SADC launches new website: www.sadc.int

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat launched its new website www.sadc.int to the public on Monday December 03, 2012 at a function which was held at the SADC Secretariat Head Office in Gaborone Botswana.

The internet is a rapidly evolving technology, and to keep up with it as well as to remain relevant, SADC saw the need to revamp its website. The new website was launched under the banner ‘Our Face to the World” and is intended to be more outwardly focused while engaging relevant stakeholders in SADC Member States. Officially launching the new SADC website, SADC Executive Secretary Dr Tomaz Augusto Salomão said it the SADC website must be continuously maintained and information updated. He called on all the originators of information at the Secretariat to feed it to those who are responsible for managing the website content to ensure that it will not go stale to need another re-launch a few years down the lane.

Dr Salomão expressed his sincerest gratitude to the government of Germany with whose support the website was revamped as a joint effort between SADC and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ). He lauded the all-inclusive website revamping process that allowed all SADC staff Secretariat staff to participate, spearheaded by the SADC Public Relations (PR), and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Units under the leadership of Ms Emilie Ayaza Mushobekwa, SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Finance & Administration and support from GIZ and Hatfield Consultants, which yielded the new world-class design and content.

Giving an overview on the new website at the launch, Ms Mushobekwa said that the new website was a necessity as it plays an integral role in SADC’s aspirations of becoming a world class organisation. “Realising the importance of becoming a world-class organisation, the SADC Secretariat included a benchmarking exercise as part of the review process. This exercise ranked the old SADC website and those of similar organisations such as the African Union and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa against good website practices. The results highlighted areas that needed most attention and the amount of effort needed to move ahead of the pack,” she said. Furthermore the website contains valuable information about institutional set-up, priorities of regional integration and common projects as well as progress and impact made by all 15 Member States and relevant stakeholders.

Filed under: ACP, Africa, Germany, Links, News, Technology, Web 2.0, SADC

Key reading on ex-ante Poverty Impact Assessment

Promoting Pro-Poor growth: A Practical Guide to ex-ante Poverty Impact Assessment
http://www.oecd.org/document/…

This practical guide, developed by the DAC Network on Poverty Reduction (POVNET), is designed to help staff in developing countries and in aid agencies to plan and execute PIAs and to interpret their findings, the ultimate goal being to design and implement more effective poverty reduction policies and programmes. Download: http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/39/38978856.pdf

Ex ante appraisal of the impacts on poverty of the project ”Plateforme du Millénaire de Diamniadio”
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/32/39206523.pdf
Process documentation of the first Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA) in the Republic of Senegal, by Kerstin Meyer, Andrea Warner, Roland Hackenberg, Nathalie Manga Badji, GTZ, Dakar, June 2007

Sample Mission Report
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/53/38609100.pdf
Ex Ante Poverty Impact Assessment for Regional Economic Development: Green Belt Siem Reap Province, Cambodia

Sample Mission Report

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/31/27/41768805.pdf
Financial Cooperation with Cambodia. Poverty Impact Assessment for Rural Electrification II

Managing for Development Results and Mutual Accountability
The value of evidence based decision-making for advancing cross cutting issues
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/40/38607559.pdf
Workshop on Development Effectiveness in Practice, Dublin, Ireland, 26-27 April 2007

Using Poverty and Social Impact Analysis to design more effective poverty reduction measures
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPovertyInFocus14.pdf
This IPC Focus issue examines the usefulness of two recently developed analytical tools: Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) and Poverty Impact Assessment (PIA). Both approaches provide a framework to analyse the distributional impact of policies, programmes and projects. PSIA involves in-depth analysis of complex policy reform processes and offers evidence-based policy choices. PIA focuses on decisions concerning development projects and programmes. To explore PSIA’s and PIA’s potential contribution to more effective poverty reduction policies, individual articles in this volume.

Lessons learned in conducting Ex Ante Poverty Impact Assessment
http://www.mfdr.org/rt3/Glance/Day3/Sen.ppt
Lessons learned in conducting Ex Ante Poverty Impact Assessment for a Natural Resource Management Programme in India Third Round Table MfDR – Hanoi 2007.

Ex Ante Poverty Impact Assessment
http://www.mfdr.org/RT3/Glance/Day3/Dio.ppt
Presentation by Wolf M. Dio, GTZ, POVNET Task Team Leader, Third International Round Table MfDR, Hanoi 2007

Poverty (and social) impact analysis compared
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/pub/IPCPovertyInFocus14.pdf
PSIA is an approach developed in 2001 by the World Bank and other donors, while the PIA came about in 2006 as a result of discussions within the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC). The main difference between both tools is that the PIA is designed to focus on project, programmes or specific policy reforms, while the PSIA approach is better for macroeconomic and structural policy reforms. Since PSIA was introduced, approximately 150 assessments have been conducted and the International Poverty Centre (IPC) show that it has been applied with a different degree of success in different occasions. Most of the articles in the journal agree that further progress needs to be made in order to unleash PSIA’s full potential.

