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Principal Blogs, Portals, Directories, and Search Engines
Insightful Blogs on International
Development Issues-- World
Bank Blogs, Blogs
at Worldwatch, Center
for Global Development, The
Guardian
AidData-- "Comprehensive database on
development finance"..."an easy-to-use, comprehensive, and
timely resource describing the universe of development
finance project-by-project, including all grants and loans
committed by all major bilateral and multilateral aid
donors."
Development Experience Clearinghouse--
From the U.S. Agency for International Development, which
bills the site as "the largest online resource for
USAID-funded technical and program documentation, with
over 137,500 documents available for electronic download."
Also much information on U.S. foreign aid per se.
Development Gateway-- A major portal
on development, with excellent general and country
information, resources, and tools, designed for scholars
and practitioners in specific sectors of developmental
activity. Much information and analysis available in
several categories. Try AidData for "an easy-to-use,
comprehensive, and timely resource describing the universe
of development finance project-by-project, including all
grants and loans committed by all major bilateral and
multilateral aid donors."
Directory of Development Organizations-- Comprehensive reference for development practitioners, researchers, donors, and policymakers interested in enterprise development and (non-) financial markets, particularly in developing countries. Lists thousands of individual contacts in organizations which offer support, information, and advice to the enterprise sectors in developing countries, by region and category.
Governance and Social
Development Resource Centre-- Excellent site from
the University of Birmingham, UK that "provides
cutting-edge knowledge services on demand and online. It
aims to help reduce poverty by informing policy and
practice in relation to governance, conflict and social
development." Plentiful high quality resources are
available through a research help desk, useful topic
guides, gateway guides, and a large document library.
Institute of Development Studies--
From the University of Sussex, England, maintains a Knowledge
Services hub that comprises one of the world's leading sources for research, teaching and information on
international development, offering a broad and excellent
range of information systems and services. Note the
excellent free IDS website guide in PDF, "A Good Place to Start - The IDS
Knowledge Services guide to finding development
information online."
The components of IDS include:
1. British
Library
for Development Studies, an online catalogue of
Europe's largest library on international development
2. Eldis, with the slogan "Sharing the best in development policy, practice and research," is a superlative directory and gateway to electronic information resources on development issues, with subject guides and dossiers, regional and country profiles, news feeds, e-mail bulletins and newsletters, and searchable database of thousands of papers online at its site or linked. Of special interest is the Eldis Google development websearch limited area search engine, which "enables you to search the full content of over 4000 development focused websites, as selected by Eldis editors."
3. BRIDGE,
an information and analysis service on development and
gender
4. Governance
and
Social Development Resource Centre aims to help
reduce poverty by informing policymaking and enhancing
professional knowledge in relation to governance,
conflict, and social development. Note especially the
document library, "an up to date collection of the most
credible publications available on governance, conflict,
and social development issues."
Karsten Weitzenegger Consulting-- Website is "primarily a resource for the global learning community of professionals active in international development cooperation in more than 80 countries." Huge amount of development resources and leads, including via social media networks.
SD Gateway-- Indispensable, top-rate
entry point to a wealth of online information from some of
the world's leading sustainable development institutes,
members of the Sustainable Development Communications
Network.
Studying-Development.org-- "Initiative set up by a small group of former London School of Economics development students. Our aim is to provide an easy to use online directory to courses in international development... to help orientate those wishing to enter, or already active in the field of International Development. This directory is international in scope and covers professional training, as well as university degree courses."
The Broker--
"Independent platform and online magazine on
globalisation and development, bringing together
cutting-edge knowledge and expert opinions from
researchers, policymakers and practitioners...
connecting worlds of knowledge."
Other Sources
• Bank Information Center-- An
"independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization
that provides information and strategic support to NGOs
and social movements throughout the world on the projects,
policies and practices of the World Bank and other
Multilateral Development Banks." Much practical
information, plus links.
• The Broker--
From the UK, "an independent platform and online
magazine on globalization and development, bringing
together cutting-edge knowledge and expert opinions from
researchers, policymakers and practitioners... [and
acting] as an intermediary between knowledge networks,
‘brokering’ global development knowledge to inform
practitioners and provide new and integrated
perspectives on current global policy issues."
• Brooks World
Poverty Institute-- "At the University of
Manchester... an international centre of excellence
established to create and share knowledge to end poverty,
in both North and South, and to shape policies that
deliver real gains for people in poverty." Posts Institute
studies on the topic.
• Canadian International Development
Agency-- Canada's official development promotion
agency, "to support sustainable development in developing
countries in order to reduce poverty and contribute to a
more secure, equitable, and prosperous world." Much
information on development issues, countries, and Canadian
development aid policy and activities.
