A groundbreaking initiative to promote and implement replacement
alternatives across Africa begins today in Nairobi, Kenya.
The First Pan-African Seminar on Alternatives to Animal Experiments in
Education and Training is being held 23-24 September 2009 at the Kenya
Institute of Education.
Co-organised by InterNICHE and its Partner organisation the Africa Network
for Animal Welfare (ANAW), the 2-day Alternatives Seminar brings together
22 campaigning organisations from 12 African countries, InterNICHE experts
from England, Mexico, India and Egypt, and over 100 Kenyan teachers,
surgeons and government officials.
The Kenyan Minister for Wildlife and Forestry, Hon. Dr. Noah Wekesa,
opened the animal protection workshop that is being held in advance of and
in preparation of the Alternatives Seminar. In his presentation, Dr.
Wekesa appreciated the importance of pan-African events, and acknowledged
the potential of new technology and alternatives.
The Alternatives Seminar builds on the experience of InterNICHE outreach
tours and alternatives demonstrations by dovetailing the organisation’s
skills and resources with the initiatives and local knowledge of
campaigners and teachers in the host country.
Previous outreach tours have included the training of over 400 teachers in
10 cities across India, and a 5-country tour of Latin America with over 30
seminars and meetings. The InterNICHE Multimedia Exhibition at the recent
VII World Congress on Alternatives showcased a range of teaching and
training tools from the InterNICHE Alternatives Loan System. This library
is providing over 100 software alternatives, models, mannekins and
simulators for demonstration at the event in Kenya.
Following an introduction and review of the Kenyan and African situation
by ANAW Director Josphat Ngonyo and colleagues, international experts will
provide lectures and demonstrations on humane education and the process of
replacement. InterNICHE Co-ordinator Nick Jukes will introduce the range
and quality of alternatives and explain the organisation’s commitment to
the 1R of replacement to help guarantee ethical and effective acquisition
of knowledge and skills.
India’s foremost campaigner for alternatives, Snehal Bhavsar, will
describe her strategies for catalysing curricular change across the state
of Gujarat in India, including her success in achieving 80% reduction of
animal use in education. Sofia Ponce will present the vision and
activities of the Center for Animal Alternatives in Education (CAAE)
program at the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. Fawzy Elnady from the
University of Cairo in Egypt will address information and communications
technology in relation to alternatives, with a global and African
overview.
Further presentations will include the rationale for seeing caring as an
essential clinical skill which must be placed at the heart of veterinary
and medical training; the use of the POP-trainer for live laparoscopic
surgical training without animal experiments; and the use of the Biopac
Student Lab for self-experimentation as an alternative in physiology
practical classes.
InterNICHE works with teachers and producers of alternatives to encourage
the freeing of learning tools from license restrictions and limited
geographical availability. Demonstrations and hands-on experience of
alternatives at the Alternatives Seminar will therefore be followed by
distribution of resources to the participants, including freeware and
other low-cost or no-cost alternatives whose impact can now be measured
globally.
Discussion workshops will address the opportunities and challenges within
Africa and allow for sharing of experience. The talks and diverse
international perspectives will encourage the pan-African and Kenyan
campaigners to reflect on culturally-appropriate strategies for the
introduction of alternatives in their countries.
Josphat Ngonyo from ANAW said today: “We intend that the Alternatives
Seminar will empower participants to be ambassadors for alternatives in
their own countries. They will shortly have the information, resources and
support from InterNICHE for this to be achieved. The impact on Kenya will
be considerable, particularly now with government support for humane
approaches and innovative technology in education and training.”
Nick Jukes from InterNICHE added, “We applaud the Kenyan government’s
interest in humane education and are confident in the pedagogical, ethical
and economic advantages of replacement alternatives. We hope that other
countries will follow Kenya’s lead, and that the Alternatives Seminar will
play a role in facilitating the process of change right across the
continent.”
Notes:
(1) The organisation of the event has been made possible thanks to the
generous support of the Anti-Vivisection Union (South Australia), the
Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation (Switzerland), the Maria Norbury Foundation
(USA), and an anonymous donor (USA).
Further thanks go to the International Association Against Painful
Experiments on Animals (IAAPEA) (UK), the On Shore Foundation (USA), the
New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS) (USA) and Hope Ferdowsian
(USA).
(2) African countries represented include DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania,
Uganda and Zimbabwe.
(3) Kenyan government officials include Hon. Dr. Noah Wekesa, Minister
for Wildlife and Forestry; Dr. Julius Kipng’etich, Director, Kenya
Wildlife Service; Hon. Adan Duale, Asst. Minister of Livestock
Development; Dr. Peter Ithondeka, Director, Department of Veterinary
Services
*************************************************
Nick Jukes
InterNICHE Co-ordinator
98 Clarendon Park Road
Leicester LE2 3AE
England
tel: +44 116 210 9652
e-mail:
coordinator@interniche.orgweb:
www.interniche.org
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