Other news from Africa and around the world

Workshop on Economic Development for Physicists from Developing Countries

A one-week residential workshop on 'Economic Development for Physicists in Developing Countries' is taking place at the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy from 27 November.  It is designed for physicists in developing countries who would like to learn entrepreneurial/ commercialisation skills, now a vital part of the education programme. The aim of the workshop is to foster the culture of enterprise that will help physicists in their careers help them make positive contribution to the economy of their countries. The workshop will include: how to spot opportunities, identification of market need, how to protect intellectual property, need for confidentiality, patenting, how to bring developments to market, licensing, raising capital, funding, venture capitalist route, legal issues, incubation, etc. This workshop will also provide delegates an opportunity to engage with successful role models who are expert in their field and to discuss real life issues, barriers and challenges.  The workshop is organized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, the Institute of Physics and the European Physical Society.  Email : dipali.chauhan@iop.org 

Increasing Numbers of Skilled African Women Migrating

About 17.1 million international migrants live in Africa, but only five million Africans live outside the continent, according to a new report by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) launched prior to the recent high-level dialogue on migration and development in New York.  The report, International Migration and Development: Implications for Africa says contemporary African immigrants with a divergent range of skills -medicines, engineering, education, research and nursing - are increasingly establishing themselves in North America, Europe and the Gulf states, remitting billions of dollars to their home countries.  An increasing number of skilled and professional African women are joining the migration streams previously dominated by men. “For instance,” says the report, “approximately 33.7 percent of sub-Saharan African physicians currently practicing in the United States are women.”  “The growing feminization of migration is a key pathway to reducing gender inequality, reducing poverty and enhancing women’s economic security,” it says.  International migration directly affects level of poverty and promotes development. Citing studies, the report says that a 10 per cent increase in the share of international migrants in a country’s population could lead to a 1.9 percent decline in the number of people living in poverty.  It also says that a 10 percent increase in the share of international remittances in a country’s GDP will lead to a 1.6 percent decline in the share of people living in poverty.  The report adds that up to 40 percent of Somalis benefit from remittances and that poverty would increase by about 15 percent in Lesotho if migrant workers in South African mines were to stop sending money home.
http://www.uneca.org/eca_resources/Publications
/MigrationReport2006.pdf

New York Advertising Firms Agree to Hire More Black Managers

According to a New York Times report, finding that just 2 percent of the upper echelon of the advertising industry is black, New York City officials have announced agreements with several of the nation’s biggest ad firms forcing them to bring more black managers into this crucial sector of the city’s economy.  The city’s Human Rights Commission found that of 8,000 employees working for 16 agencies the commission examined, about 22 percent make more than $100,000 a year, and only 2.5 percent of those are black. Faced with the findings, nearly a dozen agencies have promised to set numerical goals for increasing black representation on their creative and managerial staffs and to report on their progress each year.  At the same time the companies have agreed to set up diversity boards and to link progress on the issue to their managers’ compensation.  African-Americans make up one-quarter of New York’s population but few African-Americans have risen higher than the ranks of secretaries and clerks in the sector.  Source: New York Times Online  

Creating More Local Jobs in Tanzania

According to Tanzania’s Labour, Employment and Youth Development Minister, the government plans to reduce foreigners from its job market to create opportunities for locals.  Jumanne Maghembe said a study into complaints about the influx of foreigners in the local job market had shown that locals were losing out in job openings in foreign firms and called on Tanzanians to change their work ethics.  The new administration in Tanzania has promised to create 500 000 new jobs in its first year in power. The Tanzanian government is conscious of the need to create jobs for its youth and while conceding that expatriates would still play a major role in Tanzania, there would be limitations on the number and type of skills required.  

