Debate on Street Name Changes in Durban

Tawanda, Jason, and I are opening up a floor of debate on development at UKZN with a fairly controversial hot issue in Durban right now - the name changing of streets, stadiums and centres. This Thursday, we will see the students of development studies come together and look at development perspectives on the issue.

HIV/AIDS Programs and Microfinance

Here is a link to my dissertation proposal...

digaproposalfinal.doc 103 Kb

My objective is to examine which features will likely make a microfinance institution a suitable venue for providing HIV/AIDS programmes. My study hopes to achieve this objective by measuring the following broad indicators: a) financial performance of MFI, b) the management capacity of the MFI and c) the integration of MFI in community’s social network. After this examination, I hope to critically determine to what extent is the MFI able to undertake an HIV/AIDS programme given the necessity to act upon the relatively high prevalence rates of Mozambique. I will be particularly focussing my work in Male Yeru within the main offices at Bela Vista, Matutuine district, in Mozambique. Male Yeru is part of the Mozambique Microfinance Facility (MMF) network which received MMF staff technical training on HIV/AIDS in February 2006. As the study focuses solely on one microfinance institution, it may not be possible to provide general conclusions about conditions for success for all microfinance institution, but will at least develop a strong understanding of conditions for protection against vulnerability.

Dissertation proposal....Participation and accountability in outcome based planning

For full dissertation proposal, click here.

Participation and accountability in outcome based planning

Posted by Musyoka Jason M,
Masters student, and researcher,
School of development studies
University of Kwazulu Natal

Title.
Participation and Accountability in outcome-based planning: A case study of eThekwini’s small business-related Local Economic Development programmes outlined in the Integrated Development Plan.

1. Outline of research topic
This research will examine eThekwini municipality’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) with the intention of making explicit the relationship between the IDP’s Local economic development (LED) commitments and outcome indicators of eThekwini municipality. Additionally, the project seeks to investigate the degree in which relationships between LED small business- related programmes and outcome indicators linkages are articulated in the IDP. The paper will reflect on the adequacy or otherwise in this articulation, based on experiences of various role players, including those involved in small businesses. In this regard, the study will also examine the extent to which the linkage between LED and outcomes is clearly understood, endorsed and shared by stakeholders. Of central importance to the study is the nature of participation and accountability of and by stakeholders, and the degree in which these two processes influence LED outcomes. Ultimately the study will seek to determine if eThekwini’s normative development practice deepens democratic processes as outlined in the South African municipal legislation, or alternatively, reinforces managerial[1] or bureaucratic processes.

The research will seek to understand existing practice by local government officials around matters of accountability and participation through examining processes to identify development outcomes in the Integrated Development Plans and related Local Economic Development programmes. Within these areas the study will focus primarily on small business development related LED commitments by eThekwini. The project will then relate eThekwini’s small business LED practice to community participation and accountability. Below is a brief outline of the dominant themes as well as the working definition of ‘small businesses’.

Doing Research on Africa - Web

The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa

Wonderful resource for where to start your research in Africa. They also have a starting point if you are searching for a Regional Network in Africa within your field or Grant opportunities (mainly American foundations).

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainable Agriculture

Deadline May 1, 2007

Applications are now being accepted for a 2-year fellowship, valued at CDN$35,000 per year, tenable in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Macdonald Campus, McGill University. The competition is intended for new incoming candidates to the university. The successful candidate will conduct postdoctoral research in the area of sustainable agriculture under the supervision of a professor in one of the Faculty’s academic units. The proposed research would address themes such as food quality and safety, nutrition and health, biosciences, bioproducts and biotechnology, bioresource and environmental engineering, conservation and the environment.

For more information, click below:

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Sustainable Agriculture [.pdf]

2007 International Essay Competition - CIPE

Center for International Private Enterprise hosts an essay contest under categories of:

Citizenship in a Democratic Society
Educational Reform and Employment Opportunities
Entrepreneurship and Leadership

Formatting Guidelines

• All essays must be written in English.
• All essays must be original and unpublished.
• Word count: 2,000-4,000.
• Indicate the essay's category on the cover page.
• Provide full contact info on the cover page, including citizenship.

Deadline

All essays must be submitted by May 31, 2007.

How to Submit

• E-mail a copy of the essay as a .pdf file or MS Word document to essay@cipe.org.
• An e-mail will be sent confirming receipt of the submission.
• For more information, click here.
  

2007 Summer School on "Inequality, Growth and Human Development"

Unicredit Foundation, the University of Florence and the European Development Network (EUDN).

Civita Castellana (Viterbo), 1-6 July 2007

The Summer School will provide an advanced training to some 20 young
academics, PhD students or middle level practitioners from developing
and advanced countries with specific academic training, experience and
interest in the topics of the summer school. The Summer School is fully
financed and will be held in Civita Castellana (about an hour from Rome)
between 1 and 6 July 2006. On-line and paper applications (see below)
should be submitted by 15 April, and those accepted will be notified by
11 May 2007.

