Hope for the World: Millennium Development Goals

In 2000 leaders all around the world define 8 goals called Millenium Development Goals to be achieved by 2015. These MDGs are the most broadly supported, comprehensive and precise development goals the world has ever agreed, they provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for dealing with extreme poverty in its many dimensions. The report contains goals and targets on different issues such as income poverty, hunger, maternal and child mortality, disease, inadequate shelter, gender inequality, environmental degradation and the Global Partnership for Development.

So… What are the Millennium Development Goals?

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

 

The Millennium Development Goals Report is the most comprehensive MDG evaluation. It is based on a set of data prepared by over twenty organizations both within and outside the United Nations system. We will be focused on how much progress is Northern Africa making in every of these goals so far, in the meanwhile it is worth to follow a graphical Illustration of progress and prospects in Africa

 

Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day

Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people

Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011 indicates that the region is very close to achieve the target of cutting extreme poverty by half by 2015, since the rate has been reduced from 5% to 3%. Progress towards the goal of eradication of hunger is also obvious from trends in the proportion of children under age five who are undernourished, with a reduction to almost half of its 1990 level, from 10 to only 6 per cent in 2006, but overall progress in reducing hunger might now be destabilized by recent worldwide increases in food prices.

 

Goal 2 Achieve universal primary education

Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

In education, the region is now almost on par with the richest countries – with 94% of children in primary school. This progress in education has also made strides in reducing the gender gap, with a ratio of 90 girls enrolled per 95 boys in 2009, and if progress is sustained, the region will achieve parity in primary education as in Goal 3.

 

Goal 3 Promote gender equality and empower women

Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Despite the overall advance on primary school enrolment, there is still a significant gender gap. There is a poor record on improving gender equality and empowering women.

Globally, women have more income-earning opportunities than ever before, but Northern Africa is one area where the region has not shown any progress. Women in the region held only 20 per cent of paid jobs outside of agriculture, and this percentage has remained largely unchanged since 1990 at one of the lowest percentages in the world, only 19%.

At the political level, women in the region have been able to secure higher representation in parliament, from 3% of seats in 2000 to 12% in 2011, but this rate remains among the lowest in the world.

 

Goal 4 Reduce child mortality

Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the underfive mortality rate

Reducing child deaths, great advance has been made, from the 1990 rate of 80 deaths of children under five per 1,000 births, to 28 per 1,000 in 2009, sufficient for the region to be very close to the target of reducing mortality by two thirds by 2015. Progress is mainly due to the large coverage of vaccination for measles, an important child killer, at 94% in 2009.

 

Goal 5 Improve maternal health

Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio

Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health

Progress on maternal health is good in the region, the rate of mothers who die in childbirth remains relatively high at 82 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2008, quite close to the target of reducing by three-quarters the level of 230 deaths observed in 1990. The impact of efforts to reduce maternal deaths is also indicated by the larger number of deliveries attended by skilled health care personnel. Attended deliveries increased from 51 per cent of all deliveries in 1990 to 79 per cent in 2009.

 

Goal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS

Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it

Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

HIV is not a problem in Northern Africa since the incidence rate* (number of new HIV infections per year per 100 people aged 15-49) is 0.01, meaning that only 1 adult out of 10.000 were newly infected that year. Treatment for HIV and AIDS has expanded quickly, from 10% in 2004 to 25% in 2009 of population living with HIV who is receiving antiretroviral treatment. The incidence of malaria and other major diseases are also decreasing.

 

Goal 7 Ensure environmental sustainability

Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes and reverse the loss of environmental resources

Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss

By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

Halve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

South America and Africa saw the largest net losses of forest areas between 2000 and 2010.

Regarding water resources, Northern Africa, have far exceeded the threshold of 75%, meaning that its water resources are no longer sustainable. However, the region has improved access to safe drinking water and has also made progress in providing toilets, latrines or other forms of improved sanitation to the population, and has already reached the safe sanitation target.

 

Goal 8 Develop a global partnership for development

Address the special needs of the least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing states

Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system

Deal comprehensively with developing countries’ debt

In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications

Globally, aid to developing countries is at a record high, but falls short of promises made in 2005, in fact, preliminary estimates show that Africa will receive only about $11 billion out of the $25 billion increase promised, due mainly to the underperformance of some European donors that give large shares of their aid to Africa.

Regarding technology, nowadays, the world is increasingly interconnected through mobile, high-speed communications and two thirds of the world’s population has yet to gain access to the Internet

General speaking, Northern Africa has made notable strides in improving the health, education, and standard of living of its people. These countries remain on track to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 deadline, however they also face a number of challenges, including social and economic gaps between rich and poor, high youth unemployment and persistent gender differentials whereas the region’s successes may now be threatened by the changed economic climate.

For more information just click here

 

 

Comentarios desactivados en Hope for the World: Millennium Development Goals / 18 Ene 2012 por Laura Navas Valle
MIGMAmad /

El Puerto de Málaga

Málaga es la sexta ciudad de España con mayor número de habitantes y es junto a su Costa del Sol uno de los destinos turísticos más importantes de nuestro país. Su puerto a lo largo de la historia (desde los fenicios, hasta nuestros días) ha ocupado un lugar importante dentro de los puertos españoles, si bien en los últimos años está experimentando un fuerte desarrollo debido a las visitas turísticas por mar potenciadas por la incorporación de Málaga como un destino importante en la parada de cruceros. Lo cual ha hecho repensar el enfoque de dicho puerto adaptándolo a las nuevas necesidades turísticas que puedan derivarse de esta situación.

