September 2005 from weitzenegger.de

2005

This monthly Newsletter brings you news for international co-operation professionals on economic and social development. Free of charge if you recommend it to other colleagues. Edited by Karsten Karsten Weitzenegger Consulting, http://www.weitzenegger.de

CONTENT

1. The EU at the UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals
2. Perspectives on European Development Co-operation.
3. Critiques of the Africa Commission Report
4. World Trade Report 2005
5. The Poverty Reduction Strategies- A survey of the literature
6. WTO Invitation to Bid
7. Training and Events
8. Publications
9. Websites

http://europa.eu.int/comm/chat/michel/indexen.htm European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Mr Louis Michel, is going to New York to attend the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Just before he leaves, you will have the chance to take part in a two-hour chat with the Commissioner, live from Brussels, on a number of issues : What is the European Union doing about development and humanitarian aid? What do you think of it? Are we doing enough? How can you, and the EU, help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals? Put your questions direct to the Commissioner, live, on 12 September between 18.00 and 20.00 CET, or send them already now to our mailbox. All about the EU declaration on the Millenium Development Goals: http://europa.eu.int/comm/development/body/communications/docs/eumdgreport.pdf#zoom=125

Events of the past twenty years, including the Cold War and the War on Terror, have meant that the environments of international development co-operation have changed extensively, with dramatic consequences for development policies and North-South relations in general. Perspectives on European Development Cooperation takes stock of such changes, describing and analysing the new European development agenda, including the role of the European Union. Essays by prominent authorities in the field examine the development policies of individual donor countries and focus on the principles and objectives governing aid strategies and the performances of these policies. This book will be of interest to students of development studies and those involved in determining development policy. Edited by Olav Stokke, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Paul Hoebink, Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen (CIDIN), Catholic University of Nijmegen
http://www.edc2010.net/detailpage.phtml?page=perspectives

The Africa Commission Report has produced a mixed response. Development Policy Review presents some of these reactions in a collection of reviews. Two of these, both from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), consider where the Report makes an important contribution, and what still needs to be addressed. Simon Maxwell stresses that basic needs, such as food security, should take priority above all else. David Booth asks: Where are the politics?', arguing that without a deeper understanding of African political culture, implementation of the Report will be difficult.
Simon Maxwell's paper: http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC19340&Resource=f1aid
David Booth's paper: http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/docdisplay.cfm?doc=DOC19301&resource=f1aid

WTO's World Trade Report (WTR) takes up a number of key trade policy issues facing the international trading system for analysis and discussion. It seeks to deepen public understanding of current trade policy issues and to contribute to more informed consideration of the options facing governments. The first part of the report focuses on recent trends in international trade development. The second part of the report focuses on this year's core theme- standards and international trade:While national welfare in the standard-imposing country will increase if a standard is well designed, global welfare may not necessarily be improved as a consequence of the trade effects of the standard. In the case of local production externalities, it makes sense to apply mandatory standards only to domestic producers while applying voluntary standards to foreign producers. Industries characterised by network externalities are standards-intensive while technical regulations are primarily focused on problems of information asymmetry. Standards do not significantly increase the costs of large firms in OECD countries although smaller firms may face greater difficulties. In the case of firms in developing countries, the story is more complex - costs vary enormously across countries and depend on a range of factors. Comparing the effectiveness of mutual recognition with harmonisation in increasing trade flows, early evidence based on the EU experience suggests that mutual recognition has greater trade enhancing effects. (ELDIS) http://www.wto.org/english/newse/pres05e/pr411e.htm

Forum Syd, a Swedish-based NGO and Eurodad member takes a critical look at PRSPs. The report provides an excellent overview of the PRSP process to date; assessing just how well the process has lived up to its principles of ensuring a country-driven, results-orientated, partnership-focused approach to development. The paper notes that the evaluations published by the international financial institutions typically end up being optimistic noting ''permanent learning and improvement''. But reports from the United Nations, CSOs and universities question whether the PRSPs are in fact the right road to poverty eradication with the weaknesses of the PRSPs appearing to be of a permanent nature, and providing no real break with the dismal experiences of the structural adjustment policies. http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=643

The Strategic Review of WTO-provided trade-related technical assistance activities. Applications are invited from individuals, teams and companies to bid to carry out the strategic review of the WTO trade-related technical assistance activités. http://www.wto.org/english/tratope/devele/teccope/tctinvite.htm

AGEG-Training: Conducting Professional Focus Group Research
http://www.ageg.de/downloads/AGEGTrainingFocusGroups2005-12.zip
Bonn, Germany, December 5 to 7, 2005, Gustav-Stresemann-Insitut
training workshop organized by AGEG, the German Association of Development Consultants (Coop.) Carried out by Janet Mancini Billson and Martin Steinmeyer. This intensive, three-day focus group training workshop is designed for individuals and organizations working in the field of international development and who wish to improve their capacity for conducting reliable group interviews for program evaluations, assessment of consumer or client needs, or basic research. You can download all relevant documents for the training from the link above. Please note that the deadline for registration is September 15, 2005!

