IEE News No. 11

IEE News No. 11 | May 2010 | 1

Editorial Milestone achieved in the academic reconstruction of Afghanistan Dear Reader,

have you felt the effects of the pre-sent crisis? If you want to show that you belong to the well-informed circles then never answer that question directly but counter it by asking your dialogue partner whether they are talking about first, second or third round effects and which crisis they mean. Is it the sub-prime or the banking crisis, the drying out of the financial markets, the economic slowdown, the budget deficits in the industrialised world and/or the fall of the euro? No mat-ter what you call it, it will affect all of us one way or the other. And it requires action in the regulation of markets and of market actors. These are challenging but also in-teresting times for development researchers and development prac-titioners! The database of IEE-trained researchers and practitio-ners counts more than 200 entries. Since December this group has been rising by more than 50 addi-tional young fellows who graduated from our MA-programmes as well as from the MSc-programme which the IEE has been running jointly with the Faculty for Management & Economics for Afghan lecturers. This edition of IEE News provides a platform to celebrate their success and we wish to congratulate all graduates on their academic achievements. Keep in touch!

Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Löwenstein Managing Director

the Bachelor programme estab-lished at the universities in their home towns. Read page 6 for Mar-tina Shakya’s report on this pro-gramme, on the latest events as well as on the forum on "Security, reconstruction and alternative de-velopment options for Afghani-stan” (page 17), which was held in cooperation with the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination at Princeton University on 5 May 2010. Besides, Mohammad Dawude Te-mory, who has recently returned to Afghanistan after his successful graduation, will tell us more about his life and his duties as a lecturer for Statistics and Econometrics and as Deputy Dean at Herat University (page 10).

The sixth generation of Master of Arts students in Development Man-agement (MADM) arrived in Cape Town on 3 May 2010. The MADM intake consists of nineteen students from twelve countries around the world. Four students of the current intake have been awarded a schol-arship by the South African-German Centre for Development Research and Criminal Justice. On page 13 Elleke Maliepaard, who success-fully completed the MADM pro-gramme a few months ago, reports on her field research which is an essential part of the curriculum and forms the basis for the final master thesis.

No. 11 | May 2010

Marco Rimkus

O n 26 February 2010, the Ruhr-Universität Bochum

(RUB) celebrated the graduation of 17 Afghan students of the Mas-ter of Science in Management and Economics programme, which is run jointly by the IEE and the Fac-ulty of Management and Econom-ics at the RUB. This graduation ceremony marks an important milestone in the academic coop-eration between the RUB and its Afghan partner faculties in Kabul, Balkh, Herat, Nangarhar, Bami-yan, Kandahar, Khost and Faryab.

With the strong support of the DAAD, the IEE has been coordinat-ing the cooperation since 2002. Based on the needs of the partner universities in Afghanistan the Mas-ter programme which, between 2007 and 2010, has been funded by the World Bank, aims to further strengthen the academic knowl-edge of active or future Afghan lec-turers. But the cooperation not only involves the formation of scientific staff. It also brings the partners together in the production of teach-ing and learning materials in Eng-lish and Dari and in addition to that in the development of a curriculum for a new Bachelor programme in Management and Economics for Afghan universities. The 17 gradu-ates are now in charge of getting

Cooperation with Afghanistan

MADM

2 | IEE News No. 11 | May 2010

Marco Rimkus is a research fellow and lecturer at the IEE. Contact: [email protected]

The IEE network around the globe keeps on growing. On page 4 Sebas-tian Sommer, former MADM stu-dent, tells us more about his cur-rent job at Micro Service Consult GmbH, a German consulting firm specialised in microfinance and small business promotion.

“From Budding Development Con-sultant to PhD student in Interna-tional Development Studies”, this is the story of Charlton C. Tsodzo who

as an academic teacher (page 14) and interviewed him on the campus where he took his dog for a walk (page 15).

Research Colloquium at the IEE

Charlton C. Tsodzo Every semester, the IEE hosts a PhD research colloquium, a plat-form where doctoral candidates make presentations on their re-search projects in the presence of their academic supervisors, fellow PhD students, research staff within the institute as well as guest schol-ars from other departments or uni-versities. In a nutshell, the research colloquium aims at offering an op-portunity for PhD students to pre-sent their academic research work and have it peer-reviewed and criti-cally analysed; at the same time this event provides a forum for sci-entific guidance to the doctoral stu-dents from the more experienced scholars. Below are some accounts of the experiences of PhD students who participated in the IEE research colloquium: Beneberu Assefa Wondimagegnhu – PhD IDS (09) “The research colloquium organised by the institute is an invaluable oc-casion that brings all the PhD stu-dents, professors, supervisors and other guest scholars together for academic discussions in various research areas. Students and su-

pervisors share their experiences and knowledge based on the pres-entations of their research progress and results of different research disciplines. As a PhD IDS student it has provided me with a tremendous opportunity to see new research directions, get new ideas as well as some guidance on my work. As each PhD student is expected to present his/her research progress every semester, it paves the way for widening our scope of knowledge in different scientific theories and methodologies and for experiencing how they are applied to a given re-search agenda. In general, it is a lively forum for learning from one another and it promotes creativity and collaboration among students and supervisors and thus ensures high quality research in the insti-tute. “

Martina Lembani – PhD IDS (08) “The diversity of PhD research top-ics at the IEE, ranging from develop-ment management, natural re-source economics, information & communication technologies (ICTs), migration, climate change, institu-tional governance to civil-military relations makes the research collo-quium an interesting platform. When presentations are being made by PhD fellows, one actually gets an opportunity to learn new devel-opment-related topics and there is still time to ask questions for fur-ther clarification. This process inevi-tably broadens your mind and en-riches your appreciation of develop-ment from a more holistic perspec-tive. Indeed it is hoped that with time, the PhD research colloquium will continue to grow from strength to strength as an academic plat-form and that the shared experi-

arrived in Bochum in November 2009. He explains his decision to return to the academic world on page 3 and informs us about the latest IEE research colloquium, which was aimed at offering an open forum for PhD students to present the results of their aca-demic research work and to have it peer-reviewed and critically ana-lysed (page 2). And last but not least the IEE bids farewell to Prof. Dr. Werner Voß, professor of statistics at the Faculty of Social Sciences, who has been working for the RUB for more than 37 years. As Prof. Voß will retire on 30th September 2010 we are pay-ing tribute to the work he has done

PhD in International Development Studies

PhD IDS

IEE Alumni

Since 2007, the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy offers an international English-language PhD program in Inter-national Development Studies. Up to 12 PhD candidates are accepted to the program annually. The program builds on three fundamental pillars: It is a structured PhD-program with a strong interdisciplinary and international focus. For more information about the program see the institute’s website at: http://www.development-research.org/phd-international-development-studies.html


ences, mentorship and guidance provided by the senior scholars and supervisors will continue to further enhancing the abilities of the up-coming PhD fellows and help them to become fully-fledged academics in their own right.” Shafaq Hussain – PhD IDS (07) “The research colloquium is benefi-cial in many ways. Here we have research fellows from the institute belonging to different disciplines and we have different experiences in coming together with doctoral students. The event creates a plat-

to the following year so that I could have more time to look for a schol-arship, I realised that I had to pick myself up again and move on against the odds. The disappoint-ment was for all to see, but within a few weeks, I was back to what I knew best, development consul-tancy work. As if fate was all of a sudden smiling on me again, my work began to draw attention from large donor organisations and de-velopment agencies in Zimbabwe, and, by end of the year, I had under-taken two large projects. As if to prove that I was not going to fail in getting funding for my studies as well as to flop in my work too, my determination grew, and with it, a lot of exciting opportunities as well. In the following couple of months I was criss-crossing and zig-zagging African countries doing consultancy projects. I could feel my profile growing higher and higher, I felt I was getting close to sitting on top of the world and that I was beginning to scale dizzy heights. For some strange reason though, my heart was still with the PhD programme, no matter how hard I tried to forget about it, so when I received the communication from Dr. Katja Bender the PhD IDS Coordinator, to interview for a possible scholarship opportunity for 2008, I leapt at it without thinking twice. It was after that interview that Dr. Bäcker had written to me, informing me that I

had been awarded a scholarship to finally study in the PhD programme.