La ampliación y renovación del Puerto de Málaga es un proyecto cuyos inicios comenzaron a idearse aproximadamente hace 20 años (llamado entonces Plan Especial del Puerto), y que hasta este pasado 2011 no ha empezado a verse materializado. Estamos ante un claro ejemplo de proyecto demorado en el tiempo, y para el cual las previsiones y presupuestos iniciales se han visto continuamente modificadas.

Aproximadamente en el año 2004 dicho proyecto se volvió a retomar y las expectativas de finalización de varias de sus fases se preveían para el año 2008, y sin embargo la zona conocida como Muelle Uno, no se ha visto parcialmente terminada hasta finales de este pasado año 2011 (aún la zona está en desarrollo si bien ya han podido abrir la mayoría de los comercios y servicios de esa zona). Con una inversión prevista de 36 millones, este espacio, de acuerdo con el calendario, tendría que haber estado abierto al público antes de 2008, pero hubo problemas en la ejecución del mismo, como por ejemplo los ocurridos con el contratista original, Udisa, que vendió su parte del proyecto, y debido a ello hubo un gran retraso. Tras este incidente, se fueron proponiendo nuevas fechas.

Finalmente, el proyecto Muelle Uno Sea Shopping, lo ha desarrollado la empresa Unión de Iniciativas de Marina de la Farola, el diseño ha sido desarrollado por el prestigioso estudio de arquitectura L35 y la ingeniería ha corrido a cargo de Pereda 4 Estudio, todo ello coordinado por la empresa “3.14, Gestión + Arquitectura”, encargada del Project Management de la obra.

Muelle Uno supone la transformación del muelle de la Farola y la tan esperada integración del recinto portuario en la ciudad. Con una inversión de unos 80 millones de euros, los promotores, Iniciativas Marina de la Farola, pretenden que este espacio de 56.000 metros cuadrados, de los que 14.000 son de uso comercial y de ocio, se convierta en una segunda calle Larios.

La inauguración que iba a tener lugar el 29 de noviembre 2011 terminó en un desastre, ya que la empresa constructora de Muelle Uno no había obtenido las licencias necesarias para abrir. Como resultado, se cerró el Muelle Uno el mismo día en que se abrió. Sin embargo, también la apertura se retrasó porque muchas tiendas y restaurantes no estaban listas todavía.

El trabajo se completó hasta el último minuto en el que Muelle Uno fue inaugurado, el viernes 2 de diciembre y con temperaturas casi primaverales, alrededor de 20 grados y mucho sol, el lanzamiento fue un éxito enorme, con muchos visitantes en su primer día de apertura. Definitivamente valió la pena la espera.

 

Comentarios desactivados en El Puerto de Málaga / 18 Ene 2012 por Maria Azuaga Viguera
MIGMAmad /

Gestionando el Empire State Building

Un poco de historia

El Empire State constituyó todo un record de construcción. La excavación del solar comenzó el 22 de enero de 1930, la construcción el 17 de marzo, y tras un año y 45 dias de obras, el edificio se inauguró el 1 de mayo de 1931, convirtiendose durante 40 años en el edificio más alto del mundo, hasta que fué destronado por la torre 1 de las gemelas del World Trade Center. Raskob había logrado su objetivo superando en 100 metros a su competidor de Chrysler, razón por la cual se desarrollo el proyecto, teniendo en cuenta la dura rivalidad entre ambos.

Aun antes de nacer, el Empire State Building ya estaba abrumado de cargas simbólicas. Construirlo allí y entonces, significaba creer tenazmente en el destino de América y en su capacidad de recuperación. Daba a entender también el medio con el que la recuperación iba a conseguirse: la enorme capacidad técnica y profesional del mecanismo productivo estadounidense.

Patrocinadores y limitaciones

El capital se consiguió recurriendo a la General Motors Company, a través de su presidente John J.. Raskob, y a Du Pont de Nemours, en la persona de Pierre S. du Pont. Para obtener el crédito se nombró presidente de la Empire State Inc. a Alfred E. Smith, que fuera cuatro veces gobernador del Estado de Nueva York y candidato a la presidencia por el partido democrático en 1928. Los problemas técnicos se confiaron al estudio de arquitectura Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, señalando un límite máximo: el edificio debía tener 36 millones de metros cúbicos.

Las exigencias técnicas que se hicieron a los proyectistas fueron respetadas rigurosamente, incluso superadas. Hasta se consiguió un resultado sin parangón la arquitectura de todos los tiempos: la construcción costó mucho menos de lo previsto (40.948.900 dólares frente a un presupuesto de 50.000.000 de dólares), fue así a pesar de las ampliaciones de proyecto que se decidieron en el curso de la obra.

Una de estas ampliaciones fue el muelle de dirigibles previsto por Raskob. Este hecho propició un hito mucho más importante, y es que en su versión original, el rascacielos era sólo un poco más elevado que su predecesor neoyorkino, el Chrysler Building. Pero el “sombrero” encargado por Raskob, aunque disminuye su estética (y además demostró ser totalmente inútil para la misión a la que se destinaba), aumentaba considerablemente su altura. Sin duda fue con este fin que el presidente de la General Motors lo había deseado tanto, ya que, gracias al añadirlo, el Empire State Building fue, durante más de cuarenta años, el rascacielos más alto del mundo. Incluso contribuiría a crear la leyenda de que el Building podía ser considerado como la “octava maravilla del mundo”.

