The Center for International Cooperation (Hebrew acronym: MASHAV) has been active throughout the developing world since the late 1950s, assisting countries to alleviate problems of hunger, disease, and poverty by means of technical training and technology transfer. MASHAV's programs encourage trainees to find their own solutions to problems and adapt them to their respective cultural and social values, economic potential, natural resources and regional priorities.
Historical Background
The development of scientific research and technology in Israel is an integral part of the story of the Jewish people's return to its homeland. After achieving independence in 1948, scientific research and technological development were key factors in shaping Israel into a modern state, as new and innovative capabilities were tested and implemented to meet the challenges of a growing country with scarce natural resources.
Expressing the country's desire to share knowledge gained from its own development experience, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, advocated that "the principles of mutual assistance and equality should also constitute the basis for international relations between people...[and] must be based on the solidarity of all human beings derived from fraternity and mutual assistance in every sphere of life - economic, social and scientific..."
In 1958, Foreign Minister Golda Meir first visited Africa. Deeply moved by the challenges faced by the newly-independent African nations, she was convinced that Israel should play a significant role in assisting them in their struggle with problems of health, education, malnutrition, low status of women in the development process and lack of resources. Her personal commitment to international cooperation led to the setting up of MASHAV, a center for international cooperation within Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Scope of Activities
MASHAV began its activities on a small scale. In the first year of operation (1958), 137 trainees, mostly from a few countries in Asia and Africa, participated in its training courses in Israel. Five years later (1963), the number of participants reached 1,262, mainly in the fields of agriculture, cooperation and labor studies, and medicine and public health, with the majority coming from Africa and the rest from Asia, the Mediterranean Basin and Latin America. That same year, MASHAV experts were sent for the first time to host countries to conduct "on-the-spot" training course: 21 courses were held in 19 countries with 393 participants.
In 1999, MASHAV saw the arrival of its 70,000th trainee since its inception. During the same period of time, over 11,000 MASHAV experts were sent abroad on short- and long-term missions. In light of the Middle East Peace Process, in 1999 the number of trainees reached 4,501 - 1,386 of them from Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority - while 5,402 participated in "on-the-spot" training in their own countries.
MASHAV and the Peace Process
The ongoing Middle East Peace Process has led to an increase in MASHAV activities. In some cases, trainees come from countries which as yet have no diplomatic relations with Israel. Today MASHAV cooperates with 143 countries, and its trainees come from all over the developing world.
MASHAV Activities
* Courses in Israel are conducted in various MASHAV-affiliated institutions throughout the country. Some are international courses, in which trainees from various countries study in classes conducted in a common language;
others are national courses, devoted to trainees from the same country.
Participants include graduate students, professionals, instructors, field workers, technicians and senior government personnel. Classes are small, affording individual attention to each student. Designed to present concepts and ideas, courses do not impose specific models or solutions. At the end of each course, participants are required to present an original project. Follow-up studies indicated that about one third of these project proposals are eventually carried out or provide a basis for project planning in the participants' home countries.
MASHAV's programs are intended to reach diverse populations with a wide spectrum of educational backgrounds and work experiences, as well as to enable participants, including teachers, farmers, engineers, community workers, regional planners, physicians and nutritionists, to transmit skills learned for the training of others. While levels of education and experience vary, MASHAV strives to tailor its courses to address the development priorities of each student.
Courses are offered in a wide range of disciplines:
- Adult education
- Agriculture
- Agricultural research
- Community development
- Cooperative development
- Distance learning
- Educational development
- Environmental management
- Integrated rural regional development
- Labor and cooperative studies
- Nature protection
- Public health and medical programs
- Science and technology
- Women in the development process
- Workshops, designed to meet community needs
* On-the-spot courses are conducted by MASHAV experts for local trainees. Training concentrates on areas in which Israel has gained experience: agriculture and rural society, education, social development, public health, environmental and natural resources protection, and women in a developing society.
* Short-term consultancies are arranged at the request of the host country, with MASHAV experts sent to provide specific advisory services or assistance in program implementation, to conduct a survey on a particular topic or to give support to MASHAV personnel on long-term projects.
* Long-term consultancies involve MASHAV experts sent at the request of the host country to assist in the design, implementation, management or general assessment of pilot or development projects, or to supervise demonstration farms and advisory centers established by MASHAV in several countries.
* Trilateral research programs, under MASHAV's auspices and in cooperation with government bodies, are designed to assist the developing world.
Areas of Special Importance
* Agricultural development: The largest scope of MASHAV's activity focuses on adapting new technologies to eliminate hunger and poverty affecting millions of people in the developing world.
* Healthcare: Problems arising from inadequate medical and preventive health services in developing countries continue to be of great concern. Cooperation in this field focuses on the areas of ophthalmology, epidemiology and HIV/AIDS.
Follow-Up and Future Outlook
Through a network of Shalom Clubs, MASHAV provides a forum for trainees to keep in touch and build firm ties of friendship and cooperation. Similarly, participants maintain long-term professional contacts with the MASHAV training centers in which they studied.
Follow-up is also encouraged and maintained through SHALOM, a magazine published in English, Spanish, French, Russian and Arabic for MASHAV alumni, offering news about Israel's cultural, scientific and technological developments. It also provides a medium for communicating and exchanging new ideas, as well as supplying a place for the interchange of knowledge.
As the world enters the 21st century, when its population is expected to reach ten billion, the main challenge to modern technology will be to combat hunger, thirst, poverty, gender bias in development and ecological problems. MASHAV's programs will continue to strive to reduce human suffering and intensify environmental protection while remaining committed to global efforts towards decent and sustainable living for all.