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This monthly Newsletter brings you news for international co-operation professionals on economic and social development.
Edited by Karsten Weitzenegger, http://www.weitzenegger.de. Free subscription by sending an eMail to subscribe @ weitzenegger.de. Web version: http://www.weitzenegger.de/new/today.html. Get mail whenever this page changes:
CONTENT
- OECD: Aid dropped in 2006 for the first time since 1997
- Economic Report on Africa 2007: Development through Diversification
- Developing Asia set for Strong Growth in 2007
- MENA Prospects 2007: Job Creation in an Era of High Growth
- Poverty Reduction through Small Enterprises
- New World Bank evaluation calls for more cross-border
- Towards a Monitoring System for the ACP-EU EPAs
- Training and Events
- Publications
- Websites of the Month
1. OECD: Aid dropped in 2006 for the first time since 1997
Aid dropped 5.1 per cent from 106.8 billion in 2005 – a record high – to 103.9 billion in 2006. The high levels in 2005 were due largely to debt relief operations in Iraq and Nigeria. Excluding debt relief, other forms of aid fell by 1.8 per cent. ODA is expected to fall again in 2007 as debt relief tails off. Programme and project aid should then increase as donors fulfil more recent pledges. Sixteen of the DAC’s 22 member countries met the 2006 targets for ODA that they set at the 2002 Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development. http://www.oecd.org/document/17/0,2340,en_2649_33721_38341265_1_1_1_1,00.html
2. Economic Report on Africa 2007: Accelerating Africa's Development through Diversification
In the 2007 edition of the Economic Report on Africa (ERA 2007), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa notes that African economies continued to sustain the growth momentum of previous years, recording an overall real GDP growth rate of 5.7% in 2006. ERA 2007 underscores serious concerns about the sustainability of the recent regional economic growth momentum in the medium run. It stresses that the lack of diversification of the production and export base exposes African economies to the vagaries of international markets, making growth highly volatile and increasing macroeconomic uncertainty. It therefore argues for a paradigm shift, making diversification the cornerstone of economic policy design as a means of both accelerating growth and sustaining high levels of growth. ERA is the key instrument through which African economic performance is tracked and assessed by the Commission. One of the main goals of the ERA is to identify policy challenges that countries face on the continent and to suggest practical solutions. Targeted at African and global policymakers, the ERA is meant to stimulate a process of discussion and change. This year the report is co-published with the African Union Commission (AUC) for the first time. http://www.uneca.org/era2007
3. Developing Asia set for Strong Growth in 2007
The 19th edition of Asian Development Outlook examines trends and prospects in Asia, and the Pacific in the context of global economic movements. It throws a spotlight on a variety of structural issues in developing Asia, discussing prospects over the next few decades which will depend on how the region responds and adapts to a constantly changing environment. The chapter on growth amid change in developing Asia shows that those countries who have sustained fast growth in developing Asia have both successfully industrialized and expanded services. After an exceptional performance in 2006, developing Asia looks set for strong growth of 7.6% in 2007, according to ADB's flagship economic report released on 27 March 2007 in Tokyo, ''Asian Development Outlook 2007: Growth Amid Change''. But economic stresses need to be managed, while rebalancing economic growth and creating jobs remain major challenges. ''Prudent macroeconomic management will ensure that developing Asia's economic outlook will remain favorable'' says Ifzal Ali, Chief Economist of ADB in Tokyo. http://www.adb.org/Documents/Books/ADO/2007/default.asp
4. MENA Economic Developments and Prospects 2007: Job Creation in an Era of High Growth
The World Bank MNA department is launching a new report that looks into major economic trends and economic prospects for the region. This is the third of an annual series of reports where the focus is on labor markets and employment, a critical area for the MENA region as a result of an increasing young population. According to the report, the GDP growth reached 6.3% for the region in 2006 - up from an average of 3.6% a year during the 1990s. This growth is driven by a combination of factors including: high oil prices, recovery in Europe and changing policies to promote higher investment and reforms. On the other hand, economic growth in MNA has generated jobs where the environment has been conducive for private sector investment. The report emphasizes the link between sustainability of economic growth and the potential for employment creation. Indicators reveal that employment grew at 4.5% per annum in 2000-05, the strongest rate of job creation among developing regions.'', Pro-Poor Growth, Trade Policy and Regional Integration, Fiscal Policy, Employment and Labour Markets, Business and Investment Climate. http://go.worldbank.org/29RU3W1460
5. Poverty Reduction through Small Enterprises
There is increasing recognition that private sector development has an important role to play in poverty reduction. The private sector, including small enterprises, creates and sustains the jobs necessary for poor people to work and earn the income needed to purchase goods and services. Two years ago, the ILO’s Small Enterprise Development Programme (SEED) initiated a process of internal discussion and review, assisted by outside experts, on the important issue of poverty reduction. This paper is a product of that process. Both the paper and the process complement the larger initiative taken by the ILO to make the fight against poverty a central element of its agenda. Through the Director-General’s Report, Working Out of Poverty, and the many initiatives guided by that report, the ILO has joined with its partners in taking up the challenge posed by the most important of the Millennium Development Goals, reducing by half the incidence of world poverty by 2015.
