Welcome to MEL Website (the “Site”). The Site is an online collaborative working tool for project Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning of the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (“ICARDA”) and the International Potato Centre (“CIP”) (“Owners”). Additional organizations, projects and programs may use the Site with the permission of the Owners.

In using the Site, you (the “User”) agree to comply with and be bound by the Terms of Use. By accessing or using the Site, you are deemed to accept the Terms of Use, you give your consent to the Owners to control and process your Personal Data for the purposes and objectives of MEL (see point 1 “MEL Identity, Purposes and Objectives”). The Owners may update the Terms of Use from time to time. Such updates will require the User to renew their consent to log onto the Site for the first time after the changes take effect.

The Owners carry out, through the Site a non-profit, public interest, transparent service of Monitoring & Evaluation in accordance with the requests of worldwide donors and stakeholders, and that is strictly related to agricultural research projects and activities. The User must be an adult according to the legislation applicable in his/her country of residence.

TERMS OF USE OF SITE

1. MEL Identity, Purpose and Objectives

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) is multi-center and multi-CRP online platform for integrated management, monitoring, and reporting of projects, from planning to budgeting, risks’ assessment, and more. The platform comes with MELSpace, an integrated Open Access repository, and the Knowledge Sharing tool-set, which includes an internal discussion forum, a technical assistance chat, project dedicated web-pages, and a communication-friendly module to write and disseminate project related blog stories.

MEL’s purpose is to boost the outreach of the scientific results of agricultural research projects and activities worldwide, planned, implemented and reported by mean of international donors and public funds, through the application and development of suitable, advanced IT solutions.

MEL’s main objective is to safeguard intellectual assets and provide full credit to the authors of knowledge that reported and shared in MEL while making use of international metadata standards such as Dublin Core. MEL’s basic objective is to provide M&E, administrative and programmatic support to international organizations and actors engaging in the field of agricultural research, free of charge.

The platform has been integrated with a number of third party web services, as listed in the section of these terms entitled “List of Data Collected”, and shall interoperate with these other webs services for purposes consistent the fulfilment of the purpose and objectives of MEL.

MEL is the result of the synergic efforts by CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (GLDC), CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB), CGIAR Research Program on Fish Agri-food Systems (FISH), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), International Potato Center (CIP), WorldFish, World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), ICARDA GeoAgro and is powered by CodeObia, iMMAP, DSpace and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

2. Intellectual Property

A. The codes, infrastructure, design and services on the Site, as well as their selection and arrangement, are the joint property of the Owners and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. Any unauthorized use of the Site may violate such laws and these Terms of Use.

a. The Owners grant the User a royalty-free license to use the Site. You agree not to copy, republish, frame, download, transmit, modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, assign, distribute, license, sublicense, reverse engineer, or create derivative works based on the information contained or offered in the Site unless the Owners have provided you with prior, written authorization to do so. In addition, you agree not to use any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction methods in connection with the Site.

B. User Generated Content:  You will be the only owner of the intellectual assets associated with any new content that might be generated from your use of MEL (“Contribution”). You agree to license back to the Owners on a non-exclusive, unlimited, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, make available to the public, and/or to incorporate your Contribution in other works in any media now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in your Contribution.

3.   Copyright

The content, organization, graphics, design, audio, animation, video, compilation, magnetic translation, digital conversion and other matters related to the Site are protected under applicable copyrights, trademarks and other proprietary (including but not limited to intellectual property) rights. The copying, redistribution, use or publication by you of any such matters or any part of the Site is strictly prohibited. You do not acquire ownership rights to any content, document or other materials viewed through the Site. Except for any content generated by you over which you acquire sole ownership as in accordance with 2(B) above, the posting of information or materials on the Site does not constitute a waiver of any right in such information and materials.

4.   Use of Logo

The MEL logo, formed by its brandmark, the icon or symbol and the tagline, is owned by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (“ICARDA”) and the International Potato Centre (“CIP”) (“Owners”). It was designed and first expressed in its fixed form in January 2016. The MEL logo identifies the Site as well as activities realized by the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) platform under the One CGIAR. The MEL logo in its current version and any variations that the Owners might introduced to it from time to time are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved:

2016ÓICARDA-CIP. All rights Reserved.

You or any of your agents, employees and/or sub-contractors as users of the Site, or you or any of your agents, employees and/or sub-contractors as users generating content for or at the Site, or any third party are not authorized to copy, reprint, record, photograph, depict, publish, distribute, incorporate, or use the MEL logo in any form or way, without the prior written authorization from the Owners.  