Gestión del tiempo

Por razones de costo, era taxativo no superar los límites de tiempo prefijados: veinte meses. Y por último, era necesario trazar un rigurosísimo ritmo de trabajo por parte de los suministradores, para que todo el material llegase exactamente en el orden y en el momento previstos. El retraso de un solo día en la ejecución de las obras significaría que decenas de camiones cargados de material, procedentes de las fábricas y de los depósitos, no hubieran encontrado sitio para descargar. Afortunadamente ésto no ocurrió, lo que propició la realización del proyecto con las siguientes etapas:

• A mediados de octubre de 1929 se demolió el viejo Waldorf-Astoria hasta los cimientos y
• En febrero 1930 se llevó a cabo la remoción de los cimientos del hotel;
• La primera piedra fue lacada el 17 de marzo de 1930;
• El 7 de abril se colocaron las primeras columnas acero de la sección principal;
• Se llega al octavo piso en mayo de 1930; a mediados de junio al vigésimo piso;
• A mediados de julio al piso cuarenta y al sesenta a mediados de agosto.
• A mediados de noviembre la construcción en acero está acabada, casi todos los muros de taponamiento están realizados y se inician los acabados.
• El día 1 de mayo de 1931 el rascacielos se dio por terminado: un año y veinte días después de la colocación de las primeras columnas, o sea siete meses antes del limite prefijado. Y eso con una semana laboral de cinco días.

Stakeholders

• El edificio Empire State fue diseñado por William F. Lamb, socio de la empresa de arquitectura Shreve, Lamb y Harmon, quienes realizaron los dibujos del edificio en tan sólo dos semanas, utilizando como base anteriores diseños.
• Los principales constructores fueron los Hermanos Starrett y Eken
• El proyecto fue financiado principalmente por John J. Raskob y Pierre S. du Pont, como se relató anteriormente.
• La empresa de construcción fue presidida por Alfred E. Smith.
• En el proyecto participaron 3.400 trabajadores, en su mayoría inmigrantes procedentes de Europa, junto con cientos de trabajadores de Mohawk (expertos en hierro), muchos de ellos de la reserva de Kahnawake, cerca de Montreal.
• Los nietos del gobernador Smith cortaron la cinta el 1 de mayo de 1931.

 

Conclusiones

Como conclusión no puedo más que sorprenderme ante la gran capacidad de gestión del proyecto, así como el inmenso proceso de “fast tracking” llevado a cabo por los encargados del proyecto, obteniendo unos resultados sin precedentes, pero a costa de un riesgo muy elevado, que consiguieron gestionar de un modo muy conveniente a la vista de los datos obtenidos. Por ultimo, un pequeño video con algunas curiosidades.

 

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

 

Comentarios desactivados en Gestionando el Empire State Building / 17 Ene 2012 por Ignacio Calabria Marin
MIGMAmad /

Project Management: How to Make Things Happen

On 25 May 1961 President Kennedy said to the nation an objective of sending an American to the Moon by the end of the decade. This decision involved much research and planning to make it public, and huge effort to make it real by 1969. On 20 July 1969 the project was success, when Apollo 11′s astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the surface of the Moon.

The primary goal of Kennedy administration was to demonstrate both the technological and economic power of the United States and established technologically preeminence over rival nations, mainly Soviet Union, since its non-military actions in space forced Kennedy to respond and to show that United States was as capable as the Soviets.

To make this project a reality, Kennedy had to find the way to commit national resources to NASA and the civil space program. Accordingly NASA was asked to provide a set of recommendations on how a scientifically-viable Project Apollo, would be accomplished by the end of the decade that included information related to spacecrafts, satellites, etc. All the recommendations were accepted and Kennedy approved the overall plan.

At the beginning one of the main concerns was the timing for the Moon landing, originally NASA estimated a target date of 1967, but agency leaders recommended not committing to such a strict deadline, based on NASA’s experience in space flight, it was suggested that the president commit to a landing by the end of the decade, giving the agency another two years to solve any problems that might happen. The White House took the right decision accepting this proposal.

Another key point was that the President correctly gauged the mood of the nation so no one seemed concerned either about the difficulty or about the expense at the time. A unique confluence of political necessity, scientific and technological ability, economic prosperity, and public mood made possible the 1961 decision to carry out a lunar landing program.

Initial NASA estimates of the costs of Project Apollo were about $20 billion through the end of the decade; project Apollo, was provided by funding enough, consequently, the space agency’s annual budget increased from $500 million in 1960 to a high point of $5.2 billion in 1965. Finally it cost $25.4 billion.

Funding was not the only critical factors for the project. To achieve the objective of Apollo under the time requirements, workforce had to be mobilized. They took actions in two ways. First, the agency employed 26,000 people. Additionally, NASA’s leaders made an early decision that they would have to find outside technicians to complete Apollo, such as private industry, research institutions, and universities. They provided the majority of personnel working on Apollo.

In addition, NASA moved quickly to expand its physical capacity so that it could accomplish Apollo. So NASA added new facilities specifically to meet the demands of the lunar landing program like the Manned Spacecraft Center to design the Apollo spacecraft and the launch platform.

