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Development Studies: Subject websites

Subject gateways and directories

  • Directory of Development Organisations This directory lists 43.500 development organizations and has been prepared to facilitate international cooperation and knowledge sharing in development work.
  • Development Gateway An interactive site that brings together people, resources, and information on development and poverty reduction.
  • Eldis The gateway to information on development issues.
  • Euforic (Europe's Forum on International Cooperation) Euforic is an information resource and discussion forum for communities involved with European international development policies and related activities.
  • OneWorld.net Brings together the latest news and views from over 1600 organisations promoting human rights awareness and fighting poverty worldwide.
  • Intute: Social Sciences This free online service, created by a network of UK universities and partners, provides the very best web resources for education and research. You can search or browse the database for development studies resources which have been selected, evaluated and described by subject specialists.

Academic and research institutions

Newsgroups and discussion lists

One of the major impacts of the new communications technologies has been to increase the speed and ease of passing information between people. One manifestation of this is the development of newsgroups and discussion lists. The former are a means of disseminating information among a group of list subscribers, the latter a form of ongoing, online seminar to which interested parties can contribute. 

You are usually required to sign on to these various lists in a prescribed manner. To get some idea of what they do have a look at the archive of the following lists:

  • DevPolitics (Development Politics)
  • DSA-RSG (Development Studies Association Research Students Group)
  • ECON-SOC-DEV (Economic Growth, Social and Ethical Development)
  • Population-Studies (Demography and Population Studies)
  • SDRN (Sustainable Development Research Network)
  • Tourism
  • Or choose a relevant group from the JISCmail subject listing

