World News

Introduction to Development - free online course

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:24:08 +0100

Intro to Development - free online course

Open University, in the UK, has a free open content initiative called OpenLearn. OpenLearn has added much of its materials from OU's Master's Degree course, TU 870, calling it "Introducing international development management" on this online platform. You can access all of these materials, plus an excellent list of references (books, magazines, etc.) here:

Published in Aid Workers Network by Jayne Cravens, www.coyotecommunications.com/development/

Bonn, Germany

Public participation and working with stakeholders

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:43:27 +0200

Here is a great presentation about working with stakeholders in an organized way, with great tools for analysis, planning of a strategy on how to approach them, plenty of tools for going through all steps.

There is actually one big lesson - the planning of our approach to stakeholders can be the most important thing in any initiative. If you read the whole thing, you may also find a bit alternative Slide 10way to describe the different levels of participation, namely:

- Manipulation
- Information Provision
- Consultation
- Participation
- Delegated Power
- Citizen Control

I like quite a lot the final one. Highly recommended material!

Download here.

Social marketing for NGOs

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:58:08 +0200

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Call for Proposals by South East Europe Transnational Programme

Wed, 14 May 2008 08:18:12 +0200

The South East Europe Transnational Programme has launched its 1st Call for Proposals on 5 May 2008. The Call will follow the 2-step procedure:
- First Step: Applicants are requested to fill in and submit an Expression of Interest where they are requested to describe briefly the problems and the challenges that their project aims to address, the foreseen budget, partners involved and the envisaged objectives and results.
- Second Step: Applicants of the pre-selected project ideas will be invited to submit a full Application Form.

The South East Europe (SEE) Programme 2007 - 2013 aims at improving the territorial, economic and social integration process and contribution to cohesion, stability and competitiveness through the development of transnational partnerships and joint actions on matters of strategic importance.
The Managing Authority of the SEE Programme (Hungarian National Development Agency) and the partner states (Albania, Austria, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine) are launching the first call for projects for transnational cooperation in the South Eastern area of Europe to be co-financed by ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) and IPA (Instrument for Preaccession) under this programme.

See the full text of the Call and application documents here.

Participation resource website

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 22:07:45 +0200

ProVention Consortium website, dedicated to disaster management and risk reduction. This is a link to the participation resources, published in the website.

In brief:
This section introduces the overarching subject of 'Participation'. This approach to development underpins the application of Community Based Disaster Risk Management (CBDRM) and, in particular, Community Risk Assessment (CRA). Participation has been discussed, studied and applied in various ways in many sectors since the days of so-called 'community development' in the 1950s and 1960s. This section introduces the core debates and most useful participatory resources for those concerned with risk reduction and is structured as follows:

   1. Portals and key websites
   2. Networks
   3. Key publications and conceptual articles
   4. Leading thinkers on PAR, RRA, and PRA and their context
      * Paulo Freire
      * Robert Chambers
   5. Participatory action research
      * PAR gateways and key websites
      * PAR essays
      * PAR applications
   6. Civil society vs. state relations

Library of the California Center for Civic Participation and Youth Development

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 08:38:11 +0100

Here is a link to a very good library and resources of the Library of the California Center for Civic Participation and Youth Development.

The library includes 10 training module and guides on topics related to development and youth. It is a great source. Check it here.

EIDHR Country-based Suport Scheme APP 2007 for Macedonia

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 08:29:01 +0100

Call for Proposals for the EIDHR Country-Based Support Scheme 2007 of the EC Delegation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR)

Funding: minimum 20000E, maximum 80000E

A grant may not be for less than 50% of the total eligible costs of the action. In addition, no grant may exceed 80% of the total eligible costs of the action.

Reference: EuropeAid/126892/L/ACT/FYR
Budget (EUR): 600000
Status: Open (until 20.05.2008)
Documents: tender 20.03.2008 Guidlines for Grant Applicants Grant Application Form Budget Log Frame

UN launches new internet-based data service

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:48:59 +0100

UNData has just launched a new internet-based data service for the global user community. It brings UN statistical databases within easy reach of users through a single entry point. Users can search and down load a variety of statistical resources of the UN system.

The UN-system has accumulated over the past 60 years an impressive amount of information. UNdata, developed by the Statistics Division of DESA, is a new powerful tool, which will bring this unique and authoritative set of data not only to the desks of decision makers and analysts, but also to journalists, to students and to all citizens of the world, says Sha Zukang, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

Minorities in Transition in South, Central, and Eastern Europe

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 17:22:38 +0100

The International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT), Budapest, Hungary has published a research on the effects of the transition of the countries in South, Central, and Eastern Europe to the status the ethnic minorities, as well as their changing roles in the societies.

The document is called Minorities in Transition in South, Central, and Eastern Europe.

Downoad from the link above or here.

Call for proposals from the Flemish Government

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:19:27 +0100

Even before the state reform of 1993, which gave extensive foreign competences to Flanders, the Flemish Government had considered Central and Eastern Europe as a priority area within Flanders’ foreign policy.
European programmes like Tacis and Phare served as a good example for the development of the Flemish cooperation programme in Central and Eastern Europe. The implementation of cooperation agreements with States in Central and Eastern Europe took the form of projects, for which Flemish promoters (institutions, organizations, companies, …) could receive a financial contribution from the Flemish authorities for setting up a project with partners in this region.