Now my dilemma was whether I should take up the programme, in view of my recent purple patch in consultancy work. Wasn’t I going to just throw away my newly found success, which was seemingly on the rise, to re-invent myself as a full-time student? I wondered whether I would be able to rediscover myself as a consultant after all those years of study. I had all these unanswered questions, yet I just trusted my in-stincts and followed my heart. I found myself heading for Bochum in November 2009, with a German language competency which could at best be described as non-existent and concerns about whether I would be able to fit into a new soci-ety and begin to study almost im-mediately. Heavily laden with my luggage and a bag full of stereo-types I had of Germany and German people, I arrived in Bochum, only to be welcomed by a friendly German student assistant from the IEE who assisted me with settling into my residence and continued to be use-ful throughout the registration and settling-in period. While I still car-ried my bag of stereotypes around with me, it was increasingly becom-

Charlton C. Tsodzo Exactly a year had passed since I had last received any communica-tion from this particular contact, and my heart skipped a bit or two as I eagerly opened the email to view its contents. In a flash I breezed through the subject, the first, mid-dle and last paragraph of the appar-ently long email. That was enough for me understand what it was say-ing, I had been finally awarded a scholarship to undertake my PhD in International Development Studies at the Institute of development Re-search and Development Policy (IEE), and the writer of the commu-nication had been Dr. Gabrielle Bäcker, the Executive Director of the institute. Being in a client’s of-fice finalising a consultancy report, there was absolutely no way I was going to jump and scream in excite-ment, I had to display the ‘dignified’ deportment in front of my clients, yet my soul was on fire. My mind immediately retraced what had transpired in the previous year and the heartbreak I had experienced when I had failed to secure funding to undertake my PhD then, yet in the midst of the relief and sense of accomplishment; I also had a linger-ing worry at the back of mind. When I had failed to secure a schol-arship to pursue the PhD at IDS in 2008, I was shattered, and with the institute deferring my PhD position

From Budding Development Consultant to Student in International Development Studies - My Story

To go or not to go, that was the question

form to share our ideas and re-search progress and get a worth-while feedback from many of the participants. The other benefit, of course, is that the presentation skills improve each time one pre-sents there. It is not just the presen-tation of models, theories, experi-ences or data, but in fact it helps to improve one’s presentation skills generally. In my case, I have im-mensely benefitted in many aspects including voice intonation and pro-jection during presentations, the preparation of slides, the font size and the style of the presentation

etc. when using Powerpoint, but also body language and time man-agement. Last but not the least, I have also mastered the art of not only answering questions as a pre-senter but also the art of asking questions as a participant or giving comments as a member of the audi-ence. As I am about to wind up my PhD thesis, I can only look back and appreciate the immense benefits that have accrued to me as a result of the IEE’s research colloquium and I now feel confident enough to tackle future presentations after the completion of my studies.”


ing lighter as the administrative team within the institute went out of their way to be extremely helpful and ensure that we were all set to begin our studies in earnest. Con-tact with the academic staff in vari-ous lecture cycles, seminars as well as contact sessions with my super-visor finally emptied my bag of prejudices regarding Germany, and I was beginning to warm up to the thought that Bochum could in fact be my temporary home for the du-ration of my studies.

The institute has so far impressed me as being technically savvy, with a focus on empirical research work with sound theoretical bases as its strongest point. The blend of young upcoming scholars and the more seasoned experienced scholars who are part of the staff of the institute

means that the IEE offers an oppor-tunity for horizontal, peer-to-peer learning as well as vertical experi-ence sharing among the fellows. With students drawn from various nationalities, academic disciplines and competencies there is also room to network and share experi-ences at a peer-to-peer level amongst the PhD scholars. For me the most exciting aspect so far has been the inter-disciplinary nature of the PhD programme, as I feel it broadens my scope of appreciating development issues. In going through lecture cycles in social, economic, political aspects of de-velopment as well as looking into their inter-connectedness, I have begun to realize that in as much as I had been growing as a development worker; I also needed to gain a firmer depth in my understanding of development issues holistically. This is the opportunity that the PhD has been presenting, and I am re-

lieved I had trusted my instincts to take up the programme after all. At this stage I strongly believe that after the completion of my studies, I will be a more seasoned develop-ment practitioner, well-rounded and ready to go international. While I still speak badly injured German and desperately need to attend a language course to ‘cure’ the prob-lem, I look forward to the future with a great sense of expectation.

Charlton C. Tsodzo, PhD IDS (09)

Impressions of the IEE and PhD IDS

AlumnIEE Joining the Micro Service Consult GmbH Sebastian Sommer My new employer, the Micro Service Consult GmbH (MSC), is a German consulting firm specialised in mi-crofinance and small business pro-motion. MSC was founded in 2002, and currently it has thirteen em-ployees. With its headquarters in Germany and a branch office in Paraguay the firm operates on a global scale. MSC’s main expertise is in the fields of micro and small business fi-nance, in the promotion of the com-petitiveness of companies and economies, in evaluations and stud-ies of the micro-finance sector, in corporate social responsibility as well as in environmentally sustain-able business development and adaptation strategies to climate change for micro finance institu-tions (MFIs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Like in most other consulting firms in this sector, most of the daily work and the bulk of the annual turnover

results from projects funded by different types of donors, be they German (such as Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau - KfW) or interna-tional (such as International Fi-nance Cooperation - IFC). These projects can range from short-term assignments, such as market stud-ies, to projects lasting for several years and involving extensive con-sultancy services. In many cases, consulting firms have to face na-tional and international competition in tender procedures in which differ-ent institutions compete for the award of the projects. Therefore, oftentimes, consultancies develop expertise in a distinct area of spe-cialisation, providing tailor-made services for their niche sector. In a similar way, MSC is specialised in micro-finance and small business promotion. However, this specialisation is not as narrow as it might seem. Whereas the typical cli-ents of MSC are Micro Finance Institut ions

(MFIs), there are always interesting novelties. A current project in the Dominican Republic, for example, deals with the institutional transfor-mation of the leading cacao produc-ing entity, including the review of the processing, marketing and sell-ing of its products on the interna-tional market. Other recent projects include innovative measures in envi-ronmental procedures such as Green Finance and also the combi-nation of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) with microfi-nance. One of the major distinguishing features compared to many other consulting firms, and an obvious reason to join MSC at this early stage of a career, is its focus on the continuous development of in-house expertise in preference to


employing external consultants. Additionally, MSC’s international scope of work makes it an attractive employment opportunity for young professionals seeking to gain global practical experience. The past focus on conducting projects in Latin America is being diversified and MSC now conducts projects world-wide, with increasing success in Africa and Asia.