Application Instructions

Online Application Form

Background Information

Job Posting: Global HIV and AIDS Programme Advisor - Pretoria

International relief organisation, Oxfam, seeks a suitably trained individual to take up the role of Global HIV and AIDS Programme Advisor in South Africa's capital city, Pretoria.

Duties include working from Oxfam's Global Centre of Learning on HIV/AIDS and helping programme managers develop and deliver strategic and high quality anti-AIDS programmes.

The successful candidate will also help ensure that individual country and regional strategies directly address the local situation and are aligned to the overall Oxfam approach.

To find out more and to apply online visit www.oxfam.org.uk/jobs quoting ref: INT2109.

Application deadline: 12 March, 2007

Local Economic Development....Problems of and by democracy

Local Economic development (LED) has become the "new" development model after impasse of the traditional forms of development. While the wave of a 'new development paradigm' seems to drive processes and goals of all levels of governments, it appears that development requires a particular system for successful implementation. It is currently unclear as to whether public bureaucratic system which has almost become a synonym to government is a capable vehicle to implement local development which is participatory, relevant and sustainable.

In this case, it still remains to be proven that democratization has really taken place in many governments, not the least developing countries. The discussions and debates around bureaucratization and democratization-how they should be conceptualized implemented - have not been given adequate attention in public conversation. The kind of forces that are intrinsic in each of these systems need to be made explicit, and related to sustainable livelihoods kind of development. This is a gap that seem to exist in the "new" development model, LED.

In South Africa LED has become a contested space, with tensions and pressures between the government and intended beneficiaries. service delivery related protests between 2004 and 2005 financial year South Africa's ministry of safety and security reported 5085 legal protests (averaging 16 per day) and 881 illegal protests ( (Atkinson in 2007 State of the Nation, 2006:58, Bond and Chitonge, 2007:1). These protests fly over performance awards to municipalities. The question then becomes, whose development, how, by who and with who...

In Kenya the concept of decentralization of both governance and development seem to apparently translate to tribalism, nepotism, and other ugly faces of a bureaucratic system.

Thus questions and problems exist in LED conceptualization and implementation. My Masters dissertation focuses on South Africa's eThekwini (Metro) municipality, investigating how LED is operationalised. Whether outcome indicators exist, and if so, who sets these indicators on basis of what. The themes that recur in my research will be sustainable livelihoods, LED, Integrated Development Plans (IDP), and outcomes. Indispensable themes that cushion the project will be participatory methodology of economic development.

Jason-School of Development Studies, UKZN South Africa

Internships (not neccessarily African)

The Institute of Development Studies in Sussex has a listings of internships available for any student African or not.

CIDA receives poor report from Canadian Senate

This week, the Canadian Senate delivered a report on the effectiveness of African overseas assistance to Africa. After over 400 interviews for their fact-finding mission, they found that all partners in the development of Africa have failed to improve the conditions of the continent.

From Canada, they recommended the following:

• The Government of Canada must establish a new Africa Office covering everything from aid to trade to security with 80% of staff in the field.
• There must be a review of CIDA to determine whether it should be abolished or improved.
• Concentrate foreign aid on countries in sub-Saharan Africa that are undertaking economic and political reforms.
• Focus aid on economic development and in support of pro-growth and job-creating activities led by the private sector.
• Deliver Canadian bilateral aid to Africa in partnership with the private sector and civil society.
• Review the appropriateness of Canadian food aid to Africa.
• Get Canada to remove virtually all barriers to imports from low income countries in sub-Saharan Africa, have more trade missions to Africa and have more Canadian diplomats with commercial backgrounds in Africa
• Canada should improve visa system to facilitate visits by African business people and political leaders
• Canada must push for more commerical ties with Africa
• Canada should concentrate on helping with health issues especially HIV/AIDS and malaria.

Welcome to Africa's Student Network in Development Research

Welcome to Africa's Student Network in Development Research blogsite. The purpose of this website is to connect university students in and around Africa who specialize in Development Studies or Development Research. This network hopes to bring profile about the programmes in which we have enrolled and the talented people who have dedicated part of their academic career to pursue issues in African economic development, social policy, civil society, governance, HIV/AIDS, and the many other issues which affect this continent today.

The universities which are currently working on this project is the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in Durban, South Africa and the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Nairobi. We hope to gain further partners and interest of other universities who specialize in the field of development.

This page will also attempt to post events, conferences, job postings and other current news in the development field and build perspective of the atmosphere we, as students in Africa, are surrounded with everyday at our respective schools. Feel free to comment and ask questions about what is happening on the ground! We look forward to better understanding what development students are researching in the African continent and the struggles or successes in conducting such research.