Excerpt from UNDP Evaluation Office's FIFTH CYCLE SPECIAL PROGRAMME RESOURCES (SPR) August '96
Midterm Evaluation Submitted by: Richard Huntington & Elena Marcelino with Assistance from Rasheda Selim

 Learning to Use New Technology:One important area of innovation relates to UNDP efforts to assist
recipient countries to put the newly emerging global communications technology in the service of addressing
development problems. An example of successful efforts in this area is the Sustainable Development
Networking Programme (SDNP) supported by the SPR component for Environment and Natural Resource
Management (B2). To date, SDNP has assisted 16 developing countries to connect to the Internet and utilize
international databases and bulletin boards to access useful environmental information in a timely manner.
SDNP stresses not simply the technology, but also the establishment of national networks of governmental and
non-governmental bodies and individuals concerned with environmental issues. An important innovative aspect
of SDNP pertains to the way the networks cut across the line between government and non-governmental
entities. Such linkages are new to many countries, and they also help provide a concrete realization of UNDP's
commitment to work with the broader "civil society" beyond government.

 

The Internet and Environmental Clean-Up   One success story for SDNP is from Pakistan, where information was provided through the Internet regarding   the proper disposal of two and a half tons of meta-dinitrobenzene that had been dumped in the river near   Karachi.   An SOS message posted on the Internet brought in valuable information from all over the world within a week,   allowing local groups to prove that the chemical was indeed dangerous and that therefore the company should   not be permitted to dump it in the river.   Further dumping was blocked, and the information from the Internet provided further instructions on how   properly to clean up the dump site in the river.   It should also be noted that we evaluators found the information on this case study, not in the evaluation report,   through interviews, or in the project files at UNDP headquarters, but by surfing the World Wide Web.

 
For full report:UNDP Evaluation Office's FIFTH CYCLE SPECIAL PROGRAMME RESOURCES (SPR) August '96

| Project Summary Status | Africa | Arab States | Asia | Europe/CIS | LA/Caribbean |