I would not lie claiming that the last six months of my life included a number of interesting and unpre-dictable changes and turns. Who would have anticipated half a year ago that I would write this article sitting in my new apartment in the Palatinate, a region in the south-west Germany which honestly I would not have been able to clearly locate on a map before moving here. Even though most Germans would claim that knowing more about this region is general knowl-edge, I am trying to explain my lack of knowledge by saying that during the last few years I might have spent more time outside Germany than within its borders. Anyhow, my present job now is in Frankenthal (Pfalz), a city with about 50,000 inhabitants, speaking quite a unique dialect. As some of the readers of this newsletter might know, I was part of the MADM Cape Town group at the IEE, graduating December 2009. Feeling very comfortable with the research and working environ-ment at the IEE and establishing good ties with its staff on various occasions to compensate for the tough life of an academic (at this

particular point I would like to say that I look back with some nostalgia to mild summer nights with good red wine in cosy Capetonian bars as well as adventurous hikes on Table Mountain and chummy braais – South African expression for BBQ), I decided to go for the PhD offered by the institute. As full scholarship funding for Germans was unfortu-nately not as easy to obtain as I had hoped, I decided to look both for funding and job opportunities at the same time. Well, guess what came in first, right: job opportunities. This is why I put the plan to strive for a “Dr. Sommer” (that is an in-sider only Germans will get, sorry for that!) on hold and decided to start working for Micro Service Con-sult. Judging from the outside, I guess, my current job looks like any other office job at this early stage after joining the company. And that means I come to the office at 8:15 a.m., leave it around 10 hours later and spend the time in-between working at the computer, telephon-ing and in meetings with colleagues. However, besides having the chance to soon be part of a consulting as-

signment abroad, for me it is all about the content of my work. It is exactly what I have been preparing myself to work on during that last 10 years by becoming a banker, doing internships at Grameen, DEG and other such institutions and also by completing the MADM pro-gramme, and that is working in the field of finance in developing coun-tries. I have to admit that being part of an extremely likeable team defi-nitely made the decision easier to move to this small town. Additionally, I expect that I will benefit from many new experiences and I look forward to being part of a forward-looking new approach of this firm. Currently, MSC is looking into the possibility of forming a new investment company that will fund companies affiliated with the micro-finance and SME sectors in devel-oping countries. As I was specifi-cally employed to assist this proc-ess during the next few months, I foresee opportunities which a re-cent graduate will hardly find any-where else.

How I got to join MSC MSC’s consulting experience includes projects in a total of 21 countries.

IEE-Alumnus Sebastian Sommer is working as Consultant at the Micro Service Consult GmbH .


Martina Shakya

The graduation of the first Afghan Masters of Science in Management and Economics at the Ruhr Univer-sity Bochum on 26 February 2010 marks a preliminary highlight of the IEE’s activities in support of aca-demic reconstruction of Afghani-stan - and it is proof that indeed not all the news on Afghanistan is bad news! In this article, we take stock of achievements, on-going activities and perspectives of the cooperation of the IEE with Afghan faculties of Management and Economics.

The academic ties of the RUB with Afghanistan can be traced back to the founding years of the IEE in the mid-1960s. Afghanistan was the in-stitute’s first regional focus of em-pirical research, and, until the So-viet invasion in 1979, IEE staff members contributed to the teach-ing of the bachelor programme in Economics at Kabul University. De-spite difficult circumstances in later decades, the institute maintained its scientific interest in Afghanistan, and friendships between IEE staff members and their Afghan partners continued throughout these difficult times.

The dramatic changes in Afghani-stan following 09/11 and Ger-many’s efforts to support the recon-struction of Afghanistan led to a re-vival of the cooperation between the IEE and Kabul University in 2002. Upon Afghan initiative, the coopera-tion was soon extended to the Man-agement and Economics faculties of the Universities of Balkh, Herat and Nangarhar. With the support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and other donors, the IEE has been able to promote the rehabilitation of its partner fac-

ulties through a range of interlinked activities since 2002: In order to improve the standard of academic training in Manage-ment and Economics in Afghani-stan, a new uniform Bachelor (BSc) curriculum was developed in cooperation with the RUB’s Faculty of Management and Eco-nomics and is now being imple-mented throughout the country. In order to support the implemen-tation of the new curriculum with adequate teaching and learning materials, eleven textbooks (equivalent to the subjects of the new curriculum) have been pro-duced in English and Dari since 2004 and made available to the partner faculties. In order to upgrade the standard of academic teaching in Manage-ment and Economics, between 2004 and 2009 43 lecturers from seven Afghan partner faculties have completed an intensive training programme at the Faculty of Management and Economics of the RUB on the subjects of the new Afghan curriculum. Between 2006 and 2010, twenty-two Afghan lecturers from four partner faculties have success-fully completed a Masters pro-gramme at the RUB (17 gradu-ated with an MSc degree in Man-agement and Economics and five with an MA degree in Develop-ment Management).

In addition, the IEE conducted fac-ulty days and seasonal schools for the partner faculties and also or-ganised training programmes in Germany for 120 Afghan elite stu-dents.

Following a request from Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who visited the RUB in 2007, the IEE is cur-rently focusing its support of the newly-established partner faculties in the Pashto-speaking provinces

Kandahar, Khost and Nangarhar. For this purpose, the Ministry of In-novation, Science, Research and Technology (MIWFT) of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia has made additional funds available since 2009. The inclusion of the uni-versities of Bamiyan, Kandahar and Khost in 2008 and, most recently, Faryab increased the number of the IEE’s Afghan partner faculties to eight.

Eight years after the revival of the IEE’s traditional ties with Afghani-stan, the cooperation is starting to bear visible fruits: More than 40 Bo-chum-trained lecturers are cur-rently involved in the implementa-tion of the newly developed and state-of-the-art BSc curriculum in Management and Economics at their home faculties. Some of them hold leading positions at their uni-versities and in the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education. The long-standing academic coop-eration between Afghanistan and Germany in the field of Manage-ment and Economics was recently f o r m a l i z e d t h r o u g h a “Memorandum of Understanding”, signed by the Afghan Minister of Higher Education, by Prof. Löwen-stein and Dr. Noor (IEE) and by the rectors of six Afghan partner uni-versities in Kabul on 19 July 2009. The Memorandum acknowledges the impressive record of achieve-ments to date and underlines the strong commitment of the Afghan partners to continue the successful cooperation with the Ruhr Univer-sity of Bochum: It obliges the Afghan partner uni-versities to fully implement the new Bachelor curriculum country-wide until 2010/2011. It commits the RUB to make Pashto translations of the eleven textbooks available to the Pashto-speaking partner universities until the end of 2010. It expresses the mutual commit-

Cooperation with Afghanistan IEE and Afghanistan: A Success Story

Long-Standing Cooperation

Revival in 2002

Focus on Pashto Universities

Afghan Ownership


ment of the Afghan and the Ger-man partners to continue the Bachelor training programme at the RUB until 2013. It commits the partners to make every effort to continue the M.Sc. programme in Management and Economics at the RUB beyond 2010.