http://topics.developmentgateway.org
6. New World Bank evaluation calls for more cross-border solutions to development challenges
The World Bank Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) has released a new evaluation entitled ''The Development Potential of Regional Programs '', the most comprehensive assessment of regional programs to date. Regional development programs have a huge, yet under-exploited potential to advance economic growth and reduce poverty. These programs can deliver strong results, such as providing reliable energy, managing shared water resources and combating the spread of communicable diseases. Although existing programs have done well, support for regional cooperation remains limited, and programs often lack sufficient planning to make them sustainable. Visit the evaluation website to download or request a free copy of the report. Click here to view a map of regional programs included in the evaluation: http://siteresources.worldbank.org
7. Towards a Monitoring System for the ACP-EU Economic Partnership Agreements
The European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and the German Development Institute (DIE) will jointly elaborate options to monitor the implementation and impacts of EPAs, in a project partly funded by the German Ministry for Development Cooperation (BMZ) . More specifically, the project aims at:
- developing a flexible set of methods to monitor the implementation of EPAs and the impacts of key policies and measures related to EPAs with regards to development goals;
- identifying other key factors that will affect the achievement of the EPA objectives; and
- exploring options for the procedural integration of an EPA monitoring system in the EPA implementation process (design, implementation, analysis and use).
The project will adopt a highly participatory approach, encouraging various ACP and EU stakeholders (negotiators, officials, policy makers, experts, and civil society and private sector actors) to provide input into this project. In a pilot phase, national participatory workshops with potential users of the monitoring system in Southern and Eastern Africa will also be organised. The objectives are to identify the key policies and sectors to be monitored and to help developing appropriate mechanisms to assess the implementation and impact of EPA provisions. This will include the identification of an appropriate monitoring process, causal links, indicators as well as sources of data and information.
http://www.ecdpm.org http://www.die-gdi.de
8. Training and Events
Measuring Impact of Business Facilitation on Enterprise Development
http://www.businessenvironment.org/dyn/be/docs/49/IDRCIFCLimaWorkshopAgenda.doc
Lima, 15-16 May 2007
IDRC, IFC and CIES are organising an International Workshop. Particular emphasis is being placed on measuring the impact of better regulations. An agenda can be downloaded from the link, below; for further information, contact Edgard Rodriguez, mailto:erodriguez @ idrc.ca
EPN Conference - Rome 2007
http://www.peopleinaid.org/events/default.aspx
Rome, Italy, 16-18 May 2007
This conference aims to build on the successful learning and networking of humanitarian professionals in the fields of HR, training and development achieved at the last EPN conference, held near Geneva in 2006, this year's event will again provide an opportunity for agencies to learn >from HR focused specialists and practitioners from within the humanitarian sector, as well as the corporate and public sectors.