As well as the PIA approach, POVNET has recently developed and is actively disseminating guidance for donors on promoting pro-poor growth , including in relation to:
Agriculture:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…
Employment:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…
Infrastructure:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…

Private sector development:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…
Social protection:
http://www.oecd.org/document/…

Poverty and Social Impact Analysis
http://www.worldbank.org/psia
This World Bank website was conceived as a forum for interaction and a tool for disseminating experience.

Sourcebook on Emerging Good Practice in Managing for Development Results (MfDR)
http://www.mfdr.org/Sourcebook.html
The Sourcebook is a valuable resource which provides solution-oriented examples of MfDR in action for practitioners at many levels and in many contexts. By focusing on observable and replicable interventions, the Sourcebook aims to increase the understanding of MfDR and illustrate how many stakeholders are effectively implementing MfDR principles for greater development effectiveness.

Filed under: ILO, Links, Methods, OECD, Poverty, Publications, Research

Networks you can use for poverty impact assessment

African Parliamentary Poverty Reduction Network – (APRN)
http://www.parlcent.ca/africa/prnetwork/pr_network_e.php
The APRN was created in 2003 in response to demands by African parliamentarians for a network that would bring together Members of Parliament from all over Africa interested in central issues such as poverty reduction to discuss and share best practices, lessons learned and experiences in that area; as well as to improve their poverty monitoring capacity and increase their policy-making knowledge and build linkages with policy institutes.

Aid Workers Network

http://www.aidworkers.net
Collaborative project set up to provide practical advice for aid workers from aid workers.

BOP Source – The first social network for the base of the pyramid
http://bopsource.ning.com
A social network for the 4 billion people at the base of the economic pyramid, the NGO’s that serve them, and the companies that want to do business with them. BOP Source is an interactive platform for collaboration on productive BOP business ideas, to help companies better understand and reach BOP markets, and for NGOs to help facilitate new relationships between their constituencies and companies.

Business Fights Poverty
http://businessfightspoverty.ning.com
A professional network for all those passionate about fighting world poverty through the power of good business.

CROPnet Comparative Research Programme on Poverty

http://www.crop.org/cropnet/
CROP invites poverty researchers and others interested in poverty research to join the CROP network. At present the network holds over sixteen hundred members. Close to half of the members in the CROP network comes from the South and countries in transition. More than one hundred countries are represented, not only Norway.

Development Crossing
http://www.developmentcrossing.com
A fast-growing network of professionals engaged in corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. The site enables users to create profiles, manage blogs and discussions, create groups and events, and directly network with several thousand professionals around the world.

dgCommunities: Poverty
http://poverty.developmentgateway.org/
A free online service by the Development Gateway Foundation is devoted to knowledge-sharing and collaboration for people working to reduce poverty in the developing world.

Eldis Poverty Community

http://community.eldis.org
The Eldis Community is a free on-line community where you can meet others involved in international development and discuss the issues that are important to you. Meet other Eldis readers interested in poverty issues. Create a profile for yourself and publish your own research.

Enterprise Development Exchange
http://communities.seepnetwork.org
This Network links related communities of practice to advance sustainable poverty eradication. It is facilitated by The SEEP Network through the Value Initiative.

European Anti-Poverty Network: Fighting for a Social Europe Free of Poverty!
http://www.eapn.org
Since 1990, the European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) has been an independent network of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and groups involved in the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the Member States of the European Union.

Human Development Resource Net (HDRNet)

http://www.yorku.ca/hdrnet/index.asp
A specialised information gateway and electronic library on human development and international co-operation. Part of an international collaborative effort bringing together UN organisations, practitioners and academics from around the world to contribute material relevant to the research and practice of human development. Archives otherwise unavailable material and offers unrestricted access to the documents in English, Spanish, French and Italian.

MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org
Brings together a wide cross section of over 200 charities, campaigns, trade unions, faith groups and celebrities who are united by a common belief that 2005 offers a unprecedented opportunity for global change.

POVNET – The OECD DAC Network on Poverty Reduction
http://tinyurl.com/dlz2vt
The OECD DAC Network on Poverty Reduction (POVNET) promotes economic growth for poverty reduction, stressing the importance of both the rate and the pattern of growth to: create more and better jobs for the poor, including in the informal economy; expand access to social and productive infrastructure, particularly in rural areas where most of the poor live; increase agricultural productivity, which has so often been the key to national development; and promote social protection programmes, which help to make growth work for the poor

Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Research Network
http://www.pep-net.org
PEP brings together and provides scientific and financial support to teams of developing country researchers working to reduce poverty.

Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN)
http://www.sarpn.org.za
Non-profit organisation that promotes debate and knowledge sharing on poverty reduction processes and experiences in Southern Africa. SARPN aims to contribute towards effective reduction of poverty in the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) through creating platforms for effective pro-poor policy, strategy and practice.

Global Development Network (GDN)
http://www.gdnet.org
A worldwide network of research and policy institutes working to provide a fresh and relevant perspective to the development challenges of our time.

Wold Bank’s PovertyNet
http://tinyurl.com/PovertyNet
The World Bank provides an introduction to key issues as well as in-depth information on poverty measurement, monitoring, analysis, and on poverty reduction strategies for researchers and practitioners.

