Academy for Educational Development (AED)

AED supports innovative education and human development programs in many developing countries. It provides assistance with needs assessment, research, program planning, program implementation, social marketing, and evaluation. AED provides special web sites for some of its programs with considerable information. Its recent reports include: Reflections on a Global Workshop on Children with Disabilities in Developing Countries, and Beyond Enrollment: A Handbook for Improving Girls' Experience in Primary Classrooms. AED's Advancing Basic Literacy and Education (ABEL) project has produced several Information Packages that review research and practice, and a few Resource Packages that address education policy issues for developing countries. The AED home page includes a Links page that will guide you to many web pages relevant to education in developing countries. The AED web site is in English and most of the publications are in English while a few are in several other widely spoken languages.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

ADB makes loans, provides technical assistance, and undertakes research and evaluation for economic and social development in the Asian and Pacific region. Its publications include several on education, including Combating Primary School Dropout in South Asia, Case Studies in Education Research and Policy, and Distance Education for Primary School Teachers. Most of the publications are currently available in print, but a few have been put on the Web in full-text. The web site is in English and most of the publications are in English.

EDC is a private organization that collaborates with governments, institutions, and communities to design, manage and evaluate curriculums, educational tools, and educational systems. It has several projects in developing countries. The EDC web site provides a brief description of each project, has linked web pages for some, and has some reports available in full-text. The EDC projects include Action Group for International School Nutrition and Health, Human Capacity Development: Advancing the Agenda, and Trainer and Teacher Training: Active Learning Methods in Eastern Europe.

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

IDB finances development efforts in Latin American and Caribbean nations and provides technical assistance to assist them. It supports the entire spectrum of economic and social development. IDB makes its interim reports of each project available publicly, which is rare among development banks and organizations. They are sold in hard copy through IDB's Public Information Center. It also prepares overview reports such as those on Education for All: Caribbean Perspectives and Imperatives, and Education and the Information Age, which are briefly described on the web and available for sale in hardcopy.

The ILI provides research, development, and training for literacy in developing countries. It has conducted a series of literacy forums and seminars in various parts of the world, offers intensive "Summer Literacy Training Programs" for professionals in developing countries, and has produced an International Literacy Explorer CD-ROM which is now available on the web, and soon will be available in Spanish and French, as well as English. Its publications include Adult Literacy in Developing Countries: A Contemporary Annotated Bibliography, Lifting Literacy Levels with Story Books: Evidence from the South Pacific, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and South Africa, and Indigenous Education and Literacy Learning. Some of the reports are available in full-text on the web. Others can be ordered. The site includes an on-line Literacy Innovations Newsletter. The site is available only in English.

The United Nations is an international forum with responsibilities for international law, peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and development. Among its many functions, the UN operates the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) which assists countries with development efforts and conducts many studies. UNICEF undertakes most of the UN's elementary and secondary education projects, but the UN Development Program does directly undertake projects related to higher education and technical training. It has issued reports on TA for the Reform of Higher Secondary Education, Human Resources Development and Utilization, and Civil Aviation Training and Technical Support. The most notable is the annual World Human Development Report. Some of the reports are available in full-text on the Web and others are only summarized and must be ordered. The UN's main web site is available in several major languages, but the Development Program site is only in English.

UNESCO's main objective is to contribute to peace and further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights. It strives to do this by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science, culture, and communication. UNESCO is a major source of international statistics by which countries can compare themselves. It has a database of innovative education projects. Its International Institute for Educational Planning was created specifically to assist policy makers, planners, and managers in developing countries. Most of the publications found on this site are not available in full-text on the Web, but have to be ordered. This web site is also available in French.

UNICEF works for the protection of the rights of children throughout the world. It focuses on primary health care, basic education, and sanitation in developing countries. UNICEF publications include State of the World's Children, International Guidelines for Landmine and Unexploded Ordinance Awareness Education, and Transcending the Legacy of Apartheid. Most of the current publications are available in full-text on the Web. The older publications must be ordered and that can be done through the web site. The UNICEF web site is available in English, Spanish, and French.

USAID is the primary U.S. agency responsible for humanitarian aid and development assistance. Education and training are one of its six principle areas of service. It provides grants, food aid, technical assistance, and evaluation services. Many of its research and evaluation reports are available in full-text on the Web.

The World Bank is the largest source of development assistance in the world. It makes almost $30 billion in loans annually, conducts extensive research on development needs, provides considerable training and technical assistance, and does extensive evaluations of its operation. The World Bank now has 6,000 of its reports, or substantial executive summaries of them, on the Web in full-text. These include background research on prevailing conditions, appraisal reports prior to the making of development loans, and evaluation reports assessing the success and sustainability of the projects undertaken with the loans. Most of the reports are in English, but some have been partially translated into Spanish, French, and Arabic.