HUMAN ENVIRONMENT

GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT:

COL is encouraging the use of ODL and other technologies to foster the full participation of girls and women and, where appropriate, men and boys, to address unequal gender relations that  prevent equitable development. COL has recently  published a report on Boys' Underachievement (with the Commonwealth Secretariat) and another on Women's Literacy and Information and Communication Technologies (with the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia).

HEALTH, WELFARE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT:

In collaboration with international organisations such as the World Health Organization, COL is equipping and training  government agencies, NGOs and community groups to use video and audio technology for local production of educational materials related to health, welfare and community development. COL implemented an activity focussed on reduction of HIV/AIDS with Anglicare STOPAIDS, an NGO based in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea. Videos are being produced that address both stigma and  prevention of HIV. A series of village cinema events has been undertaken in the remote areas of the country for target groups to view the materials and the productions have been aired on local television. In the Solomon Islands, the Solomon Islands Development Trust has developed various video productions to address health, governance and, recently, tsunami relief.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION:

COL is working on expanding environmental education at all levels, creating awareness of the benefits and feasibility of using ODL for environmental education and developing learning materials for sharing across the Commonwealth. The Green Teacher Diploma now in place in India is a good example of using ODL to scale up capacity for environmental education.

GOOD GOVERNANCE:

Underpinning the MDGs and other development targets is the strengthening of democracy through good governance. A relatively new area for COL, the objective is to use open and distance learning methods to add value to international efforts to achieve good governance.

EDUCATIONAL USE OF MASS MEDIA AND ICTS:

COL's Media Empowerment programme (COLME) is centred on the use of radio, television, video and audio production. The programme's impact has been to empower local communities, organisations and institutions with appropriate skills and technology that allows stakeholders to address education, environment and agricultural issues with locally created training and information. Over the past decade, the programme has implemented and sustained field-based activities in over 25 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific. In the Pacific, COL implemented a Media Unit in the Ministry of Education in Tuvalu. Staff were trained on preparing multimedia materials for delivery to all sectors of education in the country. COL also continues to work with the Vanuatu Institute of Technology and Fiji Institute of Technology on production of multimedia based learning materials for the technical vocational sector.