UN List of Poverty Networks
http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/povnet.do
IPC-IG is organizing an online catalogue of Poverty Networks, which are web-based platforms that share development-related information. The aim of this directory is to facilitate the access to development knowledge across our network in 189 countries and help foster dialogue between researchers, policymakers, civil society and multilateral organizations.

Filed under: Development, Directories, Economy, Links, Methods, OECD, Poverty

Websites you can use for poverty impact assessment

BRIDGE – Gender and Poverty
http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports_gend_pov.htm
BRIDGE Gender and Poverty publications include summaries of key materials, good practice cases, lists of tools and checklists and key online resources.

British Library for Development Studies Subject Guide on Poverty
http://blds.ids.ac.uk/guides/pov.html
This Guide provides quick access to BLDS resources through pre-designed searches of the catalogue’s 150 000 plus records.

CROP Comparative Research Programme on Poverty
http://www.crop.org
CROP is an international research programme initiated in 1992 by the International Social Science Council. It is now one of the major programmes of the Council. Hosting CROPnet as open network.

Development Gateway – Poverty
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty
Development Gateway topic pages are e-communities led by experts in the development field. They connect partners, members, organizations and other stakeholders by providing opportunities to exchange knowledge, know-how and opinions.

Eldis Resource Guide on Poverty
http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/poverty
Eldis Resource Guides provide easy structured access to our extensive collection of research and policy documents. All are editorially selected, summarised and available free to download in full text. Resource guides are intended to help you keep up to date with the latest in development research, policy and practice.

Evaluation Portal by Lars Balzer
http://www.evaluation.lars-balzer.name
At this Evaluation Portal you find hand-picked, human-edited, categorized information about the topic ”evaluation” (and a bit about social science methods).

Focuss.Info Initiative
http://www.focuss.info
Focuss.info provides a high quality search engine for practitioners, researchers and students in the area of global development studies. When these websites are available on the Internet, the Focuss.Info search engine indexes the hand-picked websites, with a focus on global development cooperation, and make these websites full text retrievable. In other words: start saving and sharing your favorite websites via social bookmarks spaces, such as Delicious or CiteULike, and report your social bookmark account to the Focuss.Info Initiative.

Free evaluation resources for developing countries.
http://earth.prohosting.com/elecon/evaldevel/evaldevelopment.html
Gene Shackman created this site to work with a coalition of evaluators and evaluation organizations to provide evaluation, consulting or training resources to organizations and evaluators in developing countries.

Global Donor Platform for Rural Development
http://www.donorplatform.org
Since the creation of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development in 2004, major bilateral and multilateral development agencies are united in a coordinated endeavour to get the rural development agenda right. Donors are committed to achieving increased development assistance impact and more effective investment in rural development and agriculture.

Global Poverty Research Group – GPRG
http://www.gprg.org
ESRC-funded multidisciplinary research group providing a framework for collaboration between the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) at Oxford University, and IDPM and CPRC at Manchester University.

Governance and Social Development Resource Centre
http://www.gsdrc.org
Funded by the UK Department for International Development, the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre (GSDRC) aims to help reduce poverty by informing policymaking and enhancing professional knowledge in relation to governance, conflict and social development.

GTZ’s Poverty-related activities´
http://www.gtz.de/en/themen/uebergreifende-themen/902.htm
GTZ supports partners in developing countries as well as BMZ, other ministries and international organisations. This support is focussing on strategies for broad-based growth, the implementation of national poverty reduction strategies, poverty-oriented results monitoring and policy monitoring.

International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), UNDP
http://www.undp.org/povertycentre/index.htm

Based in Brazil, IPC serves as the nexus for promoting, learning and knowledge sharing on key poverty concerns among developing countries to improve the living conditions of the world’s poorest citizens. The Centre’s mission is to facilitate South-South learning in development solutions by fostering policy dialogue; carrying out policy-oriented research; as well as conducting training and evaluation. Its vision is the attainment of high inclusive growth. See in particular research and publications on social protection and cash transfers.

Methods for Social Research in Developing Countries
http://srmdc.net
Website to make the contents of Methods for Social Researchers in Developing Countries available free to researchers in developing countries, where books are too expensive for faculty, students, or even for libraries to buy.

Poverty Assessment Tools
http://www.povertytools.org
This IRIS Center Website hosts updates and reports and discussions around developing and recommending poverty assessment tools. It also hosts a Poverty Assessment Tools listserv, where discussions are moderated and conducted with bounded timelines. Summaries of previous listserv discussions are also available.

PovertyFrontiers
http://www.povertyfrontiers.org

PovertyFrontiers is a USAID-supported Website dedicated to sharing knowledge and resources on poverty reduction, pro-poor growth, asset-based approaches to development, and poverty-related issues. PovertyFrontiers is also a forum for those involved in poverty reduction to exchange ideas and best practices.

Q-Squared: Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches in Poverty Analysis
http://www.q-squared.ca
This Website is a great resource for those seeking information on poverty research, measurement and analysis. Q-Squared aims to promote better integration of qualitative and quantitative poverty research methods. The site links to a variety of commissioned publications presenting good practice in accurate poverty research, as well as information about training, news and events.

