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June 2004The monthly Newsletter brings you News for International Cooperation Professionals.Edited by Karsten Weitzenegger, on mission in Guyana. Comments and suggestions: editor @ weitzenegger.de Content
1. International Grants and Funding Opportunities for Development ActivitiesI was contacted by so many NGOs and organisations around the world about
grants and funding for their development projects. I just give advice,
not money. Now there is relief: I started to list information about
available funding from major donors to small foundations. This Website
is made to be a starting point for NGOs and others seeking funds for
projects. 2. ACP Consultants Network launchedThis new network for Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Consultants is
managed by the Centre for Development of Enterprise. Here you will be
able to get information about local consultants and consultancy firms
active in the ACP-Regions. You can also send an application to CDE if
you would like to register yourselves or your Consultancy Firm in the
Consultant Database. On this site you will get updated information about
ongoing CDE-programs in the ACP-regions as well as information about
CDE-tenders . In October 2003 CDE initiated a process of creating an
internet based Database of local consultants for the ACP countries. The
overall objective with the Database is to create awareness about local
consultants so that companies as well as organisations like CDE can get
access to their knowledge over the internet and then be in a position to
involve them in different projects managed by CDE and others. The site
is now registered under the name www.acpconsultants.net and its basic
functions are in place even if there are issues that remain to be
improved. CDE has therefore started the process of reviewing and
approving potential Consultants/Consultancy Firms for the site. Remember: You can always register your company in the DOCON Directory of
Consulting Firms active in International Development Cooperation 3. Launch of the EU trade helpdesk databaseThe Expanding Exports Helpdesk is an online resource, provided by the
European Commission, to facilitate access for developing countries to
markets within the European Union. The Expanding Exports Helpdesk
provides relevant information required by developing country exporters
interested in supplying the EU market. Contact: export-help @ cec.eu.int 4. Renewables 2004 has fully fulfilled all expectationsGovernment delegates from 154 countries adopted the Political
Declaration of renewables 2004. The declaration contains definitions of
common political objectives for promoting the role of renewable
energies. In the International Action Programme, governments,
international organisations and stakeholders have committed to a
plethora of activities that are geared towards the increased use of
renewable energies. So far, 165 of the proposals for voluntary measures
have been endorsed while many further submissions for action are being
screened at present. The Policy Recommendations give practical advice on
how to promote the development of the market for renewable energies in
the North and in the South. 5. World Bank: FDI to developing countries declined in 2003
According to the just published Global Development Finance report by the
World Bank, FDI flows to developing countries declined for the second
consecutive year in 2003 to US$135 billion, down by 24 percent from its
2001 peak of US$175 billion in 2002. The decline was primarily on
account of Latin America and the Caribbean, especially Brazil and
Argentina, where flows fell by 8 billion USD in 2003. The decline in FDI
took place in the backdrop of an overall increase in private capital
flows to developing countries, from 155 billion USD in 2002 to 200
billion USD in 2003. The report also analyzes the shifting composition
of FDI toward services, as well as the composition of FDI financing and
its determinants. 6. Conference: Governance, Democracy and Evaluation in Berlin30 September 2004 - 02 October 2004, Berlin 7. Constructing Democracy? Challenges for the European Development Agendais the title of the second EADI International Summer School which will be taking place from 29 August - 8 September 2004 in Enschede at the University of Twente in The Netherlands. Detailed information is available at: http://www.eadi.org/detail_page.phtml?page=ess2004 or http://www.utwente.nl/tdg 8. The Chronic Poverty Report 2004-2005Published in May 2004 by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, this
report is about people living in chronic poverty - people who remain
poor for much or all of their lives, many of whom will pass on their
poverty to their children and all too often die easily preventable
deaths. People in chronic poverty are those who have benefited least
from economic growth and development. They, and their children, will
make up the majority of the 900 million people still in poverty in 2015
even if the Millennium Development Goals are met. 9. Civicus Civil Society ToolkitsCIVICUS aims to help civil society organisations to build their capacity
and achieve their goals. Based on requests from members, CIVICUS has
produced several toolkits to enable organisations to improve their
capacity in a number of areas. From communications and planning skills
to writing funding proposals, we hope that you will be able to get many
useful tips, tools, and ideas to help strengthen your organisation.
These toolkits are available in English, French and Spanish in MS Word
and PDF formats. 10. New and Improved dgMarket Website
The dgMarket website has been redesigned. The new design improves
usability for members and allows for easier localization of national
dgMarket implementations. Visit dgMarket at: 11. FIDIC's Business Practice SeriesSeveral new documents to complement recently published policy resources
on the quality of construction and HIV-AIDS are being prepared by FIDIC.
They include guidelines for reviewing the work of others, for scoping
engineering services, and for the consulting engineer in the
design-build projects. 12. Best Practices DatabaseThis searchable database contains proven solutions to common social,
economic and environmental problems of an urbanising and globalising
world. Over 1600 practices from 140 countries demonstrate practical ways
in which public, private and civil society sectors are working together
to improve governance, eradicate poverty, provide housing, land and
basic services, protect the environment and support economic
development. 13. DATEDEX has date-specific informationIf you want to know when the Buddha's birthday is celebrated in South
Korea, or when the Royal Windsor Horse Show is, or even when the next
Sundance Film Festival is, there are many places online where you can
find that information. Now, however, there's one site that has all that
information and more. DateDex has calendars that list worldwide
religious and public holidays, festivals, sporting events, trade shows,
cultural events, economic summits, human rights conferences. Remember: You can access world calendars and more online tools for business at http://www.weitzenegger.de/en/tools.html#bus 14. Travel with your medical history at PersonalMD.comIt can be a scary thing to have a medical emergency when you're
travelling. You could be thousands of miles away from your primary
physician, specialists who are familiar with you, and even the local
pharmacy that fills your prescriptions. Now, there's a Web site that can
take a lot of the risk and guesswork out of this situation. It's called
PersonalMD.com and with it you can set up an account so that medical
personnel can access your medical history. This site also lets you store
medical records, immunization records and important legal documents like
wills and health proxies. Another neat service is ReminderRx, which will
remind subscribers to take medications, attend appointments, etc. The
reminder can be sent to your pager, cell phone, PDA and e-mail. 15. Guide to Law Online: Nations of the WorldLegal systems vary the world over, and it's important for anyone doing
international business to be aware of legal issues that may affect them.
You'll find a useful portal to international law at the Law Library of
Congress Guide to Law Online: Nations of the World. This site has
everything you need in a simple, streamlined format. Just click on the
name of a country, and you'll come to a page with: links to the
country's constitution; information about its executive, legislative,
and judicial branches of government; legal guides; country profiles;
human rights information; statistics; diplomatic contacts; and much
more. |
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