NASA program managers identified properly their main weaknesses as well. They perceived a huge gap in the capability for human spaceflight between that acquired before and what would be required for a lunar landing. They closed most of the gap by experimenting and training on the ground, but some issues required experience in space; using their previous experiences helped to overcome this gap.

The issue of resources was not the only challenge to face. Each NASA installation, university, contractor, etc. had differing perspectives and they had to move along a single path. To bring order to the program, NASA implemented the “program management” based on military managers to oversee Apollo. This methodology centralized authority over engineering, procurement, testing, construction, logistics, training, and operations.

One of the fundamentals of the program management was the critical factors: schedule, reliability and cost. These three aspects were interrelated and had to be managed as a whole. The schedule was set by the president and since humans were involved in the flights, the program managers gave a heavy emphasis on reliability. The importance of both of these factors made the third factor, cost, much higher.

Since Apollo had been unique in terms of complexity, rate of growth and technological sophistication the program management concept was key of Project Apollo’s success: better knowledge of how to plan, coordinate, and monitor the big amount and variety of activities of the organizations required to accomplish the project.

This management concept allowed more than 500 contractors working on both large and small aspects of Apollo, meeting exacting specifications for performance and reliability, delivering Apollo on time and on quality.

There are several important conclusions about Apollo. First, and most important, the project was successful in accomplishing the political goals for which it had been created and second, it was a success of management in meeting enormously difficult systems engineering, technological, and organizational integration requirements.

 

Let’s finish up having a bit of fun

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

 

Comentarios desactivados en Project Management: How to Make Things Happen / 17 Ene 2012 por Laura Navas Valle
MIGMAmad /

El Gran Belt

Uno de los puentes colgantes más largos del mundo se encuentra en Dinamarca, es el tercero después del Gran Puente de Akashi Kaikyo y el Puente Xihoumen en Zhejiang (China). Se trata del Puente del Gran Belt que cuenta con 1,624 km y une dos islas de dicho país, Fionia y Selandia. Este puente colgante es también llamado el Puente de Oriente.

En julio de 1998 se abrió el servicio para el transporte motorizado sobre el puente y el ferroviario que es de doble vía. El costo final en 1988 del Puente del Gran Belt fue de 21.4 mil millones de coronas danesas, convirtiéndose en uno de los proyectos de construcción más grandes para los daneses y de gran beneficio para sus habitantes pues redujo el tiempo de traslado de una hora en ferry a 10 minutos a través del puente.

El proyecto estuvo lleno de escándalos, como la interrupción de la construcción debido a que el gobierno finlandés acudió a la Corte Internacional de Justicia argumentando que el puente dañaría el tráfico marítimo del estrecho. Dinamarca y Finlandia negociaron el retiro de la denuncia por alrededor de 90 millónes de coronas danesas, permitiendo así la conclusión del Puente del Gran Belt.

Éste es un ejemplo de construcción, en el que se vieron alterados considerablemente tanto el presupuesto inicial del proyecto (no ya por fallos cometidos a la hora de su construcción, sino debido a las denuncias imprevistas, que hicieron incrementar considerablemente su coste) como el tiempo estimado para su construcción (debido a la acción del Gobierno finlandés).

Ésto es un claro indicativo de que no todos los proyectos, en muchas ocasiones, pueden seguir adelante debido a los imprevistos que se puedan producir. Es necesario evaluar los riesgos antes de llevarlo a cabo, para prevenir en la medida de lo posible, este tipo de acciones que provocan, en muchos casos, una gran inversión, pudiendo suponer una paralización o suspensión del proyecto.

 

 

Comentarios desactivados en El Gran Belt / 17 Ene 2012 por Pablo Angulo Barrero
MIGMAmad /

Si digo Paris…. que es lo primero que viene a la mente?

Lo que hoy se considera mundialmente como el simbolo de Francia, admirado y reconocido por millones de personas, no siempre contó con esa buena fama.
El proyecto de la Torre Eiffel nació para la Exposición Universal de 1989, fecha que marcaba el centenario de la Revolución francesa, mediante un concurso promovido por el ministro de Comercio e Industria que pedía estudiar la posibilidad de construir en el Champ-de-Mars una torre de hierro, de base cuadrada, de 125 metros de lado y 300 de alto. De 107 proyectos resultó elegido el 8 de enero de 1987 el de Gustavo Eiffel, Maurice Koechlin, Emile Nouguier y Stephen Sauvestre. Este último fue contratado a posteriori para darle un toque mas estético al proyecto y volverlo mas aceptable para la opinión publica.

Éste sin duda fue uno de los factores clave que acompaño al proyecto durante toda su ejecución. Ya desde el comienzo de la construcción, en 1986, se empezaron a repartir panfletos en contra de la obra, en particular de colectivos como los artistas, que concretaron su protesta en una publicación en el periodico “Le Temps” en Febrero de 1987 y que firmaron grandes artistas como Charles Gounod, Guy de Maupassant, Alejandro Dumas hijo…
Esto fue el detontante de mas protestas que no acabaron hasta que la obra no finalizó y ante el increible éxito que obtuvo en la Exposición, recibiendo 2 millones de visitantes durante la misma. El éxito mas masivo no se produjo hasta los años 60, con el auge del turismo internacional, y desde entonces recibe aproximadamente 7 millones de visitantes al año.