The German Foreign Office was in-formed about the agreement through a verbal note; the Afghan government put the Memorandum of Understanding officially into op-eration in the autumn of 2009.

In Afghanistan, Management and Economics can currently only be studied up to the Bachelor level, but Afghan Bachelor degrees are not acknowledged anywhere outside the country. This explains the low level of formal qualification of lec-turers, most of whom only hold an Afghan Bachelors degree and therefore do not have any opportu-nity to study in Master programmes abroad. Thus, upgrading the formal qualifications of young lecturers and enabling them to teach the new, state-of-the-art BSc curricu-lum has remained the central com-ponent of the cooperation between the RUB and its Afghan partner uni-versities. From 2004 to 2007, the first 17 lec-turers from the IEE’s Afghan part-ner faculties in Balkh, Herat, Kabul and Nangarhar completed their

training in Management and Eco-nomics at the RUB by passing ex-aminations in at least six out of the eleven subjects of the new Bachelor curriculum. Between 2008 and 2009, another 26 Afghan lecturers obtained further qualifications at the RUB, among them participants from Bamiyan, Kandahar and Khost University. Currently, 17 lecturers from the universities of Faryab, Jawzjan, Kandahar, Khost and Nan-garhar are attending courses in line with the Afghan BSc curriculum, in-cluding modules related to macro-economics, microeconomics, ac-counting, finance & banking, man-agement science and international economic relations. Each subject is taught in English for a two-month period at the respective Chairs of the Faculty of Management and Economics at the RUB. Intensive tu-toring of up to four Afghan training participants creates an effective learning environment. In addition to the modules in Management and Economics, the lecturers are of-fered language classes in German and English during their stay in Bo-chum. Only lecturers who are employed by the Afghan partner universities are eligible for participation in the train-ing programme at the RUB. They are nominated by the Afghan Minis-try of Higher Education through their university and selected ac-cording to their performance in a written test. Scholarships from the DAAD and the MIWFT are provided to the selected candidates to fi-

nance their stay in Bochum. Typi-cally, the training participants stay in Bochum for six months and pass exams in three subjects. They then return to Afghanistan to teach at their home universities for another six months. Finally, the second part of the training takes place in Bo-chum, and the lecturers participate in courses in another three subjects. This system ensures that the par-ticipants can immediately apply their newly-acquired knowledge be-tween their stays in Bochum while at the same time minimising the burden to the universities resulting from the absence of teaching staff. Further intakes of the Bachelor training programme at the RUB are planned for the second half of 2010, for 2011 and for 2012/13. With about 90 participants trained be-tween 2004 and 2013, an adequate number of qualified lecturers will be available to the partner universi-ties when the programme expires; and it is planned to phase out the Bachelor training at the RUB by the end of 2013.

As postgraduate training in Man-agement and Economics is still not available in Afghanistan, it seemed logical to extend the cooperation beyond the Bachelor training by ad-ditionally promoting the Master-level qualification of Afghan lectur-ers at the RUB. Since 2006, five Af-ghan Management and Economics

Training of Afghan Lecturers at the RUB

Master Programmes at the RUB

Current participants of the Bachelor Training in Bochum with Prof. Löwenstein (IEE, left), Prof. Kheshkai (Afghan Ministry of Higher Education, third from left) and Minister Pinkwart (MIWFT, centre) (photo: RUB)


lecturers have graduated from the “Master of Arts in Development Management” (MADM) programme organised by the IEE. In 2007, funds from the World Bank’s “Strengthening Higher Edu-cation Program” (SHEP) were made available by the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education to further pro-mote the postgraduate qualification of Afghan lecturers in Management and Economics. This allowed the RUB to offer an MSc programme in Management and Economics that specifically caters to the needs of the Afghan participants: All the courses of the four-semester pro-gramme are offered in English, and the MSc candidates are intensively mentored by the academic staff of the Faculty of Management and Economics of the RUB. The MSc curriculum is equivalent to the regular MSc programme in Manage-ment and Economics which is taught at the RUB in German. It consists of three semesters of course work and one semester for the Master thesis with a total of 120 ECTS credits. The master’s thesis enables the students to specialise in a field of their choice. The topics of the Master’s theses reflect Af-ghanistan’s research priorities, as identified by the National Center for Policy Research.

26th February 2010 was a memora-ble day not only in the lives of 17 Afghans, but also for the IEE and

the RUB’s Faculty of Management and Economics. On this day, the first Afghan lecturers received their Master degree certificates in Man-agement and Economics after three semesters of intensive studies in Bochum and six months of field re-search in Afghanistan. This mile-stone in the academic cooperation with Afghanistan and the remark-able individual achievements of the graduates were aptly celebrated during a solemn graduation cere-mony in the central library of the RUB. Speakers at this special occasion included Prof. Andreas Pinkwart, Science Minister of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Afghan Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Prof. Mohammed Saber Kheshkai, the Rector of the

RUB, Prof. Weiler, Mrs. Freshta Ra-himi Neda (Chargé d’Affairs at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in Berlin), Dr. Helmut Blumbach (Head of Department Southern Hemisphere of the DAAD) and Prof. Wilhelm Löwenstein. Ahmad Javed Shuaibi delivered a vote of thanks on behalf of the graduates. The Masters certificates were presented by Minister Pink-wart and Prof. Jörg Schimmelpfen-nig, Dean of Studies at the Faculty of Management and Economics of the RUB.

With the lecturer training and the recently completed MSc pro-gramme in Management and Eco-

Graduation of the first Afghan Masters of Science

Flying hats and happy faces: the first 17 Afghan Masters of Science in Management and Economics at the RUB (photo: RUB)

Continuation of the MSc Programme Desired

Minister Pinkwart (MIWFT) presenting the Master certificate to Mr. Rahim Nazari (Herat Uni-versity) who completed the MSc degree with the best overall result (photo: RUB)


Dr. Martina Shakya is a research fellow at the IEE and coordinator for the lec-turer training and MSc programmes in Economics for Afghan universities. Contact: [email protected]

NATO’s “Science for Peace and Se-curity Programme” and technical support of the eLearning depart-ment at the RUB, “RUBeL”, all lec-turers and students at the Afghan partner faculties will have online access to course materials, interac-tive communication tools and read-ings for the new BSc in Manage-ment and Economics very soon. Since 2009, NATO has been ex-panding its “Virtual Silk Highway Project” by providing high-speed Internet access via satellite to aca-demic and governmental institu-tions in Afghanistan. Apart from Ka-bul University, beneficiaries of the project will also include most of the RUB partner universities in the Af-ghan provinces. The IEE/RUBeL support complements the physical infrastructure created by NATO and greatly enhances the implementa-tion of the new BSc curriculum in Afghanistan: The complete set of readings and other course materials for the BSc will be available online in English, Dari and (in future) Pashto for all students and the academic staff at the partner fac-ulties, including those who did not have the opportunity to pursue further studies at the RUB or else-where. Through use of interactive teach-ing and communication tools (e.g. online tests, discussion forums), teaching standards at the partner faculties will be brought up to the international “state of the art”. A “teachers’ corner” will facilitate the communication between and the exchange of lecturers across Afghan universities, as well as with their mentors at the RUB. With an increasing number of internet cafés and improving con-nectivity even in the Afghan prov-inces, students will be able to ac-cess course materials outside their campus at any time and in-deed from anywhere in the world!

