Awards 1998-2003 | February 2020

UN/UNDP Mongolia Development Portal (www.un-mongolia.mn)

I launched this portal in 1997, in the middle of a major economic crisis in Mongolia. This award-winning (winner in 1998 of the People's Choice WebSite 500 award and the CyberTeddy Top 500 Website award) and pioneering United Nations Mongolia development web portal was singled out by UN headquarters as an example of what a country office website should be like.

At this time, Mongolia was still recovering from the chaotic and turbulent transition from Communism to free markets and democracy begun at the start of the 1990s, called by some "one of the biggest peacetime economic collapses ever" (Mongolia's Economic Reforms: Background, Content and Prospects, Richard Pomfret, University of Adelaide, 1994). There was a thirst for information: access to the Internet was still limited and access to mobile phones was just the preserve of the rich. As a legacy of the past, information, especially that about the outside world and the country’s true economic and social conditions, was restricted. During the years of Communism, even simple travel from one place to the next was strictly regulated.

While today we can take it for granted that the Internet, and mobile and smart phones, deliver the world’s information in seconds, this just was not the case in the late 1990s in Mongolia.

"Cyber-Teddy's Top 500 Web Site" was an online award from the late 1990s.

 The UN/UNDP Mongolia development web portal addressed the urgent need to communicate what was happening in the country during a major crisis, and to transparently show what the UN was doing to address the crisis. It made critical data on the country’s development easy to find, and informed the wider world about the country and its people and culture. While the Internet had only just arrived in Mongolia, from the start the UNDP Mongolia Communications Office was experimenting with this powerful new technology to reach a global audience. This included Mongolia’s first web magazine, Ger (launched in 1998). After the www.un-mongolia.mn website launched in 1997, a media campaign began to inform readers of its presence. This ad appeared regularly in magazines, newsletters and newspapers.

"A UN System site. A very nice, complete, professional site. Lots of information, easily accessible and well laid out. The information is comprehensive and up-to-date. This is a model of what a UNDP CO web site should be."

I was head of communications for the United Nations mission in Mongolia from 1997 to 1999. The mission had to primarily tackle three major crises: the country's turbulent transition from Communism to free markets and democracy, the social and economic crash this caused, and the Asian Financial Crisis (Pomfret 2000) (Quah 2003)*.

UNDP Mongolia staff photo 1997. I served for two years as the UNDP Mongolia head of communications (1997-1999). I am sitting front row centre left of the UN Resident Coordinator Douglas Gardner.

Richard Pomfret said in 1994 "In 1991 Mongolia suffered one of the biggest peacetime economic collapses ever (Mongolia's Economic Reforms: Background, Content and Prospects, Richard Pomfret, University of Adelaide, 1994)."

From Curbing Corruption in Asia: A Comparative Study of Six Countries by Jon S. T. Quah: "The combined effect of these three shocks was devastating as 'Mongolia suffered the most serious peacetime economic collapse any nation has faced during this century'. Indeed, Mongolia's economic collapse 'was possibly the greatest of all the (peaceful) formerly'" Communist countries. 

"The years 1998 and 1999 have been volatile ones for Mongolia, with revolving door governments, the assassination of a minister, emerging corruption, a banking scandal, in-fighting within the ruling Democratic Coalition, frequent paralysis within the Parliament, and disputes over the Constitution. Economically, the period was unstable and rife with controversies." Mongolia in 1998 and 1999: Past, Present, and Future at the New Millennium by Sheldon R. Severinghaus, Asian Survey, Vol. 40, No. 1, A Survey of Asia in 1999 (Jan. - Feb., 2000), pp. 130-139 (Publisher: University of California)

Writing in 2018, author John West  found, in a chapter titled Mongolia's Corruption Curse (Transparency International and the World Bank had found corruption worsened in Mongolia after 2001), "In many ways, Mongolia has everything going for it. After being a satellite state of the former Soviet Union for much of the twentieth century, Mongolia regained its independence with the end of the Cold War. A relatively peaceful political revolution in the early 1990s ushered in a multi-party democracy and open society which have remained in place. ... And it is blessed with vast reserves of copper, gold, coal, molybdenum, fluorspar, uranium, tin and tungsten deposits. True, Mongolia experienced great upheavals as the breakup of the Soviet Union saw its trade decline by 80%. But Mongolia was also perfectly placed to benefit from the commodity super cycle driven by China, which is now the destination for the vast majority of its exports.

"However, despite much hype about the Mongolian "wolf economy", this country of so much promise is being dragged down by massive corruption. ...

"Mongolia's corruption is greatly weakening its attractiveness as an investment destination, is fracturing society and weakening its fragile political institutions. Its culture of corruption has also fed its love-hate relationship with foreign investors, which has destabilized the economy." Asian Century ... on a Knife-edge: A 360 Degree Analysis of Asia's Recent Economic Development by John West, Springer, 24 January 2018.  

In this role, I pioneered innovative use of the Internet and digital resources to communicate the UN's work and Mongolia's unfolding crises. The UN called this work a “role model” for the wider UN and country offices. A survey of United Nations country office websites in 2000 ranked the UN Mongolia website I launched in 1997 and oversaw for two years (1997-1999), third best in the world, saying: “A UN System site. A very nice, complete, professional site. Lots of information, easily accessible and well laid out. The information is comprehensive and up-to-date. This is a model of what a UNDP CO web site should be.” (http://www.scribd.com/doc/274319690/UNDP-Mongolia-United-Nations-2000-Survey-of-Country-Office-Websites)

As part of a strategic plan to raise awareness of Mongolia’s development challenges and to spur action on meeting them, a Communications Office was established for the UN mission in 1997. Acting as a strategic hub, the Communications Office and its dynamic and talented team, were able to leverage the existing budget to spur action on many fronts.

In 2001, the UN won the Nobel Peace Prize for “their work for a better organized and more peaceful world” and its communications innovations, with work such as that in Mongolia being cited as a contributing factor to the awarding of the Prize. 

The Nobel Peace Prize 2001 joint winners.

GOSH Child Health Portal (www.gosh.nhs.uk)

In 2001 I undertook a two-year contract to modernise the online resources for the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust (GOSH)/Institute of Child Health (ICH). My strategy was inspired and informed by initiatives encountered while working as a health and medical journalist in 1990s Canada - a time where government austerity spurred a need to experiment and try new ways of doing things.

Having seen the impact first-hand of pilot experiments in Toronto aimed at widening access to information and resources for patients and their families, I applied this knowledge to the GOSH Child Health Portal Project (2001 to 2003). Drawing on the wider NHS Modernisation Plan, and a multi-year consultation process undertaken by the hospital, the Project was launched in three phases. 

How far the UK had fallen out of step with global developments with the Internet became clear from the start. The distance that had to be traveled in the span of two years was vast. Essentially, to go from being a web laggard to a web leader. 

Award-winning (http://www.scribd.com/doc/35249271/Childnet-Awards-2003-Brochure), the GOSH Child Health Portal was called by The Guardian newspaper one of the “three most admired websites in the UK public and voluntary sectors,” and a UK government assessment called the overall GOSH child health web portal a role model for the NHS. At the time, Prime Minister Tony Blair (whose wife, Cherie Blair, was an early supporter and champion of the project) had this to say: “Making sure that your child has helpful, easy-to-read information will make a significant difference to their time in hospital. I am sure that this website will prove very useful for children and their families.”

The project was delivered in three phases. At every stage, progress was communicated to the wider public and colleagues in various ways, via in-house media and through constant engagement with British news outlets. Screen grabs and other resources from the project can be found online here: 

Phase 1: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=g826gFjEXWsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=gosh+health+phase+1a&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj5u__dqIHLAhVJOxoKHZ3IDZcQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=gosh%20health%20phase%201a&f=false 

Phase 2: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=E2ZVlFbrCzsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=gosh+health+phase+2a&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEodr0qIHLAhWK2BoKHStJB7QQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=gosh%20health%20phase%202a&f=false

Phase 3: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KVE6QqDp1HsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=gosh+health+phase+3&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXwe-FqYHLAhVBvxoKHXhOCooQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=gosh%20health%20phase%203&f=false

Project documents: https://books.google.ca/books?id=4aeDBgAAQBAJ&dq=gosh+child+health+portal+key+documents&source=gbs_navlinks_s

The Cable and Wireless Childnet Award called Children First “an outstanding example of how a hospital can create quality, authoritative information on issues relating to health in a fun, child-centered and accessible way.”

