June 2003 from weitzenegger.de

 

June 2003

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 Weitzenegger Consulting, http://www.weitzenegger.de


June 2003


Content
  1. cinfoRoster Discussion Forum, "The Ethics of working as a consultant "
  2. EU council in Alexandroupoli on development policy of the enlarged Union
  3. The Enlarged European Union - Partner of the Developing World
  4. European Cooperation to 2010
  5. EuropeAid revised Framework Contract procedures
  6. DANTE will tender for @ LIS Latin American research infrastructure
  7. EU-India Economic Cross Cultural Programme Tender
  8. EIB funding for ACP investment
  9. Disclosed Status of World Bank Projects in Execution
  10. World Bank Discussion - Informal Economy
  11. Comparative Research Programme on Poverty
  12. Poverty alleviation through participation in fair trade coffee networks
  13. Poverty Monitoring Database
  14. LEAP IMPACT to improve the institutional performance of M&E
  15. IDPM's online resources on ICTs and development
  16. UNIDO Guidelines for Investment Promotion Agencies
  17. Empowering Communities: Participatory Techniques for Programme Development
  18. Monitoring the digital divide
  19. OED Conference 2003: Evaluating Development Effectiveness
  20. Paper on lasting food security strategies
  21. Food First Institute for food and development policy
  22. Slow food: combating the fast food revolution
  23. How do you cope with Malaria?
  24. How to work with translators?

1. cinfoRoster Discussion Forum, "The Ethics of working as a consultant "

Brigitte Späth will write 5 mailings for the Swiss cinfo in 2003 and also participate in the moderation of the new discussion forum. The Theme of the first mailing is "The Ethics of working as a consultant " an important (and touchy !) issue that often comes up in our seminars and during our career counselling sessions. The next mailing to be published at the end of July will focus on the challenges of working in consulting teams. The cinfoRoster discussion forum is also being launched. "We hope that you will share tips, ideas as well as frustrations with you fellow colleagues. Working as a consultant can be a solitary occupation and we hope that this will give you space to exchange. " Visit the forum:
http://www.cinfo.ch/cinforoster/forum/
http://www.cinfo.ch/cinforoster/english/pages/docs.htm


2. EU council in Alexandroupoli on development policy of the enlarged Union

At the EU Informal Council, which took place on 2-3 June in Alexandroupoli, Greece, for the first time Development Ministers from EU Member States and accession countries discussed prospects for a development cooperation policy of the enlarged Union. During the meeting, for which no written conclusions were provided, representatives of acceding countries reported about their difficulty towards establishing a development policy due mainly to the lack of experience and of public awareness on the issue and the economic weakness to implement the commitments taken in Barcelona.
http://www.eu.nl/comm/development/body/organisation/eu_enlargement_en.cfm


3. The Enlarged European Union - Partner of the Developing World

The International Policy Dialogue "The Enlarged European Union - Partner of the Developing World ", convened by the Development Policy Forum of InWEnt Capacity Building International, Germany, and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, was a contribution to the strategic policy communication concerning the impact of the enlargement of the European Union on development cooperation policy issues (both in the EU and the candidate countries). The aim of the conference was to offer an informal policy platform without the pressure of immediate decision-making and free from the constraints of protocol. The pool of knowledge and experience accumulated by the participants served as a basis to prepare and recommend further steps to promote and strengthen development cooperation policy at international level of the EU as well as in its member states, in particular its new member states. See the results at
http://www.dse.de/ef/europe/index.htm


4. European Cooperation to 2010

EADI has launched a project on European Development Cooperation to 2010. The project is intended to provide a vehicle for research, dissemination and debate, a forum in which the perspectives of different actors can be shared and developed. A first Briefing Paper outlining the issues and sketching different scenarios, co-authored by Simon Maxwell (ODI) and Paul Engel (ECDPM) is available online.
http://www.eadi.org/edc2010


5. EuropeAid revised Framework Contract procedures

Framework Contract AMS/451 is for operational short-term technical assitance to beneficiary countries of external aid and it concerns assignments of less than € 200,000 and 12 months. It came in force on 01/04/2000 for 3 years, and has been extended up to 31/03/2005. New procedures are at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/tender/gestion/index_en.htm