5.   Use of Software

The software and accompanying documentation that is made available to download from this Site is the copyrighted work of the Owners. If you do not agree to such terms, you will not be able to use the software. By uploading any content to the software, you expressly represent and warrant that you have the right to upload such content for the purposes of the Site and that you provide any User of the Site the rights to such content as provided in these Terms of Use. You also represent and warrant that the uploaded content has been verified in accordance with applicable quality standards and internal checks, including scientific accuracy at your institution or through a quality external review. The User agrees not to upload, post, transmit or otherwise make available any content that is unlawful, racially motivated, harmful, hateful, harassing, obscene, invasive of another’s privacy, or that infringes any patent, trademark or other proprietary rights of any party. If you make available on the Site any content of an experimental nature or pending quality and accuracy verification, this must be expressly stated by you with a disclaimer. You are solely responsible for the licensing of any content shared through, tagged within, displayed in and uploaded to the Site through your account, comprising but not limited to copyright compliance, dissemination, visibility and usability of the content. You are responsible for the correct attribution of the content shared through, tagged within, displayed in and uploaded to the Site through your account and of the accuracy of associated metadata. The User assumes full responsibility for any omission and incorrect or partial information provided while sharing through, tagging within, displaying in and uploading any content to the Site, intentionally or unintentionally. The Owners decline all direct and indirect liability that may be incurred by you or others in importing to, tagging in, sharing, displaying and migrating from the Site content that has been incorrectly licensed or which information and metadata has been omitted, incorrectly or partially provided by the User or external sources.

6.   Registering

In order to become a User, you need to complete the registration process in full, as instructed by the Site Administrators, directly or through any online or in-print tutorial or support material. You have the duty to safeguard your Personal Data of access (credentials). For the purposes of these Terms of Use “Personal Data” shall mean as such term is defined in Article 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation. The Owners decline all direct and indirect liability related to loss, dissemination, theft, inappropriate usage or any use of the credentials in a manner not allowed by these Terms of Use. By initiating the registration process, you give to the Owners permission to control and process your credentials for as long as you agree to these Terms of Use. The Owners reserve the right to retain any Personal Data necessary to perform the Owners’ duties on and through the Site for as long as needed but no longer.

7.   Content Provided by other Users and Third Parties

The Owners do not act as moderator within the Site and decline any direct and indirect liability related to insertion, visualisation or usage of content provided by third parties and other Users in the Site. The Owners are not responsible of those contents and their accessibility. You assume full liability deriving from your visualisation, inappropriate insertion or misuse of content on the Site, as well as for any resulting data and rights breaches and infringement.

8.   Services Provided by Third Parties

Users can make use of third parties services and contents provided by and embedded in the Site only by reading and accepting the related Privacy Policy. The Owners are not responsible for the correct functioning and availability of those services and declines any direct and indirect liability in this regard.

9.   Limited Right to Use

The viewing, printing or downloading of any content, graphic, form or document from the Site grants you only a limited, nonexclusive license for use solely by you for your own personal use and not for republication, distribution, assignment, appropriation, sublicense, sale, preparation of derivative works or other use. No part of any content, form or document may be reproduced in any form or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, other than for your personal use (but not for resale, redistribution or dissemination). The rights granted to you constitute a limited, nonexclusive license and not a transfer of title.

10.   Editing, Deleting and Modification

The Owners reserve the right in their sole discretion to process any documents, information or other content appearing on the Site.

11. Liability and Indemnification

The Owners safeguard all Personal Data within the Site and shall communicate to the User any Personal Data breach within 72 hours after having become aware of it. However, neither the Owners nor any of their agents, employees and/or sub-contractors shall be liable to you or any other party for any claim, loss, demand or damages whatsoever (whether such claims, loss, demands or damages were foreseeable, known or otherwise) arising out of or in connection with the use of the Site or information, content or materials created included on the Site by you or any of your agents, employees and/or sub-contractors. You are solely responsible for your submission of material to the Site and for any claims relating to its content. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold the Owners and our partners, attorneys, staff and affiliates harmless from any liability, loss, claim and expense, including reasonable attorney’s fees, related to your violation of these Terms of Use.

12. Age Limit

You declare to be over 16 years of age. You are responsible for ensuring your sessions of use of the Site do not allow anyone below 16 years of age to intervene and you assume full liability if they do so intervene.

13. Non-transferable

Your right to use the Site is not transferable. Any credential, permission or right given to you to operate in the Site at any level, such as controlling, processing or obtaining any information or document, is not transferable. You may not provide access to your account to any other person or legal entity without the prior written permission of the Owners. You are responsible for ensuring your sessions of use of the Site do not allow any third party to intervene and you assume full liability if they do so intervene.