InWEnt 10th International Business Forum
New York City, 11 - 13 September 2005
http://www.businessandmdgs.org/
Business and the Millennium Development Goals: An Active Role for Globally Responsible Companies What is the role of global business for the achievement, and sustainment of the MDGs? On the occasion of this year's 'UN Millennium+5 Summit', InWEnt, the World Bank Institute and Instituto Ethos invite leaders from business, science and public sector organizations to participate in the 10th International Business Forum. Please feel free to register!

Training the Trainer, 19-23 Sept, Oxford, UK
http://www.intrac.org/training.php?id=21
Learn participative and creative learning techniques, the effective way toplan an event in a framework of competence. It includes training needsassessment, use of visual aids, learning to draw cartoons, use drama and role play effectively and how to use to use outdoor experimental learning methods. You will be training an interactive session and receiving instant feedback.

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises - A Pillar of the Social Market Economy
http://www.mittelstandskonferenz.de/en/home Berlin, September 26-28, 2005, GTZ
In the past, numerous countries in Asia and Europe have been able to develop successful models of active promotion for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This has often resulted in high growth rates. These successful examples will be discussed along with future challenges for SMEs during the 5th Asia-Pacific Weeks at the SME Forum organised jointly by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH.

Gender Planning in Development: What does it mean and how do we do it?
http://www.intrac.org/training.php?id=22
3-7 October, Oxford, UK
Do you know how to develop a plan around gender, roles and needs? What's the meaning of empowerment? Practice gender analytical tools and methodologies for empowerment and gender awareness.

VIII Inter-American Forum on Microenterprise
http://www.iadb.org/foromic/
VIII Foro Interamericano de la Microempresa
5 -7 October 2005, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Course: The Economics of Corruption, Passau, Germany
http://www.ICGG.org
From 10-20 October the annual lecture ''The Economics of Corruption'' is again to take place at the University of Passau, Germany. Interested applicants are invited to submit their application. Participation is free of charge. After five successful courses a revised and further improved lecture is now held by Prof. J. Graf Lambsdorff. Six hours per day of intensive teaching and tutorials bring participants to the frontline of anti-corruption and good governance. A certificate is issued to successful participants at the end of the course. Prof. Dr. Friedrich Schneider from the University of Linz will give a lecture on corruption and the shadow economy. Declan Hill, an investigativejournalist, will present a case study on match-fixing. Further cases embrace smuggling and corruption in Xiamen, China and Reform in La Paz, Bolivia. Advanced scholars are given the possibility to present their research in a poster-session.

Symposium on the Occasion of World Food Day
http://www.infoagrar.ch/symposium2005/index.htm
Berne, Switzerland, 13 October, 2005. Poor health, food insecurity, and poverty - How to break a vicious circle? Info: Felix Hintermann, InfoAgrar, Zollikofen, Switzerland, tel. +41 (0)31 910 21 91, fax +41 (0)31 910 21 54, felix.hintermann @ infoagrar.ch

Creating an enabling environment for small enterprise development
http://www.itcilo.org (Ref: A900470)
Turin, 17 to 28 October 2005; International Training Centre of the ILO
How to formulate and implement policies to improve and reform the business environment for small enterprises. This international course will assist you to better appreciate which SED policies and strategies are likely to be more effective and practical. Many efforts at policy and regulatory reform break down at the implementation stage. The course will help you understand how to approach implementation right from the beginning of the business environment reform process. Cost USD 3,970 (including full board & lodging), Info: ILO ITC; Tel. + 39 011 6936 776/6936 665; Fax: +39 011 6936 589 SME @ itcilo.it

The New Role for Business in Developing Countries
http://www.ethicalcorp.com/development/index.shtml
Balancing profits in emerging markets while fostering sustainability, 18 - 19, October 2005, London. This conference on corporate social responsibility is being organised by the Ethical Corporation. For more details email Laura Geron (Laura.Geron @ ethicalcorp.org) or see their conference pages

Conference: Reforming the Business Environment: From assessing problems to measuring results
http://www.sedonors.org/cairo
Cairo, 29 Nov to 1 Dec. 05 Cairo, Egypt - 2005

Josh Kaufman: Inside My Bald Head
http://www.joshkaufman.net/
An ever-growing collection of knowledge by Josh Kaufman
In the context of learning useful knowledge that will make you a more productive and valuable employee, I maintain that you can educate yourself effectively for less than a quarter of the time and money spent in most current MBA programs. Here are the books (and blogs) that are a part of my ''Personal MBA'' reading list. (Blogs and online resources are marked with a *.) Some are directly related to business, and some are included for a broader understanding of the world and how we live in it.

