Training on participation in international standardisation

As part of the EU-China Trade Project II a 5-day training course for Chinese experts was arranged in October 2011 by EUCTP, SAC and CNIS. The training was conducted by the two European instructors Folke Hermansson Snickars (Sweden) and Javier Garcia Diaz (Spain), and consisted of lectures, group work, role plays, and also a study visit at the meeting of ISO Technical Committee 176 Quality management which was convened in Beijing during the same week.

German merger of GTZ, DED and InWent

Germany’s Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, or GIZ, which began work Jan. 1, is the merger of three development agencies: the German Technical Cooperation, or GTZ, German Development Service, or DED, and Inwent. GIZ is the result of one of the most sweeping, and swift, reforms seen in German development cooperation in recent years.

GIZ is placed under the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, or BMZ, giving the federal government complete control over German development aid operations once again. The creation of GIZ is likely to make German aid more efficient, but, as some critics note, not necessarily more effective.

Source: Global Development Briefing, Devex, 7 January 2011

New Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation – EuropeAid, or DG DEVCO,

The European Commission merged DG EuropeAid and DG Development following an announcement in October 2010. The goal of the merger, according to the commission, is to create a single voice for the EU on development and cooperation. Fokion Fotiadis will head the directorate. Its new structure is expected to be fully in place by April 2011.
"DG DEVCO will reinforce the ability of the EU to design state-of-the-art development policy for all developing countries, and enhance policy coherence for development while further improving implementation and delivery mechanisms. It will also define the future development policy drawing from the objectives of the EU’s Green Paper on development policy and contribute to global challenges ahead."
Source: Global development briefing, Devex, 7 January 2011