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S 1425 seeks to increase the economic empowerment of women in developing countries through assistance for women in developing countries with respect to: (1) microenterprises; (2) small and medium enterprises; (3) private property rights and land tenure security Close Official Summary 7/9/2009--Introduced.Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act of 2009 or GROWTH Act of 2009 - Targets assistance for women in developing countries with respect to: (1) microenterprises; (2) small and medium enterprises; (3) private property rights and land tenure security; (4) employment access; (5) trade benefits; (6) exchanges with U.S. entrepreneurs; and (7) Millennium Challenge Account assistance. Directs the Secretary of State to establish the Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive (GROWTH) Fund to enhance economic opportunities for very poor, poor, and low-income women in developing countries with a focus on: (1) increasing women-owned enterprise development; (2) increasing property rights for women; (3) increasing women's access to financial services; (4) increasing women in leadership in implementing organizations as well as financial service providers; (5) improving women's employment benefits and conditions; and (6) increasing women's ability to benefit from global trade. Directs the Secretary, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), to: (1) provide support for tracking indicators on women's employment, property rights, access to financial services, and enterprise development; and (2) ensure foreign assistance project proposals include capacity building and technical assistance for local, indigenous, nongovernmental, organizations and community-based organizations dedicated to addressing the needs of women and women's organizations. featured in a recent post http://bit.ly/aCzznX

Aid budgets face immense pressure - despite overseas aid being critical for poverty alleviation in developing countries and the explicit commitments of the world's industrialised countries to the Millennium development goals. With the world economy in a major downturn, the stakes for developing countries could not be higher. Public support for international development and aid will play a key role. Will the public become unsure about the UK's aid budget when they begin to feel cuts in government expenditure at home? How well equipped are we to 'sell' the UK's aid programme to a sceptical public in times of economic austerity?

Over the coming months, Devex will host a global conversation on each of the eight Millennium Development Goals - we want you to share your success stories, thoughts on what obstacles remain, and ideas for how the development community is Making the Millennium Development Goals Happen.

This week the Department for International Development here in the UK has issued a new report ELIMINATING POVERTY : Building Common future, which spells out a new direction and desire to address issue of poverty in the developing world and amongst other things the report looks at the impact of the economic downturn on those in the developing countries. And at the UN summit of September 2000 the richest nations in the world made pledges to the development world that are summed up in what has become to be known as the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, was established as an international financial institution in 1977 as one of the major outcomes of the 1974 World Food Conference. The Conference was organized in response to the food crises of the early 1970s that primarily affected the Sahelian countries of Africa. The conference resolved that "an International Fund for Agricultural Development should be established immediately to finance agricultural development projects primarily for food production in the developing countries". One of the most important insights emerging from the conference was that the causes of food insecurity and famine were not so much failures in food production, but structural problems relating to poverty and to the fact that the majority of the developing world's poor populations were concentrated in rural areas.

Another online resource that can be used in implementing the Millennium Development Goals. Development Gateway provides Web-based platforms that make aid and development efforts more effective around the world. It focuses on three areas where even small investments in information and communications technology can make a major difference:

Zunia demonstration page another online tool for collaboration and information exchange for global efforts like the Millennium Development Goals. Zunia is an online network for knowledge exchange among development professionals worldwide. Users from all over the world visit the portal to access news, events, best practices and publications on a wide range of development topics. Registration in Zunia is free and open to all. Users can stay informed on development issues, post information, get e-mail updates, create a professional profile and connect with peers.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) offers a unique combination of investment capital, capacity building and technical advisory services to promote microfinance and local development in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs):

I put their demonstration page up in a previous Diigo post. This is the actual site. Zunia offers: * Over 50,000 registered users, more than half of whom are from developing countries * A searchable content database containing over 125,000 content items * Content aggregated from more than 200 development organizations worldwide Zunia was launched in July 2009. Previously, the knowledge-sharing site of Development Gateway was dgCommunities. All the content from that site was migrated to Zunia.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group's mission is to help reduce poverty, improve living conditions for Africans and mobilize resources for the continent's economic and social development. With this objective in mind, the institution aims at assisting African countries - individually and collectively - in their efforts to achieve sustainable economic development and social progress. Combating poverty is at the heart of the continent's efforts to attain sustainable economic growth. To this end, the Bank seeks to stimulate and mobilize internal and external resources to promote investments as well as provide its regional member countries with technical and financial assistance.

This is an excellent example of collaborative tools available on the internet and how they can be used in implementing the Millennium Development Goals. Background We live in an increasingly 'networked' development world, where information, knowledge, and relationships are critical aspects of more effective efforts. Our organizations are adjusting and adapting to become 'global learning networks;' as individuals, we are asked to take on a broader range of roles and tasks become active participants in knowledge co-creation, sharing and use. Taking advantage of emerging opportunities in this area calls for use to develop and use a different communication 'toolset' in our work; we also need to change the ways we work, adopting more a 'mindset' that favours open learning and sharing.

First, the UK needs to meet our moral commitment to increase spending on aid to 0.7 per cent gross national income. But this investment has to go hand-in-hand with greater transparency, ensuring the money reaches the people who need it most. A Conservative government will create an independent aid watchdog and publish every item of aid spending online, so that the performance and impact of development policies are transparent to taxpayers in Britain and to people in the developing world.

A British Conservative potential Prime Minister speaking of the Millennium Development Goals as a responsibility of his government. I made the point in my last blog post that the Millennium Development Goals resonate better everywhere than they do here in America.

Implementing the Millennium Development Goals health objectives in the developing world will require new technologies arising from disruptive innovation. Finding new uses for technologies we take for granted.

This year World Population Day highlights the importance of data for development. The focus is on the 2010 round of the population and housing census, data analysis for development and UNFPA's lead role in population and development.

EURODAD (European Network on Debt and Development) is a network of 58 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from 19 European countries working on issues related to debt, development finance and poverty reduction. The Eurodad network offers a great platform for exploring issues, collecting intelligence and ideas, and undertaking collective advocacy.

The double edge sword of global aid, the system that creates the aid is also arguably the system that creates the problem or at least helps perpetuate it.

From the article: It is just about time for yet another round of international development goals. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - the eight goals, 20 targets and 60+ indicators that came out of the United Nations in 2000 - are coming to the end of their natural life. Although the official end date is not until 2015, if your country is not close to reaching the MDGs now, there is simply not much time to catch up. (Helpfully, the UN's MDG Monitor website counts down to 2015 by the second.)

MFAN is a reform coalition composed of international development and foreign policy practitioners, policy advocates and experts, concerned citizens and private sector organizations. MFAN's goal is to help build a safer, more prosperous world by strengthening the United States' ability to alleviate extreme poverty, create opportunities for growth, and secure human dignity in developing countries.

Euforic.org is a non-profit service dedicated to spreading and sharing voices, ideas and information on Europe's International Cooperation. Euforic.org helps audiences communicate and share their voices. Our users find, enjoy, and share videos about the people, issues, and ideas on international cooperation. We gather a collection of opinions, news, video and research publications drawn from policymakers, international organisations, universities, think tanks and conferences dealing with international cooperation issues. We present this content free for anyone to watch, interact with, and share. With our community of users and an extensive, growing library of information, Euforic.org is contributing to the Europe's special role in poverty reduction and Millennium Development Goals as defined in European Consensus on Development. Euforic.org is hosted by European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI). For more information contact: info@euforic.org

The Sustainable Development Network is a coalition of individuals and non-governmental organizations who believe that sustainable development is about empowering people, promoting progress, eliminating poverty and achieving environmental protection through the institutions of the free society.