• Center for Global Development-- Research institute "dedicated to reducing global poverty and inequality through policy-oriented research and active engagement on development issues with the policy community and the public." Site offers working papers, policy briefs, articles, opinion pieces, data sources, news and commentary, the Commitment to Development Index, and more.
• Center for International Development-- At Harvard University, "a university-wide center that works to advance the understanding of development challenges and offer viable solutions to problems of global poverty... focusing on resolving the dilemmas of public policy associated with generating stable, shared, and sustainable prosperity in developing countries." Posts many varied studies on this topic.
• Cities
Alliance-- "Global coalition of cities and their
development partners committed to scaling up successful
approaches to poverty reduction," sponsored by the World
Bank and other organizations. Offers news items,
newsletter, annual report, analytical publications,
discussions of best practices, and city evaluation and
action strategies.
• Communication for Development-- From
the Natural Resources Management and Environment
Department of the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization,
"communication processes and media to help rural people to
exchange experiences, find common ground for collaboration
and actively participate in and manage agricultural and
rural development activities." Site contains many
resources on this topic.
• Consortium for Research on Educational
Access, Transitions and Equity-- Co-ordinated from
the Centre for International Education, University of
Sussex "to develop and encourage the application of
knowledge to improve access to basic education... [with] a
programme of research focused on countries in South Asia
and Sub-Saharan Africa to analyse policy and practice
designed to reduce exclusion." Offers reports,
information, bibliographic database, and more. Note
especially the CREATE Gateway that "provides links to
resources related to access issues in education."
• Country
Indicators for Foreign Policy-- High-quality
project between Carleton University and the Canadian
government to develop "a number of wide-ranging tools that
encompass, among other things, the monitoring,
forecasting, and evaluation of failed and fragile states,
as well as the assessment of supporting policies intended
to address the development, security, and economic
challenges they represent." Site posts Governance and
Democracy Handbook, data, and many insightful
reports and methodologies relevant to governance and
democracy processes, conflict risk assessment, and fragile
and failed states.
• Department for International Development--
"The part of the UK Government that manages Britain's aid
to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme
poverty." Posts news, country profiles, case studies,
research reports.
• Development Executive Group (Devex)--
Social enterprise providing free recruiting services and
business information for the international development
community, with a network of international development
professionals, development news, career advice, business
advice, and project notices from donor agencies.
• Developmental
Leadership Program-- Joint effort supported by the
Australian government and "government, academic and civil
society partners from around the world to explore the role
of human agency in the processes of development [and]
address the policy, strategic and operational implications
of 'thinking and working politically'." Posts studies on
the role of leadership in development in Africa, the
Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific.
• Freedom
House-- Many online
studies ranking countries on measures of freedom
(including press freedom), informative backgrounders, and
other publications are offered by this nonprofit,
nonpartisan U.S. organization dedicated to promoting
democracy around the world. Note especially their
extensive yearly online report Freedom in the World.
• Gapminder-- "Non-profit venture for
development and provision of free software that visualise
human development... in collaboration with universities,
UN organisations, public agencies and non-governmental
organisations." Features free software and interactive
moving graphics to visualize facts, data, and trends in
development measures.
• Global Development Network-- A
worldwide collaborative initiative of development
institutions, to generate and share knowledge,
policy-oriented research, and techniques. Site has
information on the project.
• Global
Distribution of Poverty-- "The Global Poverty
Mapping Project seeks to enhance current understanding of
the global distribution of poverty and the geographic and
biophysical conditions of where the poor live." From
the Center for International Earth Science Information
Network of Columbia University. Site posts data sets, maps
of poverty, studies, project methods, and Where the Poor are: An Atlas of Poverty.
• Global
Gender Gap Report-- Annual report by the World
Economic Forum, a world-class organization of leaders from
business, government, academia, and the media. "The Report
measures the size of the gender gap [around the world] in
four critical areas of inequality between men and women:
economic participation and opportunity, educational
attainment, political empowerment, and health and
survival."
• Global
Integrity-- "Generates, synthesizes, and
disseminates credible, comprehensive and timely
information on governance and corruption trends around the
world... Our information is meant to serve simultaneously
as a roadmap for engaged citizens, a reform checklist for
policymakers, and a guide to the business climate for
investors." Posts much insightful data and analysis. Note
especially the Global Integrity Report and the Global Integrity Index.
