Linked with Samir Makdisi – Lebanon.
The Global Development Network (GDN) is a worldwide network of research and policy institutes working to provide a fresh and relevant perspective to the development challenges of our time. At GDN, we strongly believe that policy-relevant research, if properly applied, can accelerate the pace of global development. What makes our initiative different is that we aim to generate this research at the local level in developing and transition countries. Thus, it is in the generation of local knowledge that, we believe, lies a much needed alternative perspective on facilitating change.
Five core activities: which work towards building research capacity in developing and transition economies. We believe that by investing in human capital and unearthing and mentoring new talent, we can advance innovative development policies in developing and transition countries.
These include:
Regional Research Competitions: The regional research competitions (RRCs) promote high quality research in developing and transition countries by funding well-conceived, policy relevant research projects. These efforts help discover new talent and increase research capacity in the regions;
Global Research Projects: Global Research Projects seek to explain different elements of development through a comprehensive and comparative approach, harnessing the global nature of the network to conduct studies in many countries simultaneously. They balance GDN’s twin goals of generating high-quality research and building research capacity with its developing country partners.
Global Development Awards and Medals Competition: The Global Development Awards and Medals Competition is the largest international contest for research on development. Through this competition launched in 2000 with the support of the Government of Japan, we seek to unearth new talent and support innovative ideas. Over 3,000 researchers representing more than 100 countries throughout the developing world have participated to date. More than US $ 1.91 million has been distributed in prizes and travel to finalists and winners. In 2005 alone, the competition attracted more than 700 applications. In the past we have supported multi-disciplinary research on a range of issues including pro-poor market reform, governance and development, HIV/AIDS and the delivery of health systems; reforms, interest groups and civil society; conflict, human security and migration; and the role of institutions for development in the context of globalization.
Annual Conferences: Held, each year in a different region of the world, GDN’s annual conferences provide the venue for an exciting exchange on issues of sustainable development and poverty reduction. Our conferences are unique—not just in the sheer numbers of people who attend (a GDN conference typically involves the participation of 500-600 people) but in the range of issues they discuss, and the regions they represent. By bringing together both researchers and policymakers, we provide the first step in facilitating greater exchanges between local policymakers and the local research we support. GDN conferences are typically by invitation only. Participants include Nobel Laureates and other internationally renowned researchers, researchers representing every region in the developing and transition world, heads of government, representatives of national and international organizations and sponsors of research.
GDNet (the electronic voice of GDN): GDNet is the electronic voice of GDN and a core activity in GDN’s capacity building and networking efforts. It provides online tools and services to support researchers from developing countries in their work and to help disseminate their research. This page gives a guide to the programme’s activities. It also includes the results of the GDNet user survey.
Read all the rest on GDN.