En cuanto a la construccion, la duración fue estimada por Eiffel en 12 meses, aunque luego necesitaran un poco mas el doble de tiempo. Comenzó el 28 de enero de 1887 y terminó el 31 de marzo de 1889 antes de la apertura oficial de la Exposición universal. A pesar de este retraso, la magnitud del trabajo así como los medios rudimentarios de la epoca hacen de que el tiempo sea un tiempo record. La construcción del primer piso termino el 1 de Abril de 1888 y del segundo el 14 de Agosto de 1888. El montaje se realizó con la ayuda de gruas de pivotes fijadas a los ascensores hasta los 30 metros, andamiajes entre los 30 y 45 metros y andamiajes de posterior construcción a partir de los 45 metros, sin incidencias importantes. Sin embargo, la obra en un principio tenía un riesgo bastante alto de accidentes debido a que, al contrario de los rascacielos modernos, la torre no contaba con pisos intermedios excepto las dos plataformas. Es por esto que Eiffel tomó grandes precauciones en cuanto a seguridad, consiguiendo que no se produjeran accidentes, salvo una muerte de uno de los obreros en una demostración de amor a su mujer una jornada no laboral.

La obra contó con 50 ingenieros y dibujantes, 150 obreros en las fabricas de las empresas Eiffel y unos 250 obreros sobre el terreno. Esto fue otro foco de problemas a lo largo del proyecto, ya que en septiembre de 1888, con la obra ya bastante avanzada, los trabajadores se declaran en huelga. El motivo son los horarios de trabajo, que consideran excesivos (9 horas en invierno y 12 horas en verano) así como el salario, que consideraban reducido teniendo en cuenta las condiciones de trabajo. Finalmente Eiffel les concedio un aumento, aunque se negó a indemnizarles por el factor “el riesgo varía según la altura” como demandaban los obreros. De nuevo, 3 meses mas tarde, estalla una nueva huelga, en la que Eiffel se niega a negociar. A pesar de esto, la obra se terminó a tiempo en marzo de 1889.

Otro de los problemas que surgió fue que los ascensores inicialmente previstos fueron rechazados en el concurso de 1886 por el jurado. Esto llevó a Gustave Eiffel a acudir a tres nuevos proveedores para montar los ascensores que unian la planta baja al primer piso (caras Este y Oeste y caras Norte y Sur) y el segundo piso con la cumbre.

En cuanto a los costes, el proyecto tampoco fue bien planificado ya que costó 1,5 millones de Francos mas de lo previsto. Las fuentes de financiación fueron el gobierno francés y el propio Eiffel, que aportó el 80% del coste de la construcción. La inversión sin embargo se puede consiferar que fue muy rentable, ya que el primer año de apertura recibió tantas visitas que se cubrieron los gastos de construcción, resultando el periodo de recuperación mínimo.

El gran riesgo con el que contaba Eiffel era que el tiempo de vida de la Torre estaba previsto para ser de tan solo 20 años. Sin embargó desarrolló unas acciones que permitieron que no se cumpliera este riesgo, dando una nueva utilidad a la torre: la utilidad cientifica. Ésto la salvó, dotando a la Torre de observaciones meteorologicas y astronómicas, experimentos de física, puestos de observación estratégicos, comunicación por telégrafo optico, faro y estudios de viento. Desde que en 1989 se comenzara a utilizar la Torre como laboratorio, se ganó la simpatía de los cientificos, y se salvó de la destrucción principalmente por su papel de antena gigante.

Desde los años 80, este monumento ha tenido que ser renovado regularmente, restaurado y adaptado para un publico cada vez mas numeroso, dotándolo de luces que le permiten se visto desde todo Paris.

Escenario de grandes eventos a escala internacional, foco de turismo internacional y monumento emblemático, que sería hoy de Paris si no se hubierna construido o se hubiera destruido la Torre Eiffel?

Fuentes:

http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/

http://www.mundocity.com/europa/paris/torre-eiffel.html

http://www.bufetetecnico.es/arquitectura/proyectos4/torre_eiffel.html

Comentarios desactivados en Si digo Paris…. que es lo primero que viene a la mente? / 17 Ene 2012 por Alba Zamora Uru-uela
MIGMAmad /

City of Arts & Sciences…the unexpected economic result

It is an entertainment-based cultural and architectural complex in Valencia (Spain), situated at the end of the former riverbed of the river Turia. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava and Felix Candela, and the project underwent the first stages of construction in July 1996 and the finished “city” was inaugurated the 16^th of April 1998, opening of L’Hemisferic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKWk9UCVk78

The context is made up of the following buildings: L’Hemispheric, El Museu de les Ciencies Principe Felipe, L’Umbracle, L’Oceanographic, El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, El Puente de l’Assut de l’Or, L’Agora & The Valencia Towers.

In 1989, Joan Lerma (the president of the Valencian Generality), took up the idea of Jose María López Piñeiro, a professor of the history of science at the University of Valencia, to build a scientific museum on the land of the Garden of the Turia River that bordered the road. Lerma entrusted the creation of a team that articulated the project and that visited spaces with similar characteristics in Munich, Canada and London, to devise a project of evident pedagogical appearance.