6. DANTE will tender for @ LIS interregional Latin American Research infrastructure

The EC provided a framework contract over 12.5 mn Euro within the @ LIS-Programme to DANTE. DANTE is owned by a number of European research networks and has "Research Association " status in the UK. Objectve of their new Project "ALICE " is a interregional Latin American Research infrastructure linked to the European research net GÉANT. DANTE will issue an international open tender for research infrastructure to be operational by 2004. The @ LIS Interconnection initiative aims at increasing the interconnection between R&D communities of Latin America and Europe by providing them with the communications infrastructure needed to foster collaborative work. This is done through linking Latin American NREN's amongst themselves and to GÉANT.
http://www.dante.net/geant
http://europa.eu.int/comm/europeaid/projects/alis/index_en.htm


7. EU-India Economic Cross Cultural Programme Tender

The European Commission invites proposals for co-financing to promote and enhance civil society links and cross cultural cooperation between India and the European Union, in the fields of Media, Communication and Culture, .Entrepreneurial Networking, and University & Studies. Proposals are welcome from partnerships composed of at least one non-profit making organisation from India and at least two from different European Union Member States. The deadline for submission of proposals is Friday, 12 September 2003.
http://www.delind.cec.eu.int/en/csn/civil_society/eccp.htm


8. EIB funding for ACP investment

The European Investment Bank launched its investment facility for ACP countries on 2 June in Luxembourg. The funding, consisting of € 2.2 billion, is based on a financial mechanism foreseen by the Cotonou Agreement and is due to contribute developing in the private sector in ACP countries.
http://www.eib.org/


9. Disclosed Status of World Bank Projects in Execution

The Status of Projects in Execution Report for FY02 provides information on all IBRD/IDA projects that were active on and beyond June 30, 2002. It bridges the gap in information available to the public between the project appraisal document -- disclosed after a project is approved -- and the implementation completion report - disclosed after the project closes. A status report has been prepared every year for the Board of Executive Directors. Now, in accordance with the revised disclosure policy, the report is also available to the public. This addresses one of the main concerns expressed during disclosure consultations - that the public wants access to more information on projects being implemented.
http://www1.worldbank.org/operations/disclosure/sope.html


10. World Bank Discussion - Informal Economy

Studies show that the informal sector -- where income is unreported and activities such as smuggling and fraud go undetected -- is a large and growing part of many developing countries' economies. Recent estimates place the informal economy in Africa at 42 percent of GDP on average. This Rapid Response discussion examines why the sector is so large and what to do about taxes and labor market regulations, which are often cited as reasons the sector continues to grow in many parts of the developing world.
http://rru.worldbank.org/Hot_Topics.asp


11. Comparative Research Programme on Poverty

CROP - the Comparative Research Programme on Poverty - is an international NGO initiated by the International Social Science Council (ISSC). CROP is organised around an extensive international and multi-disciplinary research network, which is open to all poverty researchers and others interested in a scientific approach to poverty.
http://www.crop.org/


12. Poverty alleviation through participation in fair trade coffee networks

This is a background paper by the Fair Trade Research Group - Colorado State University for a research paper on the poverty alleviation effects of fair trade coffee. It describes a review of the research. It states that there is relatively little research on this subject but concludes that income effects may be less significant then the more subtle benefits via producer empowerment and organizational capacity building. Existing research also points to the potential trade-off between economic efficiency and equity in the distribution of Fair Trade benefits. The efficiency/ equity balance will have implications for poverty alleviation within producer groups, within producer households, and within producer communities.
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/Sociology/FairTradeResearchGroup/doc/rayback.pdf


13. Poverty Monitoring Database

Directory of poverty monitoring data from the World Bank and other organizations. Covers: Household Surveys, Social Indicators, Poverty Assessment Summaries, Participatory Poverty Assessments, New Surveys. Available online at:
http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/data/povmon.htm


14. LEAP IMPACT to improve the institutional performance of M&E

LEAP IMPACT aims to improve the institutional performance of monitoring and evaluation practice related to information services, information products and information projects. It is a community of practice open to all individuals/organisations interested in the evaluation of information, providing a platform where individuals and organisations concerned with the evaluation of information can 'meet' in a virtual sense and exchange information and share knowledge.
http://www.bellanet.org/leap/impact/index.cfm


