Collective for Research and Training on
Development Action (CRTD-A)
Independent Resource and Information Services (IRIS)
Development e
-Brief
September
17, 2004: Issue 14
IN THIS ISSUE:
EVENTS
1. NGOs
NEWS
1.
ICT
2.
Middle-East
REPORTS
& BOOKS & ARTICLES
1.
Trade/Economics/Microfinance
2.
Youth
3. NGOs
4. ICT
5.
Gender
6. Poverty
WEBSITES
1.
NGOs
2. Youth
EVENTS
1. NGOs:
World Habitat
Day. October 4 is World Habitat Day. Sponsored by the UN-HABITAT, to reflect
on the state of human settlements and the basic right to adequate shelter. This
year’s theme is “Cities -- Engines of Rural Development.”
http://www.unchs.org/whd/2004/default.asp
1. ICT:
ESCWA
coordinates with UNESCO Cairo Office on Preparations for WSIS 2005. On 14
and 15 August 2004, a meeting was held between ESCWA and the Communication and
Information Regional Advisor for the Arab States. The aim of the meeting was to
collaborate on regional preparatory activities for the Second Phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be held in Tunis in November 2005
and to co-execute the Arab Domain Names project in coordination with the League
of Arab States.
http://www.escwa.org.lb/
2. MIDDLE-EAST:
New Democracy
Institute for Bahrain. “A new institute to promote political reform and
democratization will be launched in Bahrain within the next few months. The
Bahrain Institute for Democratic Development (BIDD) will focus on "preparing
programs and educational seminars on democracy, political plurality and human
rights among other subjects”.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/04/08/29/130335.html
1. TRADE/ECONOMICS/MICROFINANCE:
Funding
Opportunities for Small Businesses Owners in Morocco. Lead: “For increased
numbers of poor Moroccans, micro enterprises are a source of income and
employment where no other alternatives are available. One million of people in
Morocco produce a wide diversity of goods in makeshift shops or engage in small
trading and retailing activities. Lacking access to formal financial services,
many micro entrepreneurs must provide this financing themselves through their
own savings or, informal moneylenders, whose loans can be costly. In response
to this problem, the Government of Morocco created a funding facility of $ 10
million (Fund Hassan II) to support the microfinance sector. Since then the
Moroccan microfinance industry experiences great success”.
http://www.developmentgateway.org/microfinance
Impact Study of
the Zakoura Micro credit Program. “Zakoura Micro-Credit (ZMC) is the
microfinance arm of the Zakoura Foundation, a national NGO devoted to increasing
the quality of life of the most underprivileged Moroccans. The study analyzes
ZMC’s impact at three levels: on clients, enterprises, and on their households.”
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/microfinance/rc/ItemDet%20ail.do~1010940~intcmp=00001
USAID Morocco
Microfinance Program. This brief presents outcomes of the study on the
identification of a viable approach and potential model for a rural finance
program. Two associations, Foundation Zakoura and Institut Marocaine d_Appui ŕ
la Microentreprise were selected to implement pilot rural microfinance programs.
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/microfinance/rc/ItemDet%20ail.do~1010941~intcmp=00001
Al Amana Association Morocco _ PlaNet Rating. This article relates the work
of Al Amana. Al Amana was created in 1997 with technical assistance from the
American NGO VITA and financial support from USAID and the Moroccan government.
Al Amana's major strengths include: a proven credit methodology and operational
processes.
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/microfinance/rc/ItemDet%20ail.do~1011021~intcmp=00001
Microstart Morocco -
Final Report 1998-2000. This report aims specifically to highlight Save the
Children’s success in meeting the program’s objectives for MicroStart Morocco.
It broadly addresses SC’s strategy and the key aspects of the
MicroStart program that advanced or challenged
Save the Children’s.
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/microfinance/rc/ItemDet%20ail.do~1011022~intcmp=00001
Globalization and Development: Facts and Figures. This document released by
the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) provides
analyses supported by detailed statistical documentation, surveying major
developments in the world economy over the past 40 years.
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ict/rc/ItemDetail.do~101%200865~intcmp=00001
2. YOUTH:
Youth for Social Entrepreneurship. Youth for Social Entrepreneurship is a
guide Book in Print and Online. “The uniqueness and innovation behind the
project Win Swayam Sakthi is that it is a special initiative in the ICT sector
for youth towards social Entrepreneurship”.http://topics.developmentgateway.org/youth/rc/ItemDetail.do~%201010924~intcmp=00001?itemId=%201010924&intcmp=00001
3. NGOs:
Accounting for Donor Contributions
to Education for all: How Should Finance be Provided? How Should it be
Monitored? This is a desk study report
produced by the World Bank, and has been commissioned to suggest a strategy for
achieving two objectives. These are; first, to make recommendations on how the
contributions of different donors should be counted towards the Education for
All (EFA) objective, second to give advice on the most effective way to provide
financial support to the EFA in different country circumstances.
http://www.eldis.org/fulltext/FosterFinalReport.pdf
An Evaluation of Humanitarian
Information Centers (HICs). These include Case Studies of HICs for Iraq,
Afghanistan, and Liberia. Lead: “The Humanitarian Information Centre (HIC) is a
common service of the UN System, managed by the Field Information Support Unit (FIS)
of OCHA. The HIC is
deployed into the field at the onset of a humanitarian emergency when requested
by the Humanitarian Coordinator”.
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ngo/rc/ItemDetail.do~10%2010909~intcmp=00001?itemId=10%2010909&intcmp=00001
ESCWA Releases Annual Report.