World Service Enquiry publishes new Guide to Volunteering for Development

The World Service Enquiry Guide to Volunteering for Development as been updated and expanded and the 2006 issue is now available.  The Guide contains details of 350 volunteer agencies and a new detailed Professional Agencies listing. The Guide is suitable for anyone seeking to travel, work or volunteer overseas, short or long term and contains specialist information and advice on working or volunteering in the development sector.  www.wse.org.uk   

Entry Level Salaries fall for College Graduates in USA

The New York Times has reported that many entry-Level workers are feeling the pinch as entry-level wages have trailed inflation, making it hard for many to cope with high housing costs and rising college debt loads. Entry-level wages for college and high school graduates fell by more than 4% from 2001 to 2005, after factoring in inflation, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Economic Policy Institute. In addition, the percentage of college graduates receiving health and pension benefits in their entry-level jobs has dropped sharply.  Some labour experts say wage stagnation and the sharp increase in housing costs over the past decade have delayed workers ages 20 to 35 from buying their first homes.  Worsening the financial crunch, far more college graduates are borrowing to pay for their education, and the amount borrowed has jumped by more than 50% in recent years, largely because of soaring tuition. Source: New York Times Online  

South Africa’s Financial services sector attracts Largest Job Increases

The biggest increase in the number of jobs created during the first quarter this year was in the financial services sector, according to statistics released by Statistics South Africa. The strength of South Africa’s economy has created an increasing number of jobs in the service environment, as the country moves away from its agricultural and manufacturing base. Many financial services companies have strong international links, offering enhanced career prospects and additional numbers of graduates will be needed for the sector.  Source: Skills Portal 

Harvard Ends Early Admission, Citing Barrier to Disadvantaged

The New York Times has reported that Harvard isbreaking with a major trend in college admissions and will eliminate its early admissions program next year, with university officials arguing that such programs put low-income and minority applicants at a disadvantage in getting into selective universities.  Harvard will be the first of the nation’s prestigious universities to do away completely with early admissions, in which high school seniors apply early and learn whether they have been admitted in December, months before other students. The paper quotes Derek Bok, the interim President of Harvard as saying, “We think this will produce a fairer process, because the existing process has been shown to advantage those who are already advantaged.’’.  Harvard has taken a number of steps to make itself more accessible to working-class students including families with incomes below $60,000 a year now no longer having to pay for a students’ education.  Source New York Times Online

UK CIPD launches new International Recruitment, Selection and Assessment report

 This research report looks at the key areas of international recruitment, selection and assessment. These include international recruitment from overseas countries for employment in the home market, resourcing employees for international assignments, recruitment for expanding overseas and decentralising responsibility for international recruitment.  Source: CIPD

South African Government Supports Mathematics Institute

The South African Government has donated R3 million to a mathematics institute aimed at recruiting African students for training in research and teaching careers. The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is to be funded to the tune of R3 million in 2006 by the Department of Education.

Salary Gap Widens for College Graduates in the USA

According to the New York Times, the wage gap between college-educated and high-school-educated workers has widened greatly, with college graduates earning 45% more than high school graduates, up from 23% in 1979.  Professor Rouse of Princeton said a college degree added $402,000 to a graduate’s lifetime earnings. Dropping out of high school has its costs around the globe, but nowhere steeper than in the United States. Adults who do not finish high school in the United States earn 65% of what people who have high-school degrees make, according to a new report comparing industrialized nations. Adults without a high-school diploma typically make about 80 percent of the salaries earned by high-school graduates in nations across Asia, Europe and elsewhere. Countries such as Finland, Belgium, Germany and Sweden have the smallest gaps in earnings between dropouts and graduates.  The figures come from "Education at a Glance," an annual study by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The new report says 44% of adults without high-school degrees in the United States have low incomes—that is, they make half of the country's median income or less.  About one-third of students in the United States do not finish high school on time or at all. The country has a high proportion of educated adults and greater gender equality than other nations.  But the United States is losing ground internationally because other countries are making faster and bigger gains.  The United States remains, by far, the most popular place for international students to study, but it is losing its market share of students studying abroad.  Source: New York Times Online  

