Development Gateway Newsletter September 2004

Content:

- China and the Development Gateway Launch Partnership

- Development Gateway Names Director of Operations

- Latest in MDG Series: Feature on Slum Housing

- New Partners: Global Knowledge Partnership, Metropolis Global, and more

- Spotlight on the Regional Portal for Latin America and the Caribbean

- Armenia Gateway Raises Awareness about e-Governance

- i4d Magazine Features Development Gateway

- What Others Are Saying about the Development Gateway

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China and the Development Gateway Launch Partnership - On September 14, the Government of China and the Development Gateway Foundation formally launched a partnership to use information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve people's lives in China and other countries. China is a founding member of the Development Gateway and its partnership now includes the China Country Gateway, a research center in Shanghai, a training center in Gansu, and an Asian ICT conference. As a country that is evolving from a recipient of international aid to a contributor, China is eager to support peaceful development worldwide and to share its own development experience with the rest of the world, said Zou Jia Yi, Director General of China's Ministry of Finance. At the same time, for a country that is still addressing its own development challenges, "ICT is an important means to reduce poverty in China," she said. Some partnership work has already begun: The China Country Gateway already has some 50,000 visitors each month to the bilingual site and has translated dgMarket services into Chinese on the Development Gateway's global web portal.

Visit the China Development Gateway at: www.chinagate.com/cn

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Development Gateway Names Director of Operations - The Development Gateway Foundation has appointed Dr. Gerhard Pohl to the new position of Director of Operations, streamlining oversight of three of the Development Gateway's services for the development community. Dr. Pohl will continue to manage dgMarket, an online system for open, competitive public procurement, and will assume responsibility for Country Gateways, which act as information service providers supporting development in more than 50 countries; and the Development Effectiveness Program, including the AiDA directory of development projects. Dr. Pohl is a founding member of the Development Gateway executive team, having helped launch the enterprise, which was conceived by World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn in the late 1990s. He has more than 30 years of development experience.

Read the full details at: www.developmentgateway.org/download/250836/Pohlpressrelease.pdf

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Latest in MDG Series: Feature on Slum Housing -

More than 50 percent of the world will live in urban areas by 2020, with urban growth occurring fastest in poor countries. Settling in slums marked by inadequate sanitation and escalating social problems, the urban poor are the focus of Target 11 of the Millennium Development Goals, aimed at improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020. "Slum Housing: A Crisis for the Urban Poor in the Developing World" looks at shelter in slum settlements from the perspective of 15 Development Gateway Topic Pages, ranging from efforts by slum dwellers to influence housing laws, to microfinance options for housing. This cross-topic special coincides with the second World Urban Forum in Barcelona, Spain, from September 13-17 and World Habitat Day on October 4.

>From September 13 - October 8, read "Slum Housing 'A Crisis for Urban Poor in the Developing World" at:

www.developmentgateway.org/topics/special/slumhousing

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New Partners: Global Knowledge Partnership, Metropolis Global, and more - The Development Gateway runs its topic pages of development information together with an increasing number of expert partners who play various roles - managing pages as guides, providing strategic input as advisors, and contributing content and ideas as cooperating organizations. The Global Knowledge Partnership has just joined the ICT for Development page as a cooperating organization, and the UNDP's Poverty Group is now a cooperating organization on the Poverty topic page. As well, the following organizations joined the Urban Development page as cooperating organizations: Prague Institute for Global Urban Development; Metropolis Global (Madrid, Spain); Metropolis (Barcelona, Spain); the Institute for Environmental Studies-University of Toronto; the National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development (Mexico); the Decentralized Cooperation Programme of the UN Institute for Training and Research and its International Training Centre for Local Authorities/Actors Network; the International Association of Local and Regional Development Funds in Emerging Markets (IADF); Local Economic and Employment Development program of the OECD (LEED); the Innovations and Alliances for Development division of the Inter-American Agency for Cooperation and Development (IACD) of the Organization of American States. Lucy Clarke from LEED and Antoine Chevrier from IACD have joined the Urban Development page as advisors, and the Urban Age Institute has joined as a guide.

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Spotlight on the Regional Portal for Latin America and the Caribbean - Readers interested in Latin America and the Caribbean should check out the regional Development Gateway portal, run by a network of Country Gateways. There you can find a large variety of information about each of the region's countries, read about topics specific to the region, participate in discussions around key issues for each of the sub-regions, read and submit news and events, and access documents produced by local working groups. You can also access the various Country Gateways.

Visit the Regional Portal for Latin America and the Caribbean at: www.developmentgateway.org/node/603248/lac

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Armenia Gateway Raises Awareness about e-Governance - The Armenia Development Gateway is conducting a community education campaign aimed at raising public awareness about e-governance - highlighting regional web resources in particular. The campaign includes a series of workshop discussions from August to December with local representatives of civil society, academic institutions, businesses, and other interested communities. Manuals and promotional materials are being distributed via regional websites and in paper form, and a public awareness campaign is being implemented through local media outlets.

Visit the Armenia Country Gateway at: www.gateway.am/index.jsp

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i4d Magazine Features Development Gateway -

The July 2004 issue of i4d (information for development) Magazine published an article on the Development Gateway Foundation, featuring an interview with Alan J. Rossi, CEO. The interview focused on the steps the foundation is taking to localize its services for developing countries and reported on the recent Development Gateway Forum. Also featured were the Development Gateway's Petersberg Prize, recognizing the innovative use of ICT for development, and this year's winner, Professor Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen Bank's Village Phone project.

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What Others Are Saying about the Development Gateway -

"What a treasure trove of development resources at one place! It would have been well nigh impossible to even dream of it in the pre-Internet era. And lo and behold, in the post-Internet era, it unfolds with all its splendor. No development professional anywhere in the world can afford to ignore it. Please accept my heartiest congratulations on launching it and keep up the good work." - Dr D.C.Misra

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The Development Gateway portal provides interactive content and resources on development, including more than 30 online communities on key development

topics, the AiDA directory of development projects, the dgMarket online public tendering service, and Country Gateways in more than 50 developing nations.

The portal is a service of the Development Gateway Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization. As an enabler of development, the Development Gateway

Foundation works to improve people's lives by building partnerships and information systems that provide access to knowledge for development.

For more information, visit www.developmentgateway.org or send an email to info@dgfoundation.org

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