• Human Security Report Project--
Independent research centre affiliated with Simon Fraser
University in Vancouver, Canada. Excellent site "tracks
global and regional trends in organized violence, their
causes and consequences... Research findings and analyses
are published in the Human Security Report, Human
Security Brief series, and the miniAtlas of
Human Security... [and]... electronic newsletters on
global security issues." The Security Stats section presents
current and historical data on organized violence around
the world and the related death tolls. The Human Security Gateway is a "rapidly
expanding searchable online database of [thousands of]
human security-related resources including reports,
journal articles, news items and fact sheets. It is
designed to make human security-related research more
accessible to the policy and research communities, the
media, educators and the interested public."
• Innovations in Civic Participation--
"Works around the world to strengthen and develop policies
and programs that focus on applying [youth] service as a
solution to a wide range of social issues." Site posts
information, analyses, and resources about and for youth
service and civic engagement, especially in new
democracies.
• Inter-American Development Bank--
Publications and information on varied developmental
issues in Latin America and the Caribbean are available
from this intergovernmental organization.
• International
Center for Research on Women-- "Works to make women
in developing countries an integral part of alleviating
global poverty... to ensure that global development
programs and policies help improve the lives of women and
girls around the world." Posts a searchable library of
thousands of "reports, policy briefs, toolkits and
position papers on a range of topics for researchers,
policymakers, program implementers and others."
• International Development Research
Centre-- A "public
corporation created by the Canadian government to help
communities in the developing world find solutions to
social, economic, and environmental problems through
research." This site provides full-text publications,
research databases, project information, funding
opportunities, and links.
• International Finance Cooporation--
Part of the World Bank Group, IFC is "the largest
multilateral source of loan and equity financing for
private sector projects in the developing world," with
special interest in sustainable private sector
development. The site posts many papers and reports on
global and regional aspects of sustainable private sector
development.
• International Food Policy Research
Institute-- "Seeks sustainable solutions for ending
hunger and poverty... one of 15 centers supported by the
Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research,
an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and
international and regional organizations." Posts policy
briefs, research manuscripts, and the annual Global Hunger Index. Note the open
access policy information Food Security Portal and the Knowledge
Management Unit, with a search facility for online
resources on the topics of hunger and poverty.
• International Institute for Environment
and Development-- Aims "to promote sustainable
patterns of world development through collaborative
research, policy studies, networking and knowledge
dissemination," especially on major global issues. Many
reports, policy and issue papers, and newsletters
available free in PDF format.
• International Institute for Sustainable
Development-- IISD's
mission is to promote sustainable development in decision
making, internationally and within Canada. Many online
resources. Compendium: A Global Directory to
Indicator Initiatives provides an overview of
initiatives on sustainable development indicators being
carried out at the international, national, and
provincial/territorial/state levels, "a worldwide
directory of who is doing what in the field of
sustainability indicators."
• International Monetary Fund Publications--
Extensive search facility for IMF titles, many of which
appear in full text, although some must be ordered. Note
the quarterly journal Finance and Development. Country Information provides access
to online economic and financial information and analysis
reports for many countries.
• International Policy Centre for
Inclusive Growth-- "Supported by the Poverty
Practice, Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP and the
Government of Brazil... to facilitate South-South learning
in development solutions by fostering policy dialogue;
carrying out policy-oriented research; as well as
conducting training and evaluation." Posts working papers,
policy research briefs, issues of Poverty In Focus
magazine, one pagers and country studies.
• Legatum Prosperity Index-- National and global rankings and analysis "using a holistic definition of prosperity to include both material wealth and quality of life. Rather than replicating other measurements that rank countries by their actual levels of wealth, life satisfaction, or development, the Prosperity Index produces rankings based on the foundations of prosperity. These are the factors that help drive economic growth and produce happy citizens in a given country."
• MEASURE DHS-- "Has provided
technical assistance to more than 200 surveys in 75
countries, advancing global understanding of health and
population trends in developing countries... to improve
and institutionalize the collection and use of data by
host countries for program monitoring and evaluation and
for policy development decisions." Posts a large
publications database, country and topical data, and data
from the surveys, with several user-generated online
comparison facilities.
• National Endowment for Democracy--
Private, nonprofit U.S. organization created in 1983 to
strengthen democratic institutions around the world
through nongovernmental efforts. Note especially the Democracy
Resource Center Library, which "holds approximately
20,000 works collected over the past twenty-five years
from NED grantees and other sources," searchable through
an online catalog. The Journal of Democracy posts some
articles online.