More here from The Guardian and CBS: Hospital unveils international website for children and Web Projects For Kids Get Their Due 

The Childnet Awards in 2003 were awarded by Trond Waage, the Norwegian Ombudsman for Children, at the Science Museum in London (and hosted by British media personality Carol Vorderman) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_Vorderman).

The GOSH Child Health Portal team receive the Childnet Award in 2003 at London's Science Museum (Photo: CBBC Newsround).

"Web Projects For Kids Get Their Due", CBS News, April 25, 2003. "First place in the not-for-profit category went to Britain's largest children's hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital here in London (www.gosh.nhs.uk/kidsandteens). There is nothing fun about being sick, yet this child-friendly site is both entertaining and educational. It also gives young patients an opportunity to interact in a secure environment."

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5311-1052

© David South Consulting 2020

War, Peace and Development | May 2018

Preface

It could be said the world and the global order both stand at a crossroads. Countries have never been so connected as they are today because of the communications revolution that began in the 1990s. The trade linkages brought about by the most recent phase of globalization (post-1980s) have dramatically increased prosperity for some regions and countries, China being the most obvious example. But, as we are reminded on a daily basis, the environment is stressed, with species depletion and pollution being the most extreme signs of this stress. And war and civil strife are still with us.

In 2015, the United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 15 years after it had launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000. Both sets of goals attempt to benchmark progress on improvements to human well-being and to give countries and the international community a road-map to what is most important. The eight MDGs have been followed up with 17 SDGs (and many views on how effective such a strategy really is). It seemed as good a time as ever to reflect on what role I have played in this period, as well as to look forward to what will happen over the next 12 years (2030).    

The Quotes

"The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members."

“We must build a new world – a far better world – one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected.” 

US President Harry S. Truman

"It has been said that the United Nations was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell." 

UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold at University of California Convocation, 13 May 1954.

"Today continuing poverty and distress are a deeper and more important cause of international tensions, of the conditions that can produce war, than previously."

"The stark and inescapable fact is that today we cannot defend our society by war since total war is total destruction, and if war is used as an instrument of policy, eventually we will have total war."

"The grim fact is that we prepare for war like precocious giants, and for peace like retarded pygmies."

Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson

"A shift is necessary toward lifestyles less geared to environmentally-damaging consumption patterns."

"We may get to the point where the only way of saving the world will be for industrial civilization to collapse."

Maurice F. Strong, Former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations; Founder of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 

"a super-crate, to ship a fiasco to hell"

"a sinister emblem for world power"

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright 

The First Development Phase 

From its founding, the United Nations was constructed around the highest human aspirations after two devastating World Wars, while also drawing fire from its critics and skeptics (American architect Frank Lloyd Wright being one of the more biting).

In January 1949, US President Harry Truman set forth a challenge for the remainder of the 20th Century. The wealthy nations must aid the poorer ones to become wealthier and more democratic: in short, to become like the United States (Starke 2001: 143). The means of accomplishing this was to be international development, and its tool, foreign aid. 

Development as defined by President Truman at the start of the first international development period of the 20th century meant “nothing less than freeing a people from want, war, and tyranny, a definition it is hard to improve on even today (Starke 2000: 153).”

I grew up in the Canada of the 1970s and 1980s. For most of that time, the charismatic and internationally-minded Liberal Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was in power. Canada's profile and role in the United Nations and international development was high at this time, in particular in 'peacekeeping' missions.

Peacekeeping holds a special place for Canadians. An innovative initiative from then-Ambassador to the United Nations and later Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in the 1950s (he received the Nobel Peace Prize for it), Canada has since had a long history with peacekeeping missions.

When I served with the Canadian Armed Forces Reserve in the early 1980s, we trained not only for war with our Cold War foe the Soviet Union, but also for peacekeeping missions. In fact I nearly went on one if not for my acceptance to study at the University of Toronto in 1985. Otherwise, I would have been off on a peacekeeping mission that year.

This phase of international development and the United Nations was framed by the Cold War and its tensions and limits: the world divided between opposing ideologies and economic systems and travel between these two worlds (Communism versus free markets and democracy) was severely restricted. 

And when I graduated in 1989 from the University of Toronto, all this fell apart very quickly. The First Phase of International Development had come to a swift end. 

Above: Pierre Trudeau, John Turner, Jean Chretien and Prime Minister Lester Pearson. Photographed 4 April 1967. Source: Digital Library of Canada. Below: David South photographed at Hillcrest High School, Ottawa, Canada, 1985.

The Second Development Phase

In 1997, I was hired to head the communications office for the UN/UNDP Mongolia mission. It was a pivotal time in international development. With the forces of 'globalization' unleashed (and China's rapid rise already well underway), the UN was clearly also in a period of great change and stress. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and its trading system (Comecon), pitched former Communist countries into severe crisis. Comecon locked-in Soviet Union satellite allied nations (including Mongolia) into a reciprocal arrangement of trade links and subsidies. The Mongolia I arrived in in 1997 was a country in turmoil. Poverty was widespread, food was difficult to get, unemployment was very high, families were falling apart under the stress of the crisis, and people's health was poor, with very high rates of alcoholism and STDs. 

This second phase of international development can be characterized by the international response to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the adjustment to the rapid changes brought about by the forces of globalization. The communications revolution was getting underway at this time as the Internet began to arrive, even in Mongolia, which had been cut-off from full relations with the Western world during the period of Communism. Mobile (cell) phones were around but still a luxury item used by wealthy businessmen or senior government officials. International aid and development was primarily in the domain of large international institutions and bilateral donors. 

UN/UNDP Mongolia played an important role in helping to stabilize Mongolia during the late 1990s and to put in place the foundations for recovery from crisis (called "one of the biggest peacetime economic collapses ever" at the time). Mongolia eventually, briefly, became the fastest growing economy in the world by the second decade of the 21st century.

In the 1990s, the UN was being challenged to think and do things differently and to respond to the communications revolution. This presented a great opportunity to use the Internet and computing to communicate in new ways; to innovate and experiment. Despite its crisis, Mongolia was able to embrace these new ways and was called a "role model" for the wider United Nations by 1999 (the end of my assignment in Mongolia).   

United Nations identity card circa 1997.

UN head of communications for Mongolia, David South (seated front row centre), 1997-1999.

The Third Development Phase

With the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, it could be argued, a third development phase had begun. The turn of the century was also during the so-called 'Dotcom Bubble' when investment in the Internet economy was peaking, and China was on the cusp of being accepted into the WTO (World Trade Organization) and getting set for another period of rapid expansion and growth. Both phenomenon were fueling greater trade and connectivity, especially between the countries of the so-called "global South".

The MDGs were an attempt to guide and focus development at the international and national level by setting forth eight goals as a challenge. But, just as these internationally agreed goals were being rolled out, something was quietly happening away from New York. In China, it was clear the country had done something truly remarkable: following its own development goals and plans, China lifted the largest number of people in human history out of poverty in the shortest space of time. Those who are students of history will know how stunning an accomplishment this is: China was once a country held up as a poster child for poverty, political instability, frequent famines, human misery and global isolation. China had been the country featured in the charity and famine appeals pleading for relief and aid, just as the countries in Africa and Southeast Asia were to become.

China's growing export power was also powering globalization. And liberalized trade was powering growth for many countries in Asia and Latin America. This increasing export trade and global connectivity was creating new wealth for many countries and growing the middle classes of the so-called 'global South'. At the same time, the Internet revolution was being joined by the mobile technologies revolution. These communications tools were making it possible to connect with people who had been frozen out of global markets, while simultaneously creating whole new digital economies employing people and creating new wealth.

Beginning in late 2006 after working around the world in various UN missions on assignments related to the MDGs, I began an exciting new opportunity with the then-Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SSC) (now the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation - UNOSSC).   

From 9-11 December 2017, I participated in the Workshop on Innovations in Service Delivery: The Scope for South-South and Triangular Cooperation held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hosted by the a2i (access to information) division of the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Office, the implementing unit for Digital Bangladesh, it was convened by the Government of Bangladesh and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC). Senior Partner David South is third from the left on the panel. Photo: Yoko Shimura

21 Years of Creating International Change | 1997 - 2018

Timeline

Early to Mid-1990s: Covering the United Nations as a Journalist. Stories included the Canadian peacekeeping mission in Somalia (Somali Killings Reveal Ugly Side of Elite Regiment and Does the UN know what it's doing?), debates over the response to the conflict in the Balkans (Peaceniks Questioning Air-Raid Strategy in Bosnia), and what constitutes appropriate food aid (Aid Organization Gives Overseas Hungry Diet Food). In 1993 I covered the World Health Organization's Canada-wide roll-out of the Healthy Cities initiative in the feature Taking Medicine to the People: Four Innovators in Community Health for Canadian Living magazine. In 1996 I covered, from Port-au-Prince, the Canadian UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti for Id Magazine (Haiti Turns to Free-Market Economics and the UN to Save Itself).