Research Methods Knowledge Base
http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/contents.htm
This site is the home page for a number of additional Webpages, each of which provides brief, easily understood descriptions and illustrations of virtually any social research method you might want to use; covers the foundations of research, sampling, measurement, design, analysis, and the process of writing up a research report.

Social Science Information Gateway (SOSIG)

http://sosig.ac.uk
Provides selected, high quality information for students and researchers in the social sciences, business, and law; also provides links to over 50,000 social science Webpages.

Statistical Databases
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/databases.htm
Provides brief descriptions of and links to a wide variety of databases produced by Statistics Division, UN, and that are available with unrestricted access.

Statistical Sites on the World Wide Web, U.S. Department of Labor
http://www.bls.gov/bls/other.htm
Provides links for online access to statistical and other information from more than 70 agencies of the U.S. government and statistical offices of most countries throughout the world.

The Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC)

http://www.chronicpoverty.org
This international partnership of universities, research institutes and NGOs was established in 2000 with initial funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).

UN Secretariat’s Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD)
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/social/poverty/
The Division seeks to strengthen international cooperation for social development, particularly in the areas of poverty eradication, productive employment and decent work and the social inclusion of older persons, youth, family, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, persons in situations of conflict and other groups or persons marginalized from society and development.

UNEG United Nations Evaluation Group
http://www.unevaluation.org
This site hosts the Country Level Evaluation Database and the UNDP Evaluation Resource Center (ERC). UNEG has many links to external evaluation resources including evaluation associations and societies, international organisations, training resources and governments.

Virtual Resource Centre on ex-ante Impact Assessment

http://europeandcis.undp.org/pia
This UNDP website has been launched and is being maintained as one of the components of the regional project on ex-ante Impact Assessment funded by UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Local Government and Public Service Support Initiative of Open Society Institute, Budapest. Under the ”best practices” heading, the Virtual Resource Centre aims to show a selection of key steps and ideas in the ex-ante impact assessment process, drawn from the work of key institutions or recorded in countries implementing the ex-ante impact assessment process in their policy formulation.

Web Pages that Perform Statistical Calculations
http://statpages.org
Provides over 600 links, including nearly 400 pages that perform calculations, and growing; a source of information on almost anything you might need in conducting analyses and calculations, including links to interactive statistics, free software, books and manuals, and demonstrations and tutorials.

… more Web Links: http://delicious.com/weitzenegger

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, Employment, Links, Methods, Poverty, Research

Websites of the Month June 2008

Africa Progress Panel
http://www.africaprogresspanel.org
The aim of the Africa Progress Panel is to focus world leaders’ attention on making the most of the growing number of opportunities for progress in Africa. It will also comment on the challenges African governments, the G8 and other international partners face in meeting the commitments made towards Africa’s development.

AGEG Consultants eG
http://www.ageg.de
AGEG is a consulting company operating worldwide with over 20 years of experience in international development cooperation. AGEG Consultants eG is a registered cooperative since 1989 and relies on the experience and expertise of its shareholders. AGEG shareholders not only fulfil important corporate functions within the cooperative but are also active as consultants in the field. Their Website was redesigned completely. Individual consultants are invited to register.

Business for the Environment B4E
http://www.b4esummit.com
B4E, the Global Business Summit for the Environment, is the leading international conference focusing on business and the environment. B4E 2008 will highlight the most urgent environmental challenges facing the world today and discuss business-driven solutions for mitigating and adapting to climate change. Important topics addressed will include resource efficiencies, renewable energies, new business models and climate strategies. Delegates will learn best practices for identifying and managing the risks posed by climate change and uncover opportunities for developing competitive advantages.

Centre for technology, innovation and culture TIK – University of Oslo
http://www.tik.uio.no/english/
The Centre studies production and dissemination of knowledge – broadly defined as the development of and interaction between science and technology, innovation and entrepreneurship – through inter-disciplinary linkages between the social sciences and the humanities.

Changemakers – open sourcing social solutions™
http://www.changemakers.net
Changemakers is an initiative of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public that focuses on the rapidly growing world of social innovation. It provides solutions and resources needed to help everyone become a changemaker and presents compelling stories that explore the fundamental principles of successful social innovation around the world.

CLIMATE-L.ORG
http://www.climate-l.org
This is a knowledge management project for international negotiations and related activities on climate change run by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

Countdown 2010
http://www.countdown2010.net
A powerful network of active partners working together towards the 2010 biodiversity target. As a partner, AGEG Consultants support projects and programmes towards biodiversity conservation and improvement of local livelihoods world-wide in collaboration with other partners (e.g. GTZ, KfW, WWF). AGEG also provides expertise and collaborates with local NGOs in voluntary conservation initiatives in Germany with specific attention to forest biological diversity.

Creating Sustainable Enterprise
http://www.impact-dtg.com
Impact are global leaders in sustainable business transformation and people development. Our learning journeys and training solutions inspire new thinking and generate the meaningful dialogue needed to create and develop sustainable enterprise. Impact help people work more effectively together. As experts in behavioural change and leadership development, we work with organisations on their journey to becoming a sustainable enterprise.

