Empowerment Newsletter Dec 04/Jan 05

A. Featured Article:

Empowering the Poor to Fight Corruption: A Crucial Piece of the Development Puzzle

What kind of power do ordinary citizens have in the fight against corruption?

To ask one of the thousands of Ukrainians who stood for days in frigid temperatures late last year to protest an allegedly rigged election, the answer may be – quite a lot. The result of their collective mobilization was a new election and a new president.

The mass gathering of Ukrainian people this past November after a national election deemed as fraudulent is an example of how combined energy, will, and voice can be channeled to combat misuse of power. Although the nation may have been highly divided between their two candidates, an overwhelming number of Ukrainian people reacted to the unacceptability of election fraud, thus demanding and receiving a new election.

Simply phrased, this recent situation exemplifies the "power of the people."

   Full Article

Title: Empowerment and poverty-focused evaluation

Author: Boniface Essama Nssah

For a copy of this publication, please see Development Southern Africa (Sept. 2004)

There is an intimate relationship between development and evaluation, to the extent that the very definition of development entails a value judgment about things that are worth promoting. Thus, the goal of development defines the metric for assessing its effectiveness. In the face of the challenge presented by the limited success of past development efforts, the development community has been searching for a new paradigm. Empowerment is emerging not only as an ultimate goal of development, but also as a fundamental determinant of its effectiveness. Furthermore, this perspective of development has prompted the international community to declare poverty eradication a fundamental objective of development and, therefore, a benchmark measure of the performance of socio-economic systems. This article examines some implications of this view of development for both the focus and the method of evaluation. The institutional dimension in assessing effectiveness is emphasized.

Title: Power, Rights and Poverty: Concepts and Connections

Author: Various/Edited by Ruth Alsop

For a copy of this publication, please see http://www.worldbank.org/empowerment or write to empowerment@worldbank.org

This volume brings together background materials and discussions from a two-day working meeting on "Power, Rights, and Poverty Reduction" held jointly by the World Bank and the United Kingdom Department for International Development in March 2004. The meeting represented an important step in continuing to understand issues of empowerment, power, and human rights, and how they influence and are influenced by our work. This anthology contains contributions on empowerment and poverty reduction from Ruth Alsop, Andrew Norton, Rosalind Eyeben, Caroline Moser, David Mosse, Jonathon Fox, Jeremy Holland, Simon Brook, and Michael Woolcock.

Title: Empowering Rural People For Their Own Development

Author: Hans Binswanger

This publication is in draft form. A full copy will be available online in the near future.

An update on a paper from ten years ago, "Agriculture and Rural Development: Painful Lessons." It focuses primarily on low income countries in Africa and elsewhere which have experienced agricultural stagnation as well as countries in Latin America and elsewhere which have had reasonable agricultural growth rates, but have prematurely expulsed agricultural labor and therefore failed to reduce rural poverty. It lays out thinking about the factors which determine performance in agricultural and rural development. They fall into two broad groups: (i) the institutional environment for rural development, including for agricultural development; and (ii) the policies and other factors which determine farm profits, and therefore agricultural investment and most of rural growth.

Event: International Anti-Corruption Day

When: December 9

Where: Worldwide

International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December marks one year since the signing conference for the United Nations Convention against Corruption that was held in Mérida, Mexico. In the last year, over 110 countries have signed on to the Convention and 15 have ratified it. Ratification by 30 member states is necessary for the Convention to enter into force. To see anti-corruption events around the world, click here.

Transparency International also held events on December 9, including a two day conference with the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) on improving donor coordination in fighting corruption. For details, click here.

Event: Conference on Tolerance

When: December 9-10, 2004

Where: Tirana, Albania

Albania's President Alfred Moisiu hosted a two-day regional summit to promote religious tolerance.

The Dec. 9-10 summit was supported by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and brought together presidents from Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia-Montenegro and Montenegro as well as 100 members of the Balkan's intelligencia including journalists, academics and politicians.

"We consider the ethnic and religious tolerance a national wealth which the president would like to promote in our region," said spokeswoman Aferdita Sokoli. Albania is mostly Muslim, but its Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic communities live together peacefully. Additionally in Albania, senior members of the government are represented by all three religions.

  More events

E. Announcements/Points of Interest

Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE) endorses Social Development Strategy Paper

Committee on Development Effectiveness Effectiveness (CODE) of the Board of Executive Directors unanimously endorsed the second draft of the Social Development thematic implementation plan called Empowering People by Transforming Institutions: An Implementation Plan for Social Development in Bank Operations on December 8, 2004. CODE recommended that the original title, "Transforming Institutions to Empower People," be changed to "Empowering People by Transforming Institutions." This change will be reflected in the final version of the plan, which will take into account the recommendations made by CODE in the December 8th meeting and be sent to the Board some time in early 2005 for final approval. To obtain document, visit  here.

Global Competition Launched for the Second Development Gateway Award

The Development Gateway Foundation is seeking nominations for the second Development Gateway Award. The $100,000 award will recognize outstanding achievement in using information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve people's lives in developing countries. In launching the 2005 competition, the Development Gateway aims to help advance the use of ICT for development by recognizing leaders and innovative initiatives in the field. An international panel of independent jurors will review and select the finalists and winner, who will be announced by June. For information, rules, and to access the online nomination forms, please go to www.developmentgateway.org/award. The deadline for submission is February 28, 2005.

Revised Draft Operational Policy on Indigenous Peoples (Revised Draft OP 4.10)

On November 29, 2004, the Committee on Development Effectiveness of the World Bank's Board endorsed the posting of the Revised Draft Operational Policy on Indigenous Peoples (Revised Draft OP 4.10) for public comment. This Draft has been developed over the last six years, taking into account inputs from numerous consultations with external stakeholders, including Indigenous Peoples leaders, Civil Society Organizations and borrower governments. The Revised Draft Policy will remain posted for public comment until February 28, 2005. For more information, e-mail indigenouspeoples@worldbank.org. To obtain the document, click here. 

The PREM Gender and Development Group announces the online availability of a new note in the series on Promising Approaches to Engendering Development "Participatory Approaches to Increasing Women's Voice in CDD Projects: Examples from Indonesia" and "Poverty Reduction through Gender-Disaggregated Analysis of Public Expenditures: The Case of Cambodia" Please find them  here.

Changemakers.net - http://www.changemakers.net/journal/04november - has a contest underway now to find the best ways citizen sector organizations in any field have found to generate a "citizen base" for their successful and sustainable social change work. Five winners will each win a $1,000 cash prize.

F. In the News

Colombia: Social and Political Empowerment through Art and Humor?

Syria: Micro-credit programme Assists Rural Women

Lobbying Tribal Leaders to Support Women's Property Rights

Uzbek Minority Demands More Political Rights

In SA, "Empowerment" Must not Become an Empty Word

Musharraf observes Human Rights Day

Yemen: Arab Women demand Participation in Political Process

Does the Internet Always bring People Together?

To Contribute

We are happy to receive your suggestions and/or contributions. If you would like to make a submission, please send an email to empowerment@worldbank.org or call 202-458-4949.