1997: Begin a two-year assignment as head of communications for the UN/UNDP Mongolia mission (1997-1999). Called "one of the biggest peacetime economic collapses ever", I was thrown into the deep end as part of the UN's efforts to rescue Mongolia from this severe crisis. I established the award-winning UN/UNDP Mongolia Communications Office (a high-profile and lively hub staffed by media professionals) and quickly developed and launched the award-winning UN Mongolia Development Portal (www.un-mongolia.mn) (called a "role model" for the United Nations). I developed and launched the mission's first newsletter, Blue Sky Bulletin, as well as the first Mongolian Human Development Report, the Mongolian AIDS Bulletin, the UN's and Mongolia's first online magazine, Ger, while overseeing the country's largest bilingual online and offline publishing operation. In Starting from Scratch: The Challenge of Transition, I document the challenge to re-start Mongolia's data collection after it was wiped off the mainframe computers that once stored it during the Communist period (a cautionary tale for our times if there ever was one!). In Freedom of Expression: Introducing Investigative Journalism to Local Media in Mongolia, I give an account of a workshop for Mongolian journalists keen to learn more about the discipline of investigative journalism and how important it is in a democracy. In Partnership for Progress: UNDP in Mongolia, I painted a picture of Mongolia's country conditions in 1997, what was at stake, and how the UN was responding.  

1998: Develop and launch Mongolia's first web magazine, Ger. Lead two international media tours of the country, one in 1997 (Scandinavian media), and the other in 1998 (women journalists). Many stories were generated from the two international media tours and were compiled in books published by UNDP, including  In Their Own Words: Selected Writings by Journalists on Mongolia, 1997-1999 (ISBN 99929-5-043-9). Read an example story here: The Milk of Kindness Flows in a Peculiar Land A Steppe From Nowhere by Leslie Chang (The Asian Wall Street Journal, 15 August 1998). 

1999: Publish many books on Mongolia's development, including In Their Own Words: Selected Writings by Journalists on Mongolia, 1997-1999 (ISBN 99929-5-043-9) and the Mongolian rock and pop book (ISBN  99929-5-018-8). Whilst working for a UK-based international development consultancy, I prepared papers for the American Foundation for AIDS Research, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), for various UN agencies including UNCTAD and UNAIDS, and coordinated the preparation of the report and launch strategy for the World Bank's Task Force on Higher Education.    

2000: My work in Mongolia is covered and cited in various books published after 1999, including Wild East: Travels in the New Mongolia by Jill Lawless (ISBN 97814-5-964-5783), Modern Mongolia: From Khans to Commissars to Capitalists by Morris Rossabi (ISBN 9780-5-209-38625), and Dateline Mongolia: An American Journalist in Nomad's Land by Michael Kohn (ISBN 9781-5-7143-1554). Ukraine. Work on the strategic re-launch of the UN Ukraine web portal and advise on the communications strategy for the UN Resident Coordinator. This is also the year in which the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were launched and the new development portal reflected this in its structure and content. 

2001: Begin work on the development of the award-winning GOSH Child Health Portal for the National Health Service (NHS). As part of the NHS' Modernisation Plan, it was called a "role model" for the NHS and one of the “three most admired websites in the UK public and voluntary sectors,” and was developed and launched under heavy public and media scrutiny. Each stage of the Portal's development would coincide with a high-profile media launch. For example, the Hospital's 150th birthday celebrations included Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and pop star Madonna.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2001 joint winners.

2002/2003: Win the Childnet Award in 2003 for the Children First website. 

2002/2003: Win the Cable & Wireless Childnet Award in 2003 for the Children First website.

2004: South Africa. Work at the University of Pretoria for UN South Africa on a digital communications and marketing strategy for a youth volunteer organization.  

2005: Turkmenistan and Mongolia. Work for UN missions on an MDGs communications strategy and on the country programme review.

2006: Turkmenistan. Work for UNICEF. Begin working for the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SSC) in New York. 

2007: Research and write UN e-newsletter Development Challenges, South-South Solutions for UNDP's Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SSC). Sample Stories:

Computing in Africa is Set to Get a Big Boost

Ring Tones and Mobile Phone Downloads are Generating Income for Local Musicians in Africa

Dynamic Growth in African ICT is Unlocking Secrets of SME Treasure Trove

Grassroots Entrepreneurs Now Have Many Ways to Fund Their Enterprises

Trade to Benefit the Poor Up in 2006 and to Grow in 2007

Business as a Tool to Do Good

Social Networking Websites: A Way Out of Poverty

Creative and Inventive Ways to Aid the Global Poor

Innovation from the Global South

Youth Surge in the South A Great Business Opportunity

Web 2.0 to the Rescue! Using Web and Text to Beat Shortages in Africa

Mobile Phones: Engineering South's Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

2008: Research and write UN e-newsletter Development Challenges, South-South Solutions for UNDP's Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SSC). Sample Stories:

Cyber Cities in the South: An Oasis of Opportunity

Nollywood: Booming Nigerian Film Industry

Illiterate Get Internet at the Touch of a Button

The South Has a Good Story to Tell

Insects Can Help in a Food Crisis

New Weapon Against Crime in the South

Urban Youth: A Great Source of Untapped Growth

Innovative Mobile Phone Applications Storm South

Computer 'Gold Farming' Turning Virtual Reality into Real Profits

Mobile Phones: New Market Tools for the Poor

Reader response experiment begins with crowd-powered news website NowPublic. Initial proposal for the development of book or magazine on innovation. Awarded grant for Cuba study tour by BSHF. 

2009: Research and write UN e-newsletter Development Challenges, South-South Solutions for UNDP's Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SSC). Sample Stories:

Debt-free Homes for the Poor

DIY Solution Charges Mobile Phones with Batteries

Cashing in on Music in Brazil

Solar Powered Village Kick-Starts Development Goals

Rebuilding After Chinese Earthquake: Beautiful Bamboo Homes

Making the World a Better Place for Southern Projects

Growing a Southern Brand to Global Success: The Olam Story

Afropolitan: African Fashion Scene Bursting with Energy

Diigtal Mapping to put Slums on the Map

Adjust e-newsletter content based on reader responses. Begin posting content on Twitter platform.

2010: Begin development of the new global magazine Southern Innovator with the UN's Special Unit for South-South Cooperation (SSC) and a design team in Iceland led by Solveig Rolfsdottir. The magazine was produced to the UN's design standards, as well as abiding by the UN's Global Compact. With production in Iceland, the magazine could be designed and laid out using 100 percent renewable energy sources.

Develop and launch the new branding for David South Consulting and its website, davidsouthconsulting.com, all designed by one of Iceland's top graphic designers and illustrators, Solveig Rolfsdottir. 

2011: Launch the first issue of Southern Innovator Magazine at the GSSD Expo in Rome, Italy.

It is called “a terrific tour de force of what is interesting, cutting edge and relevant in the global mobile/ICT space…”. Launch www.southerninnovator.org website (now www.southerninnovator.com) and social media including Twitter account @SouthSouth1.

To avoid censorship and interference, Southern Innovator's editorial operations were based in London, UK and its design studio was based in Reykjavik, Iceland (a high-ranking country in the World Press Freedom rankings and a former top place holder in the UNDP Human Development Index). Using a women-led design studio, it developed a design vision that could communicate across borders using clear graphic design and high-quality images. For example, when it launched in 2011, infographics were rare in development publications and at the UN; now they are commonplace. It also tried to be as  ‘green’ as possible. The studio was powered on 100 per cent renewable energy (in particular, geothermal energy); the hard copy of the magazine is printed on paper from renewable forests.

2012: Launch second and third issues of Southern Innovator Magazine at the GSSD Expo in Vienna, Austria.

Called a "Beautiful, inspiring magazine from UNDP on South-South innovation.”

With 201 Development Challenges, South-South Solutions stories posted on the NowPublic platform, a total of 336,289 views by 2012 had occurred, according to the NowPublic counter.

2013: Launch fourth issue of Southern Innovator Magazine at the GSSD Expo in Nairobi, Kenya.

Called “fantastic, great content and a beautiful design!” and “Always inspiring.”.

2014: Launch fifth issue of Southern Innovator Magazine at the GSSD Expo in Washington, D.C. U.S.A. The Twitter account @SouthSouth1 called “ one of the best sources out there for news and info on #solutions to #SouthSouth challenges.” Final issues of e-newsletter Development Challenges, South-South Solutions published.  

