News

Capacity Building for Partnerships Workshop and Invest in Mekong Region Marketplace
20-23 February 2012 | Siem Reap, Cambodia
The BWTP Network in collaboration with the Cambodia Microfinance Association, cordially invites microfinance practitioners and other stakeholders to attend the Workshop on Capacity Building for Partnerships in Microfinance and Invest in Mekong Region Marketplace on February 20-23, 2012 at Siem Reap, Cambodia. Click here for more details.

The first issue of FDC Development Links is now available. This new quarterly publication provides FDC stakeholders with an overview of leading edge readings from a variety of international sources across the development sector.

If you would like to comment on any of the articles, want to suggest an article for future issues, or have any other feedback in this publication, email us at info@fdc.org.au.

FDC offices will close between Christmas and New Year. The last working day will be Friday 23 December, reopening on Tuesday 3 January 2012. FDC wishes everyone a happy and safe holiday over the festive season.

FDC’s new Strategy Overview is now available online. This document outlines FDC’s new mission, themes, approach and activities, enabling us to work towards better development outcomes in the Asia-Pacific region through collaboration and innovation. Contact FDC for more information.

The Energy for All Partnership (E4ALL) leadership and secretariat function, provided to date by FDC, will be transferred to another organisation from August. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will assume core responsibility for the E4ALL Partnership’s continued success and the ongoing leadership of the Steering Committee. The recent E4ALL Steering Committee meeting in June 2010 concluded that the E4ALL Partnership is well placed to continue its progress toward its goal of 100 million people in the Asia-Pacific region obtaining increased access to modern energy services by 2015, building on the 6 million achieved during its first year of activities. The E4ALL Partnership will continue to provide an important framework to promote scaled-up access to modern energy services for the poor in the Asia-Pacific region.

Despite a large amount of funding and numerous programs dedicated to improving governance in the Pacific region, the female parliamentary participation rate within the Pacific currently stands at 4.2% – the lowest in the world. Between the years of 1995-2008, Arab states (female participation rate 8.8%) and Sub-Saharan African states (female participation rate 18.6%) increased their female parliamentary participation rates by 5.3 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively, while Pacific participation rates increased by just 1.7 per cent. Addressing the issue of low female parliamentary participation is a complex task, and should involve a multi-layered approach. This briefing note examines: the implications of a lack of commitment to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in the Pacific region; the introduction of temporary special measures; the importance of support networks; and, the need for male champions to help increase female participation. There have also been some positive trends in female local government participation, which has encouraging implications for efforts to improve women’s national participation rates. Click here to read more.

The FDC Pacific Regional Representative will be presenting at the Pacific Island Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) EU-PACREIP Workshop on the Microfinance Pasifika Network and Microfinance Development in the Pacific in Nadi, Fiji on the 23rd of June 2010 to the PIPSO members from 14 island countries. This is a unique opportunity to share microfinance developments and engage with donors and private sector players from around the Pacific.

FDC and ASPI have released a report entitled “A case for collaboration: Enhancing the development outcomes of Australian resource companies’ operations overseas”. The report traces through the role, influence and impact of the resources sector in developing countries and offers six recommendations for further action. Please find the report here.

FDC’s John Conroy presented at a World Bank discussion on microfinance in Sydney in May. Watch the video here: http://www.worldbank.org/praxis

FDC consultant John Conroy has been given an opportunity to speak at the World Bank Briefing, held in Sydney on the week of May 24th. John will be speaking on the topic of “Microcredit as a variant form of Subprime Lending” (which is FDC Briefing Note 10).