Operationalising Pro-Poor Growth (OPPG)
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/growth-poverty-study-launch.asp
Pro-Poor Growth in the 1990s: Lessons and Insights from 14 Countries; published by the Operationalising Pro-Poor Growth (OPPG) team at DFID.

Latin America's expierence with competitive value chains
http://www.iadb.org/sds/publication/publication4124s.htm
The IADB has published a review of its experiences in ''integraciòn productiva'', or integrating various stake-holders into competitive value chains in the region. The Spanish version can be downloaded from here and the English version is available from mipyme @ iadb.org

Upgrading in Clusters and Value Chains in Latin America. The Role of Policies
http://www.iadb.org/sds/mic/publication/publication1593586e.htm
By Carlo Pietrobelli y Roberta Rabellotti, February 2005

Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2005/2006
http://www.apdip.net/news/dirap2005
The Digital Review of Asia Pacific 2005/2006 offers comprehensive reports and useful analyses of how 29 economies/countries are using information and communication technologies (ICTs) in business, government and civil society. In addition, there are three sub-regional chapters on the Pacific Island States, ASEAN and APEC, as well as, four thematic chapters on various facets of the information society. Issues covered include Internet governance; social, political and cultural aspects of ICT; open source software and localization, among many others. This publication is a collaboration between UNDP-APDIP, Orbicom Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communications, Pan Asia Networking of the International Development Research Centre and Southbound. Contact: editor @ digital-review.org

DFID's Developments Magazine
http://www.developments.org.uk/
The latest issue of Developments focuses on Ethiopia, asking 'what's changed in 20 years?' Take a look online at features on tourism, the rose industry, free speech and the booming leather industry. external link, opens in new windowDevelopments magazine homepage and external link, opens in new windowhow to get your free hard copy http://www.developments.org.uk/data/form1a.htm

Social pensions for the developing world
http://www.id21.org/society/s5cmg1g1.html
By 2050 nearly one in four people in Asia and Latin America and more than one in ten in sub-Saharan Africa will be aged over 60. For older people, pensions are a key element of social protection. Modest pensions are a human right and also make economic sense if the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved.

Pro-Poor Growth: A Guide to Policies and Programmes
http://www.povertyfrontiers.org
USAID has recently published a CD-ROM on ''Pro-poor Growth: A Guide to Policies and Programmes''. This can be requested free of charge from PASSNteam @ qedgroupllc.com and the materials will also ultimately be posted to the Website.

Rising Informality - Reversing the Tide, Note 298
http://rru.worldbank.org/PapersLinks/Open.aspx?id=6503
Vincent Palmade and Andrea Anayiotos, World Bank, August 2005
By some estimates, more than 30 percent of the developing world's GDP and 70 percent of its workers are outside the official economy. The implications: Most small firms are trapped in low-productivity operations with little access to finance, key government services, and formal customers. And bigger, better-connected firms use ''unfair'' informal practices to beat out more productive formal competitors. The result is slower economic growth and a growing social divide between the informal and formal parts of society. This Note examines the key factors that contribute to informality, and ways to control its growth.

Impact of privatization in competitive industries
http://rru.worldbank.org/PapersLinks/Impact-Privatization-Competitive-Industries/
Privatization in competitive industries is recognized as a key part of structural reform policies in developed and developing countries. Research shows that it is an important way to correct economic inefficiencies and spur competition and growth. But privatization remains unpopular in many developing countries. Critics say that the process leads to increased unemployment and unequal distribution of income. The resources gathered here by the World Bank examine privatization's impact on firm performance. The macroeconomic and fiscal impacts, as well as the social and distributional effects of privatization are also considered.

