Society for International Development

The Society for International Development (SID), founded in Washington, D.C., United States, in 1957, is committed to stimulating dialogue and cooperation on global development issues, enhancing skills, knowledge and understanding among development practitioners, and providing a network for individuals and organizations working in various sectors of international development. Over the years, SID has consistently been at the forefront of shaping the theory and practice of development, challenging existing practices and suggesting alternative approaches.

Today, SID’s programme of work reflects the growing questioning of development as a point of reference for meaningful North-South dialogues. Accordingly, the Society’s focus has shifted from debates on how to advance development, to ways of opening up spaces for a reflection on how to ensure an agenda for social justice can be carried forward in a climate that is increasingly conservative and inward looking.

SID has a strong and vibrant network of individual and institutional members, local chapters and partner organisations, in more than 80 countries. It works with more than 100 associations, networks and institutions involving academia, parliamentarians, students, political leaders and development experts, both at local and international level.[1]

SID’s consultative status The relevance of the society’s programmes is officially recognized by the special status that SID enjoys with the United Nations. SID enjoys the highest consultative status, Category I, with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) as the Society operates in most fields of involvement of the United Nations. SID is a member of the board of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Status with ECOSOC (CONGO). SID additionally maintains consultative status with the Council of Europe, IFAD, International Labour Organization, FAO, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, UNEP, UNESCO, UNFPA and UNICEF.

Secretariat

The SID Secretariat has been based in Rome since 1979. Additionally, SID opened a Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa in Nairobi in 2003.[2]

Governing Council

SID members elect the SID Governing Council via a mail ballot every four years. The current council for the 2012-2015 period is:[3]

  • President: Mr.Juma Volter Mwapachu, Society for International Development, Tanzania
  • Vice President: Jean Gilson, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Information Technology at DAI
  • Treasurer: Mr. René Grotenhuis, Chief Executive Officer Cordaid, The Netherlands
  • Managing Director: Mr. Stefano Prato, Society for International Development

SID Journal Development

Development[4] ( ISSN 1011-6370, eISSN: ISSN 1461-7072)[5] is the flagship quarterly journal of the Society for International Development (SID), published by the Palgrave Macmillan press. Since 1957 Development has explored the cutting edge issues of human-centred development. With alternative perspectives on civil society, development policy and community based strategies for livelihoods, gender and social justice, Development keeps readers up to date on the challenging issues of today's rapidly changing world.[5]

The ISO 4 abbreviation for the journal is Development (Rome), but it is also cited as Development (Washington).

SID Forum

The Forum is the blog space of the Society for International Development devoted to collect and generate different opinions on topical issues and events of development. Created in 2010 and led by the SID Secretariat, the Forum is a response to the numerous requests of sharing and networking within and around the SID network. It is the knowledge and resource sharing space of SID dedicated to all its members, chapters, partners and friends worldwide.[6]

Membership

Join the Society for International Development and you will be part of a large and lively global network[1] of individuals and institutions interested in development! Most SID members are organised into local chapters through which they have the opportunity to engage in development initiatives and events (such as conferences, seminars, lecture series, round tables, advocacy campaigns, charity events) in their locale maintaining a strong link with the territory. If there is no chapter in the country or region where you live, you are welcome to join SID through the international secretariat.[7]

Washington Chapter

SID-Washington's previous 15th Street office in Washington, D.C. The SID-W Chapter moved to its new 19th Street office in May 2016.

The Washington Chapter is the largest and most active chapter of the Society for International Development, with 150 member organizations and over a thousand individual members. SID-Washington's fourteen workgroups hold monthly events which connect a global forum of international development practitioners. SID-Washington is a leading international development membership organization that provides a space for dialogue and bridges a dynamic community of individuals and institutions working in international development.

SID-Washington is committed to three principal objectives:

  • Stimulating dialogue and cooperation on global development issues
  • Enhancing skills, knowledge and understanding among development practitioners
  • Providing a network for individuals and organizations working in various sectors of international development

In pursuing this mission, SID-Washington bridges diverse constituencies (including academia, policy makers, progressive business sector, and multilateral institutions) in order to serves as a knowledge broker that supports the generation, exchange and dissemination of ideas.

Notable event speakers

Buenos Aires Chapter

The Buenos Aires Chapter (SID-Baires) was created at the end of 1957, by a group of Argentinean intellectuals and scholars – like the economist Raul Prebish – committed to promote critical thinking and dialogue around development ideas on the eve of the increased attention and interest to new strategies for development, taking place in Argentina – at that time run by the Desarrollista government of Arturo Frondizi – as well as in the rest of the world. The chapter – known as “Argentine Chapter” changed the name to “Buenos Aires Chapter” in 2000, following the creation of two new chapters in the cities of Rosario and La Plata. The Buenos Aires Chapter is one of the oldest chapter of SID that has engaged consistently and continuously for more than 50 years in activities and programmers addressing development questions and processes from a both national and international perspective.

Mission

The Buenos Aires Chapter seeks to become a hub for holistic, multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral thinking able to contribute to the construction of a vision of development that is harmonic, inclusive and sustainable.