ESCWA 2003 – The Annual Report” was released in both Arabic and English,
covering major activities undertaken by the UN regional commission during 2003.
An electronic copy of the Report may be obtained through the ESCWA website on
http://www.escwa.org.lb/information/publications/general/200%203.html
4. ICT:
Grameen Cyber
Society - Bangladesh Telecenter Project. This article relates the Grameen
Cyber Society, which is a not for profit organization based in Bangladesh that
intends to make a significant contribution to the quality of lifelong learning,
by using ICT in the rural communities.
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/ngo/rc/ItemDetail.do~10%2010649~intcmp=00001
5. GENDER:
The Status of Women
in Sudan: A Report. “Social turbulence in Sudan has had a particularly
acute impact on the lives of women, not only among disadvantaged minorities but
also among the middle and upper classes. There have been many reversals since
1974, when women gained the constitutional right to representation”.http://topics.developmentgateway.org/gender/rc/ItemDetail.do~10%2010775~intcmp=00001
UNFPA: Women’s Labour Force Participation and Employment. In this article an
overview of the role that women play in the labour force is given. It outlines
women’s un-paid work ( e.g. taking care of children and a house work), women’s
employment and reproductive choices, and occupational health risks that women
face.http://topics.developmentgateway.org/gender/rc/ItemDetail.do%20~1011017~intcmp=00001
APC Africa Women: Using ICTs for Development. This article introduces “The
Association for Progressive Communications-Africa-Women Programme” (APC-Africa-Women).
It is a network of organisations and individuals that work to empower African
women's organisations to access and use Information and Communication
Technologies (ICTs) for equality. http://topics.developmentgateway.org/gender/rc/ItemDetail.do%20~1010323~intcmp=00001
Kuwait's Parliament Considers Women's Political Rights, Again. This article
by Mary Ann Tetreault discusses the fate of women’s political rights in Kuwait.
Lead: “when Kuwait's parliament
reconvenes in late October, it will be facing a full agenda. Member initiatives
include an ambitious redistricting bill and threats to interpolate at least two
cabinet ministers. The government's wish list is equally contentious; it
includes a wide-ranging privatization program and a proposal to confer full
political rights on Kuwaiti women. Despite promises of enfranchisement in return
for their highly lauded performance resisting the Iraqi occupation of 1990-1991,
Kuwaiti women are still denied the rights to vote and run for national office.”
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=1302
6. POVERTY:
Poverty Manual. This
Poverty Manual is a part of a training program called the Poverty Analysis
Initiative. It provides insightful descriptions of poverty issues. It comprises
of 9 chapters, included are the following topics: 1) The Concept of Poverty and
well-being; 2) Measuring Poverty; 3) Poverty Lines....etc
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty/rc/ItemDetail.do%20~1010855~intcmp=00001
Tool for Calculating Poverty
Levels. This article relates the poverty tool PovcalNet, which is an
interactive computational tool developed by the Bank’s Research Group to
“replicate calculations made by Bank researchers in estimating the extent
of absolute poverty in the world”.
The tool is also useful for calculating “poverty measures under different
assumptions, and assembles the estimates using alternative country groupings.
PovcalNet is self-contained, with built-in software that does real-time
calculations from an annually updated database”.
http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/jsp/index.jsp
1. NGOs:
Communication for
Social Change 'Body of Knowledge'. Available to all, in one place, anonline guide
to publications, books, articles, brochures, pamphlets, position papers and other
writings on communication for social change and development communication. This
is a comprehensive, searchable body of knowledge about
communication for social change and its principles of voice, dialogue, equity
and participant-driven sustainable change - developed by the Communication for
Social Change Consortium.
http://www.communicationforsocialchange.org/body-ofknowledge.php
2. YOUTH:
Communication for Social
Change 'Body of Knowledge'.
Available to all, in one place, an online guide to publications, books,
articles, brochures, pamphlets, position papers and other writings on
communication for social change and development communication. This is a
comprehensive, searchable body of knowledge about communication for social
change and its principles of voice, dialogue, equity and participant-driven
sustainable change - developed by the Communication for Social Change
Consortium.
http://www.communicationforsocialchange.org/body-of-knowledge.php
Website of the
Programme on Youth now available in three languages.
Besides an English and French version, the website of the United Nations
Programme on Youth is now also available in Spanish. Please visit
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/index.html or go directly to the
Spanish version via:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/spanish/index.html
Development e-Brief
Information Sources
Development e-Brief
receives and comprises
of material from various sources for its publication. Should you wish to refer
to these sources/ sites directly, the list includes publications from: AVIVA,
www.aviva.org
, AWID:
www.awid.org ,
Democracy Digest:
www.freedomhouse.org
, Development Gateway:
www.developmentgatway.org
, Dignity:
www.dignity.org , e-Civicus:
www.civicus.org
, Eldis:
www.eldis.org , ESCWA:
www.escwa.org.lb
, GDB:
www.developmentex.com
, IGTN:
www.IGTN.org , ILO:
www.ilo.org
One World:
www.oneworld.net
, Siyanda:
www.siyanda.org
, The Daily Star:
www.dailystar.com.lb
, The Drum Beat:
www.comminit.com , The
Soul Beat:
www.comminit.com
, The World Bank:
www.worldbank.org ,
UNDP:
www.undp.org
, Wicejilist:
www.wicej.addr.com
, WLP:
www.learningpartnership.org
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