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