The City of the Sciences was the name that the autonomous government gave to the initiative, and plans included a 370 meters high communications tower, which would have been the third highest one in the world at that time; a planetarium; and the museum of science. The total prince of the works was estimated to be about 150 million €.

In May 1991, the council approved the transfer of lands. Four months later the project was presented, designed by Santiago Calatrava. And the construction phase began by the end of 1994. The team that had designed the museum did not see eye to eye with the form in which Santiago Calatrava conceived the building. Therefore, a couple of changes were made.

In April 1998 the complex opened its doors to the public with L’Hemisferic. Eleven months later, Eduardo Zaplana (the president of Valencia) inaugurated the Principe Felipe Museum of the Sciences, although the museum was not yet finished. The museum was opened to the public twenty months later. December 12, 2002 was the opening of L’Oceanographic, the largest aquarium built in Europe. Finally, on October 8, 2005 the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia was opened and became the opera house of Valencia.

Here is the link to an article about the end of the project: “Punto y final a la Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias” http://www.abc.es/20091102/valencia-valencia/punto-final-ciudad-artes-20091102.html

The project did however cause controversy, because there was a HUGE difference between the predicted cost of the Project and the real one. It was 4 times more than the initial one, resulting by 625 million Euros. There are lots of newspaper articles related to this issue, and here is one of them

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/sobrecoste/625/millones/Ciudad/Artes/elpepuesp/20110316elpepinac_9/Tes

Also, it is important to highlight that the progress of the tower’s design was not as good as it was expected, and this issue was also noticed via newspapers and media. Calatrava was accused of receiving 2.6 million euros before doing this project and other two payments of 6.4 million euros. Finally the project was not finished.

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Camps/pago/27/millones/Calatrava/proyecto/hecho/excesivo/elpepuesp/20110316elpepinac_10/Tes

However, nowadays the City of Arts and Sciences is a very important point in Spain which attract lots of tourism every year, and it is an interesting point in order to increase the scientific knowledge.

Comentarios desactivados en City of Arts & Sciences…the unexpected economic result / 17 Ene 2012 por Elisa Roman Luengo
MIGMAmad /

Millenium development goals for Sub-Saharan Africa

Millenium development goals:

The aim of the eight Millennium Development Goals is to provide concrete, numerical targets that encourage growth and prosperity in the world’s poorest countries. They were approved in the year 2000 under the UN Millennium Declaration and their deadline is 2015. Millennium Development Goals create a partnership between all the world’s countries and the world’s leading development institutions and it is commissioned by the United Nations.

They Goals are:

Millennium development goals in Sub-Saharan Africa:

This region refers to the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. Among all the World’s regions, Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected for most of the Millennium Development Goals.

Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa has been rising over time and its countries face a situation worse than most other countries in the World: near 50% of the population is classified as poor. The main reasons of this situation are:

• Nearly 60% of the population of the region live in rural areas
• Low agricultural productivity and growth
• High incidence of communicable diseases such as malaria or tuberculosis

The last report of the United Nations about the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) reflects that the region has a noticeable improvement in the last decades in education, in the access to clean drinking water, in Malaria death and HIV infection cuts. The progression shows the efforts made by countries to meet the targets, considering Sub-Saharan Africa is the epicenter of extreme poverty.

About the first MDG, eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, has been a reduction of the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day from about a percentage of 58% to a 51%. However the achievement based on current trends, sub-Saharan Africa will be unable to meet the hunger-reduction target by 2015, its proportion of undernourished population being the highest in the world.

 

Concerning the second MDG, achieve universal primary education, sub-Saharan Africa has improved more than the other regions of the World due to the region’s strong efforts to increase enrolment. Despite of the improvement, almost half of the children out of school live in Sub-Saharan Africa and the majority of them are largely excluded from education, and most will never enter a classroom. Moreover the region remains with the lowest youth literacy rate (72 per cent in 2009).

 

The third MDG, promote gender equality and empower women, girls remain at a disadvantage position in education and the proportion of women in paid employment in the former region remains below 20 per cent. Although the proportion of seats held by women in single or lower houses of national parliaments is still very low, the percentage between 2000 and 2011 has increased from a 13% to a 20%.

Reducing the child mortality and improve maternal health, which are goals 4 and 5, are nowadays a difficult task for the region. One in eight children die before the age of five, and more than half the deaths are caused by diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia. The proportion of deliveries attended by non skilled health personnel are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of maternal deaths occur, due to the lack of a proper frequency of care during pregnancy. Nevertheless, evidence suggests that progress is being made and both goals are improving.

It’s essential to highlight the importance the contraceptive methods especially in adolescents to improve maternal health.

Although Sub-Saharan Africa is the most heavily affected region, with a percentage of almost 70% of all people living with HIV, getting infected and dying because of it, and 90 % of all deaths from malaria still occur in sub-Saharan Africa, the region is improving in the 6^TH goal of combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases as new HIV infections are declining to a 40% because of the increase of the education among young people about HIV spread, increases in funding and attention to malaria control.

In a region where the biggest problem is the loss of human lives, invest money in the sustainable management, conservation and development of the environment is a risky subject. However, both topics are correlationated. As the seventh MDG, ensure environmental sustainability, is improving step by step in Sub-Saharian Africa the population is obtaining a higher quality of life. The enhancement in the access to clean drinking water has been strong and the number of people using an improved drinking water source nearly doubled from 252 million in 1990 to 492 million in 2008. On the other hand the region is far from meeting the sanitation objective and the population is exposed to the dangers of inadequate human waste disposal.