The two publications proved influential on a number of fronts, being early to draw attention to the following: the rising use of mobile phones and information technology in development, the world becoming an urban place, innovative food solutions including the nascent insect food sector (now a big thing), altering perspectives on what is possible in Africa, the use of data science to innovate development, and tracking the growing number of technology hubs and the fast-growing start-up culture in the global South. The publications were cited for shaping the new strategic direction adopted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (the UN’s leading development organisation) and its first youth strategy, and the development of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As the world’s first global innovator magazine, Southern Innovator’s design had to be appropriate for a diverse audience. It has drawn praise for being both “beautiful” and “inspiring”, while its use of sharp, modern graphic design and infographics inspired others in the UN to up their game when it comes to design.

The Southern origins of sustainable development goals: Ideas, actors, aspirations by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and Bhumika Muchhala (SDG Resource Centre).

2015: Develop scale-up plan for Southern Innovator Magazine.

South-South cooperation and innovation have now become the key methodology for the UN’s delivery of its programmes and projects. In 2015, China pledged US $2 billion to “support South-South cooperation” and called for the international community to “deepen South-South and tripartite cooperation”. In development parlance, they have been “Mainstreaming South-South and Triangular Cooperation” in their plans.

The current policy vogue for innovation in developing and developed countries can trace its roots back to some of the early work done by these two publications (and which was further amplified by the annual Global South-South Development Expo (GSSD Expo), which often would feature innovators from the two publications, spreading the innovation message around the world). Both publications had set out to inspire and “champion a global 21st century innovator culture”. And they have done this, as can be seen from concrete evidence and anecdotal responses from individuals and organizations alike.

UN Bribery Scandal

After the arrests in 2015 related to the unfolding UN Bribery Scandal (read more on this here: The Strange Saga of "South-South News"), the budget for the UNOSSC was suspended pending the outcome of two internal audits conducted by the United Nations (Statement Concerning the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation). The second audit can be found online here: https://www.scribd.com/doc/307245166/OIOS-Audit-of-Ng-South-South-News-OIOS-Cut-Out-Ban-Photo-Op-with-Ng-at-UNCA-Ball.

UNDP (the United Nations Development Programme) had the following to say about the UNOSSC's senior management up to 2015 under the Directorship of United Nations Envoy for South-South Cooperation, Yiping Zhou, calling it "unsatisfactory":

"The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) is an independent entity created by the General Assembly in 1974, General Assembly resolution 3251(XXIX), to support cooperation among developing countries.

UNOSSC receives its mandate and policy framework from General Assembly decisions and resolutions. UNOSSC also serves as the Secretariat of the High-level Committee (HLC) on South-South Cooperation, a subsidiary body of the General Assembly.

UNOSSC is hosted by UNDP and, as is the case with similar entities, is expected to follow UNDP rules and regulations, including those pertaining to financial and HR management. UNOSSC is likewise subject to UNDP’s oversight and due diligence instruments.

UNDP’s Office of Audit and Investigation (OAI) recently published an Audit of UNOSSC which rated the Office ‘unsatisfactory’.

The Audit makes 16 recommendations with the objective of improving UNOSSC’s effectiveness in the areas of: governance; programme and project activities; and operations." Excerpt from Statement (5 May 2016)

The retirement in 2016 of Southern Innovator's Editor-in-Chief, Cosmas Gitta, meant the magazine lost its strongest advocate within the UNOSSC and thus was not included in the next budget post-audits.

The US investigations by the F.B.I. (Federal Bureau of Investigation) leading to arrests and subsequent court trials from 2015 onwards, were joined by Australian authorities in 2018. These revelations and confessions paint a picture of a high-level, multinational criminal conspiracy to launder money and pay bribes at the United Nations that also included the collusion and aid of various senior UN officials at the time. Not only do these revelations offer new context to Southern Innovator's attempts to gain future support from the UNOSSC, they explain why Southern Innovator faced extensive obstruction, deception and unethical and unprofessional behaviour during this time, despite the documented success of the magazine and its associated e-newsletter to reach and inspire readers, while shaping UN strategic policy on innovation (Strategic framework of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperatio, 2014-2017).   

2016: Many books have been published citing stories from the e-newsletter Development Challenges, South-South Solutions and Southern Innovator Magazine. They include: Beyond Gated Communities edited by Samar Bagaeen and Ola Uduku (Routledge: 2015), Chile in Transition: Prospects and Challenges for Latin America's Forerunner of Development by Roland Benedikter and Katja Siepmann (Springer: 2015), Export Now: Five Keys to Entering New Markets by Frank Lavin and Peter Cohan (John Wiley & Sons: 2011), Innovation Africa: Emerging Hubs of Excellence edited by Olugbenga Adesida, Geci Karuri-Sebina and João Resende-Santos (Emerald Group Publishing: 2016), New Directions in Children's and Adolescents' Information Behavior Research edited by Dania Bilal and Jamshid Beheshti (Emerald Group Publishing: 2014), A Sociological Approach to Health Determinants by Toni Schofield (Cambridge University Press: 2015). 

Many papers have been published citing stories from the e-newsletter and the magazine. They include: Afro-futurism and the aesthetics of hope in Bekolo's Les Saignantes and Kahiu's Pumzi by Mich Nyawalo, Journal of the African Literature Association, Volume 10, 2016, Issue 2, Autonomous Systems in the Intelligence Community: Many Possibilities and Challenges by Jenny R. Holzer, PhD, and Franklin L. Moses, PhD, Studies in Intelligence Vol 59, No. 1 (Extracts, March 2015), Decoding the Brand DNA: A Design Methodology Applied to Favela Fashion by Magali Olhats, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianopolis, 2012, Edible Insects and the Future of Food: A Foresight Scenario Exercise on Entomophagy and Global Food Security by Dominic Glover and Alexandra Sexton, Institute of Development Studies, King’s College London, Evidence Report No 149, September 2015, Evaluation of Kenyan Film Industry: Historical Perspective by Edwin Ngure Nyutho, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nairobi, 2015, Evaluation of the Regional Programme for Africa (2008-2013), UNDP Independent Evaluation Office, 2013, High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation Seventeenth Session: Framework of operational guidelines on United Nations support to South-South and triangular cooperation: Note by the Secretary-General, 22-25 May 2012, New York, The New Middle Class and Urban Transformation in Africa: A Case Study of Accra, Ghana by Komiete Tetteh, The University of British Colombia, 2016,Propagating Gender Struggles Through Nollywood: Towards a Transformative Approach by Nita Byack George Iruobe, Geonita Initiative for Women and Child Development, 17 July 2015, Reberberation: Musicians and the Mobilization of Tradition in the Berber Culture Movement by TMG Wiedenkenner et al, The University of Arizona,  2013, Recasting ‘truisms’ of low carbon technology cooperation through innovation systems: insights from the developing world by Alexandra Mallett, Innovation and Development, 5:2, 297-311, DOI: 10.1080/2157930X.2015.1049851, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2015, "Slam the Slums": Understanding architecture through the poor by Malini Foobalan, November 26th, 2009, Song Lines: Mapping the South African Live Performance Landscape: Report of the CSA 2013 Live Mapping Project Compiled by Concerts South Africa, Samro Foundation, 2013, Strategic Framework of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, 2014-2017, Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Office for Project Services, 27 to 31 January 2014, New York, Wearing Your Map on Your Sleeve: Practices of Identification in the Creation and Consumption of Philippine Map T-shirts by Pamela Gloria Cajilig, paper presented at the 6th Global Conference (2014): Fashion: Exploring Critical Issues, Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom, 15th to 18th September 2014,  Young Girls' Affective Responses to Access and Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Information-Poor Societies by Dania Bilal et al, New Directions in Children's and Adolescents' Information Behavior Research, Library and Information Science, Volume 10, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2014,Youth Empowered as Catalysts for Sustainable Human Development: UNDP Youth Strategy 2014-2017, United Nations Development Programme, Bureau for Development Policy.

Testimonials

“The e-newsletter Development Challenges, South-South Solutions proved to be a timely and prescient resource on the fast-changing global South, tracking the rise of an innovator culture driven by the rapid adoption of mobile phones and information technology … 

“In 2010, work began on the development of the world’s first magazine dedicated to the 21st-century innovator culture of the global South. My goal was to create a magazine that would reach across countries and cultures, meet the UN’s standards, and inspire action. Southern Innovator was the result. Mr. [David] South played a vital role in the magazine’s development from its early conception, through its various design prototypes, to its final global launch and distribution.  

“Both the e-newsletter and magazine raised the profile of South-South cooperation and have been cited by readers for inspiring innovators, academics, policy makers and development practitioners in the United Nations and beyond.