• Organization for Economic Development
and Cooperation-- The
international organization of the industrialized,
market-economy countries, to exchange information and
harmonize policy to maximize economic growth within member
countries and assist non-member countries to develop more
rapidly. OECD statistics and many data sets
are posted online. The Publishing
section is a good place to start searching for
publications, as is the Working
Papers Series. OECD resources focusing on
a particular country (OECD member or not) can be found in
the Countries section. The very
useful yearly OECD
Factbook is "an essential tool providing a global
overview of world economic, social and environmental
trends." An interactive eXplorer feature allows Factbook
time-series data manipulation on a world map and a scatter
plot screen. Read the online version of the OECD
Observer magazine for a topical approach to the
latest interests of OECD research.
• Overseas Development Institute-- "Britain's leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Our mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries." Posts many reports, discussion papers, briefings, toolkits, topical resource libraries, and so on.
• Oxford Poverty and Human
Development Initiative-- From Oxford University,
posts many studies resultant from its programs "to build
and advance a more systematic methodological and economic
framework for reducing multidimensional poverty, grounded
in people’s experiences and values," through "broadening
poverty measurement, improving data on poverty, building
capacity, and impacting policy."
• Report on the World Social Situation--
Biennial report from the Division for Social Policy and
Development of the Department of Economic and Social
Affairs of the United Nations, "contributing to the
identification of emerging social trends of international
concern and to the analysis of relationships among major
development issues which have both international and
national dimensions." Full current report and past ones
are available online.
• Save
the Children-- Nonprofit organization that works in
the U.S. and many developing countries "to help children
and families improve their health, education and economic
opportunities" and also mobilizes "rapid life-support
assistance for children and families caught in the
tragedies of natural and man-made disasters." Note their
annual online "State of the World's Mothers"
report.
• SciDev.Net-- Science and Development Network, "a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing reliable and authoritative information about science and technology for the developing world... we give policymakers, researchers, the media and civil society information and a platform to explore how science and technology can reduce poverty, improve health and raise standards of living around the world."
• Social
Progress Imperative-- An attempt "to advance global
human wellbeing, by combining national social performance
and capacity indicators with solutions-oriented outreach
to sector leaders, and grassroots champions, who together
can effect large-scale change." Numerous publications and
videos, including the key Social
Progress Index, which uses over 50 indicators to
measure "the extent to which countries provide for the
social and environmental needs of their citizens."
• Social Watch-- "International
network informed by national citizens' groups aiming at
following up the fulfillment of the internationally agreed
commitments on poverty eradication and equality. These
national groups report, through the national Social Watch
Report[s], on the progress - or regression- towards these
commitments and goals." Posts the annual Social Watch
Report, Global Interactive Map, Gender Equity
Index, and many publications and occasional papers.
• South Centre-- An intergovernmental
organization of developing countries in Geneva,
Switzerland, dedicated to providing policy analysis
support for equitable development for the global South,
and greater South-South co-operation. Policy papers,
studies, and newsletter online.
• Third World Network-- Reports and
angles on development issues from the perspectives of the
developing countries, from an independent non-profit
international network of organizations and individuals
involved in issues relating to development, the Third
World, and North- South issues. Numerous publications
online and links to others off-site.
• Transparency
International-- "The global civil society
organisation leading the fight against corruption... to
create change towards a world free of corruption... by
building momentum for the anti-corruption movement,
raising awareness and diminishing apathy and tolerance of
corruption, as well as devising and implementing practical
actions to address it." TI's many excellent online
corruption surveys, indices, working papers, and reports
analyze and rank countries "in terms of the degree to
which they are perceived to be the homes of... public
officials who abuse their office for personal gain."
• UNESCO Water Portal-- "Intended to
enhance access to information related to freshwater
available on the World Wide Web. The site provides links
to the current UNESCO and UNESCO-led programmes on
freshwater and will serve as an interactive point for
sharing, browsing and searching websites of water-related
organizations, government bodies and NGOs, including a
range of categories such as water links, water events,
learning modules and other on-line resources." Note as
well UNESCO's World Water Assessment Program.
• UN Women-- The United Nations Entity
for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women's site
describes the entity's work, and that of others, to
promote women's empowerment and gender equality. Posts
news and online publications on women's issues around the
world, including the biennial Progress of the
World's Women and the World Survey on the
Role of Women in Development.
• United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)--
This U.N. agency "protects children and their rights by
providing services and supplies and by helping shape
policy agendas and budgets in the best interests of
children." UNICEF compiles and publishes information on
the situation of children, performance of countries in
caring for children, protection of children's rights, and
its programs for children. Many publications are online
about development as it affects children, such as the
annual The State of the World's Children.
