International

Open training platform - UNESCO

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UNESCO operates a site that publishes free training courses and the promotion of Open License training material. The site has a broad range of community development tools as well as some information on building environmentally sustainable housing. The site can be found at http://opentraining.unesco-ci.org/cgi-bin/page.cgi?g=;d=1

The site describes it self as follows. 

The objective behind this platform is to empower trainers or/and trainees with free resources, offer them a structured collaborative space to share their training but also to promote and value the “open” training materials, which are freely and openly accessible for trainers and self-learners to use and re-use for non commercial purposes such as teaching, learning and research.

The Communication and Information Sector of UNESCO has been developing this open training platform available on line, to build capacities of :

 

  • local people
  • specialized communities (Trainers, educators, decision makers & policy makers, entrepreneurs, farmers, scientists, media people, librarians, archivists & information specialists, cultural actors, health specialists, environment specialists, development & social worker or civil servants)

 

through ICT-enhanced training.

It offers a central access point to non-formal education resources and training which may be relevant to them according to their needs, knowledge, language and culture, with special emphasis on developing countries’ people. This is at the service of end users (through community centers, IT kiosks, equipped libraries, etc.) but also helps trainers in their guiding and facilitating role to make people, including women and young, adapted to actively participate in knowledge societies and economies where their future stands in their ability to be active opportunity seekers.


Visual Impairment & People with Learning Disabilities

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Visual Impairment & People with Learning Disabilities EVSL, has commissioned an article on Visual Impairment & People with Learning Disabilities, available from our homepage, http://www.library.nhs.uk/Eyes/

This paper was written by John Northfield, Clinical Lead of the NLH Learning Disabilities Specialist Library, it provides a brief introduction to the topic, with links to further information and resources. Links to full-text articles are provided wherever possible, or to PubMed or publisher abstracts where full-text is charged for.


International Humanitarian Aid Procurement Service (IHAPS)

International Humanitarian Aid Procurement Service (IHAPS)

HAPS is a forum for humanitarian aid agencies to access sources of supplies of goods and services for emergency response, relief and development operations.

It provides a vehicle for aid agencies – UN agencies, government agencies, the Red Cross/Red Crescent, NGOs, search & rescue and civil emergency authorities - to inform relevant suppliers worldwide of their immediate requirements.


Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability - Access

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability was recently endorsed at a plenary session of the United Nations in December 2006. While individual member States must sign the convention it is a potentially useful document to argue for change.

 http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/index.shtml 

Of greatest interest to this group is Article 9-1(a) of the convention;


Search Engine for the Visually Impaired

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Google has just launched a search engine for people who have problems with their vision. This search engine prioritizes search results that can be easily used by the blind and visually impaired users, searching pages for both their content and the simplicity and accessibility of page layouts.

Access this site using the following link:

 http://labs.google.com/accessible