“I highly recommend Mr. [David] South as a thoughtful, insightful, analytical, creative and very amicable person who has the unique ability to not only grasp complex problems but also to formulate a vision and strategy that gets things done. … ” Cosmas Gitta, Former Assistant Director, Policy and United Nations Affairs at United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) in UNDP 

“I think you [David South] and the designer [Solveig Rolfsdottir] do great work and I enjoy Southern Innovator very much!” Ines Tofalo, Programme Specialist, United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)

2017: Invited to speak at the Workshop on Innovations in Service Delivery: The Scope for South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Dhaka, Bangladesh.  

2018:

Stories

Aid Organization Gives Overseas Hungry Diet Food: Diet Giant Slim-Fast Gets Tax Write-off for Donating Products

Somali Killings Reveal Ugly Side of Elite Regiment

Does the UN Know What it's Doing?

State of Decay: Haiti Turns to Free-Market Economics and the UN to Save Itself

Opinion: Canada is Allowing U.S. to Dictate Haiti's Renewal: More News and Opinion on What the UN Soldiers Call the "Haitian Vacation"

Starting from Scratch: The Challenge of Transition

Philippine Conference Tackles Asia's AIDS Crisis

Lamas Against AIDS

UN Contest Winner in "State of Total Bliss"

A UNDP Success Story: Grassroots Environmental Campaign Mobilizes Thousands in Mongolia

Freedom of Expression: Introducing Investigative Journalism to Local Media

Traffic Signs Bring Safety to the Streets

Eco-cities Up Close

Smart Cities Up Close

Stories: Development Challenges, South-South Solutions | 2007

Stories: Development Challenges, South-South Solutions | 2008

Stories: Development Challenges, South-South Solutions | 2009

Stories: Development Challenges, South-South Solutions | 2010

Stories: Development Challenges, South-South Solutions | 2011

Stories: Development Challenges, South-South Solutions | 2012

Stories: Development Challenges, South-South Solutions | 2013

Stories: Development Challenges, South-South Solutions | 2014 

Books + Publications

A Steppe Back?: Economic Liberalisation and Poverty Reduction in Mongolia

Blue Sky Bulletin Newsletter UNDP Mongolia | 1997-1999

Human Development Report Mongolia 1997

In The Interests of the Exploited?: The Role of Development Pressure Groups in the UK

In Their Own Words: Selected Writings by Journalists on Mongolia, 1997-1999 

Innovations in Green Economy: Top Three Agenda

Lima to Delhi: What Can Be Learned on Urban Resilience?

Mongolia Update - Coverage of 1998 Political Changes

Mongolian AIDS Bulletin 

A Partnership for Progress: UNDP in Mongolia 1997

Pax Chaotica: A Re-evaluation of Post-WWII Economic and Political Order

The Sweet Smell of Failure: The World Bank and the Persistence of Poverty

Southern Innovator Magazine Issue 1: Mobile Phones and Information Technology

Southern Innovator Magazine Issue 2: Youth and Entrepreneurship

Southern Innovator Magazine Issue 3: Agribusiness and Food Security

Southern Innovator Magazine Issue 4: Cities and Urbanization

Southern Innovator Magazine Issue 5: Waste and Recycling 

Southern Innovator and the Growing Global Innovation Culture: Background Paper

South-South Cooperation for Cities in Asia

UNDP in Mongolia: The Guide | 1997-1999

UNDP Travelling Seminar: Environment and Development | Mongolia 1998

What is the Next Agenda for the Next 21 Years?: The Fourth Development Phase?

Update: I will publish this in the new year after the holidays. Keep checking back for this post.

Further Reading

Peacebuilding: The Twenty Years' Crisis, 1997-2017 by David Chandler, Palgrave, 2017

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5311-1052

© David South Consulting 2018

Southern Innovator in Dhaka, Bangladesh: Public Service Innovation Workshop | December 2017

Southern Innovator issues 1 and 5 at the Bangladesh workshop on public service innovation, 9-11 December 2017, and the launch of the South-South Network.

The following blog report does not reflect the views of the UNOSSC or UNDP. 

Dateline: Dhaka, Bangladesh (9-11 December 2017) - From 9-11 December 2017, I participated in the Workshop on Innovations in Service Delivery: The Scope for South-South and Triangular Cooperation held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Hosted by the a2i (access to information) division of the Bangladesh Prime Minister’s Office, the implementing unit for Digital Bangladesh, it was convened by the Government of Bangladesh and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).

I was asked to do a presentation for the health component of the Workshop on my past experience in public sector digital innovation. This work stretches back to the beginning of the roll out of the Internet in the late 1990s. I chose three projects I have led that had a large and significant impact in the digital public space: the UN Mongolia development web portal I launched and ran for two years (1997-1999), the GOSH Child Health Web Portal I launched and ran for two years (2001-2003) and the Southern Innovator brand I launched for the UNOSSC (2010-2015). 

I also joined a panel discussion as Senior Partner representing the David South Consulting/David South International consultancy at the end of the last day (we have worked with the UNOSSC since 2007 and with UNDP since 1997 - a timeframe which saw the rise of the Internet and the mobile and information technology revolution take the global South by storm). 

As the Workshop invitation letter says, “The digitization of service delivery, user-centric methodologies, and experimentation geared towards improvement in service delivery, and the data revolution may have originated in developed countries but is now of increasing relevance for the developing world. To respond to rapidly rising expectations of the citizens, governments in both developing and developed countries are embracing approaches and tools to adopt more citizen-centric approaches in their service delivery. These practices are establishing a culture of citizen-centric innovation within governments, breaking silos of operations and helping move towards a whole-of-government planning and execution.”

According to the a2i, Bangladesh has the “world’s largest government web portal” comprising over 25,000 government websites for 43,000 government offices (Bangladesh’s population was over 162 million as of 2016 - World Bank). Bangladesh has one of the highest population densities in the world and is considered the 8th most populace country in the world (Wikipedia). In total, these government websites receive 60 million plus hits a month, according to the a2i, from an online population of 79.7 million people, nearly half the population.

A lot is at stake: According to the World Bank (which has been supporting the country since 1972), “Bangladesh has made substantial progress in reducing poverty, supported by sustained economic growth. Based on the international poverty line of $1.90 per person per day, Bangladesh reduced poverty from 44.2 percent in 1991 to 18.5 percent in 2010, and is projected to decrease to 12.9 percent in 2016.

“The country achieved the MDG 1 on halving poverty five years ahead of time, with 20.5 million people rising out of poverty during the 1991-2010 period. In parallel, life expectancy, literacy rates and per capita food production have increased significantly.  Progress was underpinned by strong economic growth, with 6 percent plus growth over the decade and reaching to 7.1 percent growth in 2015/2016. Rapid growth enabled Bangladesh to reach the lower middle-income country status in 2014.      

“However, sustained growth has rapidly increased the demand for energy, transport and urbanization. Insufficient planning and investment have resulted in increasingly severe infrastructure bottlenecks.”

Arriving in the capital, Dhaka, on the 9th of December, it was clear to see what the World Bank is highlighting: the “severe infrastructure bottlenecks”. Just like other megacities, Dhaka is clogged with traffic and suffers from the air pollution this causes (one of the worst cities for this in Asia). But these are just the visible signs of success if you think about it (as frustrating as that might be), as booming economies combined with rapid urbanisation, if not planned well, tend to lead to traffic congestion and high levels of air pollution. 

The country’s rising living standards since 2000 and impressive gains in the provision of information and mobile technology services and connectivity, reveal a country brimming with potential and capable of getting a handle on its many development challenges. The streets are visibly lined with small and medium enterprises and there are construction projects in various states of completion all around Dhaka. At the airport, glossy posters advertise many real estate developer’s dreams and show-off the heavy construction equipment for sale or lease from China and Russia. 

The population no longer suffers from food crises such as the 1974 famine, which killed 1.5 million people (Christian Science Monitor). According to the UN, Bangladesh cut chronic hunger by half since 2000 and is considered one of the success stories from the past 10 years that the rest of the developing world can look to as they push to eliminate hunger by 2030 as part of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) (https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2015/0617/From-famine-to-food-basket-how-Bangladesh-became-a-model-for-reducing-hunger). Clearly, Bangladesh is a country that can get things done when it draws on the power of its population.

According to Digital Bangladesh, with a deadline of 2021, it has achieved half its goals to get the population online and its economy and government services online. In 2017, the country made US $800 million from exporting ICT (information and communication technologies) products and services. It is currently building 12 hi-tech parks with the ambitious goal to export US $10 billion in ICT services from them by 2030 and make US $5 billion by 2021. 

