PHL climate change project wins intl award

A Philippine project that addresses climate change and extreme poverty through sanitation, food security and biodiversity improvement, won the 2011 Raanan Weitz International Competition on Integrated Development Projects in Israel.   Elmer Sayre and Jed Christian Sayre of the Water, Agroforestry, Nutrition and Development (WAND) Foundation in the Philippines received the award at the Weitz Center for Development Studies in Rehovot, Israel on December 19.   "The design of the project focuses on ecological sanitation and the prevention of the spread of diseases, including the conservation of water, minimizing pollution and conservation of valuable fertilizer," said Elmer Sayre in a news release of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).  Professor Raanan Weitz was the founder of Weitz Center for Development Study and was a leader of the Israeli and International Development Planning.   "Winning this award is a testament that Filipino intelligence is indeed being recognized around the world, and this time, in Israel. The Embassy hopes that there will be more students coming from the Philippines who would provide award winning project designs at the Weitz Center," Philippine Charge d'Affaires Ferdinand Flores said.   Flores also thanked the officials of the Weitz Center and The Center for International Cooperation (MASHAV) of the Israeli Foreign Ministry for regularly extending invitations on available short-term courses to qualified Filipino applicants, and their continued support to them. - VVP, GMA News