Stories, ideas, and updates from DGers around the world
The Development Gateway: An IREX Venture blog is where DGers share specific learnings, offer thought-provoking insights, and pose challenging questions for the sustainable development community derived from our work.
Our blog has a deep archive going back to 2005. Each post is a snapshot into our work, priorities, and values.
Strengthening Aid Management in Lao PDR
Laos For many at Development Gateway, the most engaging and rewarding aspect of our work is the time we spend in-country working with our partners and counterparts. Here, Travis Harvey reports back on a recent mission to Lao PDR: A team of two DG staff conducted a three-weeks mission to Lao PDR in August 2010 as part of the Aid Management Platform (AMP) implementation process. This is a multi-year program in partnership with the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), with funding and support from…
DG Contributes to UN Online Tool to Monitor Funds for Haiti
Responding to a request from the UN Special Envoy to Haiti, the Development Gateway has partnered with other organizations to build a system to help with Hatian reconstruction. The joint system, which partially adapts Aid Management Platform technology, will track damage reports and donor funding as well as pledges to Haiti. “We see this tool as an important and critical component of Haiti’s reconstruction process,” said UN Resident Coordinator Nigel Fisher on the UN News Centre. In a speech on March 25th, former U.S. President…
Finding Business Opportunities… in Turkish
Turkey I don’t have the resources to scour every newspaper and website for contract opportunities. Through the dgMarket connection my company was able to bid on and win four contracts in Romania. Can Kalelioglu, board member Eser Construction Company Turkey After experiencing economic downturn in Turkey, businessman Metin Erdogou wanted to create change. He established dgMarket Ihale Bilmi Merkezi — a nonprofit organization based in Istanbul — and worked with DGF to launch a Turkish-language version of the dgMarket global tender publishing system. “Government contracting…
Staff gives back to local community
The DC Central Kitchen is nonprofit organization that prepares 4,500 meals per day for DC’s homeless. The kitchen started in 1989 as an effort by Robert Egger to use surplus food from local businesses to feed the area’s homeless population. Since its creation, the kitchen has also begun to provide culinary training and a catering service. Michele Noukimi was assigned to chop and prepare vegetables. Noting the strict adherence to hygiene and precision, Michele was worried that the volunteers would not make it through the…
Aid transparency tool launched to improve donor coordination in Nicaragua
Development Gateway announced today the successful launch of the upgraded ODAnic and the release of the 2008 EU Blue Book. ODAnic is a publicly available online tool that facilitates donor coordination, aid transparency, and the management of aid information in Nicaragua. In the forward to the EU Blue Book, Martin Johnston, the representative for Central America from the U. K. Department for International Development (DFID) and Mendel Goldstein, the head of the European Commission’s delegation to Central America and Panama, wrote, “As a result [of…
Development Gateway, PLAID to Create AidData
Joint Venture to Build an In-depth Global Repository of Development Activities Development Gateway announces today its partnership with the interdisciplinary research team Project-Level Aid (PLAID). The two entities have come together to make detailed information on development finance more accessible and to create a comprehensive database on development activities. AidData will be available online in the spring of 2010. In the spirit of harmonization, this partnership builds on the distinct perspective of each team to bring greater efficiency and transparency to economic and social development…
DRC Tackles the Aid Information Challenge
 Staff members of the Ministry of Finance for the Democratic Republic of the Congo training to use the Aid Management Platform. By building a strong rapport with users in the ministries, Development Gateway increases the likelihood of program sustainability. Democratic Republic of Congo According to the Human Development Index, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ranks 177 out of 179 countries-firmly placing it as the third least developed nation in the world. In a country plagued by a civil war that has cost…
Jean-Louis Sarbib to Manage Development Gateway
WASHINGTON—Development Gateway announces today that Jean-Louis Sarbib will serve as Chief Executive Officer following the departure of Mark Fleeton earlier this year.
Accessible Information on Development Activities (AiDA) Database Adds New Features, Better Design
WASHINGTON— Development Gateway announced today that it has redesigned the Accessible Information on Development Activities (AiDA) database to make information more accessible to users. The new design of the site helps give visitors a full picture of development activities as information is now grouped by country, sector, and donor. The site is visually more appealing, easier to use, automatically updated, and enables the visitor to save search results. “By adding these new features, we’ve made AiDA a more robust aid effectiveness tool,” said Riccardo De…
E-government Tool Makes Development Aid More Effective
WASHINGTON—The Development Gateway announced today that it will showcase the results of the implementation of the Aid Management Platform (AMP) at the Accra High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, to be held from Sept. 2–4, 2008. Results of eight implementations of AMP show that the application can strengthen a country’s ownership and coordination of its aid process by building government capacity, empowering policy-makers, and by promoting regional knowledge sharing. Roughly 200 government staff members in Africa, Europe, and Latin America have completed advanced training in the…