The streets of Dhaka. Workshop

Sharing ideas at the Workshop.

Speaking at the Workshop, Anir Chowdhury, Policy Advisor to the Access to Information (a2i) Programme of the Prime Minister’s Office, believes the concept of South-South Cooperation (SSC) is about enlightened self-interest but at present there is no framework for SSC in Bangladesh and most cooperation is ad hoc. If global South countries are not cooperating, then they are just re-inventing the wheel, he added. SSC is about avoiding feeling each country has to make it own their own: SSC can facilitate development leapfrogging and prevent leaving country success to chance. However, there needs to be better ways to communicate Southern solutions.

And Bangladesh has a good story to tell to the global South: To date, Bangladesh’s digital public service delivery has saved the country US $2 billion in cost for government services plus 1 billion man days in time spent trying to carry out tasks using government services, according to the a2i. With this success under their belts, the hope is to market Bangladesh as a world leader in innovation. To go from MDGs poster child to leader of the global South. 

UNOSSC Director and Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on SSC, Jorge Chediek (https://www.unsouthsouth.org/about/unossc-director/), emphasised the need to tell stories of how South-South is changing the world; the pressing need to change the narrative around the global South in order to be able to achieve the 2030 agenda.

It was an honour to be invited to present my three case studies on public sector digital innovation (GOSH Child Health Portal, Southern Innovator Magazine and the UN/UNDP Mongolia Development Portal). All three share the same characteristics: a public demand for digital resources and a need to create high-quality content on limited budgets and to build public confidence in those resources. These projects were also engaging with enormous complexity and needed to find a way to simplify this for online readers.

I was impressed by the level of debate at the Workshop, and how Bangladesh’s digital initiatives are communicated (the excellent use of infographics and simple step-by-step explanations), and the overall excitement and energy around digital and the digital economy in Bangladesh. But, importantly, the foresight to give attention to the coming wave of automation and robotics (the so-called fourth industrial revolution) and how this will affect Bangladesh. 

In the health workshop, we shared two projects for the reverse engineering component: the GOSH Child Health Portal and the magazine Southern Innovator (link to PowerPoint). Using the Reverse Engineering tool (see images below), each project was broken down as to how it worked and also what was its contribution to South-South Cooperation. 

I shared experience from the early days of digital public innovation in the late 1990s. This has included applying digital to crisis recovery, healthcare modernisation in the early 2000s, and the campaign to achieve the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals), as well as during the mobile/information technology and social media revolution in the global South, which took off after 2007. 

Reverse Engineering

GOSH Child Health Portal (2001-2003)

Issues discussed here included the recent online fake news scandals and how important it is for the public sector to offer the antidote to this with quality, factual digital information and resources. The GOSH Child Health Portal was one good example, where it entered the crowded online medical and health information marketplace and succeeded in drawing a large online audience by offering high-quality, peer-reviewed resources, thoroughly fact-checked and proofread and presented using high-quality online design. By the end of the project’s two-year timeframe, it was receiving over 7 million hits a month and was acknowledged as a trusted global source in child health. The content is cited in many books and papers, as well. 

Reverse engineering GOSH Child Health Web Portal, 2001-2003.

Southern Innovator Magazine (2010-2015)

Throughout the Workshop, I heard over and over again about the urgent need for a more cohesive platform for sharing Southern innovations and initiatives. Many complained this was currently very fragmented. While there are many media and development organisations documenting innovations and stories, there is no one-stop shop for countries to go to. 

The Southern Innovator brand (incubated and developed by the UNOSSC) is a good example of what can be achieved with a more cohesive and strategic approach. Southern Innovator, first launched in 2011 by the UNOSSC, was able to leverage its limited resources to reach a large global audience via the web and social media. The brand became established with innovators and five issues were published (from 2011 to 2015). An Action Plan for scaling-up the Southern Innovator brand was also developed with the UNOSSC in 2015 (but awaits funding). 

The original Southern Innovator website (southerninnovator.org, now southerninnovator.com) did fulfil the role of offering a one-stop shop for stories on global South innovation and these stories were widely cited in websites, papers and books on the global South. But the terrain has shifted radically in the global South - and at the UN - since Southern Innovator’s launch in 2011. With the widespread adoption of mobile and digital technologies, the opportunities to communicate innovator solutions have never been better but require a more sophisticated approach to be effective. In fact, we now exist in a world where the solutions already exist to the major problems affecting the global South (and even the funding is available through many sources). The problem is not the lack of solutions, innovators or technologies and business models to resolve problems (both e-newsletter Development Challenges, South-South Solutions and Southern Innovator proved this) but how people can access these resources and in a format that makes sense to them and is available when they are searching for a solution. With modern computing technologies, this is no longer an unsolvable problem. And the people to connect with to do this also already exist in the global South. What is missing is a coherent and cohesive approach. The multiplicity of development actors in this case are hampering effective action by dissecting and scattering resources, leaving end-users confused and poorly communicated with in many cases. As an example, there was a definite need to assist people in understanding how the 17 SDGs can fit into practical actions and a definite psychological need for simplicity: a problem highlighted by former UNDP head Helen Clark back in 2015 (https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/jul/07/sustainable-development-goals-will-be-hard-sell-for-united-nations).

For UNDP, with its human development approach and presence in most countries, an opportunity exists to rapidly accelerate development gains and shorten the time it takes to recover when disaster or conflict strikes. Something that came out of the Workshop is the presence of excellent examples of global knowledge sharing already underway for decades around the world. Think of the scientific community in general (working on vast projects such as the CERN facility in Switzerland), or aerospace industries, or the global adoption of the principles of air safety managed by IATA in Montreal, Canada, or sport - all proof countries do successfully share knowledge and adopt common, high standards when they feel it is a priority and necessity. No country wants to be frozen out of flight routes, for example. 

Reverse engineering the Southern Innovator magazine brand, 2010-2015. 

Panel Discussion

At the closing panel discussion, I was asked how to engage more donors to be part of the South-South Network. I said there is a need to get people excited and show why the South-South Network is different; how it is related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There needs to be a communications strategy and to establish some ambitious first goals that are original: to show that this is part of a clear trend. International aid and development is a crowded space so there is a need to show how the Network would tackle the challenges of the global South in the 21st century head-on, with a more effective solution. And of course, I championed the existing and successful Southern Innovator brand developed by the UNOSSC since 2010 as, potentially, part of this communications strategy. 

Senior Partner David South is third from the left on the panel. Photo: Yoko Shimura

Senior Partner David South is centre at back with the South-South Network for Public Service Innovation, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2017.

Finally

This impressive embracing of e-initiatives and all things digital was visibly missing at the airport. On the way in, long lines and then a confusing scramble to buy a visa created confusion for visitors. As the first impression for visitors, this could be a great place to show-off Bangladesh’s digital capabilities. 

And finally, as the World Bank says, this all about job creation and increased living standards: “The World Bank has identified job creation as the country’s top development priority. Bangladesh needs to create more and better jobs for the 2.1 million youths entering the job market every year. But to do so, Bangladesh will need to remove the barriers to higher growth posed by low access to reliable and affordable power, poor transportation infrastructure, limited availability of serviced land, rapid urbanization and vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters, among others. “

Bangabandhu International Conference Center hosting Digital World 2017 and Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport.

Further reading and links: 

South-South in Action: Citizen-friendly Public Service Innovation in Bangladesh

Digital Bangladesh: Digital Service for All

GOSH Child Health Web Portal

UN/UNDP Mongolia Development Portal 

Southern Innovator and Development Challenges, South-South Solutions

© David South Consulting 2017 

Southern Innovator as a Knowledge and Learning Tool | November 2017

Why even bother printing (on paper) Southern Innovator as a magazine? "What about the trees and we live in the digital age!", some might say.

There is evidence and science supporting the need to always publish Southern Innovator in print as well as online. First, a study of the World Bank's online publications came to a shocking conclusion: A survey in 2014 found a third of World Bank publications are never downloaded, 40 per cent were downloaded just 100 times, and only 13 per cent were downloaded more than 250 times in their lifetime (The Washington Post). As The Washington Post pointed out, these are publicly funded publications with the intention of contributing to policy debates and providing solutions to the world's problems. So, if nobody is reading them, or just a handful are, that actually does matter if you care about positive change in the world.

Secondly, a Norwegian study in 2014 from the Stavanger University (part of Europe-wide research into the impact of digitisation on the reading experience), found "... that paper readers did report higher on measures having to do with empathy and transportation and immersion, and narrative coherence, than iPad readers," according to lead researcher Anne Mangen (The Guardian).

