AMERICAN GIVING | Strengthening communities through generosity
17 March 2008
Aid Official Uses YouTube to Urge Information Sharing
USAID's Fore seeks to stimulate exchange of ideas on poverty reduction
Washington -- The top American foreign aid official is inviting people involved in international development to access a new Internet network known as the Global Development Commons to share information about ways to reduce poverty.
In a YouTube video posting, Henrietta Fore, director of U.S. foreign assistance and administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said the development commons is a way for everyone -- nongovernmental groups, individuals, government officials and business representatives -- to exchange ideas about helping the world’s poor. YouTube is an online video community based in San Bruno, California, and a subsidiary of Google Inc.
Fore made the video in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It was highlighted in February at the quarterly meeting in Washington of USAID's Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA). At the USAID advisory committee meeting, Fore urged those involved in international development to "break down information silos" and share their knowledge and experiences with others.
The Global Development Commons is making it easier for developing countries and their citizens to find solutions and resources that match their development needs, according to a USAID fact sheet.
The commons is a virtual space where those who give or receive foreign aid share ideas in real-time. It is not owned by any government, business or other entity but by the users. It builds on recent changes in the direction of development assistance, said Steve Gale, USAID adviser for strategic communications.
The development network is a "bold initiative that has gained momentum," Gale said.
In her YouTube video, Fore gives the example of a coffee farmer in Peru using the commons Internet network to find out how more effectively to grow and market his crop.
Another example of USAID promotion of knowledge sharing is its microLINKS site, which provides users with the latest information on microenterprise development; best practices; proven approaches from USAID missions and their partners; and a library.
USAID also offers a Trade Capacity Database, which accesses evaluation and project funding data searchable by country, region, trade capacity building category and funding agency.
Another example is the Frame Network, which features information for the environmental community.
At the ACVFA meeting, Carol Adelman, the group's vice chair and director for the Center for Global Development at Washington's Hudson Institute, urged all charitable groups to achieve greater online presences through such social and networking sites as Facebook and MySpace because of those sites' widespread popularity.
More information about the Global Development Commons (PDF) is available on USAID's Web site.