A slum is an area defined as lacking of infrastructure such as permanent housing, piped water and sewerage systems. In Sub-Saharan Africa it is found the highest prevalence of slum conditions as 62 per cent of the urban population was sheltered in slums, particularly in conflict-affected countries.

Goal 8^th, develop a global partnership for development, the aid increased from 2009 to 2010 in only a 3.6% reaching the $26.5 billion. However, for the following years it is expected a decrease because of the global recession that has affected to the performance of the usual donors, in special the European ones.

 

What can we learn about the Millenium development goals?

Developing countries such as the Sub Saharian ones are in need of the developed ones. Although we know is our responsibility we look the other way and avoid the responsibility. It’s true the MDG was a great framework for the entire international community to work together towards the reduction of poverty but is not serious we are 3 years before the final deadline and the performance of the countries is far away from the consecution of the goals… Think about it…

 

Comentarios desactivados en Millenium development goals for Sub-Saharan Africa / 17 Ene 2012 por Laura Ambrós Atance
MIGMAmad /

“MDG” in Northern Africa

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

The “Millennium development goals” were defined in the year 2000 by the General Assembly of  the United Nations. Here you can see the United Nations Millennium Declaration (http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.pdf).

It declaration wants to minimize the differences between “those who are lowest on the economic ladder or are otherwise disadvantaged because of their sex, age, disability, or ethnicity” (Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General United Nations). Letter on the 2011 annual report of MDG by Ban Ki-Moon:

“Since they were first adopted, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have raised awareness and shaped a broad vision that remains the overarching framework for the development activities of the United Nations.At the September 2010 MDG Summit, world leaders put forward an ambitious action plan — a roadmap outlining what is needed to meet the goals by the agreed deadline of 2015. The information presented on the following pages demonstrates that this can be done if concrete steps are taken.Already, the MDGs have helped to lift millions of people out of poverty, save lives and ensure that children attend school. They have reduced maternal deaths, expanded opportunities for women, increased access to clean water and freed many people from deadly and debilitating disease. At the same time, the report shows that we still have a long way to go in empowering women and girls, promoting sustainable development, and protecting the most vulnerable from the devastating effects of multiple crises, be they conflicts, natural disasters or volatility in prices for food and energy.Progress tends to bypass those who are lowest on the economic ladder or are otherwise disadvantaged because of their sex, age, disability or ethnicity. Disparities between urban and rural areas are also pronounced and daunting. Achieving the goals will require equitable and inclusive economic growth — growth that reaches everyone and that will enable all people, especially the poor and marginalized, to benefit from economic opportunities.We must also take more determined steps to protect the ecosystems that support economic growth and sustain life on earth. Next year’s United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development — Rio + 20 — is an opportunity to generate momentum in this direction, which is vital for achieving the MDGs.Between now and 2015, we must make sure that promises made become promises kept. The people of the world are watching. Too many of them are anxious, angry and hurting. They fear for their jobs, their families, their futures. World leaders must show not only that they care, but that they have the courage and conviction to act.”

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

Taking into account that the population of the earth is growing without stopping is a new challenge to meet the 8 goals proposed in the different regions. Here there is an article who explains the difficulties of being so much people living on the Earth(http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40257&Cr=population&Cr1=).

I am going to fix my eyes in Northern Africa describing how this region is achieving the goals proposed for the year 2015.

Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

It’s the region of the world where less proportion of people live with less than 1.25 euros. As well, it was one of the regions where the recovery was translated into employment opportunnities althought in a small proportion. In the other hand, the vulnerable employment is stagnant since 1990.

Undernourished proportion of population is very low in this area, reaching the level of the developed countries. Also, the proportion of children under nine years old who are underweight is nearly to achieve the target for 2015.

At last, we have to take into account the internally displaced persons because of the war having place in Lybia.

In general terms we can say that they have to improve a little bit more for achieving the targets proposed for 2015.

Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

They have great figures in this field. They have the same figures in primary education than the developed countries, this is because they don’t suffer the huge number of wars that the South of Africa suffers, so the children hasn’t got face steep barriers for getting an education, being one of the regions which lead the way in expanding literacy.

Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

In the primary and secondary education there is almost parity between the number of boys and girls who are studying. The big difference is found in the tertiary education where there are almost a 25% more of boys than girls studying. However, is one of the worst regions where the gap remain in women’s access to paid work is wider.

The proportion of seats held by women in parlamient it is increasing in a big proportion since 1990 but is still the half of the developed countries.

Goal 4. Reduce child mortality

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

Northern Africa has already achieve the target in the under-five mortality rate, but they must continue fight against it. This ratio is 1.4 in rural areas because of the service are basically located in urban areas. Where exists such a huge difference is in the relation between the economic power of the family to fight the children dead, being 2.6 the ratio. That means that die 2.6 poor children per 1 rich children.

A mother’s education is determinant of child survival, the ratio of mortality under-five is double for those women who don’t have any type of education.

Finally, in Norther Africa the proportion of children who received at least one dose of measles vaccine is in the same proportion than the developed countries.

