The internet revolution continue to influence the speed and directions of development. Last year saw its potentials in starting and sustaining deep transformations, not only in organizations but in countries as well. It affected everyone including the way we do our development practice. Last year, IPad gradually move-in to our domains. Not only did we see iPad’s with our participants, but other facilitators as well. As an information collection point, the iPad can be a powerful space for disseminating (and reporting) development results. The World Bank is a case in point. Since it began as a thick, analytical, data-full and graphics intensive publication in 1978, WB’s World Development Report (WDR) moved from print to PDFs to web 2.0 channels. The new edition is about gender equality. It argues that gender equality is a core development issue and departs from the contemporary view of expanding freedoms equally for men and women. Before iPad, the WDR readers’ internet experience consisted of multiple channels (text, video, galleries, slideshows, downloads, etc.) and use of interactive elements like commentaries, discussion, chats and telephony. This year, WB aims to make reading analytical reports even more accessible, fun, intimate, and truly engaging experience. More on Development, iPad and You!
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As the year ended, COSO has successfully piloted two back-to-back Results-focused Project Design and Management (RfPDM) courses in Kathmandu, Nepal. 45 participants from various Government departments and Nepal resident mission attended the training courses. These courses had many firsts! One, it applied the blended-learning method which enabled the participants to go through our e-Learning module for four-weeks with email facilitated mentoring support. Second, the two batches attended 2-day face-to-face courses. These were patterned after ADB’s classic 5-day RfPDM courses. Third, a one-hour DMF clinic that critically diagnosed seven key projects in the NRM’s portfolio. The clinic reviewed: (a) Subregional Transport Enhancement Project, (b) Air Transport Capacity Enhancement Project, (c) SASEC Information Highway Project, (d) DMF of Energy Access and Efficiency Improvement Project, (e) Second Rural Finance, (f) Road Connectivity Sector 1, and (g) Information and Communication Technology Development Project. Relevant NRM staff attended the clinics with their project counterparts.
The representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Government of Vietnam, illustrated the struggle to generate concensus on a Project Design presented during the Training of Facilitators workshop, held in Manila, Philippines (27 June – 6 July 2011). Which is better: Bilateral or Multilateral Aid? Who among the donors deliver “good” aid? Who are the worst performers? These and many other related questions were the reasons for the Center for Global Development and the Brookings Institution’s Global Economy and Development program to do the Quality of Official Development Assistance (QuODA) assessment. QuODA is a new tool that tracks and compares donor programs against four dimensions of aid quality. Aid quality is assessed using 30 indicators grouped in four dimensions that reflect the international consensus of what constitutes high-quality aid. The four dimensions are: maximizing efficiency, fostering institutions, reducing burden, and transparency and learning. More on Quality of Development Assistance: How Donors Stack Up?
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