Hassan Hattab Head of UNESCO National Commission

DRAFT: Maureen W. McClure University of Pittsburgh

1998 Date:	Tasks assigned UNESCO/Baghdad Office	Assisted by	Achievements/Results
2/1	Travel from Pittsburgh to Amman
3/1	Arrival in Amman Dinner briefing meeting	Gonzalo Retamal Margaux Sauzet
4/1	Meet staff at UNESCO/Amman office Obtain visa from Iraqi Embassy	Gonzalo Retamal Margaux Sauzet
5/1	Travel to Baghdad	Gonzalo Retamal Margaux Sauzet
6/1	am: briefing by UNSECO staff pm: research at FAO on strategy for sanctions committee- studied documents created for approval of spare helicopter parts illustrative examples: 29/3/97 letter from FAO to MOA recognizing need, recognizing dual purpose concerns, assuring support through proper and reasonable and observation methods 21/8/98 from MOA demonstrating need and providing technical justification, including a critical incident that describes the impact created by the absence of needed equipment map of helicopter location demonstrating security procedures (physically contained, visually observable in two locations) list of stock inventory for Project TCP/IRQ/6712 MI-2 Agricultural helicopter spare parts- included a description, the number available at the opening of the accounting period, the quantity issued, the number available at the close of the accounting period, the exact location of the equipment (parts linked to a helicopter's call sign), the request number and the date. memo establishing the urgent need for spare parts in order to avoid negative consequences 19/11/97 methodology for transparent tracking and security systems for observers from procurement outside of the country, transportation, storage to distribution 30/12/97 from D. Halliday describing equipment disposal procedures and verifying observations (parts burned, FAO observers present, videotaped) met with FAO staff to discuss strategy	Gonzalo Retamal Manal Omar Margaux Sauzet Program Officer : Erbil UNESCO: Manal Omar FAO: Amir Jhalil, Representative William Gardner, Programme Coordinator/986 Tarek Abdeen, Logistics Specialist	Identified important background information about the impact of sanctions and current UNESCO initiatives e.g. wide spread availability of computers in local black markets ($800-$1000) Identified the following needs to be considered for potential UNESCO/MOE cooperation, based on analysis of FAO strategy: to approach the sanctions committee together to offer with detailed educational computing plan from procurement through disposal- in which UNESCO accepts clearly defined responsibilities for successful observation/tracking and the MOE accepts clear defined responsibilities for security to create a reasonable transparent, secure logistical system to monitor equipment from procurement through disposal, to be developed by UNESCO (system for tracking individual equipment IDs) to commit to longer term cooperative planning and partnerships between UNESCO and the MOE. Need to develop longer term international counterpart relationships across education technology and training professionals
7/1	am: review documentation and interview UNESCO staff related to the sanction's committee's rejection of the MOE's request for educational computers Observations: Close connections with UNICEF important/ demonstrate UN cooperation and unity/ helps avoid potential agency 'divide and conquer' problems found in some other countries UNESCO documents focused on specific outcomes with time horizons, other agencies more focused on 'aim' or 'direction' Unique responsibility for world heritage/ important niche market for fund raising for UNESCO? pm: prepared for meeting with MOE by integrating research at FAO with research at UNESCO	Manal Omar	A niche market for UNESCO/Iraq is needed to generate greater visibility for the office (recommend ‘camera friendly’ niche market easily identifiable with a concrete image of no more than two words) Identified need to separate two policy issues for discussion with MOE: dual use and excessive quantity Identified need to separate two policy issues for discussion with MOE: dual use and excessive quantity Formulated an initial strategy, subject to discussion with MOE and UNESCO
8/1	Prepare for meeting with MOE Meeting with MOE Follow-up discussion of MOE meeting to discuss next steps Key points: MOE interested in implementing educational computing plan begun in the late eighties before the war. Emphasis on top one hundred schools in country. Before the war top schools had impressive achievements compared to others in the Middle East, today most are barely functioning. Grave problems have been created for future economic stability because a new generation of bright but relatively illiterate children will be asked to take over a struggling economy. Education is humanitarian assistance for the future. In today's global economy, education is a necessity, not a luxury. It is as important as food and medicine. Educational computing is a growing