DOCON 2013 Directory of Consulting Firms active in International Development Cooperation | www.docon.info

I recently updated DOCON, the Directory of Consulting Firms active in International Development Cooperation at http://www.docon.info. Here you can find service providers, consortium partners or employers. The list is sorted by country of Headquarters. Companies are listed world-wide, but I make an effort to cover the European Union Member States and the ACP African, Caribbean, Pacific Group of Countries, as many consortia are formed in these regions.

Please help growing this directory. I especially look for more African consulting companies as local partners, as are currently listed here: http://www.weitzenegger.de/docon/htm/acp.htm. Everyone can suggest an entry at http://www.weitzenegger.de/content/?page_id=7901. It’s free and hand-edited, so no spam appears.

Filed under: ACP, Africa, European Union, Networks

Made in Africa TV | AfriGadget TV | African ingenuity on the Air

The production company Made in Africa TV is taking AfriGadget to the East African airwaves to inspire millions of viewers to become active creators of new and ingenious products, themselves.

Made in Africa TV plans to produce AfriGadget as separate programs in each of the Kenyan, Tanzanian and Ugandan television markets. A local presenter will host the program and introduce the correspondents and their stories. Combined, these stories offer a unique opportunity to discover a wide range of innovations, new products and different approaches to the same goal. The program will be broadcast on a weekly basis.

Each episode of AfriGadget TV will consist of five thoughtful stories from around the region, highlighting remarkable and unexpected hardware innovations by East Africans. These stories are inspiring mini-documentaries, portraying young and old, men and women, as well as high and low-tech innovators and their products.

Made in Africa TV is an East African social enterprise producing mass media with a social impact. We are in the process of setting up a network of video journalists from across Africa to produce the stories, which will be made available on the website as well. As an AfriGadget TV-correspondent you explore your local surroundings to find and capture the innovators and their AfriGadgets. If you are a videographer willing to become a correspondent for this program, or if you know of great AfriGadgets that should be considered for inclusion, please contact http://www.afrigadget.com

Filed under: Africa, Networks, News, Web 2.0, foss, ict4dev, media, tv

Crowd Sourcing: How to be a good evaluator

Crowd Sourcing: How to be a good evaluator: Do This, Not That| weitzenegger.de.

How to be a good evaluator? (A new crowd sourcing exercise)

Results-based management in international development cooperation seems to require super heroes to evaluate it. How can you perform as a good evaluator and live on happily? Can you give us some practical advice from your experience? It will end up in a tip sheet for future evaluators.
Consider this:
1. What education, abilities, skills and experience are really needed?
2. How do you bring in your social and personal competencies (e.g., Social competence, Communication, Cooperative behaviour, Self-management, Team Management, Learning and problem solving)?
3. What does it take to meet the Standards (e.g., Independence, Stakeholder consultation and protection, Validity, Clarity, Fairness, Completeness, Transparency, and Timeliness)?
4. How do you prepare an assignment well (e.g., clarification, roles, stakeholder involvements, methodology, information and knowledge, logistics, time constraints, etc.)?
5. What behaviour is appropriate when evaluating (e.g., perspectives, techniques, self-awareness, respect, power-sharing, capacity building, give and take feedback)?
6. How do you master field work (e.g., stakeholder involvement, cultural competencies, diversity, credibility, presentation, transparent knowledge management)?
7. The day after: How do you follow-up after or in between evaluations?
8. What else are considered good practices as evaluator?
9. The Don’ts: What common mistakes should be avoided when evaluating?
10. What related guidance is already published elsewhere?

Please drop your ideas on this here as a comment.

Kind regards,
Karsten Weitzenegger

Filed under: Methods, Networks

Karsten Weitzenegger joined the International Public Management Network (IPMN)

Today I joined the International Public Management Network (IPMN – http://www.ipmn.net). The purpose of the IPMN is to create and sustain a dialogue on emerging management concepts, methods and technology so that members and I can learn about innovation and change in public sector organizations throughout the world.

The network’s mission is to further the international and interdisciplinary discourse about public management issues. To satisfy this mission, IPMN convenes its members in annual conferences and workshops and publishes selected papers presented at these events in a book series, the International Public Management Journal, and the International Public Management Review online.

IPMN also provides a website that includes the membership directory and a number of services to members, and a list server to permit rapid information flow among members. IPMN seeks to facilitate exchange and cooperative work among its members. Opportunities include visiting lectureships and other speaking opportunities, scholarly visits to members’ institutions, joint research and consulting projects, pooled funding for research. The hub is based at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Filed under: Development, Networks, Research, Governance

UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen

Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty — the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. More recently, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. The Kyoto Protocol is an international and legally binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions worldwide entered into force on 16 February 2005.

The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the COP (Conference of the Parties), the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau. To help countries meet their emission targets, and to encourage the private sector and developing countries to contribute to emission reduction efforts, negotiators of the Protocol included three market-based mechanisms – Emissions Trading, the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation.