Development: Making it happen
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/achievements/2008/index.html
As DFID publishes the Annual Report for 2008, here are some examples of the ways in which the Department for International Development is working to help eliminate world poverty.

Find a Job in Africa
http://www.findajobinafrica.com
Africa’s employment zone connecting employers, recruitment agencies and jobseekers. The website was founded in 1999 by Africans on the conviction that African’s problems must be owned by Africans with the solution driven by African’s. One of the challenges was poor/lack of job opportunities to Africans as a result many the vast array of job opportunities were not readily available to African’s based inside and outside Africa.

Foreign Information by Country
http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/foreigngovt.htm
Resource Guide by the University Libraries of Colorado at Boulder Wordmark, USA

Forum Finances et Développement
http://esf.asso.fr/portail/
Un portail francophone dédié au financement du développement.

Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System
http://www.gdacs.org
The GDACS provides near real-time alerts about natural disasters around the world and tools to facilitate response coordination, including media monitoring, map catalogues and Virtual On-Site Operations Coordination Centre.

IRIS
http://www.iris.umd.edu
IRIS is a research and advisory center located in the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland, College Park, USA. It works understand and facilitate economic growth and democratic development in poor and transition countries, focusing on the role of institutions — the formal and informal rules by which individuals organize economic, political, and social activity.

The EC Magazine of Enterprise Policy
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/e_i/index_en.htm
The new Enterprise & Industry on-line magazine will provide regular updates on policy development, on legislative proposals and their passage to adoption, and on the implementation and review of regulation affecting enterprises. Articles will cover issues related to SMEs, innovation, entrepreneurship, the single market for goods, competitiveness and environmental protection, better regulation, industrial policies across a wide range of sectors, and more.

SEPT: Small enterprise promotion + training
http://www.sept.uni-leipzig.de
The Small Enterprise Promotion Network (SEPneT) is an alumni network of more than 200 experts from over 70 countries specialized in SME issues. All members have studied in Germany.

The Imp-Act Consortium
http://www2.ids.ac.uk/impact/
The Imp-Act Consortium is global group of organisations working to promote and support the management of social performance by MFIs. ”We are a catalyst for change in microfinance understanding and practice. By connecting practitioners around the world we demonstrate practical action and support each other in managing towards our social goals.”

The MicroInsurance Centre
http://www.microinsurancecentre.org
This site is intended to provide practical tools to assist in the success of these relationships between regulated insurers, and MFOs and banks. It is focused on a partnership model of microinsurance provision.

The Virtual Library on Microcredit
http://www.gdrc.org/icm/
Repository of information on alternative, non-conventional financial systems and microfinance/microcredit issues.

Virtual communities & fair tourism against poverty
http://conectafrica.wordpress.com
This Online PhD investigation on Fair Tourism really goes for tourism development in Africa, using Web 2.0 technology. It is in Spanish language.

Visit our Sponsor: Rucksackshop
http://tinyurl.com/5qx8an
Bags, Rucksacks, travel & outdoor stuff. High quality – low prices – since 1991. Delivered world-wide by Lothar Erdmann from Doebeln, Germany.

Weitzenegger’s Currency Cheat Sheet
http://www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet?user=Weitzenegger
Keep your travel budget under control by knowing exact values in your home currency. This Traveller CheatSheet displays a handy list of conversion units from one currency to another and is designed to be printed out and carried while travelling. Choose daily Interbank rate or typical rates for credit card or cash.

Filed under: Development, Economy, European Union, Links, Migration, Remittances

Websites of the Month

>(loband)-
http://www.loband.org
loband is a service that simplifies web pages, in order to make them download faster over slow Internet connections. The simplified page viewed through loband will contain the same text information as the original. The formatting of the simplified page will be as similar to the original as possible, with colours and images removed. On certain pages you may find that things have moved around to some degree.

Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD)

http://aiard.org
The Association for International Agriculture and Rural Development (AIARD) is an association of professionals and practitioners in international development with experience and intellectual and institutional capabilities to articulate and address broad-based as well as more focused development issues in agriculture and rural development.

Banking With The Poor Network
http://www.bwtp.org
The Banking With The Poor Network is a network of some 30 national policy institutions, commercial banks and NGO’s from nine countries in Asia – namely Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The BWTP objective is to link microfinance with the financial system and to support the provision of inclusive financial services in Asia. It pursues this objective through capacity building, information sharing, policy dialogue, advocacy and research.

Business Fights Poverty
http://businessfightspoverty.ning.com
From the team behind Business Action for Africa and Mentori, Business Fights Poverty is a professional network for all those passionate about fighting world poverty through the power of good business. I joined this recently and will invite you personally.

DB Classifieds: Vacancies, Training, Materials, and Events

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/263664#TME
DB Classifieds includes information relevant and helpful to people and organisations involved in international development. As part of the Classifieds service, organisations can now post training and events related to international development in the Classifieds section of the CI website as well as within the DB Classifieds – TME.
DB Classifieds will often include material for which organisations have paid for placement.