Wealth of richest Asians in Britain grows 3 times faster than Economy

Asian entrepreneurs in Britain have increased their wealth at three times the pace of economic growth, thanks to a rising focus on high-value industries such as IT, a new report shows. Britain's richest Asians increased their wealth by 69% in real terms between 1998 and 2005, compared with GDP growth of 22.8%, according to a study published by Barclays Business Banking.  The report highlights a shift away from their traditional industries - such as textiles and manufacturing to a much broader base of entrepreneurs who are challenging traditional stereotypes and making money in hi-tech industries.  The report, written by Surrey University entrepreneurship lecturer, Spinder Dhaliwal, showed wealth creation was no longer reliant on the performance of a handful of people. In 1998 almost two-thirds of Asian wealth was generated by the top 20 entries in the rich list. Their contribution was just one third of overall wealth in 2005. Over the same period, wealth generated by women listed in their own right quadrupled to £87.5m from £21m.  The rich list, based on Asians whose main business activities are in the UK, includes the four Ugandan-born Jatania brothers who have expanded Lornamead by picking up famous names from big multinationals, recently acquiring the Yardley toiletries brand and Vosene shampoo, from Procter & Gamble.  Source: Business Guardian

Donna DeBerry Joins Nike as Company's First Vice President of Diversity

Nike has announced that Donna DeBerry has joined the company as its first Vice President of Diversity. In this newly created role, DeBerry will help to further integrate diversity into Nike’s global business strategies and employer of choice practices. Establishing a senior corporate-level leadership position underscores Nike’s strong belief that diversity creates competitive advantage, both in attracting, developing and leveraging diverse talent inside the company as well as in building strong brand relationships with diverse consumers worldwide.  She has worked with the Oprah Winfrey Show and on many other high-profile projects. Prior to founding DRP International, DeBerry was Executive Vice President of Global Diversity and Corporate Affairs at Wyndham International Inc., one of the world's largest publicly traded hospitality companies. In that role, DeBerry was the highest-ranking African American in the hotel and hospitality industry.

UN Global Compact to hold 4th International Learning Forum Meeting in Ghana

Participants from all over the world will meet in Accra, Ghana to learn about challenges of implementing the Global Compact principles and partnerships for development. The meeting targets managers and other experts from business, civil society and labour that are working on corporate citizenship, sustainability and partnership issues. The Meeting will be organized in partnership with the Centre for Corporate Citizenship of the University of South Africa and UNDP Ghana, with advice on the learning and facilitation methodology from the OASIS School of Human Relations.
http://www.ungc-learningforum.org

The United States Senate Shows Poor Diversity Record

A DiversityInc investigation found that of the 4,100 U.S. Senate employees across the country, approximately 6% are people of colour, in marked contrast to the fact that people of colour comprise more than 30% of the U.S. population. The publication said that people of color are virtually nonexistent when it comes to the most influential Washington, D.C.–based Senate aides who advise the senators on all issues. DiversityInc asked all 100 senators to provide information about the racial and ethnic makeup of their senior personnel, including committee staffers and With a few exceptions, senators of both parties refused to discuss their diversity problem. The publication points out that members of Congress have exempted themselves from most labour laws, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Equal Employment Act of 1972, the Age Discrimination Act, the Equal Pay Act, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Their hiring practices also are exempt from the federal Freedom of Information Act, which allows journalists and the public information about non-classified federal data, including most federal staff.  Source: DiversityInc Magazine 

UK Age Discrimination regulation will impact Redundancy Policies

The effect of the new Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 on redundancy will have an impact on how employers address redundancy. According to the UK Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, when the regulations come into force in October, employers will need to vet their selection criteria for redundancy to ensure they are not age discriminatory. They should also review any arrangements for enhanced retirement pensions, at least for new joiners, to check they will be lawful.  

2006 Global Education Digest

The 2006 Global Education Digest presents the latest education statistics from primary to tertiary levels in more than 200 countries. The Digest presents a wide range of comparable education indicators that can be used to assess progress towards the Education for All and Millennium Development Goals. These cross-national indicators are also useful for benchmarking the performance of a national education system to those in other countries.
http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?