Growth and Jobs; Lisbon challenges in the New Member EU States
http://www.icegec.org
Brussels, 16 May 2007, European Economic and Social Committee Rue Belliard 9, Room JDE62
This workshopt represents a follow-up of the ICEG conference organised in November 2005 about competitiveness indicators in the NMS. This time the event will focus on growth opportunities and labour market challenges of the New Member States of the European Union, and attention will also be given to the expected impact of EU Structural Funds for achieving the Lisbon goals. The analyses and background presentations will contribute to a better knowledge of the current economic and social trends in the NMS, their comparative advantages and weaknesses in the area of growth and competitiveness.
Info: Pál Gáspár, ICEG European Center, info @ mgyosz.be.
Eighth Annual Seminar on Developing Service Markets and Value Chains -
http://learning.itcilo.org/entdev/bdsseminar/
Chiang Mai, 24-28 September 2007
Over 900 people from 100 countries have participated in the first 7 Seminars - now the 8th in the Series offers you the opportunity to learn about current trends, and to network with your peers. As you would expect from an event in its 8th year, there is also the chance to hear from people who have used the approaches and tools from previous Seminars. And you will be able to hear how some of the most interesting work presented in previous years has progressed and scaled up. Info: Mr. Jim Tanburn, PSDKnowledge @ yahoo.com or Mr. Peter Tomlinson, p.tomlinson @ itcilo.org
International conference: Value chains for broad-based development
http://www.value-links.de
Berlin, Germany, 30-31 May 2007, GTZ
GTZ is organising an international conference on the above topic. The conference is supposed to further the conceptual progress of the VC promotion approach responding to this and other challenges. Lead questions include: Which strategies and interventions maximize outreach? … help avoiding a ''race to the bottom''? … contribute the most to capacity building and innovation? Panel Discussion – Wednesday, 30 May 2007, 16.30h, ''Can Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) promote Value Chains? Learning from Good Experience in Trade Policy
Tools of the Trade for Development Practitioners
http://www.mdi-nh.org
Manchester, New Hampshire, USA, 11 - 29 June 2007, Microenterprise and Development Institute
For more information, contact: Emma LeBlanc, telephone: (603) 644-3124, mdi @ snhu.edu
International Summer Academy on Local Economic Development
http://www.mesopartner.com/summer-academy/
Duisburg, Germany, 16 - 20 July 2007
mesopartner's International Summer Academy on Local Economic Development is an event that addresses practitioners in local and regional development, primarily but not exclusively working in transformation and developing countries. It is not an introductory course in LED or a training course on mesopartner methods but rather an event where experienced practitioners can share their knowledge and familiarise themselves with current trends and new methods. The Summer Academy is a regular event. The content changes every year. We will organise the next Summer Academy in July 2007. This event is already fully booked. If you want to receive an ''early warning'' on the subsequent event, please send a message to udm @ mesopartner.com.
Microfinance Training of Trainers (MFTOT) distance learning course
http://www.adbi.org
August to November 2007, open June 1 on the ADBI and TDLC websites.
The Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), the World Bank Institute (WBI) and the Tokyo Development Learning Center of the World Bank (TDLC). For the first time, the banks are planning to offer the course materials, including workbook and multimedia CD-ROM, in seven local languages. In addition, several countries will organize local courses in local languages to run parallel to the regional distance learning course. Info: Adam Stefan, astefan @ adbi.org
GOALS Financial Analysis Course
http://www.seepnetwork.org/content/calendar/detail/5140
Washington, DC, 3-17 August 2007, SEEP offices, 1875 Connecticut Avenue, NW,
The GOALS financial trends analysis course has been taught in over 20 countries to nearly 2,000 representatives of banks, microfinance institutions, audit firms, central banks, and supervisory agencies. It has been a popular offering over the years at the Boulder Institute of Microfinance. Using a highly participatory methodology, participants gain a thorough understanding of issues pertaining to the balance sheet and income statement of microfinance institutions. Discussions include balance-sheet issues pertaining to capital adequacy, practical techniques for enhancing leverage, advantages and disadvantages of different types of liabilities, appropriate distribution of assets, effective monitoring of portfolio quality, and policies governing investments and cash management. Regarding the income statement, participants enhance their understanding of interest rates and the cost of funds. Operating efficiencies are covered, as are techniques for maintaining high-quality loan portfolios at low operating cost. Tuition fees and info: Laura Meissner, telephone: 202-884-8384.
