SciDev.Net

Conservation International is a US-based group set up in 1987 to work on habitat conservation and community participation in Bolivia, Costa Rica and Mexico. Later that year it also launched the world’s first debt-for-nature swap. Conservation International is a major player in world biodiversity science and politics and has convinced a number of governments to set aside land as protected areas, and was among the first groups to adopt the ‘hotspots’ concept of protecting areas with large numbers of threatened species. Together with the Ford Foundation, CI has set up the Center for Environmental Leadership in Business, which promotes business practices that reduce industry’s ecological footprint and contribute to conservation.

An authoritative and comprehensive newsletter covering meetings of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification – as well as all other meetings of UN environment and development-related conventions. ENB writers have high-level access to all meetings and to UN officials, which makes ENB a must-read by experts in the field. It is the best way to follow a meeting without attending it in person. The site also contains links to newsletters covering the latest developments in water, climate change, forests and multilateral environmental agreements.

The ECA helps African governments develop policies for economic and social development, including enhancing the role of science and technology. It carries out policy research, disseminates information, promotes co-operation and offers policy advice to different stakeholders. It also runs a collaborative policy research network — the ECA Science and Technology Network — promoting the dissemination and exchange of information on science and technology management and policy issues in Africa.

Under its Framework Six funding programme, this new European Union initiative aims to translate medical research results into clinical trials in developing countries, particularly in Africa. The first move is to provide 200 million Euros for the development of new medicines and vaccines for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The website contains a general outline of this scheme and limited information on its links with Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa.

IIED promotes sustainable patterns of world development through collaborative research, policy studies, networking and knowledge dissemination. In partnership with other organisations, IIED seeks to help shape a future that ends global poverty and delivers and sustains efficient and equitable management of the world's natural resources.

IIED promotes sustainable patterns of world development through collaborative research, policy studies, networking and knowledge dissemination. In partnership with other organisations, IIED seeks to help shape a future that ends global poverty and delivers and sustains efficient and equitable management of the world's natural resources.

ISESCO aims to promote the separate and distinct educational, scientific and cultural heritage that combines the 57 OIC member countries. The primary purpose of the organisation is to coordinate the activities of specialist agencies responsible for similar functions within each of the OIC member countries.

ISESCO has helped develop a number of action plans and strategies on an OIC-wide basis in areas such as water resources, university education and Islamic culture. ISESCO has also started awarding prizes in education and literacy, sciences and university research, and culture and communication to individuals within the OIC member countries.

UNAIDS is the main advocate for global action on HIV/AIDS, bringing together the expertise, resources and influence of its joint organisations (UNICEF, UNDCP UNFPA, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank). Together with the WHO, UNAIDS produces the most comprehensive and widely consulted source of statistics on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, at both the global and regional level. UNAIDS also produces fact sheets and reports on various issues including mother to child transmission, gender, access to drugs, vaccines and young people.

NEPAD is an economic development programme of the African Union. It aims to eradicate poverty, promote sustainable growth and development, integrate Africa in the world economy and accelerate the empowerment of women. Developing science and technology is a high priority and NEPAD provides policy guidance at continental, regional and national levels.

The NEPAD website, available in English or French, provides news and information on all of NEPAD's activities and hosts a discussion forum that anyone can contribute to.

The Global Science Forum brings together senior policy advisors from member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development  (OECD). It provides an international platform for government science policy officials to raise high priority science policy concerns for deliberation, so that the forum might issue advice in those areas.

ESTNET promotes the dissemination and exchange of information on science and technology management and policy in Africa. Its main objective is to raise awareness among policymakers and other stakeholders of the role science and technology plays in African social and economic development. To this end, it presents a catalogue of relevant institutions and funding agencies as well as event listings. It also provides summaries of projects, journals and documents that deal with science and technology in Africa. In addition, policymakers can use ESTNET's database of consultants to search for experts in science and technology for development.