Global Development Learning Network (GDLN)

  3rd GDLN Global Board meeting, Dar Es Salaam, May 23-24, 2011

 A New Partnership Strategy for GDLN

GDLN today. Ten years into its existence, the Global Development Learning Network, GDLN, has become  a thriving network of networks with a) global reach through its 120+ partners in 80 countries; b) a strong track record and brand as a channel for development learning and knowledge exchange, mainly through videoconference-based and blended learning activities; c) a rich and diverse membership, including universities, think tanks, governmental organizations, etc, with a high degree of commitment to horizontal partnerships.

A changed development landscape. The GDLN Global Board recognizes that in today’s dramatically changed development landscape, the sources of demand for GDLN services are becoming more and more diverse and include, in addition to traditional partners such as the World Bank, other development partners  as well as developing countries themselves, who increasingly seek effective ways to share their own development experiences and learn from their peers, including through South-South and Triangular Cooperation.

The three core capacities of GDLN. The GDLN Global Board recognizes that GDLN is uniquely placed to respond to those new demands, by building on its existing capabilities and successes and by increasing its distributed capacities to effectively mobilize, from within its network, the variety of  skills, competencies, and experience that is required to deliver high-quality knowledge and learning services. The GDLN Global Board has identified three core competencies for GDLN:

1. The brokering and provision of relevant sources of development content and expertise;
2. The design and packaging of that content and expertise into effective knowledge and learning programs and activities; and
3. The systematic delivery of those programs using a wide range of appropriate methods and technologies.

New GDLN affiliation criteria. Recognizing that the three core competencies of GDLN speak to very different skill sets, the GDLN Global Board has adopted revised criteria for affiliation. In the future, GDLN will include partners that specialize in one (or two) of the three core competencies that are needed to deliver quality GDLN programs. This is expected to lead to a more distributed capacity in which partners build on complementary strengths. The new criteria also confirm the commitment of all GDLN partners to:

1. Work within the context of the international development agenda;
2. Abide by accepted quality standards;
3. Work in a spirit of collaboration across the partnership.

The GDLN Global Board will develop a new membership management policy  over the coming months with the aim to adopt it before the end of the Calendar Year 2011. The membership management policy will define how the new criteria will be applied to new as well as to existing Affiliates.

Promoting the renewed GDLN partnership. The GDLN Global Board commits to promote the renewed GDLN partnership as a key platform for knowledge sharing and learning for development. It will do so by positioning GDLN within relevant global processes such as the G20 and the Aid Effectiveness agenda, and by actively reaching out to development stakeholders that represent the new sources of demand in the changed development landscape, including national governments and other partners with an interest in Knowledge Exchange.

The role of the World Bank in GDLN. The GDLN Global Board recognizes that the World Bank Group, as the founder of the now independent network, has a key role to play in providing a strong authorizing environment for the renewed GDLN partnership. Therefore, the GDLN Global Board requests the World Bank to promote the use of GDLN in its own knowledge and learning activities on a consistent basis.

Adopted in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on May 24, 2011.

Board members: Hiroto Arakawa, Vinod Barghava, Han Fraeters, Phil Karp, Bernardo Kipnis, Enrique Maruri, Mor Seck, Svitlana Shytikova, Rebecca Stromeyer (absent), Maree Tait, Tusu  Tusubira (represented by Patrick Mangheni). 

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