AFRO-NETS> This week the IDN - 22 March, 1999

["Christopher Byrne" <info@idn.org>]

This week the IDN - 22 March, 1999
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at: http://www.idn.org/

The World Population Profile: 1998 is the latest published compendium 
and analysis of data on population, fertility, mortality, contraceptive 
use and related demographic topics by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Spe-
cial Focus section of the report provides an update on one of the fun-
damental international health and demographic events of our time--the 
worldwide HIV/AIDS pandemic. 

Graphic versions (PDF format files) of the full report may be down-
loaded. The report's appendix tables represent the backbone of the re-
port. These tables, and supplementary tables, in Lotus WK1 format will 
be available from the census bureau individually or can be downloaded 
now as a group (as a self-extracting ZIP file 353 KB). 

More recent data may be available from the Bureau's International Data 
Base (IDB).

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

TOOLS YOU CAN USE

This week's tool is the web site for "Making the Internet Connection 
Count: Effective Use of the Internet in Seven Steps"/"Pour que la con-
nexion a l'Internet compte: Utilisation efficace de l'Internet en sept 
etapes", published as part of the USAID Leland Initiative, is intended 
for decision makers and staff of NGOs, educational institutions, and 
government agencies that currently do not have, or have very limited, 
access to the Internet.

You can read this document on-line in either English or French. 

QUICK LINK OF THE WEEK

5 missions humanitaires sur le net

This week's quick link is to the web site for the 5 missions humani-
taires sur le net, jointly sponsored by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doc-
tors Without Borders), Lotus Corporation (France), and the French chil-
dren's magazine Okapi.

As reported in a story by the Lotus Corporation, this site contains 
"reports on a diverse world, a world that children who use computers 
seldom see: a hungry five year old, in jail for stealing an apple. Or 
whole families bitten by the tsetse fly and stricken with sleeping 
sickness. Or a team of doctors heading out on a tractor across flooded 
rice plantations and overflowing rivers to halt an epidemic in a remote 
village of Laos." 

Note: This site is an excellent example of Lotus Notes/Domino technol-
ogy in action. The IDN has begun making preparations to move to a 
Notes/Domino R5 Platform this summer.  As part of this move, we will 
offer IDN Members and other interested organizations the ability to 
take advantage of Notes/Domino Application Technology such as Same-
Time/Team Room Global Collaboration, Discussion Forums, Secure Transit 
of Data/Information and more, without having to make major investments 
in the Infrastructure themselves. We will also provide development sup-
port to organizations currently using this tool.

Some development organizations currently using this platform include:

Canadian International Development Agency - http://w3.acdi-cida.gc.ca/
World Vision - http://www.worldvision.org/ 
World Vision Canada - http://www.worldvision.ca/ 
International Committee of the Red Cross - http://www.icrc.org/ 
SANREM CRSP at the University of Georgia (USAID project) - 
http://www.sanrem.uga.edu/ 
World Travel and Tourism Council - http://www.wttc.org/ 
Caribbean Development Bank - http://www.caribank.org/ 
United Nations High Commission for Human Rights - http://www.unhchr.ch/

It is also used by the World Bank, the USAID Intranet, the Education 
Development Center, and more.

NEW LINKS

BASICS (Basic Support for Institutionalizing Child Survival) - Working 
in collaboration with other international agencies, non-governmental 
organizations, health systems, and academic institutions, but espe-
cially with public health officials in developing countries, BASICS 
provides technical assistance to countries' priority health programs. 

Bellanet -an international initiative with a mission to increase the 
impact of development programming. Fosters inter-agency collaboration 
through more effective use of information and communication technolo-
gies.

British Columbia Council for International Cooperation - works toward 
goal of social justice in our own community, as well as in the interna-
tional community.

Center for International Development at Harvard University (CID) - The 
CID has been established with one overriding conceptual notion: the 
need for cross-disciplinary approaches to the challenges of sustainable 
development.

The Communication Initiative - Facilitating essential communication-
for-change information, networks, review and analysis for the interna-
tional development community.

Developing Countries Farm Radio Network - helping farm families learn 
about simple, proven ways to increase food supplies and improve nutri-
tion and health since 1979. (English/French)

Dreyfus Health Foundation - efforts are focused on innovative and 
flexible approaches that stress individual and group responsibility, 
ideas, and action and the optimization of the use of already available 
resources for health.

Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank)

European Centre for Development Policy Management - an independent 
foundation whose capacity building activities aim to improve co-
operation between Europe and countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and 
the Pacific. 

IN COMMON - Global Action Against Poverty - a campaign to make action 
against poverty a public and political priority. 

information habitat: where information lives - promotes the understand-
ing and practice of information ecology.

International Development & Refugee Foundation - IDRF is a Canadian 
non-profit organization dedicated to empowering the disadvantaged peo-
ples of the world through emergency relief and participatory develop-
ment programs based on the Islamic principles of human dignity, self-
reliance, and social justice.

International Development Enterprises - active in providing the "right 
help" to the rural poor through affordable technology.

The National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) - 
an independent agency of the Canadian government committed to providing 
decision makers and opinion leaders with reliable information and ob-
jective views on the current state of the debate on the environment and 
the economy. (English/French)

Project Ploughshares - peace research and advocacy organization that 
investigates the roots of militarism and proposes alternative measures 
for peace and real security. 

The Victoria International Development Education Association - a proac-
tive, community-based organization which informs and educates on issues 
of inter-connectedness and social justice.

World Accord - Established in 1980, World Accord promotes self-help 
programs and projects in developing countries around the globe. 

Christopher Byrne  
Director 
International Development Network 
mailto:info@idn.org 
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