The new policy is based on three pillars:
* Pillar I: Flanders will try to build on previously established contacts and networks and concentrate on those sectors where it has a comparative advantage. In this context the Flemish democratic social model, a dynamic knowledge society and a model for administrative policy, can be propagated and transmitted through projects that lead towards a win-win situation. In 2008 a budget of 1,170,000 euros will be spent on activities in the new member states.

* Pillar II: the pre-accession support should contribute to the countries' accession process to the EU and facilitate their successful integration into the European Union. The available budget in 2008 amounts to 500,000 euros for Croatia, 250,000 euros for Macedonia and 750,000 euros for the other countries on the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia-Kosovo).

* Pillar III: also with the countries called 'new neighbours' Flanders will try to set up cooperation wherever it is possible and meaningful. This cooperation will take the form of capacity building, institutional, democratic and economical backing, conflict prevention and community structuring. In 2008 the Flemish authorities wish again to limit the cooperation to Ukraine. For the financing of projects under pillar III a budget of 250,000 euros is available

Click for the necessary documents here.

More information via:
Department of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs divison
Boudewijnlaan 30
1000 Brussel
E: projecten-bcoe@vlaanderen.be
T: +32 2 553 59 20

Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking will be held on 13-15.02.2008

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:13:00 +0100

We invite interested representatives from Member States, UN agencies and other international and regional organizations, the business community, academia, civil society organizations and individual experts active in the fight against human trafficking to join us in Vienna in February 2008.

All those who wish to be considered for participation in the Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking should register through our on-line registration form.

Please note that there is no registration/participation fee to attend the Vienna Forum. Funding Criteria: UN.GIFT seeks to provide a means to those who may not have access to the necessary funding to attend the Vienna Forum.

Why are so many charities ineffective?

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 11:51:40 +0100

An interesting article of "The Economist" about charities and their effectiveness, with a focus on enterpreneurship. It is also about the key elements to be a successful non-profit organization:
1. Not only service, advocacy can change policies and increase the impact;
2. Not only giving, generating income and good approaches to the business increases the impact and influences the business sector to be socially responsible;
3. Not only use volunteers to work, empower them and create a volunteer community. They are among the most effective advocates of the cause;
4. Nurture non-profit networks. The best non-profits "freely share wealth, expertize, talent and power with their peers" because it is in their self-interest (Cruthfield and Grant book, called "Forces for Good");
5. Adaptation and innovation, based on listening, learning and modifying the approaches will keep the organization relevant to the situation
6. Sharing the leadership - the leaders of the successful non-profits "share their power, make a habit of empowering others and cultivate strong second-in-command, build enduring executive teams and thoroughly engage their boards.

Read more here.

Materials from the international conference on Community Development, held in Sofia

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 08:02:11 +0100

During the conference researchers, practitioners and experts in the field of community development together made an overview of different community development practices and approaches implemented in the context Central Europe. There were discussions about the concepts and approaches leading to social development. Representatives of NGOs and local authorities searched common understanding about community development and different approaches and regional specifics.

Find information and very interesting presentations from the conference here.

Only the presentations:
Allocation of the Community Resources - Marcel Iordache
Community Development in Bulgaria from the Perspective of HR Theory and Practice - Rumen Petrov and Haralan Alexandrov
Community Development - prof. Mircea Alexiu
CBOs - Agents for Rural Development - Roxana Mirciu
Building of Public Spaces in Slovakia - Karolina Mikova
Micro Lending - Elena Triffonova

EU Call for proposals for integration of third-party nationals

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:48:37 +0100

EUROPEAN FUND FOR THE INTEGRATION OF THIRD-COUNTRY NATIONALS 2007-2013

This call for proposals will be open to national, regional and local authorities registered in any of the 26 Member States participating in the European Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals (Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Austria, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom), Non Governmental Organisations, public or private bodies
(including university departments, research centres), as well as international organisations, working on a strictly non-profit basis, with proven experience and expertise in the fields covered, taking into account their respective competences.

Actions may include partners and participants from Denmark and third countries, but the costs for their participation may not be covered by Community contribution and must be financed entirely by non-Community resources. Read more.

Invoking an EU-strategy for Roma communities across Europe

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:53:54 +0100

A group of NGOs sent a joint statement to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to raise awareness on the sensitive issue of Roma social exclusion across Europe.

It is a fact that Roma people are subjected to discrimination in many parts of Europe. Hence, it is extremely important that a group of eight NGOs, among which include Amnesty International and the Open Society, is raising awareness on the need of EU-wide strategy on Roma. To get this message across to EU leaders, the NGOs sent a letter to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso urging for "an EU framework strategy to promote inclusion."

Earlier this month, the NGOs voice was echoed in a joint statement by Italian prime minister Romano Prodi and Romanian prime minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, subsequently tragic events occurred in Rome [1].

On Thursday 15 November, the silence within the EU was broken by the adoption of a resolution to create a network of organisations with a two-fold mandate:
to promote Roma rights and duties in society
to facilitate Roma social inclusion

Within the Commission, a fundamental rights group composed by 10 Commissioners [2] will analyse the issues for further action.

How are Roma people discriminated?

According to Amnesty International experts, Roma people are segregated from cradle to grave. The fact that children are excluded from mainstream public schools and that ad hoc measures are conceived to isolate Roma communities far away from inner cities, underpins the aforementioned assumption.

The promotion of social inclusion into an European free society in which every single citizen has the right of access to facilities regardless of socioeconomic status and origins is a key driver for EPHA. Hence, we embrace the NGOs cause and initiatives as the ROMAin project and raise our voice to better the Roma’s living conditions.

From the European Public Health Alliance