Activities

SIDbaires is divided in departments that debate and produce critical thinking and propose public policies for Argentina’s complex reality. A series of policy dialogues are carried out with the aim of exploring and better understanding what model of development is suitable for Argentina and for Latin America as a whole. In that effort, the Chapter has set up a virtual newsroom to produce opinion pieces and analysis – published on the national press - presenting the main findings and key issues emerging in the discussions. SIDbaires members are key rising figures in business, union and government circles.

In September 2010, the first issue of SIDbaires' new magazine, Qué? Hacer para el Desarrollo, was launched.

Netherlands Chapter

Foundation and mission

The Society for International Development in the Netherlands (SID NL) is a debate-driven network organisation founded in 1991. SID NL aims at providing a platform where civil society, NGOs, students, academics, private partners, government officials, politicians and media meet and have the opportunity to share and discuss their commitment to successful international cooperation and development.[10] By creating a platform for discussion for future-oriented and creative advocates, SID NL tries to sharpen the thinking on international development. By bringing together a mix of stakeholders, SID NL is an important actor in the debate on international development cooperation in the Netherlands, influencing decision-makers and informing the public.

Activities

SID NL organises lectures, debates and conferences on international cooperation development. Each activity provides the audience with the opportunity to enter into a debate with influential (international) speaker(s).

SID Lectures

Series of lectures discussing a specific subject from multiple perspectives. The lectures take place at the VU University Amsterdam. Each series of lectures has a common theme:

  • 2004-2005: Security and Development
  • 2005-2006: Religion, Development and International Relations
  • 2006-2007: Democracy and Development
  • 2007-2008: Emerging Global Scarcities and Power Shifts
  • 2008-2009: Economic Growth and the Common Good
  • 2009-2010: Common Goods in a Divided World
  • 2010-2011: Global Values in a Changing World
  • 2011-2012: The State in a Globalizing World
  • 2012-2013: The Private Sector and Development
  • 2013-2014: Dispersed Power in a World in Transition

As of September 2014, the lectures will take place at the ISS Erasmus University in The Hague.

  • 2014-2015: New spaces for international engagement in a globalised world

Lunch meetings

With the monthly Bread&Brains meetings, SID NL creates an informal meeting place for representatives of (international) organisations, NGOs, knowledge institutes, governments and others to connect and discuss topical issues in the field of international cooperation and development. The lunch meetings take place in the Humanity House in the Hague. Prominent speakers from and working in the Netherlands are invited to share their views, while visitors can enjoy an organic lunch and have the opportunity to engage in a debate on pressing issues in the field of international cooperation, development, and peace and justice.

Notable event speakers

  • Dr. Ben Bot, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
  • Dr. Denis Broun, Executive Director of UNITAID
  • Dr. J. Brian Atwood, Former Chair of the OECD Development Assistance Committee
  • Mr. Bert Koenders, Former Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and current Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA).
  • Prof. Dr. Thomas Pogge, author of ‘World Poverty and Human Rights’
  • Mrs. Agnes van Ardenne, Former Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands
  • Prof. Paul Collier, Director for the Centre for the Study of African Economies at the University of Oxford
  • Dr. Jan Pronk, Former Minister for Development Cooperation of the Netherlands and former Special Representative and Head of Mission for the United Nations Mission in Sudan
  • Dr. Inge Kaul, Adjunct professor at the Hertie School of Governance
  • Prof. Dr. He Wenping, Director of African Studies section, Institute of West-Asian & African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
  • Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, Former Deputy Prime Minister and former Finance Minister of Malaysia
  • Mr. Ad Melkert, Former Minister of Social Affairs and Employment of the Netherlands and former Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in Iraq
  • Mrs. Manuela Monteiro, Former Director of Hivos
  • Judge Song Sang-Hyun, President of the International Criminal Court in the Hague
  • Dr. Jan-Peter Balkenende, Former Prime-Minister of the Netherlands
  • Dr. Benjamin Barber, Author of "Why Mayors Should Rule the World"
  • Ms. Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands

Other activities

  • The organisation of ad hoc debates and panel discussions on topical issues
  • The organisation of expert meetings, where invitees debate a particular issue. Expert meetings have taken place on topics such as global citizenship, migration and performance based aid
  • The organisation of network events
  • The publication of reports

References

  1. 1 2 SID Network "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-19. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  2. ↑ SID Secretariat "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  3. ↑ Governing Council "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2013-01-28.
  4. ↑ "Journal Archives". Society for International Development. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Development, Journal of the Society for International Development". Palgrave Macmillan Journal. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  6. ↑ SID Forum www.sidint.net
  7. ↑ Join SID www.sidint.net/node/9853
  8. ↑ Edited Transcript of Remarks Delivered by Kemal Derviş on the occasion of the Annual Gala Dinner, Society for International Development – DC Chapter, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  9. ↑ Aaron Williams, former board member, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  10. ↑ http://sid-nl.org/society-for-international-development
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.