necessity for economic survival in an increasingly technological and information-based economy. Plan for 1000 computers (100 computers in each of 10 schools)	Gonzalo Retamal Manal Omar Manal Omar Hassan Hattab, Head of UNESCO National Commission Loai Omari National Commission Khamael Hussein National Commission ? Head of Education Technology Section at the MOE	(Often the cruelest legacy of a war is the stories that parents repeatedly tell their children. How do embarrassed parents explain to their children that they have no pencils, paper or textbooks to study? What happens when these stories become folklore?) Educational computing requires not only technical skills, but English language skills as well. Needs Teacher trainers need technical counterparts internationally Need to tie specific training needs education computing Need high quality computers at reasonable price for educational purposes (must avoid high maintenance costs created by old or used 'charity' machines) Review MOE pre-war proposal in light of cooperative plan with UNESCO to go together to sanctions committee Action Prepare talking points paper by Saturday, 10/1
9/1	Prepare talking points paper Key points Yes to dual use. Computers are multi-purpose tools, difficult to limit only to intended purposes No to importance of dual use argument: if widely available in market, the military has access. Yes to MOE purchase -Sanctions exacerbate inequities if a few can afford computers at home, but most poor smart children have no public access to them in schools No to excessive quantity, pre-existing plan was to put computers in 200 schools, less than 2% of the total Yes to purchase, great need for well-trained cadres to work in implementation of 986, and toward economically viable future	Manal Omar Gonzalo Retamal Hassan Hattab, Head of UNESCO National Commission Loai Omari National Commission Khamael Hussein National Commission ? Head of Education Technology Section at the MOE	Paper on diskfile and in hardcopy at UNESCO office Note: Need to clearly link effective technological training to improved efficiency in content areas such as the development middle cadres to provide organization support for humanitarian assistance efforts (Teaching English as an Other Language, word processing, spreadsheets)
10/1	Meeting with MOE to deliver talking paper and discuss next steps	Gonzalo Retamal Manal Omar	MOE agreed to review paper
11/1	Review budget response	Manal Omar Ivan Donoso, UNICEF	Reviewed pending UNESCO budgets in light of potential impact of budget increase MOE delivered paper on impact of sanctions for translation
12/1	Travel from Baghdad to Amman
13/1	Travel from Amman to Pittsburgh
20/1	Wrote extended memo on observations about trip, distributed by e-mail to over 200 addresses of US education professionals (copy attached)		Created visibility in US education professional community of UNESCO work in humanitarian assistance
26/1	Initiated a research project on education in Iraq in the Economics of Education class at the University of Pittsburgh		Preparing a report on the impact of sanctions on education in Iraq Designing a website for education in Iraq.
14/2	Meeting at UNESCO/ Washington to discuss shorter and longer term strategy for improving education quality through technology in Iraq.	Frank Method	Recommendation that technology and content training should be tightly linked to demonstrate how educational computing is a necessary tool to meet current job demand Identify need for economically generative professional development center to train trainers to support student learning through education and technology. Need to support and build on existing education and technology cadres in Iraq through the development of counterpart relationships.
25/2	Investigated the value of network computing in developing nations with limited access to a technological support infrastructure of expertise and maintenance		Recent declines in PC prices and the benefits of less technologically fragile standalone computers and supporting infrastructure may be a more technically and economically stable way to proceed in the design and development of educational computing systems
27/2	Investigated the use of interactive CD ROM technology for accelerated training Phone interview with Professor Chen Qi	Chen Qi, Visiting Professor, School of Education, Rutgers, Professor of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, member UNESCO International Federation for Information Processing, Technical Committee 3	Professor Chen's work in interactive CD ROM focuses on student learning, which goes far beyond classroom teaching. Her CD ROM for teaching Primary Mathematics are created for student use both in and outside of the classroom. This means that students who need extra tutoring can work alone at home or in small groups in a lab. This approach may create new opportunities for accelerated learning. It may be useful for education professionals in Iraq.