An earlier study the researchers did also found "students who read texts in print scored significantly better on the reading comprehension test than students who read the texts digitally" and that "Studies with students, for instance, have shown that they often prefer to read on paper", continued Mangen in The Guardian.   

Another issue is Internet shutdowns, outages and censorship. All of these have been on the increase, especially in Africa (africanews.com). To put it simply, you cannot electronically shutdown a piece of paper. 

Design to show and teach.

Innovations Summary.

Innovations Summary.

A fast-changing world.

Knowledge Summary.

Knowledge Summary.

Being a Southern Innovator: An Urban Guide.

Turning Waste into Wealth: A Southern Innovator's Guide.

Managing the workflow: Getting things done.

© southerninnovator.com 2017

© David South Consulting 2017

David South Consulting Publications At a Glance | 18 January 2016

Experience

I am an international development consultant with over 19 years’ experience. I specialise in media, health communications, development strategies, project management and publishing. I have led high-profile projects in Asia, Canada and the UK. This work has included a number of groundbreaking, award-winning new media projects.

United Nations Global Marketplace (ungm.org) Vendor.

Read the David South Consulting Summary of Impact here: http://books.google.co.uk/books/about?id=1FdyBgAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y

Read the Southern Innovator Summary of Impact here: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lK4jBgAAQBAJ&dq=southern+innovator+summary+of+impact&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Methodology

I have managed and delivered projects to tight deadlines, with extensive public scrutiny and under difficult country conditions. I keep a cool head and am a seasoned trouble-shooter.

Education

University of Toronto: BA Honours in Political Science and History

Courses

BBC: Managing Complex New Media Projects

International Health Exchange: Humanitarian Aid: Policies and Practice

Languages

English, Mongolian

Articles

Accessing Global Markets Via Design Solutions, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions, March 2009

Africa's Fast-growing Cities: A New Frontier of Opportunities, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

African Megacity Makeovers Tackle Rising Populations, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

Baker Cookstoves - Designing for the African Customer, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions, December 2013

Banning of Plastic Bags and Containers Brings New Opportunities, Southern Innovator Issue 5, 2014

Big Data Can Transform the Global South's Growing Cities, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions, June 2014

The Big Dump: CP’s new operational plan leaves critics with questions aplenty, Scan Magazine, June/July 1997

Biogas Digester-in-a-Bag Brings Portability, Southern Innovator Issue 5, 2014

Cities for All shows how the world's poor are building ties across the global South, Global Urbanist, 24 August 2010

Colombian Architect Proving Strength and Beauty of Bamboo, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

Cooking Bag Helps Poor Households Save Time, Money, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions, April 2012

Connoisseur Chocolate from the South Gets a Higher Price, Southern Innovator Issue 3, 2012

Creating Green Fashion in China, Southern Innovator Issue 5, 2014

Debt-free Homes for the Poor, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions, January 2009

Eco-cities Up Close, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

Energy-efficient Wooden Houses Are Also Earthquake Safe, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

Freedom of Expression, UNV News, 5 June 1999

Growing a Southern Brand to Global Success: The Olam Story, Southern Innovator Issue 3, 2012

Housing Innovation in South's Urban Areas, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

Illiterate Get Internet at Touch of a Button, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions, April 2008

Indonesian Wooden Radio Succeeds with Good Design, Southern Innovator Issue 5, 2014

Innovation: Cairo's Green Technology Pioneers, Southern Innovator Issue 5, 2014

Innovations in Green Economy: Top Three Agenda, Southasiadisasters.net, December 2013

Insects Can Help in Food Crisis, Southern Innovator Issue 3, 2012

Lamas Against AIDS, UB Post (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), 5 November 1997

Lima to Delhi: What can be Learned on Urban Resilience?, Southasiadisasters.net, March 2015

Making the World a Better Place for Southern Projects, Southern Innovator Issue 1, 2011

Mobile Phone Microscopes to Revolutionize Health Diagnostics, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions, July 2013

Model Cities across the South Challenge Old Ways, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

Mongolia Looks to Become Asian IT Leader, Southern Innovator Issue 1, 2011

A New House Kit for Slum Dwellers that is Safe and Easy to Build, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

New Weapon Against Crime in the South, Southern Innovator Issue 1, 2011

Philippine Architect Wants to Transform Slum with New Plan, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

Philippine Conference Tackles Asia's AIDS Crisis, UB Post (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia), 28 October 1997

Safety at Stake, Annex Gleaner (Toronto, Canada), February 1997

Smart Cities Up Close, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

Solar Sisters Doing it for Themselves: Tackling African Light Famine, Southern Innovator Issue 2, 2012

South African Wine Industry Uncorks Opportunities, Southern Innovator Issue 2, 2012

South-South Cooperation for Cities in Asia, Southasiadisasters.net, July 2014

South-South Trade Helping Countries During Economic Crisis, Development Challenges, South-South Solutions, June 2014

Starting from Scratch: The Challenge of Transition, UNV News, November 1997

State of Decay: Haiti Turns to Free-market economics and the UN to Save Itself, Id Magazine (Canada), 11-25 July 1996

Study Says Jetliner Air Quality Poses Health Risks: CUPE Takes on Airline Industry with Findings on Survey, Now Magazine, 11-17 March 1993

Take Two Big Doses of Humanity and Call Me in the Morning, The Toronto Star, 1 January 1993

Taking Medicine to the People, Canadian Living, January 1993

Texting for Cheaper Food with SokoText, Southern Innovator Issue 5, 2014

Tiny Homes to Meet Global Housing Crisis, Southern Innovator Issue 4, 2013

2011 Trends for the South, David South Consulting, January 2011

Undercurrents: A Cancellation at CBC TV Raises a Host of Issues for the Future, Scan Magazine, April/May 1997

Urban Farming to Tackle Global Food Crisis, Southern Innovator Issue 3, 2012

Youth Surge in the South: A Great Business Opportunity, Southern Innovator Issue 2, 2012

Papers

Southern Innovator and the Growing Global Innovation Culture: Background Paper for the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)

Publications

2000 to Present

Development Challenges, South-South Solutions Newsletter, 2007-2014, United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (ISSN 2227-3905)

Evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals Education Media Project, 2005, UNDP Mongolia

GOSH Child Health Portal

 

A Marketing and e-Marketing Strategy – the New SASVO, 2004-2005, UNDP South Africa

Southern Innovator and Development Challenges, South-South Solutions Summary of Impact: 2007-2012, 2015, David South Consulting

Southern Innovator Magazine from 2011 to 2012: A Compilation of Documents from the Magazine's Early Years, 2015, David South Consulting

Southern Innovator Magazine from 2012 to 2014: A Compilation of Documents from the Magazine's Recent Years, 2015, David South Consulting

Southern Innovator Magazine: Agribusiness and Food Security Issue E-Version (ISSN 2227-0523)

Southern Innovator Magazine: Cities and Urbanization Issue (ISBN 978-0-9920217-0-2) (ISSN 2222-9280)

Southern Innovator Magazine: Mobile Phones and Information Technology Issue (ISSN 2222-9280)

Southern Innovator Magazine: Waste and Recycling Issue (ISBN 978-0-9920217-1-9) (ISSN 2222-9280)

Southern Innovator Magazine: Youth and Entrepreneurship Issue E-Version (ISSN 2227-0523)

UNDAF Annual Review 2005: A Partnership Between the Government of Turkmenistan and the United Nations Country Team

UNDP Mongolia Partnership for Progress 1997 to 1999 Key Documents, 2015, David South Consulting

1990 to 2000

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 1

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 2

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 3

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 4

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 5

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 6

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 7

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 8

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 9

Blue Sky Bulletin Issue Number 10

Environmental Public Awareness Handbook: Case Studies and Lessons Learned in Mongolia, 1999 (ISBN 992950137)

Ger Magazine, 1998-1999, UNDP Mongolia Communications Office

Ger Magazine: Modern Life Issue

Ger Magazine: Youth Issue

Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine Newsletter, 1992-1994

Human Development Report Mongolia 1997

Id Magazine

In Their Own Words: Selected Writings by Journalists on Mongolia, 1997-1999 (ISBN 99929-5-043-9)

Mongolian AIDS Bulletin, 1997, UNDP Mongolia Communications Office

Mongolian Green Book

Mongolian Rock and Pop Book (ISBN 99929-5-018-8)

Mongolia Update - Coverage of 1998 Political Changes

Mongolia Update 1997

Mongolia Update 1998

Mongolia Update 1999

New Media Markets, 1995, Financial Times Newsletters

 

Partnership for Progress (UNDP Mongolia)

