October 2004

This Months Highlight: NGO Codes of Conduct from the GDRC Programme on NGOs and the Civil Society "A code of conduct for NGOs will go a long way in better understanding the key role that they play in development" With NGOs playing an increasingly important and visible role in the development of the society, their transparency, legitimacy and credibility, besides their ethical stand, has come under scrutiny of impartial third-party entities. One consequence of this trend has be the proliferation of codes of conduct targeted at NGOs. These codes have covered a range of topics, defining accepted/acceptable behaviours; promoting high standards of practice; or establishing a framework for professional behaviour and responsibilities. Resources related to this topic are included in a special feature page on the NGO Café: http://www.gdrc.org/ngo/codes-conduct.html As with all sections of GDRC, contributions, comments and suggestions are always welcome from users and subscribers! Please contact GDRC's Coordinator at - mosaic@gdrc.org FOCUS ON GDRC: The battle for Sustainability ... As mentioned in earlier Mosaic issues, the resources on GDRC's websites, as well as the activities of its programmes and projects, have increasingly focused on the local dimension. This is especially true for the concept of sustainability. The battle for sustainability in the future will be fought in cities. It will be awareness, understanding and action at the local level that will eventually lead to broader global sustainability. This explains the subtle bias towards cities and urban settlements that runs through GDRC's programmes, as well as the focus on the ordinary man-on-the-street in the information sphere programmes. This section focuses on information management lessons learnt in coordinating GDRC's activities. WHAT'S NEW AT GDRC'S WEBSITE? - a selection Sustainable Development: New Focus page on 'Innovative Communities' Microfinance: Documents - added a large section on Microfinance and Migrant Remittances Urban Environmental Management: Sustainable Tourism - GDRC becomes a member of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) Urban Governance: Eight new documents were added to the Documents and Reports section Oceans, Coasts and Small Islands: GDRC becomes a member of the Global Islands Network (GIN) NGO Cafe: Wise words - new feature on the UN Millennium Development Goals NGO Cafe: Kickstart an NGO - Added several documents to the special feature on "NGO Fund Raising Strategies" Gender and Development: GDRC Research Output - "Towards a Gender Analysis Framework to assist technology transfer" Informal Sector: Definitions - Concept of the Informal Sector Technology Transfer: Document - Technology Transfer for Sustainable Development Sustainable Business: Documents - Sustainability is Good Business Internet and ICTs: Link to the Dot.Com Alliance MONTHLY STATISTICS FOR GDRC'S WEBSITE Total hits encountered - 751,189 Total files downloaded - 605,421 Total pages viewed - 234,491 Total web visitors - 78,133 Total KBytes - 5,488,122 Pages per day - Avg. 7,564; Max. 10,141 Visits per day - Avg. 2,520; Max. 3,425 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. To subscribe: http://www.gdrc.org/about/newsletter.html To unsubscribe: unsubscribe-mosaic@gdrc.org Comments, suggestions and contributions: info-mosaic@gdrc.org CONTACT ADDRESS: Global Development Research Center 5-13-3-1601, Nakano-cho, Miyakojima-ku, Osaka 534-0027, Japan Tel / Fax: +(81-6) 6925-8005 Emial: info-mosaic@gdrc.org URL: http://www.gdrc.org/ © 2003-2005, GDRC. All rights reserved.