The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs

Organization: Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development
Summary: Students will work with Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development, an independent non-partisan Kosovo think-tank, to provide papers on security challenges and threats, and analyze Kosovo's and international community's presence for meeting these identified threats and challenges. Click above on project title for full explanatory document.

Organization: Global Alliance for ICT and Development (GAID)
Summary: While it is acknowledged that Information and Communication Technologies can accelerate progress, no concerted effort has been made within the UN system to undertake a comprehensive analysis of ICT's role in achievement of the MDGs. Students will make the case for ICTs as a crucial instrument of economic and social development in papers that can serve as a guide to policy-makers and ICTD practitioners, and be used as reference in designing and implementing policies to achieve the MDGs. This semester's team will develop a white paper to explore how ICTs can contribute to achieve Health (Child and Maternal Health, HIV/AIDS) MDGs. Click above on project title for full explanatory document.

Organization: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Summary: The UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Violence Against Women is currently piloting a programming initiative to address violence against women in 10 countries - Philippines, Fiji, Kyrgyzstan, Yemen, Jordan, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Chile, Jamaica and Paraguay - and will develop a manual / guidelines on joint programming on violence against women, taking into consideration relevant programming experiences on violence against women in addition to insights gained from pilot countries' experiences. The PIA team will collate and analyze lessons from the 10 countries, undertaken via development of an analytical questionnaire. UNFPA is Task Force co-chair and lead implementation agency for this work.

Organization: Cities Alliance
Summary: The Cities Alliance is developing a new mode of work in the University Urban Research Initiative (UURI) which would directly engage universities in both developing and developed countries to strengthen urban development initiatives. To date, universities and research institutions have been relatively absent from the urban policy and assistance process, yet they represent an under-utilized source of expertise, potential advocacy, and locus of problem-oriented capacity building. The proposed Initiative is intended to complement existing networks and professional associations, and to enhance the contribution of the Cities Alliance to urban development.