Peril and Promise: Higher Education in Developing Countries, 1999, World Bank/UNESCO Task Force on Higher Education (for River Path Associates)

Screen Finance, 1995, Financial Times Newsletters

UN Mongolia Annual Report, 1997-1998, UNDP Mongolia Communications Office

UNDP Mongolia Online Development Portal, 1997-1999, UNDP Mongolia Communications Office

UNDP in Mongolia: The Guide, 1997-1999, UNDP Mongolia Communications Office

Watch Magazine

Citations

Dateline Mongolia: An American Journalist in Nomad’s Land by Michael Kohn, RDR Books, 2006, ISBN 1-57143-155-1

The Devil and the Disappearing Sea: A True Story About the Aral Sea Catastrophe by Robert Ferguson, Raincoast Books, 2003, ISBN 1-55192-599-0

The Horse-head Fiddle and the Cosmopolitan Reimagination of Mongolia by Peter K. Marsh, Taylor and Francis, 2008, ISBN 041597156X, 9780415971560

Modern Mongolia: From Khans to Commissars to Capitalists by Morris Rossabi, University of California Press, 2005, ISBN 0-520-24399-4

Mongolian Rock and Pop: In Our Own Voice (in Mongolian), ISBN 99929-5-018-8

Recollections of a Neighbourhood: Huron-Sussex from UTS to Stop Spadina by Nancy Williams and Marie Scott-Baron (Eds.), Words Indeed Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-0-9865166-4-1

Wild East: Travels in the New Mongolia by Jill Lawless, ECW Press, 2000, ISBN 1-55022-434-4 (www.wildeast.ca)

Blue Sky Bulletin

Bounty from the Sheep: Autobiography of a Herdsman by Tserendashiin Namkhainiambuu, Inner Asia Book Series, White Horse, 2000

Modern Mongolia: From Khans to Commissars to Capitalists by Morris Rossabi, University of California Press, 2005

Mongols from Country to City: Floating Boundaries, Pastoralism and City Life in the Mongol Lands edited by Ole Bruun and Li Narangoa, Issue 34 of NIAS Studies in Asian Topics, Nordisk Institut for Asienstudier, NIAS Press, 2006

Ger Magazine

A Complete Guide on Celebrations, Festivals and Holidays around the World by Sarah Whelan, Asteroid Content, 2015

Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media by Jeff Summer, Gale Group, 2001

Mongol Survey, Issue 8, The Society, 2001

Mongolian Culture and Society in the Age of Globalization by Henry G. Schwarz (editor), Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University, 2006

Nations in Transition: Mongolia by Jennifer L. Hanson, Infobase Publishing, 2003

Teen Life in Asia by Judith J. Slater, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004

World Press Encyclopedia: A Survey of Press Systems Worldwide, Volume 1 by Amanda C. Quick, Gale Group, 2003

www.gosh.nhs.uk

GOSH Child Health Portal Phase 1a by David South, 2003

GOSH Child Health Portal Phase 1b by David South, 2003

GOSH Child Health Portal Phase 2a by David South, 2003

GOSH Child Health Portal Phase 2b by David South, 2003

GOSH Child Health Portal Phase 3 by David South, 2003
 
GOSH Project Launch Brochure and Screen Grabs, 2001-2003 by David South, 2003
 
The Great Ormond Street Hospital Manual of Children's Nursing Practices by Susan Macqueen, Elizabeth Bruce and Faith Gibson, John Wiley & Sons, 2012

Help! My Child's in Hospital by Becky Wauchope, Marbec Family Trust, 2012

Oxford Desk Reference: Nephrology by Jonathan Barratt, Peter Topham and Kevin P. G. Harris, Oxford University Press, 2008

Research Review 2001: A Year of Excellence and Innovation, Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, 2001

Research Review 2002: Building on Success, Institute of Child Health and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, 2002 

Human Development Report Mongolia 1997

Change in Democratic Mongolia: Social Relations, Health, Mobile Pastoralism, and Mining, 2012

Curbing Corruption in Asian Countries: An Impossible Dream? by Jon S. T. Quah, Emerald Group Publishing, 2011

Diseases of Globalization: Socioeconomic Transition and Health by Christine McMurray and Roy Smith, Routledge, 2013

Economic Institutions and Democratic Reform: A Comparative Analysis of Post-communist Countries by Ole Norgaard, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2000

Educational Import: Local Encounters with Global Forces in Mongolia by Gita Steiner-Khamsi and Ines Stolpe, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006

Group Behaviour and Development: Is the Market Destroying Cooperation? by Judith Heyer, Frances Stewart, Rosemary Thorp, OUP Oxford, 2002

Higher Education in the Developing World: Changing Contexts and Institutional Responses by David W. Chapman and Ann E. Austin, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002

Modern Mongolia: From Khans to Commissars to Capitalists by Morris Rossabi, University of California Press, 2005

Precious Steppe: Mongolian Nomadic Pastoralists in Pursuit of the Market by Ole Bruun, Lexington Books, 2008

Rethinking Development in East Asia: From Illusory Miracle to Economic Crisis by Pietro Masina, Routledge, 2012

Truth, History and Politics in Mongolia: Memory of Heroes by Christopher Kaplonski, Routledge, 2004

Mongolia Update 1998

Bounty from the Sheep: Autobiography of a Herdsman by Tserendashiin Namkhainiambuu, Inner Asia Book Series, White Horse, 2000

Selection and Preparation of Australian Expatriates and Business People for Postings in Mongolia by Gantsetseg O’Brien and Greg Trotman, Department of Marketing, International Business and Tourism, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia, Working Paper 99/3, December 1999. Website: http://research.usc.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/usc:2914

Semi-Presidentialism Outside Europe: A Comparative Study edited by Robert Elgie and Sophia Moestrup, Routledge, 2007

Transition and Democracy in Mongolia by Richard Pomfret, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 52, No. 1, 2000, 149-160. Website: http://www.jstor.org/pss/153756

Southern Innovator (www.southerninnovator.org)

Autonomous Systems in the Intelligence Community: Many Possibilities and Challenges by Jenny R. Holzer, PhD, and Franklin L. Moses, PhD, Studies in Intelligence Vol 59, No. 1 (Extracts, March 2015)

Chile in Transition: Prospects and Challenges for Latin America's Forerunner of Development by Roland Benedikter and Katja Siepmann, Springer, 2015

Edible Insects and the Future of Food: A Foresight Scenario Exercise on Entomophagy and Global Food Security by Dominic Glover and Alexandra Sexton, Institute of Development Studies, King’s College London, Evidence Report No 149, September 2015
   
Export Now: Five Keys to Entering New Markets by Frank Lavin and Peter Cohan, John Wiley & Sons, 2011

High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation Seventeenth Session: Framework of operational guidelines on United Nations support to South-South and triangular cooperation: Note by the Secretary-General, 22-25 May 2012, New York

New Directions in Children’s and Adolescents’ Information Behavior Research edited by Dania Bilal and Jamshid Beheshti, Emerald Group Publishing, 2014

Recasting 'truisms' of low carbon technology cooperation through innovation systems: insights from the developing world by Alexandra Mallett, Innovation and Development, 5:2, 297-311, DOI: 10.1080/2157930X.2015.1049851, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2015

A Sociological Approach to Health Determinants by Toni Schofield, Cambridge University Press, 2016

Strategic Framework of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, 2014-2017, Executive Board of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund and the United Nations Office for Project Services, 27 to 31 January 2014, New York

Wearing Your Map on Your Sleeve: Practices of Identification in the Creation and Consumption of Philippine Map T-shirts by Pamela Gloria Cajilig, paper presented at the 6th Global Conference (2014): Fashion: Exploring Critical Issues, Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom, 15th to 18th September 2014

Youth Empowered as Catalysts for Sustainable Human Development: UNDP Youth Strategy 2014-2017, United Nations Development Programme, Bureau for Development Policy

www.un-mongolia.mn

Asian Perspective, Volume 25, Insitute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyung Nam University, 2001

Modern Mongolia: Reclaiming Genghis Khan, An Exhibit of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

Rethinking Development in East Asia: From Illusory Miracle to Economic Crisis by Pietro Masina, Routledge, 2012
 
Tulsa Journal of Comparative & International Law, Volume 7, 1999

Wikipedia page: Read about the Ger Magazine project from 1998 to 2000 on its new Wikipedia page. Ger Magazine was Mongolia's first online magazine and was launched in the middle of the twin crises of the biggest peacetime, post-WWII economic collapse and the 1997 to 1998 Asian Crisis. The country was also experiencing the consequences of shock therapy and austerity measures.

  

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