Other UN subsidiary bodies

Websites

Virtual libraries and topic specific resources

  • African Human Rights Resource Center A collection of international human rights materials.
  • British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) Europe's largest research collection on economic and social change in developing countries. BLDS is hosted by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS).
  • BRIDGE Development-Gender A specialised gender and development research and information service within the Institute of Development Studies (IDS).
  • Children in a Changing Climate CCC is a global collaborative action-research, advocacy and learning programme that aims to secure children's influence in preventing and adapting to climate change at every level - from their families and communities to the United Nations climate change negotiations.
  • Choike Choike is a portal dedicated to improving the visibility of the work done by NGOs and social movements from the South.
  • CIA Online Factbook  Provides information of demographics, economics, and government for every country.
  • CityPoverty Provides a focus for debate about urban poverty and tools for the reduction of poverty in urban areas, in the context of international development policy.
  • Development Initiatives Gives access to a wide range of information on poverty, aid and development.
  • Development Studies resources for students (The Guardian newspaper). Data, books, blogs, articles to support your development studies. 
  • Earth Trends: The Environmental Information Portal. Earth Trends is a comprehensive online database that focuses on the environmental, social and economic trends that shape the world. 
  • ENTERWeb - Enterprise Development Website - Provides information on small business, finance, international trade, entrepreneurship, enterprise development and the economy.
  • EnviroLink Network Lists thousands of online environmental resources.
  • Ethical Trading Initiative ETI is an alliance of companies, trade unions and voluntary organisations who work in partnership to improve the lives of workers across the globe who make or grow consumer goods.
  • Future Agriculture Consortium  FAC aims to encourage critical debate and policy dialogue on the future of agriculture in Africa. 
  • Future Health Systems: Innovations for Equity The purpose of this consortium is to generate knowledge that shapes health systems to benefit the world's poor.
  • Gender and Development A World Bank programme promoting gender equality.  
  • Global Welfare A collection of online resources for international and comparative policy analysis, research and teaching.
  • GSDRC  The Governance and Social Development Resource Centre supports the knowledge needs of the international development community in relation to governance, conflict and social development.
  • Healthlink Worldwide Gives access to information to improve the health and well-being of disadvantaged and vulnerable communities in developing countries.
  • Human Rights Watch one of the world’s leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights.
  • Human Security Gateway. This is a research and information database regrouping electronic and bibliographic resources on human security.
  • IDRC Digital Library Gives access to a current and comprehensive collection of documents generated by IDRC-funded projects and IDRC staff about a wide range of subjects related to international development.
  • IFAD Rural Povery Portal  Provides a focal point for sharing information about the eradication of rural poverty.
  • Imp-Act Consortium The Consortium is a global group of organisations working to promote and support the management of social performance by microfinance institutions.
  • InfoDev Seeks to provide better and more-operationally relevant knowledge on ICT for development. Provides access to an integrated set of knowledge resources and services on issues that are of particular relevance and interest to the entire development community. 
  • International Initiative for Impact Evaluation  3ie encourages the production and use of evidence from rigorous impact evaluations for policy decisions that improve social and economic development programs in low- and middle-income countries.
  • International Peace Institute IPI is dedicated to promoting the prevention and settlement of conflicts between and within states by strengthening international peace and security institutions.
  • International Trade Centre ITC is the joint agency of the WTO and the UN. Its goal is to help developing and transition countries achieve sustainable human development through exports.
  • International Women's Rights Action Watch IWRAW operates as an international resource and communications centre. Provides technical assistance and research support for projects concerning the rights of women and girls.
  • IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre IRC facilitates the sharing, promotion and use of knowledge for improved, low-cost water supply, sanitation and hygiene in developing countries.
  • JOLIS The joint IMF/World Bank Library catalogues.
  • LABORDOC The ILO Library's database, contains references and full text access to the world's literature on the world of work.
  • Latin American Network Information Center Provides access to internet-based information to, from, or on Latin America.
  • LogoLink (Learning Initiative on Citizen Participation and Local Governance) LogoLink is a global network of practitioners from civil society organisations, research institutions and governments working to deepen democracy through greater citizen participation in local governance.
  • Maquila Solidarity Network MSN is a labour and women's rights organization that supports the efforts of workers in global supply chains to win improved wages and working conditions and a better quality of life
  • Microcon Microcon or 'Micro Level Analysis of Violent Conflict' is a five-year research programme which takes an innovative micro level, multidisciplinary approach to the study of the conflict cycle.
  • Microcredit A Repository of information on alternative, non-conventional financial systems and microfinance/microcredit issues.
  • Microfinance Gateway This gateway is the most comprehensive online resource on microfinance.
  • Millennium Development Goals This UN website gives access to information and reports on the MDGs. 
  • MIMAS (Manchester Information and Associated Services) Includes IMF databanks and statistics, OECD statistics, UNIDO and World Bank databases.
  • NATLEX This is the database of national labour, social security and related human rights legislation maintained by the International Labour Standards Department.
  • Participation.net Participation.net is home to the Participation Resource Centre's online searchable database. This database contains over 5,000 documents on participatory approaches to development, including topics like rights, governance and citizenship.
  • Pathways of women's Empowerment  An international  research and communications programme established in 2006 which links academics with activists and practitioners to find out what works to enhance women's empowerment.
  • Portal to Asian Internet Resources Provides access to internet resources for research and study of modern East, Central, South, and Southeast Asia on a broad range of topics in the humanities and social sciences.
  • PovertyNet Provides an introduction to key issues as well as in-depth information on poverty measurement, monitoring, analysis, and on poverty reduction strategies for researchers and practitioners.
  • Realising Rights The purpose of the Realising Rights consortium is to address the factors underlying the persistent low priority given to sexual and reproductive health and rights in policy and practice
  • ReliefWeb ReliefWeb is the global hub for humanitarian information on complex emergencies and natural disasters.
  • RePec (Research Papers on Economics). RePec is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 75 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics.  
  • SciDev.Net The Science and Development Network provides information about science and technology for the developing world.
  • Siyanda (Mainstreaming gender equality). Siyanda is an online database of gender and development materials from around the world.
  • Social Capital Gateway Provides access to resources for researchers, students and practitioners interested in social interactions and social capital.
  • South Centre The Centre is an intergovernmental policy think tank of developing countries.
  • Sustainable Development A comprehensive list of internet sites dealing with sustainable development, including organisations, projects and activities, electronic journals, libraries, references and documents, databases, directories.
  • UNAIDS This joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS brings together the efforts and resources of ten UN System organizations to the global AIDS response.
  • UN-Habitat - Sustainable Cities and Localising Agenda 21 Programmes. UN-Habitat's Urban Environment Section helps cities get the most out of their vital role in social and economic development by promoting better environmental policies and programmes and improving urban environmental management.
  • UN-Women This programme focuses on the promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment.
  • United Nations Cartographic Section The UN map collection houses over 80,000 maps, some 3,000 atlases, gazetteers, travel guides, cartographic and geographic reference works as well as digital cartographic products. 
  • WaterAid WaterAid is an international non governmental organisation whose mission is to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation in the world's poorest communities.
  • Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organising WIEGO is a global research-policy network that seeks to improve the status of the working poor, especially women, in the informal economy.
  • WomenWatch This is the central gateway to information and resources on the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women.
  • WWW virtual library International Affairs Resources : This WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources is a frequently updated Internet directory of over 2000 annotated links to high-quality English-language sources of information and analysis in a wide range of international affairs, international relations, international studies, global studies, and global education topics.
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