DT 4 / 2004

Sweden demands refund from Mozambican government

The Ministry of Education in Mozambique has in principle accepted to refund SEK 1.7 million of Swedish aid used for scholarships, following an audit carried out for Sida by Ernst & Young. Some of the grants were awarded to relatives of the Minister of Education. Sweden will also demand refunds of up to SEK 4 million for transactions that were not supported by documentation. The Ministry is currently trying to track down the missing documentation. Eight donors, including the European Commission, have established a large-scale sector programme, (FASE) for education in Mozambique. The grave findings in the Swedish report have caused serious concern in the donor community.

News March 15, 2004

World Bank-led evaluation calls for transformation of aid practice

Donors still have a long way to go to translate buzz words like “partnership", “ownership" and “donor coordination" into practice, according to an ambitious new evaluation involving almost 20 bilateral and multilateral donors.

News March 15, 2004

Humanitarian aid peer review: DAC’s proposals

The DAC Secretariat has presented a number of options for including humanitarian assistance in the regular...

News March 15, 2004

Nordic Plus launches ambitious goals for harmonisation

The Nordic Plus Group has presented a concrete joint action plan for harmonisation of their donor practices....

News March 15, 2004

In Brief

News March 15, 2004

Lowest common denominator

Sweden has established itself as a lead donor in fighting corruption. Its main weapons are transparency...

Opinion Editorial March 15, 2004

Improving Danida’s evaluation capacity

A team of international experts gave high marks to the Evaluation Secretariat of Danish International Development Assistance (Danida) last year, describing it as “state of the art". (See DT 5-6/03)

News March 15, 2004

Emerging forms of development work in South and North

A recent evaluation of the Danish Association for International Cooperation (MS) claims that personnel-based...

Opinion March 15, 2004

State agencies received over SEK 300m in Swedish aid funds in 2003

Sida transferred SEK 318 million to Swedish state agencies last year; equal to about a quarter of all...

Business March 15, 2004

Norwegian emergency relief firms benefit from ‘Iraq effect’

The crisis in Iraq in 2003 increased the demand for Norwegian emergency relief products. Sales through...

Business March 15, 2004

Sida feasibility study for Afghan road

The Afghan Interim Administration (AIA) has requested the Swedish International Development Cooperation...

Business March 15, 2004

Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Contract Notice

Evaluation of Danish Support to Water Supply and Sanitation

Business March 15, 2005

Pre-qualification for Vietnam water programme

The Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs invites consulting firms to submit expressions of interest for...

Business March 15, 2004

Norwegian Church Aid takes to the streets

Norwegian Church Aid got a “fantastic response" when it hired a commercial company to recruit donors in the street. Now, the organisation will take to the streets on its own.

News March 15, 2004

Danish COWI wins Sida and NORAD contracts

Nordic aid is increasingly untied. So far, however, it appears that the largest consulting companies...

Business March 15, 2004

Donors want to report CDM investments as aid

The so-called Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was designed with the dual purpose of helping poor countries...

News March 15, 2004

Aid plays key role in Danish strategy on Kyoto Protocol

Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol Denmark committed itself to reduce yearly carbon emissions by no less than...

News March 15, 2004