February 2004

The monthly Newsletter brings you News for International Cooperation Professionals. Edited by Karsten Weitzenegger. Please send comments and suggestions by e-mail to

1. Manuals, toolkits and training materials
2. MethodFinder provides methods
3. The Civic Action Free University On-Line Campus
4. Weitzenegger.de is Site of the Week in Columbia
5. How to Succeed as an Independent Consultant
6. UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics 2003
7. CEDPA Launches a New Online Consultant Database
8. FEMISE Call for Proposals
9. EIB and European Institutions Set Up New Financing Facility
10. World Directory of Environmental Organisations online
11. Mini Atlas of Global Development
12. Brochure on EU-Maghreb Relations
13. The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP)
14. Guide to Development Research Capacity in the UK
15. ZEF Discussion Papers on Development Policy

This guide focuses on free, online manuals and practical toolkits which are aimed at development practitioners. This guide is another result of our partnering with Eldis. It allows you to screen the 20 newest guides by tile and author. You can get summaries or download the full text from the Eldis database.
http://www.weitzenegger.de/new/manual.html

MethodFinder is an internet database providing planning, management, decision-making and other practical methods that can be downloaded free of charge. MethodFinder provides a portal for sharing methods with a view to promoting the improvement and development of methods. It is maintained by the German consultants Dr. Nikolaus Schall and Michael Becker, Nikolaus @ MethodFinder.net, Tel.: +49 6081 686490. They plan to further expand the number of users of the webpage, and will continuously add new methods and application examples and also expand the clientele wishing to publish their methods on the MethodFinder webpage http://www.methodfinder.net

This E-Mail Group you belong to has been added to: "A Selection of Yahoo!'s Best Civic Action, Community Service and Development E-Mail Groups" as compiled by The Civic Action Free University. Please visit our Associated On-Line Campus of The Civic Action Free University.
http://www.weitzenegger.de/new/civic.html

The Spanish version of Karsten Weitzenegger's Website was awarded as Site of the Week by Colnodo http://www.colnodo.org.co. Colnodo is a Colombian communications network serving organizations dedicated to community development. It is operated by the non-profit organization called Colombian Association of Non-Governmental Organizations for Email Communication (Asociación Colombiana de Organizaciones no Gubernamentales para la Comunicación Vía Correo Electrónico), an APC affiliate. We are proud to make part of this useful network of social development sites. http://colnodo.apc.org/semana.htm

Based on the author's experience working with leading organizations and as an independent consultant himself, this work conveys ideas and techniques proven to be effective in developing and building business. Written in an easy-to-read style, it is suitable for anyone who operates as a consultant. It contains strategies and techniques for increased success by focusing on key topics such as: self-promotion, communication, building credibility, building and maintaining relationships and how to work with clients.
http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/ASIN/0749438665/weitzeneggerc-21

UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics 2003 provides a comprehensive collection of statistical data relevant to the analysis of international trade, investment and development, for individual countries and for economic and trade groupings. It is a consolidated reference for statistics considered by the UNCTAD secretariat to be of a particular importance for describing, in the context of the globalization, how developing and other countries have evolved during the last decades. Data are presented in an analytical way, through the use of rank orderings, growth rates and other special calculations, with a view to facilitate their interpretation. The Handbook is a valuable tool for research, policy making and education, and can also be used in conjunction with the CD-ROM or the on-line version.
http://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=4324&intItemID=1397&lang=1&mode=highlights

CEDPA, the Washington, DC-based organisation for reproductive health and voluntary family planning, has recently developed a new Online Consultant Database which can be accessed via their web site. Importantly, in order for CEDPA to consider your skills it is necessary for you to create an online profile and submit a current resume to the new system. Please go to directly to http://recruitment.cedpa.org/apply to create a profile and submit your resume. You can also access the database from CEDPA's web site under our jobs section.

A third Call for Proposals has been launched recently by the MEDA supported Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Economic Institutes (FEMISE). Institutions in the Euro-Mediterranean region are invited to submit research proposals falling under one of the six FEMISE study areas, including Agriculture, the Association Agreements, Poverty, the Role of the State, the Role of Women, and South/South Integration.
http://www.femise.org

The European Investment Bank (EIB) -- http://www.eib.org -- and the European Development Finance Institutions (EDFI) -- http://www.edfi.be -- the association of European bilateral development finance agencies, have established a joint venture for financing private sector operations in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, titled the European Financing Partners (EFP). EFP is a limited liability company that will contribute funding to private sector projects proposed by any EDFI shareholder. The total finance capacity of EFP will be EUR180 million. Individual projects between EUR1-25 million will be eligible to seek financial support, with a maximum of EUR25 million. EFP will finance up to 75 percent of a project, while the remaining 25 percent will be financed by the proposing EDFI member. (IPAnet)
http://www.eib.org/news/press/press.asp?Press=2716

This descriptive directory has detailed subject and geographic sections, background pages, and numerous cross-references. It is an expanded online version of a standard reference book produced since 1973 by InterEnvironment.
http://www.interenvironment.org/wd/index.htm

This is an at-a-glance guide to the most pressing development issuesfacing the world. The pocket-sized book is based on the Bank's compilationof development data -- the World Development Indicators -- as well as the Bank Atlas and the Little Data Book. It provides colorful and easy-to-read world maps, tables and graphs that highlight key social, economic and environmental data for 208 countries and territories. The Mini Atlas is designed to serve as an introduction and quick reference to today's most urgent development challenges.
http://publications.worldbank.org/ecommerce/catalog/product?item_id=2714894
More on World Bank

A brochure on EU-Maghreb Relations has been issued on 1 December by the European Commission Delegation in Tunis in advance of the '5 + 5' Summit Meeting (see above). The brochure is available in a bilingual French-Arabic edition. E-mail: DELEGATION-TUNISIA @ cec.eu.int.
http://www.ce.intl.tn/

GKP is a worldwide network committed to harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies for sustainable and equitable development. GKP's vision is a world of equal opportunities where all people can access and use knowledge and information to improve their lives. The network enables the sharing of information, experiences and resources to help reduce poverty and empower peoples. Within the GKP framework, governments, civil society groups, donor agencies, private sector companies and inter-governmental organisations have come together for the first time as equals to apply ICT for development - now abbreviated as ICT4D. Such alliances are known as 'multi-stakeholder partnerships', a relatively new approach to forging collaborations among different sectors sharing a common vision and goal.
http://www.globalknowledge.org

The Development Studies Association in the UK has launched a guide to currently over 70 participating organisations representing the three principal pools of development research: academic centres, independent think tanks and NGO policy departments.
http://www.devstud.org.uk/researchguide/index.htm

The Papers are intended to stimulate discussion among researchers, practitioners and policy-makers on current and emerging development issues. The latest paper deals with the impact of increased school enrolment on economic growth in Tanzania. The papers can be downloaded at:
http://www.zef.de