14. Modification of the Present Terms of Use

The Owners have the right to amend, edit and nullify any part or all of the present Terms of Use at their complete discretion, given proper notice to the Users whom shall be provided an opportunity to read, understand and decide whether to renew their agreement or not.

15. Partial Inefficacy or Nullification

Should any part of the Terms of Use be invalid, illegal or ineffective, such parts shall be deleted from these Terms of Use and all the other parts of the Terms of Use will remain in full force and effect.

16. Disclaimer

THE INFORMATION FROM OR THROUGH THE SITE IS PROVIDED “AS-IS,” “AS AVAILABLE,” AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE DISCLAIMED (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE DISCLAIMER OF ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE). THE INFORMATION AND SERVICES MAY CONTAIN BUGS, ERRORS, PROBLEMS OR OTHER LIMITATIONS. WE AND OUR AFFILIATED PARTIES HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR YOUR USE OF ANY INFORMATION OR SERVICE. IN PARTICULAR, BUT NOT AS A LIMITATION THEREOF, WE AND OUR AFFILIATED PARTIES ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF PROFITS, LITIGATION, OR THE LIKE), WHETHER BASED ON BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE NEGATION OF DAMAGES SET FORTH ABOVE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN THE OWNERS AND YOU. THIS SITE AND THE INFORMATION WOULD NOT BE PROVIDED WITHOUT SUCH LIMITATIONS. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US THROUGH THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY, REPRESENTATION OR GUARANTEE NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT ALL RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES CAUSED BY VIRUSES CONTAINED WITHIN THE ELECTRONIC FILE CONTAINING THE FORM OR DOCUMENT IS HEREBY DISCLAIMED BY THE OWNERS. THE OWNERS WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND THAT MAY RESULT FROM USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE OUR SITE.

17. Dispute Resolution

If a dispute arises between the Owners and you out of or in connection with these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy, including any question regarding their existence, validity, interpretation, implementation or termination, you and the Owners will try to settle such dispute amicably through negotiation. If any dispute cannot be settled amicably within 60 (sixty) days, either party shall be entitled at that point to refer the dispute to be resolved by arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules in effect at the time of the dispute. The applicable law shall be the law of England and Wales. The language of the arbitral proceedings shall be English. Any arbitration under this provision will be supported by the Lebanese Arbitration Centre. The seat of arbitration shall be Beirut, Lebanon. The number of arbitrators shall be one. The arbitrator will be selected and appointed in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. Unless otherwise expressly provided in these Terms of Use, the arbitral tribunal will have no authority to award (i) punitive damages, or (ii) damages for consequential or indirect losses. Notwithstanding the provisions of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, the arbitral tribunal will not be authorized to grant any interim measures of protection or other forms of pre-award relief against the Owners and neither the Owners nor you may address to any judicial authority a request for interim measures of protection or other forms of pre-award relief against the Bank. The arbitral award shall be final and binding on both parties.

 

18. Data Transferral, Dissemination and Other Rights of the Users

You acknowledge that the Owners reserve the right to transfer, communicate, disclose and disseminate your Personal Data as required in order to achieve the objectives of MEL and their contractual duties. The transferral and communication of such Personal Data shall happen exclusively with entities able to demonstrate their compliance with EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and that express their unequivocal will to abide by the Regulation in good faith. The disclosure and dissemination shall not include any Personal Data listed in Article 9 of the Regulation and will provide the User with full credit for the knowledge produced or research results obtained. In no case and for no reason shall the Owners sell or rent the User’s Personal Data to other Users or third parties. The sole uses made of Data are those listed in this Policy. The Users are the sole owners of their Data and can request related modification or deletion anytime as specified in the Terms of Use. The Owners shall store inert Data for a period not longer than 365 days. The Owners reserve the right to withhold any Personal Data necessary to perform the Owners’ duties on and through the Site for as long as needed and not more.

 

Owner Contact Details

-        International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas – ICARDA

Dalia Building 2nd Floor, Bashir El Kassar Street, Verdun, Beirut, Lebanon 1108-2010

Tel: +961 1 813303

Fax: +961 1 804071/01-843473

 

-        International Potato Center – CIP

Avenida La Molina 1895, La Molina, Apartado Postal 1558, Lima, Peru

Tel: +511 3496017

 

You have the right to make a complaint at any time with a supervisory authority in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or of an alleged infringement of the General Data Protection Regulation. In the UK, the supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)(www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

 

 

Last edit on 24 December 2019.