CROP Training Course 2007: Poverty & Human Rights
http://www.crop.org
Bergen, Norway, 6-17 August 2007, CROP
The course offers an opportunity to NGO workers, policy makers, researchers, and graduate students from around the world to gain in-depth knowledge about the relationships between poverty and human rights. The course is designed to provide a critical, interdisciplinary, and intercultural exploration of global poverty and inequality from a human rights perspective, and to analyze historically the content and direction of the aspects of human rights that the world has seen since the 2nd World War to the present day.
Youth Microenterprise Conference
http://www.ymeconference.org
Washington DC, USA, 10-11 September 2007, Cafritz Conference Center
This interactive global event is designed to develop strategies to meet the needs of youth entrepreneurs. The conference will bring together international development practitioners, and policy makers, as well as private sector participants, youth and experienced professionals in education, global health, microenterprise creation, and youth entrepreneurship. Together we will share experiences, best practices, priorities, and determine how to reduce poverty, vulnerability and unemployment of youth around the world.
Proceedings international symposium on implementation issues of diversified financing strategies for TVET
http://www2.gtz.de/dokumente/bib/07-0296.pdf
Held November 20-21, 2006 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Engineering Capacity Building Program (ECBP)
OECD Business Environment Working Group
http://www.sedonors.org/events/event.asp?eventid=48
This meeting considered in more detail the draft Donor Guidance, and the plans for the Africa Consultative Conference in Accra, Ghana, in November 2007.
9. Publications
Local and Regional Economic Development - Towards a common framework for GTZ's LRED interventions in South Africa
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/gtz_LRED_manuscript_ii.pdf
Anja Ruecker, Gabriele Trah / GTZ, Divsion 41 Economic Development and Employment 2007, This handbook for LRED practitioners is based on GTZ's recent experience in supporting Local and Regional Economic Development (LRED) in South Africa. It enriches and enhances GTZ's general conceptual approach to LRED with practical experiences, further concepts and additional tools based on the LRED experience of a variety of programmes. These programmes provide a diverse range of knowledge and experience by looking at LRED from different angles, such as Rural Economic and Enterprise Development (REED), Local Economic Development (LED) and Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM). This handbook presents the result of these efforts: a common framework on LRED, which aims to enable LRED practitioners - implementers and designers of projects, programmes or initiatives - to approach LRED from a strategic and conceptual angle, which can guide the application of tools and instruments and orient the facilitation of LRED processes in different contexts.
Financing Innovation: How to Build an Efficient Exchange for Small Firms
http://rru.worldbank.org/PublicPolicyJournal/Summary.aspx?id=315
More than 24 countries operate separate boards and exchanges aimed at small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Equity markets play a critical role in fostering economic productivity by financing innovation. But only a few SME exchanges function properly, providing coveted fresh capital and liquidity. What steps are key to building an efficient exchange to provide risk capital for SMEs? Creating an SME-friendly market architecture supported by effective institutions and forging links to policies that foster a new class of investable equities. World Bank Public Policy Journal No. 315.
Entrepreneurship: How Much Does the Business Environment Matter?
http://rru.worldbank.org/PublicPolicyJournal/Summary.aspx?id=313
Entrepreneurship is important for the continued dynamism of modern economies and for job creation. Policymakers need to know how new firms get started and what financial and institutional factors promote entrepreneurial activity. A new cross-country, time-series data set shows a strong correlation between entrepreneurship and the quality of the legal and regulatory environment, ease of access to finance, and prevalence of informality. This finding tells policymakers what they can do to promote entrepreneurship. World Bank Public Policy Journal No. 313.
Effective Policies for Small Business: A Guide for the Policy Review Process and Strategic Plans for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development
http://www.ruralfinance.org
This comprehensive guide by Allan Gibb begins by noting that micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) make important contributions to economic and social development. In all economies they constitute the vast majority of business establishments, are usually responsible for the majority of jobs created and account for one third to two thirds of the turnover of the private sector. In many countries they have been the major engine of growth in employment and output over the last two decades. In developing countries they are seen as a major ‘self-help’ instrument for poverty eradication.
