Weitzenegger & Kons. > en > newsletter | |
|
July 2004The monthly Newsletter brings you News for International Cooperation Professionals.Edited by Karsten Weitzenegger. Comments and suggestions: editor @ weitzenegger.de Content
1. World Development Report 2005Improving the Investment Climate for Growth and Poverty ReductionThe forthcoming World Development Report for 2005 deals with how to
improve the investment climate, also referred to as the business
environment. The World Bank's strategy for long-term growth and poverty
reduction has two pillars: improving the investment climate; and
empowering and investing in people. The 2005 World Development Report
(WDR) will focus on the first of these pillars. It will also build on
the Bank Group's new Private Sector Development Strategy. A draft report
is now available. 2. MDG Series: EntrepreneurshipThe Development Gateway's topic pages on key development issues will
look at how a competitive private sector can impact poverty reduction in
developing countries and emerging economies, and ways that programs,
policies, and initiatives can overcome barriers to a vital private
sector. Related to Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 8, which calls for
national cooperation with the private sector, the Cross-Topic Special
reflects the new action plan of the G8 nations to promote
entrepreneurship for poverty alleviation. Starting July 13, read the new
Development Gateway Cross-Topic Special on Entrepreneurship at: 3. Status of IMF & WB PRSP Evaluations(Eurodad) The IMF evaluation, which is being undertaken by its
Independent Evaluations Office (IEO), looks specifically at the IMF's
role in the implementation of PRSPs and the degree to which the PRGFs
(the IMF's central lending instrument to low income countries) are
aligned to PRSPs. It will cover both process and content questions and
highlight key areas in need of reform. It is more critical of the
process than the forthcoming review by the World Bank's Operations and
Evaluations Department (OED), which is exclusively focusing on process,
both in terms of country design and implementation. The World Bank's
evaluation has gone to its executive board this week, but will not be
officially released until the end of July.
IMF PRSP evaluation: 4. Chronic Poverty Report 2004This report by Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC) examines what
chronic poverty is and why it matters, who the chronically are, where
they live, what causes poverty to be persistent and what should be done
about it. A section of regional perspectives looks at the experience of
chronic poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America and the
Caribbean, transitional countries and China. 5. New World Bank Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) DatabaseThe World Bank has completed a new database on technical barriers to trade and standards, based on a survey of 689 firms in 17 developing countries. The World Bank Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Database includes information on both mandatory technical regulations, as well as the use of voluntary standards. For example, the data include information on the costs of meeting standards and technical barriers required in major export markets. The data also include firms' experiences with product testing and their responses to questions regarding mutual recognition agreements. Preliminary analysis that draws on the database is underway at the Bank and the data set with additional information, including the survey instrument and background description, are available at: http://www1.worldbank.org/wbiep/trade/st-db/. For additional information, please contact: John S. Wilson at jswilson @ worldbank.org or Tsunehiro Otsuki at totsuki @ worldbank.org 6. Guide to Civil Society Engagement in PRSP, Trocaire(Eurodad) This new guide produced by Trocaire (the overseas development
agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland) aims to help civil society
organisations build their capacity to engage with the PRSP process.
