<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(31, 73, 125); ">D</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; ">ear
colleagues,</span><br></div><div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt; "><div style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt; "><div id="yiv1865045061"><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt; ">
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style=""> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="">I trust this
e-mail finds you well.</span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style=""> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="">The
International Hydrological Programme (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/water/ihp/">IHP</a>),
the only intergovernmental programme of the UN system devoted to water
research, water resources management, education and capacity building, is
pursuing its programmatic priorities by undertaking a new project entitled <b>UNESCO's
Hydro Open-source software Platform of Experts (HOPE</b> – see attached file
for more details). This project aims to provide an alternative to the
commercial specialized engineering software in the field of hydrology (e.g.
Water resources, rivers and groundwater; urban water modeling and GIS,
Collection systems, water distribution, flooding, wastewater treatment etc.)
and building capacities of local specialists in the field of software
development, especially in Africa.</span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style=""> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="">This e-mail
services to inform you that a dedicated space on the <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.wsis-community.org/">WSIS-KC Knowledge Communities</a>
platform has been created to capture your possible contribution to the project.
You will receive an invitation from UNESCO (<b><u>Through WSIS</u></b>) in the
next few weeks so that you can participate in the discussions that would lead
to an official launch of the HOPE platform at UNESCO HQ in Paris towards the
end of this year 2012. During this meeting, partners, members of the WSIS-KC
HOPE Communities platform will agree on the way forward piloting the project in
countries/region(s).</span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style=""> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="">UNESCO HOPE
team</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style=""> invites you to participate in an Assessment survey (<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=c3b0663f-3220-4de8-99c4-e5707abd6999">Click
here to access</a>) designed to gauge your opinions on how to provide Member
States excellent service offerings in the area of Open-source software in the
field of hydrology. This survey concerns your recent interactions with
specialized software in hydrology.</span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style=""> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="">We are
convinced that you will be an important player in the success of this project
and an asset to the discussions on the HOPE platform on WSIS KC - Knowledge
Communities website.</span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style=""> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="">Your responses
will help us to lead the discussions on the WSIS-KC Knowledge Communities
platform created to capture your possible contribution to the project as well
as to better target the products and services to meet the needs of the members
states. Your responses will be kept confidential.</span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style=""> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="">If you know of
any partner institutions and individuals that might be interested in the
project, do not hesitate to contact the HOPE Team.</span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><span lang="EN-US" style=""></span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><b style="font-size:12pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;
">Youssef Filali-Meknassi Ph.D., P.Eng.</span></b></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;
">UNESCO Office in Windhoek</span></b></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal" style="background:white;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-color: white; ">Cluster Office to Angola, Lesotho, Namibia, South
Africa and Swaziland</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; "> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;
"><br>
38-44 Stein Street,<br>
Klein Windhoek,<br>
P.O. Box 24519,<br>
Windhoek, Namibia<span style="color:#222222;"></span></span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Work Phone : +264 61 2917210 </span></div>
<div class="yiv1865045061MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;">Fax : +264 61 2917220</span></div></div></div><br><br> </div> </div> </div></body></html>