The “eCampus Afghanistan” project operates on the eLearning platform MOODLE (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment). In comparison to other relevant sys-tems, MOODLE is cheap, user-friendly and offers a wide range of didactical and communication tools. Backed by a large and rapidly grow-

ing international community of us-ers, the software is continuously being developed further. The plat-form will be fully operational soon u n d e r h t t p : / / e c a m p u s -afghanistan.org. The IEE/RUBeL activities are not limited to providing server space, technical support and online con-tents: To make sure that the eCam-pus will be vibrantly used, training the future users is particularly im-portant. Already 26 Afghan lectur-ers have participated in introductory workshops on eLearning and the operation of the learning manage-ment system during their stay in Bochum. Further workshops, in-cluding online trainings for lectur-ers in Afghanistan, are planned. In addition, the IEE and the RUBeL team are consulting with current participants of the lecturer training programme in Bochum on a range of practical aspects, to make sure that the project will appeal to its us-ers and be appropriate in the par-ticular academic as well as techni-cal environment of the partner fac-ulties. While the focus of the IEE/RUBeL project is currently on the imple-mentation of the BSc in Manage-ment and Economics at the Afghan partner faculties, the “eCampus Af-ghanistan” is by no means re-stricted to the cooperation projects of the RUB. Afghan universities are also maintaining a range of coop-eration programmes with other in-ternational partners as well. A fu-ture extension of the “eCampus Af-ghanistan” to other disciplines and cooperation projects is not only possible technically, but explicitly envisaged.

nomics under the partnership agreement with SHEP, the RUB has demonstrated its ability to deliver concrete results towards address-ing Afghanistan’s need for qualified academic staff. Having completed the Bachelor training programme at the RUB between 2008 and 2009 another 26 young lecturers from the partner faculties in Balkh, Bami-yan, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar and Nangarhar have already qualified for the Master-level studies. A con-tinuation of the MSc programme for this group as well as for the current and future participants of the Bachelor training is desirable and in line with Afghanistan’s higher edu-cation policy: According to the “National Higher Education Strategy 2010-2014”, the Ministry of Higher Education is determined to have the majority of the teaching staff at Af-ghan universities upgrade their qualifications by obtaining post-graduate degrees “within as short a period as possible”. The IEE and the Faculty of Management & Econom-ics are ready to resume the MSc programme at anytime, provided the necessary funds are made avail-able.

Apart from teaching materials in English and Dari that have been made available to the Afghan part-ner universities since 2004, the IEE is currently coordinating the trans-lation of up-to-date textbooks into Pashto, a project which is sched-uled to be completed until the end of 2010. In addition, the IEE will soon be publishing a professional, multilingual dictionary of Manage-ment and Economics. The diction-ary will consist of two volumes: vol-ume 1 will be in Dari, English and German; the second volume will cover Pashto, English and German. In the future, the dictionary will also be made available online.

The latest project to support the Af-ghan partner faculties of the RUB is the “eCampus Afghanistan”, an internet-based learning manage-ment system. With funds from

New Teaching and Learning Materials

eCampus Afghanistan

10 | IEE News No. 11 | May 2010

tant benefits for the Faculty of Eco-nomics at Herat University and one of the most visible results of the cooperation with the Institute of Development Research and Devel-opment Policy (IEE) as well as the Chair of Statistics and Economet-rics at the Ruhr University of Bo-chum. Before we embarked on the cooperation with Bochum there was no such software in any Afghan University and subsequently a lack of professional expertise in properly using statistical software and in the analysis of statistical data. Due to the knowledge I acquired in Bochum I am also in a position today to sup-

port other universities in Afghani-stan, especially the Balkh University of Mazar Sharif in this area.

Apart from my responsibilities as a lecturer I was selected as Deputy Dean of the Economics Faculty of my University, which is a great hon-our for me. In this function I am responsible in addition to other du-ties for the curricula of the Faculty of Management and Economics. Besides, I am in charge of the aca-

Mohammad Dawude Temory in his Office at Herat University (photo: private)

Mohammad Dawude Temory on the Campus in Bochum (photo: private)

Mohammad Dawude Temory Three months after returning to my home town in Afghanistan it’s time to review what happened in the last few years. My name is Mohammad Dawude Temory. I was born in 1977 in Herat city, one of the provinces in Afghanistan. I finished my school education at Jami high school in Herat city and was accepted at the economics faculty of Herat Univer-sity in 1996. After my graduation at the industrial management depart-ment in 2000 I was appointed as lecturer for Statistics and Econo-metrics at Herat University. My life started to change significantly when I got a scholarship to continue my studies in Germany in 2005 and enrolled for the BBA programme at Ruhr University Bochum. After my successful graduation at the end of the BBA course in 2007 I returned to Afghanistan, but only for a very short time. I received a scholarship for the Master programme at the Ruhr University of Bochum in 2008 and continued my stay in Germany for another two years. Having suc-cessfully defended my thesis in the field of Statistics and Econometrics in February 2010 I was finally able to return home.

Due to my academic background and the profound education I re-ceived in Bochum I am not only teaching Statistics and Economet-rics at the faculty of Management and Economics at Herat University but was also charged to teach sta-tistics in the medical faculty. The number of students taught varies from 120 in the Econometrics course to up to 280 in my Statistics lectures, where I teach different subjects of deferential statistics in theory and practice. Today, all courses are supported by statistical software such as Eviews 6 and Eviews 7 in Econometrics. This, by the way, is one of the most impor-

Working as Deputy Dean

Working as Lecturer

Returning to Afghanistan

Change of Perspectives

IEE News No. 11 | May 2010 | 11

demic council when the Dean is not present and I am responsible for evaluating the examination process and controlling its proper imple-mentation. Moreover, I am a mem-ber of the academic council at my faculty which also implies monitor-ing the academic activities of the lecturers and assistants as well as evaluating the quality of their teaching material. This function is fundamental to ensure the quality of teaching at our University. But still, there are many other du-ties I have to deal with today. One crucial point to ensure that the level of knowledge of our students is raised is the availability of academic

literature in our national languages Pashto and Dari. Due to my aca-demic background I had the possi-bility to translate standard econo-metric literature such as books by Jeffrey M. Wooldridge or Manfred Lösch which is essential to make the contents accessible for all stu-dents. From my perspective this is a significant step to further improve this field of science in Afghanistan. This is what my professional life looks like today. Many things have happened, many things have changed in the past few years and I am proud of being part of the re-building process in our country Af-ghanistan. In closing I would like to

say that I am highly grateful for the work of all the professors of the Faculty of Management and Eco-nomics of the University of Bochum as well as the Institute of Develop-ment Research and Development Policy and I very much appreciate everything they have done to en-hance my education and broaden my mind. I am especially grateful to Prof. Dr. Löwenstein, Prof. Dr. Lösch and Nina Kobek for their excellent teaching, guidance, administrative and academic support they have given me throughout my stay in Bochum. Thank you!