Goal 5. Improve maternal health

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

The ratio of maternal deaths per 100,000 births needs to be raised down almost in a fifty per cent, so it is still a big health risk for pregnancy women. Northern Africa experienced the biggest increasing in skilled attendance at birth, but is yet 20% less than developed countries. In the same line is the proportion of women attended at least once by skilled health personnel during pregnancy, althought the proportion of women who received the frequency recommended of care during the pregnancy has experimented a big increasing, a 37% more, but is still low compairing with developing countries. There is also a decreasing in the number of adolescents who get pregnancy, due to the little use of contraceptive use rises.

Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

The ratio of the new HIV infected is lower in Northern Africa than in developed countries. The treatment and aids are enough in their population. Also the pregnancy women who receive a treatment to prevent mother to child transmission has increased a lot because it wasn’t pun into practice before.

Other diseases as malaria, and tuberculosis are almos inexistent in this part of Africa.

Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

They are experimented an increasing in the economic framework without applying a successful sustainability plan. The forests are disappearing, they are increasing their greenhouse gas emissions altought compairing with the bigs producers is insignificance, and the limits forsustainable water resources have already been exceeded.

Almost a 80% of population have access to piped water being a big increased respect to 1990. The target of having flush toilets is already overpassed and there is no differences depending on the area where they live.

Goal 8. Develop a global partnership for development

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

The aid to help developing countries is fallen but is higher than in 2005. The net official assistance from OECD-DAC to developing countris is going down because the crisis.

In terms of market, the import of developed don’ t care about buying LCDS countries’ products because they have the same duty free as the developing countries. The prices of the agricultural products are falling so the poorest country are going to have more competitors. The textile sector has almost the same prices, and the clothing prices are falling down a lot in developing countries so poor countries can’t compete in this field with them.

In the tecnology field, Northern Africa is open its doors quickly to new technology, such as mobile phones and internet but the majority of the people haven’t got access.

“I would like finishing the post with a positive message, It says that if everybody helps a better world with less differences can be possible.”

Pinche aquí para ver el vídeo

 

 

Comentarios desactivados en “MDG” in Northern Africa / 17 Ene 2012 por Pedro Pernas Filloy
MIGMAmad /

Pontón de la Oliva dam-Project Management

Pontón de la Oliva is a dam located in the northeast of the Community of Madrid, Spain. It is a gravity dam built in the nineteenth century in the traditional masonry style with 27 meters of height and nearly 74 meters of length.

At that time Madrid was a small town which population was growing fast due to its condition of capital in the kingdom of Spain, surpassing the 200.000 citizens. As we can observe, despite the Manzanares River, the site where Madrid is located is limited in water, not enough to supply its population.

Construction of the dam

Although the search for reserves as nearby springs and the digging of wells to access groundwater was constant, the increasing demand required a new way of drinking water supply. It was not until 1848 when the civil engineers Juan Rafo and Juan de Ribera presented a draft of the project, which explain to the then Trade, Education and Civil Works Minister, Bravo Murillo, how to bring water from the Lozoya River to the capital.

Juan Rafo and Juan de Ribera

The plan was approved in 1951 and in that same August, the first stone was laid in the foundation of the dam in the Lozoya River in the presence of the king consort Francisco de Asís de Borbón.

Francisco de Asís de Borbón, laiding the first stone

The location of the dam was determined by the distance traveled, the maintenance of a minimum slope and the flow of water transported. Lozoya basin, for its proximity to Madrid and its capabilities, made the Pontón the most convenient location at 77 km from Madrid, with a difference in height of 26.46 meters. The conduction of water was planned for a flow of 0.38 m³/sec. with the possibility of an increase to 2.25 m³/sec. if necessary.

Regarding funding, the budget made by the engineers estimated an expenditure of 60 to 80 million “reales”, the then official coin¹, for water canalization and distribution. 25 would be for distribution, 7,5 for the aqueducts, 8 for construction of mines and the dam, 2,5 for the tank storage in Madrid and the rest for compensation, contingency and administrative expenses and supervision of works.

Seven years later, the 24^TH of June of 1858, the Queen Isabel II inaugurated in San Bernardo Street the first channel which brought the so longed water to Madrid. The event was the opening of the first system of the company “Canal de Isabel II”.

Isabel II, inaugurating the “Canal de Isabel II”

The final budget of the project has increased 127 million “reales” instead of the 80 million expected. The working force was an amount of more than 400 animals, 1500 prisoners of the Carlist Wars, 200 free workers and 200 craftsmen, who suffered from the hard working conditions and the cholera outbreak which spreaded in the camp site.

However, the biggest problem of the project was the terrain features. The dam was located on karstified limestones that are unable to retain the water due to a continuous and abundant leakage.

The engineers didn’t take this into account, even though they were informed beforehand by Casiano de Prado, an experienced geologist and mining engineer.

As a result the dam was useless from the first moment of its construction and, two years later, in 1860 the channel was extended upstream and a new one was built, the Navarejos dam.

¹ The real was a Spanish silver coin. It’s equivalent in euros can be more or less  0, 24 euros.

 

To obtain further information (if you know Spanish or you are patient enough to use a translator) you can check the links below:

Urban Idade. Memories of urban networks

Canal de Isabel II. History

Fotonazos. With pictures

Or just write “Pontón de la Oliva” in Google… Enjoy it!

 

Comentarios desactivados en Pontón de la Oliva dam-Project Management / 16 Ene 2012 por Laura Ambrós Atance
MIGMAmad /