Related Weblinks:
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC: http://www.unfccc.int
Denmark’s COP15 website: http://en.cop15.dk
General press info: http://www.pressinfo.cop15.dk
COP15 calendar: http://www.calendar.cop15.dk
Official Tweets: http://twitter.com/cop15

Climate change in Google Earth: http://www.google.com/landing/cop15/
YouTube – Cop15′s Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/Cop15
SID Forum Update: http://www.sidint.net/intl-agenda/climate-change/

TckTckTck | The World is Ready: http://tcktcktck.org
TckTckTck is the hub for stories on how hundreds of millions of people around the world are coming together to show world leaders we are ready for a new climate deal.

Interactive map and reporting system for the CDM

http://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/MapApp
The CDM project map shows the location of CDM activities worldwide. Visitors can travel around the globe and learn about the location and many details of each project. In addition to this, a series of new graphs provide detailed breakdowns about the range, distribution of such projects that highlight national participation, project impacts and the status of project registration.

Filed under: Crisis, Development, Economy, Environment, Networks, News, Research

Survey on how to design a climate agreement

The Center for Global Development launched a survey on how to design a climate agreement that is environmentally effective, economically efficient, and fair. The 15 questions about climate policy in this survey present you with some of the same choices that climate negotiators are weighing, and that global leaders will tackle at Copenhagen and beyond. An important goal of the survey is to discover on which aspects of a climate agreement people from different backgrounds agree, and on which they disagree. The Center hopes to discover on which issues there is agreement among people who share a commitment to development but come from different backgrounds, and on which issues a consensus has yet to emerge. http://www.join.cgdev.org/site/R?i=loPmIQsFmx3x-L5kZS-Nuw

Filed under: Environment, Networks, News, Web 2.0

AL-INVEST IV: A bridge between EU and Latin American SMEs

The fourth phase of AL-INVEST, financed by the European Commission, aims at supporting the internationalisation of Latin American SMEs in collaboration with their European partners in order to contribute to reinforce social cohesion in the region. Unlike the previous phases, the fourth phase of the AL-INVEST (2009-2012) is implemented through three groups of business organisations belonging to three distinct geographical areas of Latin America: 1. Central America-Cuba-México; 2. Andean Region; 3. Mercosur Chile and Venezuela. These three groups are supported through horizontal services delivered by a European consortium lead by EUROCHAMBRES. This consortium will carry out market studies, business meetings, technical assistance, individual exchange programmes and trainings. In addition, all European business organisations with experience and/or interest in working with Latin America will be gathered under a Network of Interested Institutions. AL-INVEST IV website: http://www.al-invest4.eu

Filed under: Banking, Clusters, Economy, Entrepreneurship, European Union, Networks, Trade, Latin America

Weitzenegger’s International Development Job Market

Looking for a job in development cooperation? This Website gives you a list of professional opportunities around the world. Updated as you arrive. I am still working on updates, so come back soon.
http://www.weitzenegger.de/new/jobmarket.php

Filed under: Africa, Asia, Development, Directories, Economy, Employment, Networks, News, Jobs

New XING Group: Aid & Development Professionals

Karsten Weitzenegger took over the moderation of the Aid & Development Professionals group on XING (https://www.xing.com/net/aiddevprofs/) and invited all subscribers of this Newsletter. This Group a forum for international development professionals working with different organisations to end poverty world-wide. XING is an online networking tool you can use to manage all of your contacts and to find interesting new business contacts. The group has 194 members today, there is a good chance you know someone. Here is an invitation to join the group: http://www.xing.com/group-17892.250b88/4466179

Filed under: Development, Networks

DISCUSSION FORUM on Trade and Sustainable Development

Which factors are necessary to the achievement of a positive relationship between Trade and Sustainable Development?
”Trade liberalization and sustainable development are not unavoidably incompatible. Trade liberalization can advance sustainable development goals, just as it can retard their achievement. The same can be said for foreign direct investment. Appropriate investment can spur sustainable development, but much investment in developing countries has been environmentally, socially and often economically questionable.” (IISD Statement on Trade and SD). You will need to be logged-in to the Development Gateway to contribute. http://tinyurl.com/2pvlhv

Filed under: Networks, Trade, Web 2.0

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

ILO Global Employment Trends 2008

Economic turbulence largely due to credit market turmoil and rising oil prices could spur an increase in global unemployment by an estimated 5 million persons in 2008. This is one of the main findings in the GET report 2008. This new projection for 2008 is in contrast to 2007, a watershed year in which sound global GDP growth, led to a ”stabilization” of global labour markets with more people in work. http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/strat/download/get08.pdf

Filed under: Development, ILO, Migration, Networks, Publications

EC Vice President Verheugen launches Enterprise Europe Network

European Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen launched Enterprise Europe Network, a new and powerful European support network for enterprises. All major players of the business support community in Europe have united to offer a one-stop service to assist especially small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop their full potential and innovative capacity. With more than 500 contact points and almost 4,000 experienced staff, Enterprise Europe Network is the largest network in Europe providing expertise and services for business. These are available to companies of all sizes irrespective of whether they are in manufacturing or services, although they are primarily directed at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise-europe-network

Filed under: Clusters, Development, Directories, Entrepreneurship, European Union, Networks