15. IDPM's online resources on ICTs and development

IDPM's online resources on ICTs and development focuses on five areas. ICTs and small enterprises includes handbooks for entrepreneurs, research reports on ICTs in Africa, and working papers on ICTs, enterprise and poverty. Software enterprises and outsourcing covers software enterprises, outsourcing relationships between North and South, and policies/strategies for software enterprise support, a short paper on software myths in the South and a web site on the Indian software industry. ICTs and government deals with IT use and management in government and e-government. Other ICTs and development includes NGOs, poverty, participation and donor project evaluation, e-commerce, IT training, non-ICT based systems, ethical trade, information and ICTs.
http://idpm.man.ac.uk/ictdev.htm


16. UNIDO Guidelines for Investment Promotion Agencies

The aim of these Guidelines is to support Investment Promotion Agencies interested in stimulating FDI inflows into their countries. The paper brings to the reader's attention developments in both policy and practical approaches to the issues of FDI as well as specific actions that host Governments may take to attract FDI. The approaches include UNIDO's tools, methodologies and mechanisms that can be used by policymakers at government, institution and enterprise levels to enhance competitiveness in attracting FDI.
http://www.unido.org/en/doc/10545


17. Empowering Communities: Participatory Techniques For Community-Based Programme Development

Includes Volume 1: Trainer's Manual and Volume 2: Participant's Handbook. From the Centre for African Family Studies, the John Hopkins University, and the Academy for Educational Development.
http://pcs.aed.org/empowering.htm


18. Monitoring the digital divide

The paper "Monitoring the digital divide " by Orbicon-CIDA develops a framework and a methodological approach which makes it possible to quantify the Digital Divide and not only compare across different countries at a given point in time but also compare within countries over time. The approach aims for policy-relevant results and is much broader in scope than pure connectivity measures. It takes into account the ICT capital and labour stocks including networks, machinery, equipment, and ICT skills. It also measures the uptake of various ICTs by households, businesses and governments and the intensity of their actual use.
http://www.orbicom.uqam.ca/projects/ddi2002/ddi2002.pdf


19. OED Conference 2003: Evaluating Development Effectiveness

The World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department is pleased to announce the fifth conference on "Evaluating Development Effectiveness: Challenges and the Way Forward ". The conference will be held on July 15 and 16, 2003 in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the conference is to take stock of recent progress toward meeting development effectiveness challenges, and deliberate on future directions for evaluation. To be considered please submit an online application on the conference website at:
http://www.worldbank.org/oed/conference2003/application.html


20. Paper on lasting food security strategies

Glenn Brigaldino has published his paper "Footsteps in the sand - in search of lasting food security strategies " as an e-book.
Link


21. Food First Institute for food and development policy

Food First is a member-supported, non-profit peoples think tank and education-for-action centre that lobbies both American and foreign governments on food policy issues. Food First campaigns for economic and social human rights and restructured global trade and agricultural policy, as well as challenging industrial agriculture and biotechnology.
http://www.foodfirst.org


22. Slow food: combating the fast food revolution

Founded in 1989, Slow Food has more than 77 000 members in 48 countries. The movement aims to preserve national cuisines and the art of food appreciation and one of its main projects is to identify and catalogue products, dishes and animals that are in danger of extinction. The Slow Food Award for the Defense of Biodiversity highlights activities that benefit biodiversity in agriculture and rewards researchers, farmers, distributors and retailers who aim to protect a country's gastronomic heritage.
http://www.slowfood.com


23. How do you cope with Malaria?

Do you live or work in a malaria zone? This week Dr. Ted Lankester and the InterHealth team offer some practical advice on reducing the risks. Do you have any "lessons learned " to exchange with other aid workers? e-mail exchange @ aidworkers.net or join the discussions at http://forum.aidworkers.net. It is based on information from the WHO, UK Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention, our experience at InterHealth in caring for members of 180 NGOs and from other reliable sources.
http://www.aidworkers.net/exchange/20030528.html


24. How to work with translators?

Christine Hogan asks for your suggestions on working through interpreters more effectively.
http://forum.aidworkers.net/messages/116/50.html


 

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