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Welcome to the new DevNet website!
DevNet - the Aotearoa New Zealand International Development Studies Network - exists to connect academics, students and development practitioners. Anyone involved or interested in international development is welcome to become a DevNet member. It's free and easy, and members can find out about other members with similar interests as well as receive the monthly DevNet email update. On the DevNet website members and non-members alike will find useful information, including a Aotearoa New Zealand development research database, a calendar of development events and notices, discussion forums, and useful links. To find out more about how to use the DevNet website click here. To find out more about DevNet itself click here.
DEVNET NEWS
The DevNet-NZAID Symposium: Civil Society and Governance: implications for aid
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In partnership with NZAID, on the 29th and 30th of November, 2007, DevNet hosted a two day symposium on the subject of Civil Society and Governance.
We were very fortunate to have Michael Edwards and Kumi Naidoo as keynote speakers at the event and, along with the informed engagement of all our participants, this contributed to a very successful two days.For more information about the event see the symposium page.
Other News:
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Have you had a look around the new DevNet website yet? There's a calendar of upcoming development events, reinvigorated forums, and information on interning. Click here to find out more about using the DevNet website.
Also, we've been undertaking a comprehensive update of the DevNet research database. This database contains bibliographic details for as much New Zealand based development research as we could find. We've entered data from previous years. Now, though, it's up to you - if you complete any such research in the near future, please add its details to the database, it only take about 2 minutes to do. You can add your research here. You can also browse the database to see what others are focusing on in their research.
Development is a contested field, with many areas of debate. Unfortunately, we can't all get together in person to talk about these things. That's why we have the DevNet forums. They're a place where you can discuss development with people who share your interest in the field. You can start your own discussion thread, or you can reply to items already posted.
To give you an idea of what it's all about, here are some of the topics currently up for discussion.
Problem or Solution: the UN and a World of Conflict
In a recent review of two books on the United Nations journalist and academic Samantha Power relays the following anecdote which reveals much about relationship between the world’s most powerful nation and the world’s main body of global governance: ‘“The new year marks the end of two turbulent terms at the United Nations: that of Kofi Annan, who served 10 years as secretary general, and that of John R. Bolton, who lasted just 17 months as the U.S. ambassador there. When Bolton was asked about a December 2006 farewell dinner that President Bush held for Annan, the departing American diplomat sniped, “Nobody sang 'Kumbaya.'”...When told of Bolton's remark, Annan laughed and said, "Does he know how to sing it?"’(click here to read more, and to have your say...)
Aid Doesn't Work! Does It?
You could hardly blame the average New Zealand newspaper reader for being confused when it comes to overseas aid. One week they read Bob Geldof calling the New Zealand government pathetic for giving so little aid the next they read Martin Robinson and Helen Hughes claiming that, far from giving more aid, we should curtail it, as aid does more harm than good. Both of these claims can t be true can they? Surely Bob Geldof (who looks like a nice bloke) wouldn t be advocating for more of something that actually makes things worse. Would he? Welcome to the Great Aid Debate. (click here to read more, and to have your say...)
Is Fair Trade Really Such a Good Idea?
In a column written for the Times of London in 2004 English blogger Oliver Kamm had this to say about fair trade: "OXFAM, we learnt last week, is going to back a chain of fair trade coffee bars. Meanwhile Gap clothing company has disclosed that many of the factories that it uses in developing countries do not comply with minimum labour standards. For those consumers whose prime concern is Third World development, the proper course is clear: buy clothes at Gap and avoid Oxfam's coffee." (Is Kamm right? click here to read more, and to have your say...)
Is Volunteering Socially Exclusive? (Written by Eli Chisholm)
Working for a development NGO, every so often I get asked for advice on how to get into this field. Study is good, I say, and also work experience. Volunteering or doing an unpaid internship is a good way to get this. On top of this it s enjoyable, great to learn from, and you get to do interesting things and meet nice people. Having done volunteer work or an internship probably makes it easier to get a job because you know some people, have got some helpful skills, and you've shown you're really committed to and passionate about development. Then I read this interesting article: Why Not Practice What We Preach?, by British former interns Adam Davies and Tom Allen. To these guys, "unpaid internships are a socially exclusive, and occasionally exploitative, practice, bringing with them the risk that NGOs could be sacrificing principles of long term social justice the very principles we preach for short term gain". (click here to read more, and to have your say...)
There's much more to talk about on the forums other threads include: Aid's Critics, a Who's Who; A Truly Costly War; and Development as Explained by Two Cows in a Field; and anything else you would like to talk about...
How you use the DevNet website depends on what you're trying to do. Have a look at the 'how to' questions and answers on our Website Guide page and see if they give you the information you're after. If they don't please feel free to send us an email.
DevNet is administered by Dev-Zone, a global development information and education centre in Aotearoa New Zealand. DevNet acknowledges the support of Nga Hoe Tuputupu-mai-tawhiti, the New Zealand Agency for International Development.
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