Looking at the relationships between Foreign Direct Investment and growth Two papers from WIDER (World Institute for Development Economics Research) explore key causal relationships: that between FDI and economic growth, and that between FDI and Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).
The first paper applies a rigorous methodology for testing causality and concludes that, in some cases, existing levels of growth determine FDI, rather than vice versa: http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/docdisplay.cfm?doc=DOC19240&resource=f1finance
The second paper looks at the relationship between investments in ICT and flows of FDI. It finds that, for developed countries a certain level of ICT leads to FDI, but for developing countries, flows of FDI result in increases in ICT investment: http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/docdisplay.cfm?doc=DOC19266&resource=f1finance

Gender, remittances and development: a conceptual framework
http://eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC19345&Resource=f1glob
This paper from Instraw presents key elements for the development of a conceptual framework that will allow a better understanding of the interrelationships between migration, gender, remittances and development

Sport and business: teaming up for development
http://www.eldis.org/csr
A recent report by the International Business Leaders Forum IBLF in partnership with UK Sport shows how business can use sport as a successful tool for development partnerships. Plus our selection of interesting projects

Guide to using the most significant change (MSC) technique
http://www.eldis.org/manuals
This document provides practical guidelines on how to implement the 'Most Significant Change' (MSC) technique as a form of participatory monitoring and evaluation. This is an approach to Monitoring and Evaluation that does not involve the use of indicators, but uses 'Significant Change' (SC) stories emerging from the field level instead. This manual is also useful for researchers looking to gain some insights on MSC and related methods of participatory and qualitative research

Making global financial transfers more accessible for poor people
http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC19146&Resource=f1finance
A new paper from the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor argues that financial transfers would provide an effective product for Financial Service Providers (FSPs). They would meet the financial requirements of the FSP, since this is a fee-paying service, while the social remit to meet poor people's needs would also be met if FSPs provided the service at lower rates than commercial competitors.

ADB's Asia Economic Monitor
http://aric.adb.org/default9.asp?handler=ecomonitor&switch=2&s=16
East Asia is expected to experience a moderate slowdown in economic growth this year with the external environment turning somewhat less favorable and oil prices reaching record levels. In general, progress in financial and corporate reforms continues to improve the health and robustness of financial sectors in the region.

Business Action for Africa (BAA)
http://www.businessactionforafrica.org
BAA was launched at the G8 summit; for the impressive list of the corporate partners.

The SME Department of the World Bank
http://rru.worldbank.org/Themes/SmallMediumEnterprises
has launched a database on SMEs in over 70 countries (definitions, structure, participation in the economy etc.) It can be found on the SME section of the World Bank's RRU site (under 'Data' on the right hand side).

Database ''Developing your Business
http://www.evd.nl/bid
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched this new database , to stimulate business with and in emerging markets. The new database, at www.evd.nl/DyB, provides detailed information about grant programmes.

New World Bank Development Blog
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/aideffectiveness/rc/ItemDetail.do~1043699?intcmp=700
The Private Sector Development Blog, or PSD Blog, is the first World Bank Group venture into the blogosphere! The Blog will be authored by WBG staff and will address some of the key challenges faced by developing countries and development practitioners.

E-Learning Guru
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/elearning/rc/ItemDetail.do~1005041?intcmp=907
E-Guru provides this extensive set of links to articles on e-learning. The coverage is quite broad. Several groups are specifically related to monitoring and evaluation: ''Evaluating e-Learning: Intro to Kirkpatrick''; Usability & Interface Design; Return on Investment in e-Learning; and Case Studies (of Great ROI).

Improved Global Directory AiDA of Development Projects
http://aida.developmentgateway.org/?intcmp=800
The world's largest directory of bilateral and multilateral development activities, known as AiDA and located on our website, has been enhanced. The directory is searchable by country, sector or donor and now includes over 100,000 ongoing and planned development activities. To help us understand how AiDA serves you, or could serve you better, please visit AiDA and complete the user survey. Take the AiDA survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=95711176589

ISDR Campaign on microfinance
http://www.unisdr.org/eng/publicaware/worldcamp/2005/2005-international-day-DR.htm
An information kit on 'microfinance as a potential tool to reduce the impact of natural hazards on population' can be consulted on the Inter-Agency Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) website.

Now available! Spanish version of the Doing Business database
http://espanol.doingbusiness.org/Default.aspx
The entire Doing Business database of the World Bank is now available in Spanish. Watch for 2005 data coming to the site in mid-September.

Internet Travel Tips
http://home.netcom.com/~rcowen/
If you're wondering which one of the many travel Web sites to use when you plan your next trip, you may want to start with Internet Travel Tips. This site, by travel guru Bob Cowen, is a gateway to tons of free travel information on the Internet, and it has tips and comparisons to help you find the best site for your needs. (FITA)