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Global Development Research Center
G D R C    M o s a i c
www.gdrc.org

March 2012
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Welcome to another edition of GDRC's Mosaic!
This month, GDRC Mosaic is being set to more
than 3000 subscribers in 130 countries worldwide.
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ANNOUNCEMENT:

With an active presence of GDRC on blogs, Facebook 
and Twitter, interaction with online visitors to 
GDRC is increasing. Mobile apps such as Flipboard 
for iphone/ipad provide further enhanced viewing 
of social media content. 

Suggestions are welcome on how to improve GDRC's 
presentation on social media. Please email them 
to hsrinivas@gdrc.org
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THIS MONTH'S SPOTLIGHT: Microfinance and Disasters
from GDRC's Programme on Microcredit/Microfinance

The concept of microfinance as a viable tool for 
the poor was tested to its limits during the 2004 
tsunami tragedy in Asia. It was clear that none had 
prepared for a disaster of such proportions and 
its impacts.

Lessons are emerging, social safety net mechanisms 
to assist the poor and other populations affected 
by disasters, and promoting diversified income 
options for populations in high risks areas to 
reduce their vulnerability to hazards.

GDRC has been working on these and related issues. 
Resources on this topic are available at: 
http://www.gdrc.org/icm/disasters/

As with all sections of GDRC, contributions, 
comments and suggestions are always welcome from 
users and subscribers! Please contact GDRC's 
Coordinator at - hsrinivas@gdrc.org
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FOCUS ON GDRC: LESSONS IN LEARNING
Another Man's Shoes

Developing GDRC's content has always been an 
exercise of understanding how different types of 
users use the same set of data/information, for 
different purposes and objectives.

This has called for, as the saying goes, 'putting 
yourself in another man's shoes'. It may smell, 
but doing so is an important part of responding 
to users informational needs.

- Being in another man's shoes is about having, 
or being able, to use information to build 
alternative scenarios - so that it takes into 
account different aspects of the situation or 
problem. And so that viable solutions can be 
found.

- It also means looking at different 
viewpoints/priorities of different stakeholders, 
and matching information to their goals and 
objectives using the same dataset. A 200-page 
manual to an engineer becomes a 10-page set of 
instructions to a bureaucrat and a one page 
decision-making criteria for a politician.

- Ultimately, it means taking advantage of the 
strengths and reducing the weaknesses of the 
involved stakeholders using targeted information. 
A businessman will look at the market and technology 
aspects of a problem, a community group may look 
at the lifestyle implications of the same problem, 
and a city mayor may look at its governance and 
management aspects - focusing on their relative 
strengths. 
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MONTHLY STATISTICS FOR GDRC'S WEBSITE: March 2012

    Total files downloaded - 896,279
    Total pages viewed - 290,060
    Total web visitors - 145,148
    Total KBytes - 25,423,925
    Pages per day - Avg: 9,356 Max: 12,535
    Visits per day - Avg: 4,682 Max: 5,951
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See what has been happening in GDRC at:
http://www.gdrc.org/about/whats-new.html 
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ABOUT GDRC MOSAIC

The "GDRC Mosaic" is a monthly email newsletter
that provides information bites, and summarizes
programme activities of GDRC, including new items
added to the website. You are also welcome to
forward this newsletter to friends and interested
people!

To subscribe or unsuscribe, please visit:
http://www.gdrc.org/about/newsletter.html
Comments/suggestions/contributions: mosaic@gdrc.org

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CONTACT ADDRESS:

Global Development Research Center
1-5-1-1013, Mori Minami Machi, Higashi Nada-ku,
Kobe 658-001, Japan
Tel / Fax: +(81-78) 452-8414
Email: mosaic@gdrc.org
Web: www.gdrc.org
Blog: serendipity.gdrc.info
Facebook: facebook.com/gdrc.org
Twitter: twitter.com/gdrcdotorg
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Copyright (C) 2011-2015, GDRC. All rights reserved.