Comoros

Congratulations SIDS: 2014 is the UN International Year for Small Island Developing States - SIDS !

1. Read all about it at http://www.sids2014.org
2. Remember: 2008–2017 Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty
3. Remember: 2005-2014 Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (2005-2014)
4. Remember: The 2012 theme: "Indigenous Media, Empowering Indigenous Voices", a topic to which OLPC aligns closely.
5. The priority areas, chosen by the SIDS

An XO-XS OLPC Deployment as a strategy for Disaster Relief

Thesis: Communication is vital when disaster strikes and to recover from a disaster. The XO-XS is a rugged laptop-x-tablet made to withstand the rough handling of kids, including splash water resistant. The XO-XS is also made to be repaired - opened to let components drie e.g.: all the screws are the same and they can be screwed with a simple +screw-driver. The XO-XS is very energy efficient - hence generates CO2e-certificates - and powers up with a flexible portable photovoltaic panel. The XO-XS puts itself - automatically - in a mesh-network configuration with the other laptops in the neighborhood allowing video-calling at no costs between laptops in the same mesh-network.

From the great https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comoro_Islands , we learn: " This low pressure favours gusty winds and cyclones. The last cyclone was "Gafilo" which passed close to the Comoros on the 5th of March 2004 causing great material damage. During the hot and humid season it can rain as much as 200 mm (7.9 in) in twenty-four hours. "

" Partly as a result of international pressure during the 1990s, the government of the Union has begun to take greater care of the environment. Measures have been taken not only to preserve the rare fauna, but also to check the destruction of the environment, especially on Anjouan, which is densely populated. More precisely, in order to minimize the felling of trees for fuel, kerosene has been subsidized, and efforts are underway to replace the lost forest cover caused by the distillation of Ylang-ylang for perfume. The Fund for the Support of Community Development, sponsored by the International Development Association (IDA, a subsidiary of the World Bank) and the Comorian government, is applying itself to improving the water supply on the islands."

"Ylang-ylang's essential oil makes up 29% of the Comoros' annual export (1998). Ylang-ylang is a common flavoring in Madagascar for ice cream."

"Mayotte became an Overseas Department of the French Republic (département d'outre-mer) in 2011. This island is claimed by the Union of the Comoros (which considers it to form part of its territory according to Article 1 of its Constitution), but it has chosen to remain French in numerous referenda that France has held to decide its position. The United Nations General Assembly continued to condemn the French presence in Mayotte until 1994. France, however, used its power of veto in the UN to prevent the Security Council from passing a resolution condemning France.

The African Union judged the French presence on Mayotte to be illegal.[4]

Mayotte became a French Department on 31 March 2011.

The Comoros underwent a political crisis that started off in 1997 with the separatism on Anjouan. The political authorities on the island had turned the population of the island against the central government, advocating at first reunification with France, and later a greater autonomy bordering on independence.

Since 2006, the Ex-President of the Union of the Comoros Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, who is originally from the island of Anjouan, has been in open conflict with the authorities of Anjouan, a conflict which ended in a military landing of the National Army of Development in order to re-establish the authority of the Union on the island."

Relevant data on the Comoros relative to OLPC

From the great https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comoros

"At 1,862 km2 (719 sq mi), excluding the contested island of Mayotte,[5] the Comoros is the third-smallest African nation by area. The population, excluding Mayotte, is estimated at 798,000. "

"The Comoros is the only state to be a member of the African Union, Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League (of which it is the southernmost state, being the only member of the Arab League which is entirely within the Southern Hemisphere) and the Indian Ocean Commission. Since independence in 1975, the country has experienced numerous coups d'état and, as of 2008, about half the population lives below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.[10]"

Education

Main article: Education in Comoros Almost all of the educated populace of the Comoros have attended Quranic schools at some point in their lives, often before regular schooling. Here, boys and girls are taught about the Qur'an, and memorize it. Some parents specifically choose this early schooling to offset French schools children usually attend later. Since independence and the ejection of French teachers, the education system has been plagued by poor teacher training and poor results, though recent stability may allow for substantial improvements.[22] In 2000, 44.2 percent of children ages 5 to 14 years were attending school. There is a general lack of facilities, equipment, qualified teachers, textbooks and other resources. Salaries for teachers are often so far in arrears that many refuse to work.[59] More: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Comoros Comoros has no university but instead has post-secondary education, which in 1993 involved 400 students, is available in the form of teacher training, agricultural education training, health sciences, and business. Those desiring higher education must study abroad; a "brain drain" has resulted because few university graduates are willing to return to the islands. Teacher training and other specialized courses are available at the M'Vouni School for Higher Education, in operation since 1981 at a site near Moroni. Few Comoran teachers study overseas, but the republic often cannot give its teachers all the training they need. Some international aid has been provided, however, to further teacher training in the islands themselves. For example, in 1987 the IDA extended credits worth US$7.9 million to train 3,000 primary and 350 secondary school teachers. In 1986 the government began opening technology training centers offering a three-year diploma program at the upper secondary level. The Ministry of National Education and Professional Training is responsible for education policy.[1]

As elsewhere in Comoran society, political instability has taken a toll on the education system. Routinely announced reductions in force among the civil service, often made in response to international pressure for fiscal reform, sometimes result in teacher strikes. When civil service cutbacks result in canceled classes or examinations, students have at times taken to the streets in protest. Students have also protested, even violently, against government underfunding or general mismanagement of the schools: the World Bank stated in 1994 that the quality of education resulted in such high rates of repetition and dropouts that the average student needed fourteen years to complete the six-year primary cycle.[1]

Primary education is compulsory until the age of 14. However, the government does not enforce attendance, and boys are often given preference. In 2002, the gross primary enrollment rate was 90 percent and in 1999, the most recent year for which data are available, the net primary enrollment rate was 55 percent. Gross and net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. In 2000, 44.2 percent of children ages 5 to 14 years were attending school. There is a general lack of facilities, equipment, qualified teachers, textbooks and other resources. Salaries for teachers are often so far in arrears that many refuse to work.[2]