• United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development-- "UNCTAD is the principal organ of the
United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade,
investment and development issues." Site posts major
development studies in summary or full-text, basic
documents, and newsletters. Check out the many UNCTAD
program subsites.
• United Nations Development Programme-- Promotes sustainable human development by
assisting countries to build their capacity to design and
carry out development programs. Online reports and
statistics are available in great quantity. See the annual
Human
Development Report, an excellent comprehensive guide
to global human development, with links to regional and
national HDI reports. The Democratic
Governance section, with publications on democratic
governance, is based on UNDP's efforts to "bring people
together within nations and around the world, fostering
partnerships and sharing ways to promote participation,
accountability and effectiveness at all levels."
• United
Nations
Development-- Covers a wide range of developmental
and environmental issues. E-learning materials "have been
designed to help learners explore the MDGs [and to] guide
participants through using the international data service
ESDS International and provide
learners with an increased understanding of... the
potential of that data for use in their own research or
teaching."
• United Nations Research Institute for
Social Development-- UNRISD attempts to provide
governments, development agencies, grassroots
organizations, and scholars with a better understanding of
how development policies and processes of economic,
social, and environmental change affect different social
groups. Online reports and forum.
• U.N.
Women Watch-- Women Watch
is a gateway to U.N. information and data on women
worldwide and a forum on global women's issues, to provide
up to date information on the U.N.'s work on behalf of the
women of the world, track the global agenda for improving
the status of women, and constitute an electronic space
for exchange of information and ideas on women's issues.
• U.S. Agency for International
Development-- Extensive
development information, reports, and links from AID, the
U.S. government agency that provides economic development
and humanitarian assistance to advance U.S. economic and
political interests overseas.
• World
Bank eAtlas of the Millennium Development Goals-- Created
by Collins Geo, "lets you visualize and map the indicators
that measure progress toward the [eight] Goals, with clear
explanations of each Goal and its related Targets as the
context. When you select an indicator, the eAtlas creates
a world map keyed to that indicator, with country rankings
and data in your choice of tables or graphs."
• World Bank Group sources:
This ultrarich, highly searchable megasite contains texts, statistics, and images of thousands of World Bank Reports on development. The Open Knowledge Repository serves to "increase access to information at the World Bank and to make its research as widely available as possible." The News and Broadcast Page is a helpful stop. The eLibrary facilitates finding and accessing World Bank publications and knowledge. Good access points for economic research reports online are the Data and Research and Documents and Reports pages. Note the World Bank Data Catalog, "a listing of available World Bank datasets, including databases, pre-formatted tables, reports, and other resources," such as social, governance, financial, economic, and climate statistics, data, and reports. The Countries and Economies page presents time-series tables of key indicators by country. The DataBank is an "analysis and visualisation tool that contains collections of time series data on a variety of topics." Also see the data and analysis available at the Countries and Regions page. Data by Topics presents country data on many variables. The Atlas of Global Development presents development data clearly with maps, graphs, and analysis. The Indicators Databank has hundreds of indicators from the World Development Indicators set, covering over 200 countries from 1960 to date. The World Databank also presents a range of indicators and data. Also see the Prospects, Research, and Topics in Development pages for many other World Bank reports. The World Bank YouTube channel posts videos on development topics.
The JOLIS Library Catalog allows you to search the joint library holdings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, the publications of these organizations, and related resources.
Mapping for Results
gives you "a visual entry point to browse projects, news,
statistics and public information center by country"
concerning World Bank projects.
The World Bank Annual Report is online. The Complete
World Development Report Online section allows
searchable access to the full series of these reports from
the World Bank on major development issues (since 1978).
Also consult World Development Indicators, "the
World Bank's premier annual compilation of data about
development." The Poverty
section provides a very useful and large directory for
World Bank reports and data on poverty around the world. Gender and Development highlights
projects, programs, publications, policy, news, and events
concerning women's issues. GenderStats
is "an electronic database of gender statistics and
indicators designed with user-friendly, menu-driven
features," with data by country and category. The
Worldwide
Governance Indicators project reports and analyzes
aggregate and individual governance indicators on six
dimensions of governance for 213 economies over the period
from 1996 to 2010.
• World Resources Institute-- A policy research center striving to address
how societies can meet basic human needs and promote
economic growth without undermining natural resources and
environmental integrity. This site has a large number of
full-text searchable studies and other resources online
(such as databanks), by location and subject. Read their World
Resources Report online.
• Worldwatch Institute-- Informs policymakers and the public
about emerging global problems and trends and the complex
links between the world economy and its environmental
support systems, with the motto "independent research for
an environmentally sustainable and socially just society."
Free and paid downloads of reports and articles.