EASYPol is an FAO on-line
http://www.fao.org/easypol/output/
Interactive multilingual repository of downloadable resource materials for capacity development in policy making for food, agriculture and rural development. EASYPol is maintained by the FAO Agricultural Policy Support Service.

Eldis Community
http://community.eldis.org

The Eldis Community is a free on-line community where you can meet others involved in international development, discuss issues that are important to you and share useful resources. Anyone with an interest in development issues can join the site free of charge.

eldis Ressource Guide: EU trade policy
http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/trade-policy/eu-trade-policy/
This Resource Guide provides easy structured access to our extensive collection of research and policy documents. All are editorially selected, summarised and available free to download in full text. Resource guides are intended to help you keep up to date with the latest in development research, policy and practice.

European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP)
http://www.microfinance-platform.eu
Sharing the vision that everyone on this globe has access to inclusive financial services, microfinance is a solution. e-MFP, as a multi-stakeholder and well connected European microfinance community, has the mission to promote innovative and inclusive financial sectors in developing countries.

Geneva Trade and Development Forum (GTDForum)
http://www.gtdforum.org

The GTDForum seeks to provide an enduring platform – and a novel experience – for reflection, innovation, debate and dialogue. It will address the specific challenges and opportunities of developing countries trying to reap the benefits and heal the wounds from globalization and trade liberalization. The Forum offers a much needed neutral environment away from the negotiating table for all stakeholders, where the needs and interests of the poorer countries and the use of trade as a development tool will be at the centre of discussions.

Humanitarian Practice Network (HPN)
http://www.odihpn.org
HPN is an independent forum for humanitarians to share and disseminate information, analysis and experience. It has specialist resources for practitioners and policy makers alike and facilitate debate through regular events and the Online Exchange discussion forum.

Improving the Business Enabling Environment, by IFC
http://www.ifc.org/bee
Here IFC collects, summarizes, and analyzes various data on the successes and failures of business environment reform efforts, and develop practical guides for designing and implementing these reforms. They are currently focusing on business registration, business licensing, business inspections, municipal simplification, corporate tax administration, export/import procedures, building the capacity of business membership organizations, and alternative dispute resolution.

Mentori – Share your business skills for a better world.
http://www.mentori.org

Mentori connects you online with people from developing countries who value your expertise. Its simple. You can volunteer anytime, anywhere, from any computer. Mentori offers the Diaspora the opportunity to do a ”virtual return” home.

MicroFinance Network (MFN)
http://www.mfnetwork.org
MFN is an international association of leading microfinance institutions. Through the MFN, 39 members from 31 countries share ideas, experiences, and innovative solutions to the challenges they face in search of continuous growth and progress. MFN members seek to be models of what is possible in the industry.

Poverty Action Lab, MIT
http://www.povertyactionlab.org
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) serves as a focal point for development and poverty research based on randomized trials. The objective is to improve the effectiveness of poverty programs by providing policy makers with clear scientific results that help shape successful policies to combat poverty.

Senegal: Inter-agency multifunctional platform programme (MFP)
http://www.ptfm.net

MFP has been recently launched in Senegal with the financial support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The MFP is a national / subregional programme based in Senegal. It aims to bring energy to the poorest rural areas and thus contributes to poverty alleviation and increasing the quality of life. A village enterprise – the Multifunctional-Platform: more time and more income for rural women and higher levels of schooling for girls. Using a simple diesel engine, rural people, particularly women, can now have access to affordable, simple and modern energy services. This improved access saves time and effort that can be devoted to income-generating activities, education, health and childcare.

The Gurteen Knowledge Website
http://www.gurteen.com
David Gurteen hosts on his personal website the Gurteen Knowledge Community, a global learning community of over 15,000 people in 154 countries. The main themes of the site are knowledge management, learning, creativity, innovation and personal development. Everything on this site is open and you do not need to be a member to access any part of it or to subscribe to any of the services provided. However, you will want to come back often and be part of it.

The Right to Food Virtual Library
http://www.fao.org/righttofood/kc/library_en.htm
This Library is a unique repository of information on the Human Right to Adequate Food and Freedom from Hunger. It provides catalogued documentation to assist the implementation of the Right to Food at national level. The aim of the Right to Food Virtual Library is to collect, maintain and provide a relevant, up-to-date, and outstanding collection of documents to fulfill the information needs of policy makers, practitioners, general public, civil society, NGOs, UN country teams, media and the academia, working toward the realization of the Right to Food. The Virtual Library is also available on CD and free of charge.

Theoretical Economics
http://www.econtheory.org

Theoretical Economics aims to become the leading journal in economic theory. It differs from existing journals in one major respect: all content is freely available

VISION Era-Net Portal for Innovation Policy Publications
This portal is a unique collection of publications related to innovation policy. The Innovation Policy Portal provides a valuable source and unique of information for both practitioners and researchers alike. The database consists of over 50 research reports, white papers, and policy documents from the world-leading researchers on the most advanced countries in the innovation policy.
http://www.visioneranet.org/?84_m=222&s=10

Wikigender
http://www.wikigender.org
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the OECD Development Centre launched this new interactive website to share and exchange information on gender equality issues.

