Approach: Address the development challenges through the unique perspective of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) Demonstrate the potential role of IK in helping achieve the Millennium Development Goals Focus on success stories in using IK to help increase food security & agricultural productivity, reduce maternal mortality, and treat opportunistic diseases associated with HIV/AIDS Indigenous Knowledge Course Objectives

6. The 2000 United Nations Millennium Declaration formulates eight goals to be achieved by the year 2015 The goals cover the areas of poverty, hunger, education, gender, health, and environment The MDGs place human development at the center of social and economic progress, and emphasize the value of global partnerships for development. What are the Millennium Development Goals?

7. Unique to ANY community or culture Embedded in community practices and institutions Basis for local decision making pertaining to food security, human and animal health, education, natural resource management, governance, etc. What is Indigenous Knowledge?

8. Indigenous Knowledge is the social capital of the poor Indigenous Knowledge is the basis for their decision making Indigenous Knowledge provides local solutions to development challenges facing poor communities By building on Indigenous Knowledge and leveraging other knowledge, poverty can be addressed jointly with the poor Indigenous Knowledge and the Poor

9. Most of the poor who live under $1/day depend on traditional medicine; About ¾ of Africans do not have access to modern health services and have to rely on traditional medicine; There is a strong business case for utilizing traditional healing approaches to reach the poor and help them live healthier lives; Development programs need to build on such local knowledge systems; Upgrading the capabilities of traditional healers and birth attendants could help them to more effectively contribute to providing healthcare needs of the poor. Why Use IK in the Development Process ? For Example, in Health:

10. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other Diseases (MDG 6) Case Study from Tanzania: Tanga AIDS Working Group combats HIV/AIDS using traditional medicines Reduce Maternal Mortality (MDG 5) Case Study from Uganda: Public health services and traditional birth attendants collaborate to help reduce maternal mortality by 50% over three years Indigenous Knowledge Could Help to Achieve the MDGs: Health Day 2

11. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (MDG 1) Case Study from India:Farmers reclaim sodic lands and increase production Ensure environmental sustainability (MDG 7) Case Study from Sri Lanka:Conservation of medicinal plants and documentation of their medicinal value produces income for communities while at the same time conserving the environment Indigenous Knowledge Could Help to Achieve the MDGs: Poverty Reduction and The Environment Day 3

12. Achieve Universal Primary Education (MDG 2) West Africa: School curricula incorporate indigenous knowledge and use local languages Promote Gender Equity (MDG 3) Senegal: Women and traditional village authorities partner to abolish female circumcision Reduce Infant Mortality (MDG 4) Ethiopia: Infants receive traditional medicine and child rearing practices to treat common infant diseases Indigenous Knowledge Could Help to Achieve the MDGs: Education, Gender, and Infant Mortality

13. Develop Global Partnerships for Development (MDG 8) East African and South Asian practitioners learn jointly about IK practices and promote IK in early childhood development, conservation of medicinal plants and benefit sharing Researchers, traditional healers and policy makers join to validate medicinal practices for safety and efficacy Indigenous Knowledge Could Help to Achieve the MDGs: Partnerships Day 4

15. Scale up successful IK practices Enhance the capacity of local communities to develop, share and apply their indigenous knowledge systems Develop innovative tools for the validation and protection of indigenous knowledge Design a results framework for monitoring indigenous knowledge and measuring its impact Establish an innovation fund to promote successful indigenous knowledge practices Organize a global indigenous knowledge conference to galvanize the support of the development partners for the above agenda Enriching the Development Process --An Action Plan:

16. Raiseawareness at local and national level Help communities to document, share and develop IK Mainstream IK into your “operational activities” Promote creation of conducive policy environments for application of IK Adapt development solutions to the local context Challenge: Help Incorporate IK in Development

17. Healers Farmers Hunters Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program