Apologies for any cross-posting

This week the International Development Network at http://www.idn.org/
continues to track agencies efforts to tell their stories and USAID
still lags far behind (hopefully they will turn this around).  You can
see this information at the "Transparency: By the Numbers" Section of
the IDN Home Page.

Here is what else is new at the IDN Web Site this week:

NEW MEMBERS

The IDN is pleased to welcome as new members Mr. Milton Lawrence and Mr.
Patrice Backer.

Mr Lawrence, from Dominica, holds a BSc degree in Food Science and
Management from the University of London and an MBA degree from the
Cranfield School of Management in the UK.

He spent nine years in senior management in a career spanning the
public, non-profit and private sectors.

He was Regional Director of the East Caribbean Organisation of
Development Foundations (ECODEF), a regional NGO that fund-raised and
advocated for, and providing institutional support to, its member
National Development Foundations (NDFs) in the Eastern Caribbean. [NDFs
are involved in the provision of credit, training and technical
assistance to micro and small businesspersons]. Prior to that, he served
as Executive Director of NDF Dominica. He also worked in the Ministry of
Agriculture of Dominica for six years, first in the Produce Chemist
Laboratory as a researcher and then later with the Pesticide Control
Board and the Agricultural Extension Unit.

He has served on various boards and committees at local and regional
level, including the Roseau Cooperative Credit Union (largest in the
OECS), The Dominica National Development Corporation, NDF Dominica and
USAID Regional Advisory Committees for its Caribbean Policy and Small
Enterprise Assistance Projects.

Mr Lawrence is currently pursuing a career as a Business and Management
consultant.

Mr. Backer, from the USA, holds a bachelor's degree in Engineering
Sciences from Harvard University. He also holds a joint MBA in
International Finance and MA in International Studies from the
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School/Lauder Institute.)

Mr. Backer's career in the private sector was spent mostly at J.P.
Morgan & Co., a Wall Street investment bank. He was an investment banker
and securities trader for the firm and focused on Emerging Markets
(Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa.) He has extensive
experience in the banking, oil and gas, and telecommunications sectors
as well as an intimate knowledge of the financial markets of many
developing countries.

Mr. Backer currently works as an independent consultant, mostly for
financial institutions in developing countries or for US organizations
working in these countries. For example, he is an advisor to Banque
Nationale de Crédit, Haiti's third-largest commercial bank, on the
restructuring of their credit department (organizational structure, loan
portfolio, etc.) On the development side, he has worked with the
Cooperative Housing Foundation (Silver Spring, Maryland) on innovative
USAID-funded micro-credit programs in Jordan and Lebanon as well on
housing-related projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. His
interest is to work with financial institutions, from small
community-based micro-finance institutions to full-fledged commercial
banks, in two areas: (1) restructuring or strengthening of their
institutional and financial structures and (2) development of customized
solutions to extend credit to disadvantaged entrepreneurs.

Mr. Backer is fluent in French (native), English, Haitian Creole, and
proficient in Spanish.

Their CVs are available for download at
http://www.idn.org/members/index.htm

Information on how to become a sponsoring member of the IDN may be found
at http://www.idn.org/membership/index.htm
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TOOLS YOU CAN USE

This week's tool is the web site for Business Opportunities with the New
Zealand Official Development Assistance Program.

Last week's tool was the web site for Microcredit Information on Brazil
and WorldWide. The site includes texts on microcredit, in Brazil and in
the world, in Portuguese and in English.
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QUICK LINK OF THE WEEK

This week's quick link is to the web site for the Fortieth Annual
Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank
and Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the
Inter-American Investment Corporation being held this week in Paris. The
web site includes live and summary video feeds from the meetings.

Last week's quick link was to web site for the AusAID Meeting on
"Development Cooperation: Responding to the Asia Crisis", held this past
March 5 in Sydney.
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NEW LINKS

American Jewish World Service - a non-profit organization dedicated to
providing nonsectarian humanitarian assistance and emergency relief to
disadvantaged people in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East,
Russia and Ukraine.

Asian Institute For Development Communication (Aidcom) - works towards
furthering the knowledge of development issues through the promotion of
effective communication. Aidcom was formed in 1986 with the mandate to
strengthen the link between communication and development in Asia.

Center for Citizen Initiatives (CCI) - is a San Francisco-based
non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Russian citizens to take
responsibility for their personal futures and assisting Russia in its
transition to a market-based economy and a civil society.

Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives - COPAC is a
successful and on-going partnership between representatives of the
cooperative movement together with farmers' and workers' organizations,
and the United Nations and its agencies.

East and Southeast Asia Regional Network for Better Local Governments -
showcases individual successful projects and the general management
approaches adopted by innovative local governments.

Enterprise Development International - enabling the poor to free
themselves from poverty through microenterprise -- small loans, business
training and technical assistance provided to those with the ability and
the desire to start or expand small income-producing businesses.

German Foundation for World Population - supports the capacity-building
of NGOs working in the area of reproductive health including
HIV/AIDS-prevention and family planning work for adolescents and young
women. (German/English)

International Law Institute - Washington, DC and Kampala, Uganda - The
ILI is a non-profit organization dedicated to finding practical
solutions to developing county issues. Established in 1955, the ILI
trains professionals from developing countries in issues of finance,
management and law.

New Zealand Official Development Assistance (NZODA) - provides support
for economic and social development in developing countries, especially
in the South Pacific and Asia Regions. It is managed by the Development
Cooperation Division (DEV) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
in conjunction with New Zealand's Diplomatic Posts.

Organizzazione di Volontariato Internazionale Cristiano/Organization of
Christian International Voluntary Service - service in the spirit of
Christian Doctrine (Italian)

Pan-African Civic Educators Network - 30 organisations from 12 countries
involved in civic education in Africa who have formed a network as a
necessary step towards enhancing their work in the continent.

WORKAID - UK-based charity that gives tools and equipment to people in
need at home and abroad so they can become self supporting. Second hand
items are refurbished and given to groups running training projects,
mainly in Africa, where they are used to teach practical skills.

These links were added on March 7:

Adventist Development and Relief Agency, Thailand - currently operates
in eight of the poorest provinces in Thailand, which are situated
primarily in the North and Northeast of the country.

Africa Policy Information Center - primary objective is to widen the
policy debate in the United States around African issues and the U.S.
role in Africa, by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant
information and analysis usable by a wide range of groups and
individuals.

AgBioForum - A quarterly magazine on the economics and management of
agrobiotechnology. AgBioForum is intended for a wide audience including
industry, government, media, farmers and academia. It is available free
of charge.

Alliance for United Nations Sustainable Development Programs - a network
of U.S. organizations and individuals in support of United Nations
programs that advance sustainable development globally.

EarthVoice - mission is to work with others to create a humane society
by protecting animals and ecosystems, fostering sustainable development,
and instilling an earth ethic.

Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Vietnam - Applied Economics for
provincial policymakers in Vietnam.

Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining - responsible for
the development, introduction and maintenance of an Information
Management System for Mine Action, focused on the needs of the UN.

JMU Humanitarian Demining Information Center - humanitarian demining
information from James Madison University.

United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) -
is a nonprofit, nonpartisan national organization dedicated to enhancing
U.S. participation in the United Nations system and to strengthening
that system as it seeks to define and carry out its mission.

UNA-USA Council of Organizations - These organizations share the common
goals of making the American public more knowledgeable about global
issues, for informing and educating the public about the United Nations,
and for strengthening the U.N. system.

Links with an (*) are modified links or link descriptions.
_______________________________________________________________________

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Improving the Quality of Reproductive Health and Family Planning
Services

Family Health International has made the Fall, 1998 Edition of Network,
their quarterly health bulletin available on their web site. This
edition contains stories on ways to improve the quality of family
planning services include better staff training and client counseling,
as well as offering clients a range of methods from which to choose.
Also in this issue of Network, a contraceptive update reviews how
different methods affect menstrual bleeding, an important consideration
when selecting a method.

Links to multi-language versions of this document are available at the
IDN web site.
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NGO/Project Profiles

This week we feature "Now Software To Quench Thirst of Parched Indian
Villages".

In Rajasthan, voluntary agencies have worked out a new software program
which will help villagers predict their drinking water supplies, and
remind us of the receding dream of providing every human being with a
reliable and safe source of water.

Find out more in the NGO/Project Profiles section of the IDN Home Page
and feel free to send us information on your projects or NGO for
posting.
_______________________________________________________________________

The IDN plans to continue our growth and to expand the depth and breadth
of our information services.  If you have not yet thought about a
membership/sponsorship in the IDN, we encourage you to consider becoming
a sponsor/member of the fastest growing, most comprehensive and current
International Development Web Site on the Internet! Information is
available at http://www.idn.org/membership/index.htm