African civil society : prospects for raising awareness on priority issues

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Société civile africaine : enjeux et perspectives d'une prise de conscienc

Working Paper 79 - Impacts and Challenges of Multilateral and Bilateral Trade Agreements on Africa

Africa must continue to be active in international trade negotiations as it is being squeezed. Policy changes in its markets, dubbed incorrectly as ‘liberalisation’ by proponents is eroding rapidly the competitive advantage conferred on traditional exports to long standing markets without offering new openings for novel products or markets. This paper analyses the nature of relevant changes in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the bilateral policies of the Quad (Canada, the EU, Japan and the USA). Among the latter it gives special attention to the Economic Partnership Agreements that sub-Saharan Africa needs to negotiate with the EU and to changes in Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Vices and Virtues in Capacity Development by International NGOs

We know what works in capacity development: a succession of studies from official agencies, academics and NGO practitioners have all highlighted similar principles of good practice. But the evidence also suggests that there is a distressing dissonance between what international development agencies know about capacity development and what they implement. This article explores the reasons for this failure. It highlights constraints that arise from the changing aid context and from a lack of resources and skills. Ultimately, however, it concludes that capacity development is driven more by self?interest than by knowledge of what works. Until agencies' pride, greed and self?interest can be restrained, much capacity development will continue to be disappointing and ineffective. But if agencies combine existing professional knowledge with virtues of humility, patience and a genuine commitment to others, then capacity development becomes something that can bring transformation

International Connections: Resources That Support the Growth and Development of Community Foundations Globally

Documents international linkages between, and support for, the promotion and development of community foundations. Identifies gaps in funding and support

Marriage and civil partnerships for same-sex couples : the international imperative

Within the single month of November 2004, Saskatchewan became the latest Canadian province to accept same-sex marriage,1 South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal held the limitation of marriage to opposite-sex couples to be unconstitutional,2 the United Kingdom became the latest European country to introduce civil partnerships as an institution for same-sex couples analogous to marriage,3 and the government of New Zealand presented a Bill to the New Zealand Parliament to do the same thing in that country.4 In the 15 years since Denmark became the first country in the world to introduce such an institution5 most jurisdictions in Western Europe and in Canada, and a handful of states in the United States of America, have followed Denmark’s innovation and some6 have opened up the institution of marriage itself to same-sex couples. The peculiarly North American debate whether civil partnership is a second-rate alternative to marriage as a means of achieving gay and lesbian equality has not been engaged with elsewhere in the world, and it will not be engaged with here. This article intends, rather, to explore the remarkable phenomenon that such a debate is today one of practical reality rather than hypothetical aspiration

2004 Community Foundation Global Status Report

In 1999 the International Programs department of the Council on Foundations and the newly-formed Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support -- Community Foundations (WINGS-CF) sponsored a project to track for the first time the global development of community foundations. This resulted in 2000 in the publication of "The Growth of Community Foundations Around the World". In 2003, WINGS-CF and the Council on Foundations reshaped and updated the report to focus on international community foundation trends and developments since the previous report

Strengthening human genetics research in Africa: report of the 9th meeting of the African Society of Human Genetics in Dakar in May 2016.

The 9th meeting of the African Society of Human Genetics, in partnership with the Senegalese Cancer Research and Study Group and the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) Consortium, was held in Dakar, Senegal. The theme was Strengthening Human Genetics Research in Africa. The 210 delegates came from 21 African countries and from France, Switzerland, UK, UAE, Canada and the USA. The goal was to highlight genetic and genomic science across the African continent with the ultimate goal of improving the health of Africans and those across the globe, and to promote the careers of young African scientists in the field. A session on the sustainability of genomic research in Africa brought to light innovative and practical approaches to supporting research in resource-limited settings and the importance of promoting genetics in academic, research funding, governmental and private sectors. This meeting led to the formation of the Senegalese Society for Human Genetics

2005 Community Foundation Global Status Report

In 1999 the International Programs department of the Council on Foundations and the newly-formed Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support-Community Foundations (WINGS-CF) sponsored a project to track for the first time the global development of community foundations. This resulted in 2000 in the publication of The Growth of Community Foundations Around the World. In 2003, WINGS-CF reshaped and updated the report to focus on international community foundation trends and developments since the previous report. It became the first in a series of three annual reports