Wikinomics

http://www.wikinomics.com
Today, encyclopedias, jetliners, operating systems, mutual funds, and many other items are being created by teams numbering in the thousands or even millions. While some leaders fear the heaving growth of these massive online communities, Wikinomics explains how to prosper in a world where new communications technologies are democratizing the creation of value. Anyone who wants to understand the major forces revolutionizing business today should consider Wikinomics their survival kit.

World Bank Knowledge Resources: Financial & Private Sector Development
http://rru.worldbank.org
Rapid Response is the World Bank Group’s knowledge hub on financial and private sector development in developing countries. This site offers best practice public policy advice for private sector led growth and financial market development in developing countries. Find expert analysis, powerful databases, quick solutions, and comprehensive ”how-to” guides.

Filed under: Development, Links

Websites of the Month, April 2008

African Voices in Europe demand more effective aid for Africa’s poorest
http://practicalaction.org/?id=africanvoices
Practical Action has launched a new website – African Voices in Europe – to expose the failures of European aid and set out a new agenda for Improving aid for Africa’s poorest communities. African Voices in Europe exposes the failures of EC aid to reach farmers and livestock keepers across Africa, and explores how EC aid could be more effectively targeted to achieve its objective of poverty reduction.

AiDA Adds Information from Major Nongovernmental Organizations
http://aida.developmentgateway.org/aida/AidaHome.do
The database on development activities, AiDA, now includes activities funded by the Gates Foundation, the Open Society Institute, and the Soros Foundation Network. These non-traditional donors fund over 3,800 activities. As a tool for aid effectiveness, AiDA includes information on more than 200,000 development projects worldwide.

CAN launches a FREE Social Enterprise Directory
http://www.can-online.org.uk/register.php
CAN has just launched a FREE directory of social entrepreneurs, social enterprises and enterprising charities in the UK. Sign up today if you want to be listed.

Commonwealth Micro Finance (CMF)
http://www.commonwealthmf.com
Commonwealth Micro Finance (CMF) has been established by the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) to provide a range of financial services including international remittances, micro-savings, micro-loans and other banking services for individuals and small businesses in 52 Commonwealth countries. CBC provides leadership in increasing international trade and investment flows, creating new business opportunities, promoting good governance and corporate social responsibility, reducing the digital divide and integrating developing countries, in the Commonwealth, into the global market. Pre-register online for your Zipp™ card. It dramatically reduces transaction costs for Migrant remittances and banking transaction costs.

CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment
www.cuts-citee.org
Since October 2007, CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment (CUTS CITEE) has been posting latest developments, news items, etc on trade and development issues onto its site. They are gathered from various sources and put under three heads: WTO Issues, Regional Economic Cooperation, and Developmental Issues. For instance, the latest draft texts on agriculture and NAMA (non-agricultural market access) of the Doha Round of negotiations by the WTO Members are there.

Data Base of Evaluation Studies Undertaken by EU Member States and the European Commission in External and Development Cooperation (from 2000)
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/dg/aidco/ms_ec_evaluations_inventory/evaluationssrch.cfm
The current database (DB) contains references to evaluations undertaken by European Union (EU) Member States (MS) and the European Commission in the area of development and external cooperation from the year 2000. More than just an index or a catalogue of interesting evaluations, the database offers the possibility of direct access to the available documents via the Web. A link to the summary or the full report is available in approximately 60% of cases.

EIM’s Public Knowledge Web on SMEs and Entrepreneurship
http://www.entrepreneurship-sme.eu
EIM carries out a long term research program on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship, which is being financed by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. Some major themes are nascent entrepreneurship, business start-ups, high growth enterprises, firm size distribution, innovation, internationalization, job creation and human resources management in SMEs.

EU Donor Atlas 2008
http://development.donoratlas.eu
The EU Donor Atlas is based on the data on ODA provided by the DAC International Development Statistics online: DAC online (for annual aggregates) and Creditor Reporting System online (for aid activities) as of January 2008 -covering data for the years up to 2006.

FRAME: Framework for Reporting, Analysis, Monitoring, and Evaluation
http://www.seepnetwork.org/section/frame
SEEP’s FRAME Tool and companion manual, Measuring Performance of Microfinance Institutions (the Framework), represent an initiative towards reaching global standards for microfinance performance monitoring and reporting. The FRAME Tool and Framework complement each other, and should be used in conjunction. The FRAME Tool, and Framework ratios, were developed by and for microfinance practitioners, in conjunction with raters, network organizations, donors, and investors. SEEP is proud to release FRAME 2.0, with over nineteen new features.

Growth, Innovation and Policy (GIPOL)
http://survey.nifustep.no/gipol/
GIPOL is a collaboration project between NIFU STEP, Norwegian School of Management, University of Agder and University of Lund. It is financed by the Norwegian Research Council and lasts from 2007 until 2010. The main aim of the project is to analyze modes of innovation and knowledge networks in order to develop an analytical framework adapted to the increasing globalization of the economy.