Master of Arts in Development Management The fifth generation of Master of Arts students in Develop-ment Management successfully complete their course Meik Nowak Marco Rimkus

The IEE has extended its network around the globe. On 3 March 2010, 22 students from 13 different coun-tries in Asia, Africa, Latin-America and Europe were awarded their

Masters Degree as graduates of the international English programme „Master of Arts in Development Management“ at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. During this event the IEE was also able to wel-come the 150th graduate of the programme. The students of the

twin course in South Africa, which is offered by the IEE in cooperation with the Institute for Social Devel-opment (ISD) and the School of Government (SoG) of the University of the Western Cape, already cele-brated their academic success at the end of last year. 13 graduates

New Alumni: Graduation ceremony on 3 March 2010 in Bochum (photo: RUB)

12 | IEE News No. 11 | May 2010

received their Diploma on 10 De-cember 2009. The aim of the 18-month MA in De-velopment Management which the IEE has been offering since the win-ter semester of 2000/2001, is the training of professionals to meet the increasing need for experts in program and project management that has emerged in international development cooperation. Thus, the course provides the students with

the necessary tools to deal with the practical problems of managing de-velopment programs and projects and possesses a high degree of practical relevance. For each intake, up to 25 students are accepted in Bochum and up to 20 students in Cape Town. With re-spect to the curriculum, lecturers and the degree awarded, the twin course in South Africa is identical to

The sixth generation of Master of Arts students in Development Management (MADM) arrived in Cape Town

The sixth generation of Master of Arts students in Development Management (MADM) arrived in Cape Town on 3 May 2010. The MADM intake consists of nineteen students from twelve countries around the world (photo: IEE)

the Masters Programme taught at the IEE at the Ruhr Universität Bo-chum. For more information please con-tact Dr. Meik Nowak, Coordinator M.A. in Development Management, [email protected] or visit our website under http://www.development-research.org/madm.html

New Alumni: Graduation ceremony on 10 December 2009 in Cape Town (photo: private)

Looking forward to their diploma certifi-cates with keen anticipation: MADM stu-dents during the graduation ceremony on 10 December 2009 at the University of the Western Cape (photo: private)

IEE News No. 11 | May 2010 | 13

Elleke Maliepaard

In the summer of 2009, I had the opportunity to go to Cape Town, South Africa to do field research for my master thesis on township tour-ism. Why did I choose this topic? Tourism can potentially contribute to the development in a certain area, especially in countries or re-gions in which there are only few other possibilities for economic development. However, badly or-ganised tourism or tourism that is not organised at all can do more harm than good. Within the town-ships, which were set up as living areas rather than areas of commer-cial activity, there are only limited options for development. Therefore for townships the rise of tourism may provide an opportunity for their development. But this potential can only be realised when the local population is included and benefits from tourism, when tourism is de-veloped “responsibly”. In my thesis I addressed the issue to what extent township tourism is responsible.

During my field research in Cape Town, I interviewed different tour operators on the organisation of township tours and their percep-tions of the effects of township tourism. On the other side I also gathered information from the population of Langa, the township closest to the city centre of Cape Town regarding the perceptions and acceptance of tourism. From my research I could conclude that township tourism, as it is currently organised, has a strong focus on the authenticity of the townships, show-ing the cultural diversity of the townships and its people. All the operators and guides interviewed stressed that a township tour is not a safari where you sit in a bus and make pictures of the people around you. Rather, by offering conducted walks through the township, a

Therefore, the news that the IEE was willing to use money from the study fees to support us in our field research pleased my fellow stu-dents and me quite a bit. Not only was I able to pay my flight to South Africa from these funds, I was also able to rent the car that gave me the independence to visit the town-ships (as well as travel a bit as I was able to complete my research work earlier than anticipated!). For that, I would like to thank the IEE!

township tour is in-tended to allow for interaction with the local population. This focus can be ex-plained by the fact that a large majority of guides that do these tours are from the township them-selves. The locals that I interviewed in Langa stressed the positive effects of township tourism. However, the majority of the re-spondents mentioned that, although a large number of tourists visit the township, only a minority of the population benefits from this kind of tour-ism due to the short time tourists spend on their tours (3,5 hours) through the township and due to the fact that all tours visit the same destinations. And because of these results, the question of the effect of tourism on township development remains largely unanswered. My South African experience was great. I lived with a very nice South African lady, had a real cool (but crappy) old beetle at my disposal and met many old and new friends. Old friends, because I wasn’t the only Bochum student in Cape Town. New friends, during my research I met new people. For example Bule-lani, a local walking tour guide who showed me around in Langa; or other students doing research in Cape Town. All these people made my stay so much more interesting!

When you study Development Man-agement, it is only logical to go to a developing country for your field research. However, the costs that such research work entails are comparatively high and put quite a financial burden on many students.

A township tour is not a safari

The financial burden

My field research experience in the townships of Cape Town - and the ones who made it (financially) possible

Elleke Maliepaard and a traditional Healer, a popular “attraction” of each township tour (photo: private)

IEE-Alumna Elleke Maliepaard is cur-rently working for DEG (Deutsche Inves-titions- und Entwicklungs-gesellschaft)

14 | IEE News No. 11 | May 2010

Jens Blank Marco Rimkus Charlton C. Tsodzo

Having worked for the Ruhr-Universität Bochum for more than 37 years, Prof. Dr. Werner Voß will retire on 30th September 2010. Students of the IEE, past and pre-sent, have known and appreciated him for his undoubted ingenuity and prowess in his statistics lectures. Many will remember him for his famous metaphoric reference to how simple certain statistical con-cepts are, so much so that even his second mother-in-law could so un-derstand them too, and without any effort! Such have been Prof. Dr. Voß’s levels of humorous motiva-tion of his students, and combined that with his comprehensive ap-proaches to teaching and dedication to his noble profession that you have the full story of a great scholar whose track record is worth celebrating as nothing else but a phenomenon. As a way of paying a befitting trib-ute to a great statistician whose professional life can be described as one that has virtually dominated by statistics, we decided to make an attempt at statistically accounting for Prof. Voß’s professional career as a lecturer at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. This can be summarised as follows:

With more than 37 years at the Ruhr-Universität Prof. Voß spent around 75 semesters, 1954 weeks or 13.678 days on the campus. As-suming a conservative approach of four lectures per semester this means Prof. Voß held around 300 seminars or lectures and subse-quently spent at least 8.696 hours in various lecture theatres. Thus, with around 30 students per semi-nar and around 100 students per

lecture Prof. Voß was able to pass over the little pleasures of statistics to around 19.500 students. Taking into account the average failure rate, this also means that only ap-proximately 6.500 students failed to complete his courses successfully, thus leaving a whopping 13.000 students who walked away from the good professor’s courses with a big smile on their faces. Now that is what we call significant pass rates at any level. If all successful stu-dents were to form a “lying queue”, Prof. Voß was then able to success-fully teach an incredible number of 33 student-kilometres, under the assumption of an average height of 175 cm for male students and 167 cm for female students. What more could one ever want from the CV of a statistician? But this quantitative approach tells only half of the story. To qualita-tively describe Prof. Voß‘s way of teaching and the impressions he left, IEE News asked former stu-dents the following question: “Thinking of Professor Voß, what is the most memorable moment you experienced in his statistics course?”. And here are some of the answers:

“I will always remember Prof. Voß for his statement ‘... If I made it, why can’t you?’ in a statistics lecture during the 2002 Summer school in Bochum. It was in response to one of our colleagues complaining that they were tired of mathematical computation - calculating the stan-dard deviation and variance. Many of us believed that statistics was insurmountable hurdle, but, with the professor’s motivation and sup-port, we eventually began putting in more effort and worked with re-newed vigour. The process made me realise that at times we under-mine our capabilities and potential often to the point of being too lazy

to think outside the box. This is an experience I will cherish forever. “ “I fondly remember Prof. Voß as a very fast statistician who could effortlessly take a class through the course module at supersonic speed, of course, ensuring in the process that everyone grasped the key con-cepts. He would ask questions in class and if students failed to an-swer, he would say: ´Even my sec-ond Mother-in-law can easily an-swer this´. I would smile and think to myself, so if his mother-in-law could answer such questions, surely we needed to work harder to be able to answer them too! While it was humorous, the statement used to be a great source of motivation and encouragement” “He succeeded in making all the complicated figures and statistical concepts seem very simple and easily palatable. From the very first days as a bachelor student in my former university I naturally used to have a phobia for statistics, but after my first class with Professor Voß, I immediately fell in love with statistics and figures. Since I have felt very much at home in this sub-ject area, and statistics have been useful for me in the research com-ponent of my studies.” Owing to space limitations and the need to save Prof. Voß all the blushes, IEE News decided to leave out the rest of the comments which in essence summarised his teaching career as being characterised by dedication, commitment, excel-lence, statistics-made-simple and high standards. Indeed his has been a great professional journey well travelled and as it reaches its swan-song on 30th September 2010, we would like to wish Prof. Dr. Werner Voß a very happy life in retirement and all the very best in his future endeavours. His metaphorical ‘second mother-in-law’ will also be greatly missed! Please continue to read the inter-view IEE News had with Prof. Voß.

Farewell to Prof. Dr. Werner Voß and his metaphorical ‘second mother- in-law’

13.678 days on the campus

Thinking of Prof. Voß

News

IEE News No. 11 | May 2010 | 15

Marco Rimkus Prof. Dr. Werner Voß was born on 16.05.1942 in Kaiserslautern. After his A-levels he studied economics at the University of Heidelberg. In 1967 he started to work as re-search fellow at the Institute for international comparative economic statistics at the University of Hei-delberg. After being awarded his PhD in 1970 and his postdoctoral lecturer qualification in 1973 he accepted the offer of a chair at Ruhr-Universität Bochum and started to work as professor of statistics at the Faculty of Social Sciences. Since 1976 Prof. Voß has been one of the directors of the Institute of Development Research and Devel-opment Policy (IEE) and since 1989 Director and acting Director of the Institute for German Studies (IDF) at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. IEE News interviewed Prof. Voß on the campus while he took his dog for a walk.

This is, of course, something very positive for a lecturer and it makes me very happy that I was able to awaken interest in statistics which many think is a dry subject. In eco-nomic terms I would say: these are the real earnings of my teaching activities.

Well, statistics was one of my ma-jors when I studied Economics in Heidelberg. And although I wasn’t among the top group in Mathemat-

ics at school I somehow enjoyed this scientific field. Besides, I dis-covered that whenever my fellow students faced some problems in statistics I was able to help and support them. Probably, this sparked off my interest.

Actually I am aiming to continue as usual. Even when I am not part of the ordinary curriculum I will still offer seminars such as SPSS courses, e.g. during the IEE summer school. Apart from this I am looking very much forward to writing my second novel. The first one was published in 1997 and is called “Wasserhinkel”. The protagonist is a man in his end forties, who returns to the small town where he spent his youth - Zweibrücken in the Western Palatinate. The novel de-scribes his memories of the end of the Second World War, the time of reconstruction and the so-called economic miracle. But this is all just

a hobby of mine. Besides, the re-prints of my statistical textbooks will require attention at regular intervals and I would like to do much more sports. Not only for myself but also for the pleasure of my wife. In former times I used to run, but I stopped running quite some time ago.

Oh, I am not afraid of going abroad. Quite the opposite. I visited many countries in my life including Co-lumbia, Jordan, Saudi-Arabia and Zimbabwe where I had teaching assignments. But the older you get the more exhausting it becomes to travel around. Besides, at the IEE we have many very qualified young colleagues for whom it still pro-vides quite a bit of excitement to visit new places. So, it’s their turn now!

Interview with Prof. Dr. Werner Voß

How does it feel to receive such positive feedback from

former students?

Why did you choose statistics as a profession?

What will your life as emeritus statistically look like?

And our final question: why did you never make it to our cooperation partners in

South Africa?

Martina Shakya

The graduation ceremony for the first Afghan Masters in Manage-ment and Economics on 26 Febru-ary coincided with the opening of a

“Towers of Knowledge” on Afghan History at the RUB fascinating exhibition on Afghan history and national identity, which was shown at the RUB university library until May. The exhibition was jointly organised by the IEE and the university library, in cooperation

with the Swiss Afghanistan Institute and with the support of the German Foreign Office and the rectorate of the RUB. Historical documents, photographs, paintings and maps cover Afghanistan’s history from

Prof. Dr. Werner Voß 1973 (photo: private) Prof. Dr. Werner Voß 2010 (photo: private)

16 | IEE News No. 11 | May 2010

Workshop on German Development Cooperation in Practice Miriam Henkel

Members of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Eco-nomics of the Ruhr-University of Bochum in cooperation with staff from the Institute for Development Research and Development Policy (IEE) taught a course entitled “German Development Cooperation in Practice” with practical activities at the Gustav-Stresemann Institute (GSI) in Bonn during the 26th-30th of April this year. The course focussed mainly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) and methods of financing development. Furthermore, the workshop was geared to support strategies of global learning and to increase the cognitive and practical skills within the field of current development policies. With the help of workshop and dis-cussions the students were given the opportunity to present ways of realising MDG goals. It was also one of the aims of the workshop to give the students more of an insight into all kinds of development policy. That’s why the range of external experts was very broad. Among the experts were Iris Schöninger, pro-ject manager of the sector project Millennium Villages Projects from Welthungerhilfe, Dagmar Fuchs, project manager of the sector pro-ject basic education at the GTZ and

1748 until 1973. The pedagogical exhibition consisting of five portable “towers” was initiated in Afghani-stan to promote national identity and historical knowledge among the Afghan population. In Afghanistan, 200 copies of the exhibition are currently circulating throughout the provinces and will eventually be shown at all of the country’s 11,000 schools and other educational insti-tutions. At the RUB, the “Towers of Knowledge” were shown for the first time in Germany.

For more information on the exhibi-tion “Towers of Knowledge” in Ger-man please visit the following web-site http ://www.ub.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/DigiBib/Aktuelles/afghanistan.html

Prof. Kheshkai (Afghan Ministry of Higher Education, 2nd from left) and Prof. Weiler (Rector of the RUB, right) officially opening the exhibition “Towers of Knowledge” on 26 February 2010 (photo: RUB)

Jens Marten, general manager of the Global Policy Forum Europe. All experts gave short introductions to their work and how it was related to the MDGs. The students also had the opportunity to talk to the ex-perts. Sebastian Sommer, an IEE alumnus and a former MADM student, also participated in the seminar and gave a presentation about how to become a so called “young profes-sional” in development policy. Some of the current PhD students at the IEE participated in the course and joined the discussions with the students and external experts. They gave short overviews of their disser-tation projects and answered the questions of the students concern-ing their experience with develop-ment policies in their home coun-

tries. Another highlight was the invitation to the Federal Ministry for Eco-nomic Cooperation and Develop-ment (BMZ). Dr. Hildegard Lingnau gave a lecture on the German de-velopment policy concerning the MDGs and she also participated in a discussion forum with the students afterwards. The workshop was a great experi-ence for all students. On the one hand, they could consolidate their interests in development policy and enlarge their knowledge and argu-mentation skills. On the other hand they got a closer insight into the reality of development policy espe-cially in the discussion with the PhD students of the IEE which was ap-preciated by all participants.

