Fwd: Talk Back Vol. 1, #9; 14 December 1999
Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 14:32:23 +0200 (EET)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: Fwd: Talk Back Vol. 1, #9; 14 December 1999
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Eldar Zeynalov <[email protected]>
Fwd: Talk Back Vol. 1, #9; 14 December 1999
Talk Back
The Newsletter of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies
(ICVA)
Volume 1, #9; 14 December 1999
Global IDP Database Officially Launched
Marc Vincent, Norwegian Refugee Council
It's official! After months of preparation, software development, and
many, many hours of research, the Global IDP database
<www.idpproject.org> was fully launched on 10 December 1999, the 51st
anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
With profiles of 14 countries online, the database is accessible to
anyone interested in information on internally displaced persons
(IDPs). In the database, agencies will have access to the necessary
information take action to advocate on behalf of the displaced, to
fight against further displacement against displacement, and to better
assist the displaced.
In addition to comprehensive profiles on various crises of internal
displacement, the website provides training materials on IDPs,
thematic information on, for example, the mandate of the
Representative of the Secretary-General on internally displaced
persons, plus other useful IDP-related links and information.
The 14 countries currently available on the website are: Afghanistan,
Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Burma/Myanmar, Burundi,
Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda.
In September 1999, ICVA member the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)
made an initial limited release of the database in order to evaluate
its operation and gauge initial user reaction. Even with only a few
months of operation one of the clear added values noticed by users is
that the database acts as an information management service that
screens, sorts, and displays information in an accessible manner and
does not act as just an electronic archive.
As the database enters 2000, NRC is pursuing several new avenues of
development, including: an increase to 35 countries covered by the end
of the year (including Armenia, Croatia, China, Ethiopia, Eritrea,
Iraq, Liberia, Nigeria, Philippines, Republic of Yugoslavia, Rwanda,
Russian Federation, Tajikistan, and Turkey); regular updating of the
profiles already in the database; the development of information
sharing arrangements with selected organisations that have established
information networks; and the development of regional information
networks devoted to the coverage of IDP issues with national NGOs and
research institutions.
One of the stated advantages of the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee
"outsourcing" the database to an NGO was to encourage an active
information exchange with NGOs who may otherwise be reluctant to share
information with the UN. In order to facilitate the search for
information, NRC proposes to develop regional information networks to
bring together national NGOs, research institutions, and individuals
with information on internal displacement.
As Francis Deng remarked on the initial launch of the database, this
is a dream come true. It is hoped that the database becomes a useful
tool in promoting the assistance and protection needs of the
internally displaced.
Global IDP Database: www.idpproject.org
-- CALENDAR --
6-7 January 2000: ICVA's Executive Committee meeting, Geneva,
Switzerland
28 January 2000: Kosovo: Refugees -- Return, Reconstruction, Respect,
London, UK. Organised by the ECRE/ICVA Reference Group on former
Yugoslavia. e-mail: [email protected]
======================================
To be added to or removed from the TALK BACK e-mail distribution list,
send an e-mail to [email protected] with the message 'subscribe TALK
BACK' or unsubscribe TALK BACK'.
TALK BACK is also available on the ICVA web site:
<www.icva.ch>
--
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe
Submissions: [email protected]
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected]
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================