Cluster Management Guide – Guidelines for the Development and Management of Cluster Initiatives
http://www.clusterforum.org/media/CLOE_Clusterguide.pdf
cloe - Clusters Linked over Europe 2006. Globalisation has a significant impact on the development of industries and regions and their competitiveness. The present document takes a step forward and offers - based on the experience of successful cluster initiatives - a practical handbook giving an overview of essential tasks which are to be undertaken or at least considered within the scope of cluster building processes and their management. This practical handbook is designed to help regional actors, cluster and project managers and their supporting staff to develop and manage cluster activities in a proper and successful way.
Three-Cs Information Brief No. 3: Coordination of Trade Capacity Building Assistance
http://www.three-cs.net
This Information Brief introduces the most important findings and key recommendations of the joint evaluation on Coordination of Trade Capacity Building Assistance in Third Countries. The evaluation examines the extent to which the European Commission and the Member States have achieved effective co-ordination and complementarity in the area of Trade Capacity Building initiatives. The study focuses on Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries and on the Doha agenda period from 2001 to the present.
New ACP-EC waiver at the WTO
http://www.ecdpm.org/dp71
Is the diplomatic and trade environment at the WTO favourable to the introduction of a new waiver that would extend the Cotonou trade regime between the ACP countries and the European Union which is due to expire on 31 December 2007? Would a new waiver be the best option for the parties to the Cotonou Agreement to enable them to meet the challenge of ensuring the harmonious integration of the ACP countries into the multilateral trading system?
Navigating New Waters: A Reader on ACP-EU Trade Relations
http://publications.thecommonwealth.org
Dr. Sanoussi Bilal and Dr. Roman Grynberg. An essential reader and reference tool for trade experts and interested parties, bringing together key analysis on all aspects of trade negotiations between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states and the European Union. The editors, both highly experienced in trade negotiations, have selected the most useful articles on all key aspects of trade negotiations, including market access, services, fisheries, regional integration, compatibility with the multilateral framework, the development dimension and capacity building in trade negotiations. The introduction highlights the major concerns of the book, focusing on ensuring that the priorities of developing countries are addressed.
User's Guide to OECD Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and of Current Invisible Operations
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/21/23/38072327.pdf
The Users' Guide aims to provide an easily accessible summary of the principles of the OECD Codes of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and of Current Invisible Operations, as well as technical commentary to the understandings and interpretations developed in their implementation. The Code of Liberalisation of Capital Movements and the Code of Liberalisation of Current Invisible Operations constitute legally binding rules, stipulating progressive, non-discriminatory liberalisation of capital movements, the right of establishment and current invisible transactions (mostly services).
Dual Pricing is counterproductive - how low priced rural credit goes against the cause of financial inclusion
http://www.financialexpress.com
Marie Luise Haberberger and Ramakrishna / The Financial Express, April 04. ''It is for the second time that India’s finance minister announced in his Budget speech the reduction of interest rates on farm lending from 9% to 7% per annum for all credit below Rs 300,000. At the same time, interest rates in the general economy have been increasing due to the liquidity squeeze in the banking system. It is estimated that 80% of rural Indians do not have access to the formal banking system in spite of the vast network of rural credit outlets. How does this very low level of financial inclusion relate to the minister’s enforcement of a below-market-rate policy on farm lending?
Are Public Development Institutions Crowding Out Private Investment in Microfinance?
http://www.ruralfinance.org
Julie Abrams, Damian von Stauffenberg / MicroRate 2007. This paper suggests that the rapid growth of foreign private lending to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the last several years has led to a surprising reversal of roles between government-owned development institutions and private lenders. Development institutions (International Financial Institutions - IFIs) are concentrating their loans in the strongest MFIs, leaving private lenders to look for opportunities among smaller, riskier borrowers. A MicroRate commissioned study of funding patterns confirmed that IFIs are not complementing private lenders; they are crowding them out of the most attractive parts of the MFI market – this report documents what was found.