Workshop on “German Development Cooperation in Practice“ at the Gustav-Stresemann Institute (GSI) in Bonn (photo: Miriam Henkel)

IEE News No. 11 | May 2010 | 17

Martina Shakya Together with the Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) at Princeton University, the IEE hosted a dialogue forum on “Security, Reconstruction and Alter-native Development Options for Afghanistan” at the RUB on 5 May 2010. The dialogue forum, which was supported by the Embassy of the Principality of Liechtenstein in Germany, brought together 40 aca-

demics and practitioners who are working in, on and for Afghanistan. The off-the-record event created a platform for an open, informal dia-logue on Afghan and international perspectives on the state of secu-rity and reconstruction in Afghani-stan. It also aimed at fostering a discussion about viable solutions to Afghanistan’s current problems, which include the far-reaching negative implications of the drug economy.

Dialogue Forum on Security, Reconstruction and Development in Afghanistan

The participants were welcomed by the Rector of the RUB, Prof. Elmar Weiler, and by the Ambassador of the Principality of Liechtenstein in Germany, H.S.H. Prince Stefan von und zu Liechtenstein. To fuel the discussions, keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, Founding Director of the LISD, by Prof. Wilhelm Löwenstein, the IEE Managing Di-rector and by Thomas Ruttig, Co-Director of the Afghanistan Ana-

Jens Blank The Ruhr-University Research School in cooperation with the Insti-tute of Development Research and Development Policy (IEE) held a workshop on Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in Bochum from 17 to 19 February 2010. Dr. Elmar Schlüter was the course instructor. He is a senior researcher at the Social Science Research Cen-tre Berlin. Among the core topics of the three-day workshop were: Confirmatory factor analysis, path models, full SEMs Specification of different models and evaluation of model fit Multiple group comparisons

The course was designed for appli-cation-oriented participants and

available survey data. Throughout the course, the software Mplus was used. The entire workshop was a great experience for all participants. It was interesting to see, that PhD students with a background in lin-guistics, social sciences, psychology or economics can apply the same statistical methods. Altogether it was a state-of-the-art workshop enriched with an interdisciplinary view on statistical methods.

aimed to provide a broad overview of SEM, but it was also suitable for users who are already familiar with the basics of SEM offering them the possibility to enlarge their knowl-edge and/or practical skills in the field. To facilitate the transfer of theoreti-cal knowledge into the participants’ own research work, a large part of the course was devoted to system-atic exercises employing freely

Workshop on Structural Equation Modelling

Course participants; on the right Dr. Elmar Schlüter (photo: private)

Participants of the Dialogue Forum on Afghanistan (from left to right): Uwe Marquardt (Innenministerium NRW), Katrin Bastian (Botschaft des Fürstentums Liechtenstein, Berlin),H.S.H. Prince Stefan von und zu Liechtenstein, Ambassador of the Principality of Liechtenstein to Germany, Shafaq Hussain (IEE), Wolfgang Danspeckgruber (LISD, Princeton) (photo: IEE)

18 | IEE News No. 11 | May 2010

Bender, Katja and Rompel, Matthias (2010): „Financial crisis and social protection reform - Brake or motor? An analysis of reform dynamics in Viet Nam and Indonesia“, in: Bauer, Armin and Thant, Myo (ed.): “Poverty and Sustainable Develop-ment in Asia - Impact and Re-sponses to the Global Financial Crisis“, Manila/Tokyo

New Publications

Wilhelm Löwenstein participated in the DAAD conference “Academic co-operation with crisis states” which took place in Bonn on 11 November 2009. From 8 to 9 January 2010 Marco Rimkus participated in the Second Financial Expert Day which was organised jointly by Consultants International GmbH (AFC) and the Academy of German Cooperatives (ADG) at Montabaur castle. The core topic of the conference was: “Rural finance – hands-on experi-ences, cases and perspectives”. From 11 to 15 January 2010 Wilhelm Löwenstein was in Kin-shasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) to join in the opening of the “Congolese-Allemand Centre de Micro Finance” and to take part in various Microfinance workshops and conferences. Wilhelm Löwenstein visited Berlin on 28 January 2010 for talks with members of the German Bundestag on the academic co-operation with Afghanistan. During the 13th Development Policy Seminar of the Verein für Entwick-lungsökonomische Forschungs-förderung, organised in cooperation with KfW Entwicklungsbank and DEG from 20 to 23 January 2010 in Erfurt, Katja Bender gave a presen-tation on "Crisis and reform: The Impact of the global financial crisis on the reform of the social security systems in Indonesia and Vietnam".

Wilhelm Löwenstein visited the German Foreign Office in Berlin on 19 February 2010 to take part in the launching of the DAAD-brochure on academic co-operation with Af-ghanistan. From 14 to 16 April 2010 Volker Jacobs participated in the ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainabil-ity) Informed Cities Forum at the Northumbria University in Newcas-tle-upon-Tyne (Great Britain). The overall goal of the forum was to link representatives of various European cities and scientists from different universities in order facilitate the transfer of the results of scientific research into practical regional management. On 15 April 2010 Wilhelm Löwen-stein gave a presentation on the

IEE on Tour South African–German Centre for Development Research in the framework of the dialogue between the DAAD and African Embassies in Berlin. From 15 to 22 April 2010 Jan-Frederik Kremer participated in the “Creative Leader´s Conference on Regional Cooperation“ in Islamabad, Pakistan, and presented his paper „Changing ties – The regional strat-egy paper for EU-Asia cooperation“. Between 26 and 28 April 2010 Jan-Frederik Kremer participated in the conference „Afghanistan – Pakistan: Bileteral porspects and Challenges“ in Islamabad, organised by the De-partment for Defence & strategic studies at the Quaid-e-Azam Uni-versity.

Imprint Institute of Development Research & Development Policy Institut für Entwicklungsforschung & Entwicklungspolitik (IEE) Ruhr-Universität Bochum Universitätsstrasse 150 44780 Bochum Germany Phone: + 49 (0) 234 / 32-22418, - 22243 Fax: + 49 (0) 234 / 32-14294 E-Mail: [email protected] Internet: www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/iee Editorial Board: Wilhelm Löwenstein, Marco Rimkus IEE News is published two times a year and can be ordered free of charge.

lysts Network. The afternoon ses-sion started with contributions of representatives of the Federal Min-istry of Economic Cooperation and Development and the German Agro-Action who reported about their activities in Afghanistan. The 17 lecturers from the RUB’s partner universities in Afghanistan, who are currently participating in the Bache-lor training programme, responded to these inputs by presenting their own, Afghan perspectives on how security and development in their

H.S.H. Prince Stefan von und zu Liechten-stein visiting the “Towers of Knowledge” at the RUB (photo: IEE)

country could be promoted.

Documents

IEE News No. 11