Just out: three new ASC thematic maps!

The ASC has produced three brand new thematic maps. One in cooperation with Nuffic: 'Dutch cooperation programmes to strengthen post-secondary education and training in Africa (1996-2013)', one in cooperation with the Rotterdam School of Management: 'The challenge of Dutch sustainable diplomacy', and one in cooperation with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 'Composition of financial flows to Sub-Saharan African countries: ten years into the Monterrey Consensus on the Millennium Development Goals'.

Dutch cooperation programmes to strengthen post-secondary education and training in Africa (1996-2013)
The Dutch government has been supporting higher education in developing countries through cooperation between Dutch higher education and training institutes and partner organizations in the developing countries since the late 1960s.Various programmes have been implemented but the aim in all of them has been to build and strengthen the education and training capacity of organizations/institutes.The map depicts Dutch cooperation programmes to strenghten post-secondary education and training in Africa (1996-2013). Authors: A. Boeren, A.J. Dietz, C. Simons, N. de Vink. See the full thematic map.

The challenge of Dutch sustainable diplomacy
The overall challenge of Dutch bilateral sustainable diplomacy in Africa is to manage a complex portfolio of bilateral country relations that can build on the strength of different stakeholders. In addition to this there are also multilateral and regional channels through which the Dutch diplomatic effort is more indirectly channeled, such as the European Union and the World Bank. These organizations represent a different diplomatic challenge and this is not included on this sheet with its three different clusters of basic maps: the corporate relations maps, the civil society relations maps and the governmental perspective maps. The final map 'Making it work' includes a number of exemplary partnerships in African countries as the result of three novel PPP facilities that started in 2013 and 2014. Authors: R. van Tulder, E. Osmochescu, N. de Vink. See the full thematic map.

Composition of financial flows to Sub-Saharan African countries: ten years into the Monterrey Consensus on the Millennium Development Goals
The overall trend in increasing volumes of cross-border financial flows is positive. It is also encouraging that the volume of private financiers, whether from commercial or non-commercial origins, is picking up. The trend in Sub-Saharan Africa is not so clear-cut but with some pragmatic adjustments to experience and realistic knowledge on the ground, these so-called 'poor' numbers are perhaps not deceiving us so much and Jerven may be barking up the wrong tree. Authors: M. Eeckhout, N.de Vink. See the full thematic map.