Capital market development: whither Latin America ?
http://www-wds.worldbank.org
Schmukler, Sergio L. ; Gozzi, Juan Carlos ; de la Torre, Augusto / The World Bank 2006. Over the past decades, many countries have implemented significant reforms to foster capital market development. Latin American countries were at the forefront of this process. The authors analyze where Latin American capital markets stand after these reforms. They find that despite the intense reform effort, capital markets in Latin America remain underdeveloped relative to markets in other regions. Furthermore, stock markets are below what can be expected, given Latin America's economic and institutional fundamentals.
Overview :Financial services and trade agreements in Latin America and the Caribbean
http://www-wds.worldbank.org
Stephanou, Constantinos ; Goncalves, Marilyne Pereira / The World Bank 2006, The authors review the international framework governing trade in financial services, describe the treatment of financial services in recent trade agreements involving Latin America and Caribbean countries, and analyze the liberalization commitments made in three selected country case studies.
Leveraging Efforts on Remittances and Financial Intermediation
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/library/detail.asp?number=3557
Manuel Orozco and Rachel Fedewa / INTAL 2006 Recent policy recommendations have stressed the importance of linking remittances to financial intermediation as a strategy to harness the development impact of such earnings. This paper attempts to identify emergent trends in the remittance and finance world that potentially point to a deepening connection between remittances and development vis-à-vis financial intermediation. It is a case study analysis of nine financial institutions, and focusing on three basic indicators: institutional ability to provide remittance transfers to its clients and community, to offer low cost remittance services, and to compliment transfer services with other financial services.
Making Finance Work for Africa
http://web.worldbank.org
World Bank 2007 Making Finance Work for Africa takes a panoramic view of Africa’s financial systems, both at the large scale (''finance for growth'') and the small scale (''finance for all''). Things are changing for the better in African finance. Credit growth is underway after a long pause, solid new intermediaries are entering the marketplace, and the reach of microfinance is growing steadily. Finance can be a leading sector in transforming African economies - by opening up business opportunities to a wider clientele and by channeling larger resources more effectively.
Towards a Sustainable Microfinance Outreach in India - Experiences and Perspectives
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/MF_Book_Final.zip
NABARD, GTZ, SDC 2006. NABARD with the support of GTZ and SDC organized a conference with the active participation of microfinance practitioners from India and abroad to share their best practice experiences in microfinance. Academics, policy makers and practitioners made invaluable contribution during the conference for drawing up a roadmap for the future.
Combining microinsurance and new technologies to protect the poor
http://www.ilo.org
Microcredit can help the poor rise above poverty. Microinsurance can help them stay there. By providing protection against certain perils, microinsurance complements other financial and social services. Still, its development relies on significantly reducing operating expenses relative to premiums. A new ILO co-publication entitled ''Protecting the poor: A microinsurance compendium” says new technologies may hold the key to boosting microinsurance as an effective poverty-reduction strategy.
13th KfW/DEG Forum on Development Strategies
http://www.kfw-entwicklungsbank.de/
The latest KfW/DEG Forum ''Microfinance - experiences, innovations and further developments'' took place on 18 December 2006 in the KfW-Liaison Office to the European Union in Brussels. Presentations available:
- New Developments in Microfinance - Instrument of Financial Sector Promotion in Developing and Transition Economies, by Dr Klaus Glaubitt & Monika Beck,
- Reaching the poor, involving the private sector and further developments, by Klaus Tischhauser
Challenges and risks - a practical example from Mozambique: Socremo - Banco de Microfinançasa, by Christoph Diehl
Globalisation, Corruption and the Private Sector
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/Globalisation_Corruption_Private_Sector.doc
Georg Huber-Grabenwarter, Hannes Hechler, Dr. Dedo Geinitz / GTZ 2007. Since the early 1990s our world has experienced a significant and irreversible process, which we now generally call globalisation. This process is foremost an economic process associated with increasing economic openness, growing economic interdependence, and deepening economic integration between countries in the world economy.