Organised into four sections, the guide opens with an overview of PRSPs
and the opportunities they provide for participation, followed by a
section on participation in poverty diagnostics and a section on
Participatory Public Expenditure Management (PPEM). Finally, there is
also a section on participatory monitoring and evaluation. The guide
contains links to further reading for all sections and looks set to be a
useful resource for civil society organizations wanting to engage in the
PRSP process. 7. Rethinking participation in PRSPsThis discussion paper by ActionAid Uganda aims to inform and provoke
discussion among civil society organisations engaged in PRSP
consultations. It argues that there are serious limitations and
constraints to the process as it currently exists, and that the IMF and
the World Bank focus on poverty is limited to ameliorating the social
damage done by the negative impacts of their structural adjustment
policies and not actually changing the basic framework or the policy
reforms. 8. A Guide to Community Multimedia CentresHow to Get Started and Keep GoingThis handbook gives an overview of all the different aspects in setting
up and operating a Community Multimedia Centre (CMC). It was developed
by UNESCO to complement a series of workshop-ready, open access
tranining materials called the Multimedia Training Kit (some of it
already available on www.itrainonline.org). 9. Helping small business grow through responsible entrepreneurshipIf small firms are to be inspired to tackle their environmental and social impacts, it has to be framed in the mindset of millions of sole-traders, owner-managers and entrepreneurs. It has to address the fears of small firms that tackling environmental and social impacts will be time-consuming, costly, difficult and potentially opening a Pandora's box of further legal obligations. A study found that fear of bureaucracy, time and cost are the main barriers to further engagement, but that interestingly, these problems are not actually experienced by those SMEs who are engaged. In other words, barriers tend to be built on perceptions rather than reality. The research also identified a lack of knowledge of the issues - and that SMEs wanted information to be made available through the organisations they already work with, rather than through new organisations being created just for this purpose. http://www.bitc.org.uk/resources/viewpoint/entrepreneur.html 10. Privatisation: guidelines for water and sanitation in developing countries(UNDP/PPPUE) The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the
Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco), and the global
reinsurer Swiss Re have launched an initiative on Policy Principles and
Implementation Guidelines for Private Sector Participation in
Sustainable Water Supply and Sanitation Services. The partners' goal is
to assist in improving the performance of the water sector especially in
developing countries and countries in transition by proposing formal
approaches for private sector participation (PSP) at the policy,
operational and practitioner level. An intensive multistakeholder
dialogue started two years ago is still ongoing. Draft versions of the
policy principles and implementation guidelines are available on the
initiative's web site. Contact: PSPWater - Project Policy Principles:
Urban Frei, Verane Loriot, ecos consultancy, water @ ecos.ch ; PSPWater -
Project Implementation Guidelines: Oliver Johner, BHP, Brugger and
Partners Ltd, oliver.johner @ bruggerconsulting.ch 11. ICT Literacy ResourcesThis website provides a rich, centralized portal for the repository of
information and communication technologies Literacy resources,
highlights innovative efforts and partnerships promoting ICT Literacy,
and facilitates the interaction between researchers, business,
government and educational segments. Participants may share information,
collaborate for strategic efforts, present leading research and thinking
in the area of ICT literacy, and encourage global leaders to dialogue on
important issues and consensus building efforts. 12. Broadband Access in Rural and Remote AreasOECD has published a new report called 'The Development of Broadband
Access in Rural and Remote Areas'. The report reviews the availability
of broadband services in each OECD country, and based on this evidence
produces a number of recommendations to policy makers. 13. Microfinance at the University
''Micro Finance at the University'' is a Curriculum Development Project
Co-Financed by the European Commission with a duration of 36 months. Its
main objective is to include Micro-Finance (mostly to women) in
undergraduate and postgraduate curricula of business schools and
faculties of economics and social sciences, as a strategic subject for
the development of the ''Active Poor''. The Consortium joining the
Project is formed by 15 Universities: 11 from MEDA countries (Egypt,
Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia) and 4 from Europe
(Greece, Italy, Spain, U.K.) 14. Wanted: Local governance case studiesIDS is putting together a collection of case studies and would be really
interested in receiving case studies from you that you think would be
relevant on the work that you have done in local governance on a
particular theme, area or target group (women, children, indegeneous
groups). Please send your contribution to: Jas Vaghadia,
LogoLink @ ids.ac.uk. Institute of Development Studies, University of
Sussex, Brighton. 15. Bradmans Travel Guides(FITA) If you're planning a business trip to a place you've never been
before, it's a good idea to do a little research. One good information
source is Bradmans Travel Guides. Bradmans has in-depth guides to most
major cities and countries worldwide. Want to know a good restaurant in
Abu Dhabi? The best way to get to Moscow from the airport? How much to
tip in Switzerland? You'll find all these answers at Bradmans. Just
click on the name of your destination, and you'll find a detailed guide. |
|
|
© 2001-2005 Karsten Weitzenegger | | |
Disclaimer |