What's New

Report about IIRR Program in the Philippines Awarded at Columbia University's 2008 Commencement Rites Posted on : June 2008 Since 2001, IIRR has been implementing its Building Initiatives for Community Opportunities and Livelihood (BICOL) Program in the Bicol Region of the Philippines. Through this program, IIRR utilizes a participatory community-based integrated watershed management (CBIWM) approach to combat poverty and environmental degradation. Between November 2007 and April 2008, a team of five graduate students of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) conducted a participatory and consultative evaluation of the BICOL Program’s activities in two of the three watersheds where IIRR works. Located in Mt. Masaraga- Quinale A and Lagonoy watersheds, the specific project evaluated is entitled "Institutionalizing Community- Based Integrated Watershed Management Within Local Government Units in the Bicol Region, Philippines: Scaling Up and Sustaining Capacity-Building Outcomes at Local Level." The final evaluation report of these five graduate students was awarded the 2008 Award for Progressive Sustainability from the Earth Institute, Columbia University at the 2008 SIPA Commencement Exercises. View full report (Adobe PDF file: 520 KB)

Now available for download: IIRR Annual Report 2007 & March 2008 International Sharing Posted on : June 2008

Interview with Washington SyCip Posted on : May 2008 An article published in a leading Philippine newspaper (Philippine Daily Inquirer) featuring Washington Sycip on Philippine Education. Mr Sycip - trustee emeritus of IIRR - mentions the IIRR Yen Center Project with the Sisters of Mary Schools Boystown and Girlstown Sustainable Agriculture Technology Vocational  Education is built on bio-intensive gardening (BIG), a purely organic method of growing vegetables, legumes and other food crops in small areas suitable for poor households and schools. Read the full article: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/education/view/20080409-129346/Washington-SyCip-puts-his-money-where-his-mouth-is

New Director for IIRR's US Office Posted on : March 2008 The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) has a new Director for its US office in the person of Leslie Enright.. Learn more

A Journey of Faith and Courage: Celebrating 10 years of IIRR in Ethiopia Article by Isaac Bekalo, IIRR Africa Regional Center Director Posted on : December 2007 "...another IIRR office outside the Philippines?" a high-ranking IIRR officer exclaimed in disbelief. This was in 1990 when I had just joined the institute. I was a time when IIRR did not have the policy, strategy or resources to operate a regional office much less a country office. The IIRR strategy in the 70s and 80s was to spread the Rural Reconstruction approach through autonomous national movements and not to operate regional or country offices. It took a leap of faith, enormous amount of courage and persistence for IIRR-Ethiopia to go on record as the first IIRR country office in the world. Learn more

What's New