SMEs and entrepreneurship in the EU
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
This publication by the European Commission summarises the role of smaller and medium-sized enterprises in the European economy. The importance of SMEs in terms of number of enterprises, value-added and employment in different activities are shown. Included are also analyses of differences in apparent labour productivity and recent gains/losses in employment. The contribution of SMEs to various aspects of entrepreneurship is highlighted, including comparisons with the situation in the US.
ECAS Guide 2007 to European Union Funding – Accessing Europe’s Largest Donor, Vol. 1 & 2
http://www.ecas.org/Publications/2374/default.aspx?ID=601
ECAS published the 13th edition of its guides to EU funding for NGOs. These two volumes - on funding within and outside the EU - are an invaluable source of information on a wealth of EU funds, making it easy for you to find your way around the programmes. They have been fully updated and revised for this year, including an essential chapter on the new financial perspectives for 2007-13.
The Informal Sector in Jamaica
http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=917344
The informal economy plays an important, yet often overlooked, role in economies throughout the world. Informal activities can provide a much needed source of income for a great number of people. At the same time, informality motivated by regulatory distortions, tax evasion, or in the pursuit of illegal activities can be a development trap that deprives governments of needed funds and leaves participants without legal protection.''
Evolución reciente y perspectivas del empleo en el Istmo Centroamericano
http://www.cepal.org/publicaciones/xml/0/28170/L768.pdf
Carlos Guerrero de Lizardi / CEPAL 2006. En el presente documento se analizan la evolución reciente y las perspectivas del mercado laboral en el Istmo Centroamericano. El examen histórico abarca el período desde la implantación del nuevo modelo de desarrollo en la región, básicamente a fines de los años ochenta y principios del decenio de 1990, hasta el año 2004, y el estudio prospectivo cubre hasta el año 2010.
Mexican Microenterprise Investment and Employment
http://www.iadb.org//intal/aplicaciones/uploads/publicaciones/i_INTALITD_WP_26_2007_Woodruff.pdf
Christopher Woodruff / INTAL 2006. Using data from Mexican surveys of Microenterprises conducted between 1992 and 1998, we examine the association between migration to the US and investment in microenterprises, the use of paid and unpaid labor, and the earnings of micro entrepreneurs. We find that investments in microenterprises are positively associated with migration rates and that in enterprises owned by females, migration is also associated with greater use of unpaid labor.
Which industrial policies are meaningful for Latin America?
http://www.iadb.org
Marcelo de Paiva Abreu / INTAL 2006. This paper’s main concern is to assess which ''industrial policies'' would be meaningful for Latin America nowadays. The first section introduces the theme while the second section considers definitions of ''industrial policies'' and their nature in the past. The third section centers on national growth experiences that may serve as paradigms.
Measuring Corruption: Myths and realities
http://www.worldbank.org/afr/findings/english/find273.htm
Daniel Kaufmann / World Bank 2007. Over the past decade measuring corruption has become an ever-growing empirical field. Since the mid-nineties, we have undertaken various projects to measure corruption at the aggregate and disaggregated level. Among the latter, we have carried out and analyzed many surveys of the enterprise sector.
Handreichung: Aufbau und Einführung eines Kostenrechnungssystems an Berufsbildungseinrichtungen
http://www2.gtz.de/wbf/doc/D-Leitfaden-komplett-18-12-2006.pdf
Andreas Joerk / GTZ 2006. Wirtschaftliches Wachstum durch technologisch-industrielle Entwicklung benötigt qualifizierte Fachkräfte. Bei der Ausbildung dieses Humankapitals nehmen Berufsbildungseinrichtungen eine Schlüsselfunktion ein. Im Rahmen von Vorhaben der technischen und finanziellen Zusammenarbeit werden deshalb in vielen Partnerländern Reformprozesse im Sektorbereich der beruflichen Bildung begleitet.
10. Websites of the Month
Value Based Management
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net
Value Based Management.net is a management portal specifically aimed at the information needs of senior executives with an interest in value creation, managing for value and valuation. We provide learning materials explaining management methods, models and theories on strategy, performance, finance, valuation, change, corporate governance, communication, marketing, leadership and responsibility with links to additional resources in the field.
