International Jury

Reviewing the 360 submissions to the GenARDIS small grants fund, drawing up a shortlist of about 50 candidates and selecting the nine winners were the tasks of the six members of an international jury: ul li Gesa Wesseler, planning officer, CTA, The Netherlands; li Julie Ferguson, programme officer, Knowledge Sharing, IICD, currently programme leader, Knowledge Sharing, Hivos, The Netherlands; li Ramata Thioune, knowledge analyst, Acacia Initiative, IDRC, Canada/Senegal; li Helen Hambly Odame, research officer, International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), currently at the University of Guelph, Canada; li Aida Opoku-Mensah, team leader, Promoting ICTs for Development, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Ethiopia; and li Fackson Banda, regional director, Panos Southern Africa, Zambia. /ul In addition, Lizette Michaels at the African Training and Research Centre in Administration for Development (CAFRAD) provided invaluable administrative support, from the announcement of the GenARDIS small grants fund through to the final project reports. The selection process enabled the creation of a new international support network for work on gender and agriculture in the information society. By sharing resources and exchanging views on the submissions, the agencies were able to make more cost-effective use of their funds, identify areas of mutual interest and avoid duplication in the allocation of resources. Small competitive grants are increasingly recognized as a way to make better use of scarce resources. Small grants tend to encourage creativity and provide the recipients with funds that require minimal paperwork so that they can get on with their activities. Donors are also able to share the obvious risks associated with funding pilot projects. The partners involved in GenARDIS hope to prove that this process of collaboration will inspire innovation in the field of ICTs and development.International jury provides a support network for GenARDI