Have your say on the new EuropeAid website!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=saIH3JAoOaq9dKqEFzjPag_3d_3d
The EC’s EuropeAid Cooperation Office has recently re-launched its website, and is now seeking feedback from stakeholders. To participate in the online survey please follow the link on the EuropeAid website: http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/index_en.htm.

ip4inno – Intellectual Property Rights at SME
http://www.ip4inno.eu
ip4inno is a project funded by the European Commission as a part of the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. Its main aim is to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) enhance their understanding and use of intellectual property rights with a view to promoting innovation and competitiveness in line with the European Commission’s Lisbon goals.

MDGInfo 2007
http://www.devinfo.info/mdginfo2007
This database system is designed for the compilation and presentation of development indicators to support data users in their MDG monitoring. The MDG goals and targets are imbedded in the system linked to the 48 MDG indicators in a goal monitoring framework. MDGInfo has been adapted from DevInfo and presents the most up to date country-level statistics available as of August 2007 for the global monitoring of progress achieved towards the MDGs since 1990.

Resources for Improving Training Outcomes
http://www.worldbank.org/ieg/training/
Visit this World Bank site for free resources for training providers and donors, providing guidelines on training design, participant selection, targeting of training content to organizational needs and monitoring and evaluation of training.

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
http://www.smi.ethz.ch/
The chair focuses research and teaching in the fields of Strategic Management and Innovation. As an academic field, Strategic Management is concerned with the long-term competitiveness and performance of a corporation. It examines and explains why some corporations financially outperform its competitors.

The Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise (KITE)
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/kite/
KITE brings together Newcastle University’s extensive research capabilities on innovation management and enterprise, incorporating research on the social, economic, managerial,
organisational, and cultural aspects of information and communications technologies and their social consequences, and studies of the role of universities in society.

The QUICK Centre for microfinance in disaster surroundings
http://www.quick-centre.or.id
This is a knowledge sharing platform for the practitioners of microfinance in disaster surroundings. A new knowledge centre and knowledge sharing platform on microfinance in disaster surroundings has been established for the practitioners’ community. The QUICK Centre posts information on post-disaster microfinance support measures, microfinance as a disaster preparedness tool (incl. microinsurance), and disaster management for microfinance institutions. It includes among others a project database, a library, a forum and links to related organizations.

TransMONEE database – Unicef Innocenti Research Centre
http://www.unicef-irc.org/databases/transmonee/
The TransMONEE database is an annually updated database containing a wealth of general social and economic statistics and indicators of child well-being across the 27 countries of the CEE-CIS region, collected directly from the national statistical offices. The 2007 release of the TransMONEE 2007 is now available in English and Russian.

Whither EC Aid? Towards a New Approach For Assessing Development Cooperation
http://weca-ecaid.eu
European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and Actionaid launched this new project website.

Wikigender
www.wikigender.org
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the OECD Development Centre launched a new interactive website to share and exchange information on gender equality issues.

Filed under: Africa, Development, Directories, European Union, Links, Networks

Google.org names TechnoServe a Strategic Partner in International Development

Google.org has also awarded TechnoServe a new multi-year grant of $3 million to expand the organization’s private-sector development efforts. The focus of the strategic partnership is to spur the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are vital to ending the cycle of poverty in developing countries. SMEs create the bulk of new ideas and jobs in most developed economies, but they are scarce in other parts of the world, mainly due to a lack of access to business training and capital. ”Small and medium enterprises are a powerful engine of growth, jobs and opportunities,” says Google.org manager Rachel Payne. ”We have chosen TechnoServe as a strategic partner because of the organization’s long track record of working with entrepreneurial people to give them the tools, training and access to capital that they need to create viable businesses.” http://www.technoserve.org/press_room/googlegrant.aspx

TechnoServe has launched a nonprofit channel on YouTube that will feature some of the entrepreneurs participating in our business plan competitions, as well as other videos highlighting TechnoServe’s impact in various sectors and countries around the world. The channel launches with seven entrepreneur profiles from TechnoServe’s Believe Begin Become national business plan competition in Tanzania. http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BelieveBeginBecome

Filed under: Development, Links, Web 2.0

Vaccinate your business against bad times

You are an owner of a small or medium-sized enterprise or self-employed. You invest 15 minutes of your time. You gain a preventive screening of your business that might save you a lot of time and money in the future! This really is an official EC site. http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/entrepreneurship/sme2chance/ewt/self_assessment.cfm

Filed under: Links

Directory of Research Centres at International Poverty Centre

The Directory currently covers 540 institutions doing research on poverty, inequality and development in 27 countries in Latin America and 200 institutions in 38 sub-Saharan African countries. This directory is an effort to strengthen links among research centres in developing countries and foster South-South Cooperation on poverty research and training. http://www.undp-povertycentre.org/site/CentreSearch.do

Filed under: Directories, Links, Research

Intute: Social Sciences

Intute: Social Sciences is the subject group of Intute that provides Web resources for education and research for the social sciences, including law, business, hospitality, sport and tourism. Intute: Social Sciences has been created by bringing together two of the Hubs of the Resource Discovery Network (RDN): Altis and SOSIG. In combining the resources and services of these two services, Intute: Social Sciences offers an easy to use and powerful tool for discovering the best Internet resources in this important range of subjects. http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/

Filed under: Links