AidMarket.org - seeking constructive criticism
http://www.aidmarket.org
Seeking constructive criticism before realizing the idea in practice... AidMarket's mission is to provide a marketplace for foreign aid and philanthropic work. An open market for individuals and organizations to propose small-scale projects that promise positive development given piecemeal improvements. AidMarket enhances the impact of aid on poverty reduction by enabling donors to get more involved in the development effort. AidMarket is apolitical and will maintain account transparency. Our long term goal is to improve the quality and availability of educational material to the poor. 'O for the P' -- Become an I AM Donor and support I AM Agents throughout the world. AidMarket facilitates donor-agent partnerships; cutting red tape for the agent and offering donors a new way to help achieve the MDGs
Conflictsensitivity.org
http://conflictsensitivity.org/?q=privatesector
Conflictsensitivity.org aims to inform on issues of conflict sensitivity and encourage further thinking and discussion on how humanitarian, development and business operations – on the project, national and international level – interact with conflict. The site has a section of private sector.
The Third World Network (TWN)
http://twnafrica.org/trade&investment.asp
TWN - Africa Secretariat seeks to make the international trade and investment regime, including the WTO respond more sensitively to the needs of African countries; promote equity in international trade and investment; and develop a framework for Africa. This TWN webpage compiles articles related to Trade and Investment.
Pacific Regional Economic Integration Programme (PACREIP)
http://www.pacreip.org
The Pacific Regional Economic Integration Programme (PACREIP) enhances the capacity of PACPS to support regional economic integration, preparation and conduct of negotiations of an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). Documents relating to the EPA negotiations on Investment in the Pacific region can be accessed here.
International Economic Development Group, Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Research Area: Investment and Growth
http://www.odi.org.uk/iedg/Research_areas/Investment_growth.html
ODI’s research on Investment and Growth focuses on: What drives growth; The role of investment, local and foreign, in getting growth going, and how different types of investment relate to the pattern of growth; What type of government and business policies work where and when for supporting growth and investment; How donors can assist investment and growth.
Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO)
http://www.somo.nl
SOMO investigates the consequences of Multinational Enterprises' (MNE's) policies and the consequences of the internationalisation of business particularly for developing countries. It has a dedicated research theme on International Trade and Investment.
development network of Students
http://www.carookee.com/forum/development-network
The ''development-network'' now includes students from all over Europe. Their objectives are to have an exchange among like minded individuals concerned about development collaboration; to exchange ideas with people from different dicsiplines (Economics, Politics, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences...); to have a network of people where somebody might know somebody who can help you to find the answer to your question; to establish connections which lasts for the time after studies.
Central American Anti-Corruption Resource Network or RECREA
http://www.transparency.org/recrea
Transparency International (TI) launched a website that will help to monitor anti-corruption initiatives in Central America and serve as a virtual home for anti-corruption knowledge on the region The launch follows the signing of the Guatemala Declaration, which commits the leaders of Central America and the Dominican Republic to reach concrete outcomes in the fight against corruption by 2010 – and which is one of the primary target of the website’s monitoring activities.
MicroVest
http://microvestfund.com
MicroVest One's global investments reach viable, proven MFIs seeking capital to continue their growth. Instruments include debt, subordinated debt, loan guarantees, equity (with an exit strategy), and quasi-equity sub-debt. Investments are made in existing financial institutions that: Provide financial services to low-income based enterprises, and Are profitable, growth-oriented, and well-managed.
Kiva
http://www.kiva.org
Kiva is an online service that connects lenders to small business borrowers in developing countries. Kiva partners with existing microfinance institutions. By choosing a business on Kiva.org, a lender can ''sponsor a business'' and help a few of the world's working poor stride towards economic independence. Loans can be made instantly via PayPal, which does not charge for the service. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), the lender can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan money back. Borrowers, screened by the local microfinance institution, can get small amounts of money relatively quickly. The website claims over US$4 million in loans, with an excellent repayment scheduler.
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