Canadian Development Report 1999: Civil Society and Global Change

Jeffrey Moon is head of the Documents Reference/Data Centre at Queen’s
University.

Canadian Development Report 1999 is the third such report issued by the
North-South Institute, an Ottawa-based think tank. This report examines
Canadian society and how it is “organized to support collective
expressions of social, economic, political, and environmental justice,
both here and abroad.” More specifically, the report focuses on how
“Civil Society Organizations” (or CSOs) contribute in such areas as
international development, environment, food security, conflict
prevention, gender equality, human rights, and trade issues.

The report’s authors (one for each of nine chapters) provide readers
with background, context, definitions, and current developments for
their selected topic. Within each chapter, information boxes provide
supporting information (e.g., a description of the “Tobin Tax,” an
“advocacy primer,” “defining hunger”). These topical sidebars
are an effective tool in a report of this nature; they expand on an idea
without detracting from the flow of the author’s primary train of
thought.

An additional (tenth) chapter dealing with Canadian CSO funding
includes a tabular overview of Canadian CSOs that is as concise a
snapshot of these agencies as readers are likely to find. A statistical
annex draws data from a wide variety of sources, providing a thorough,
albeit Canada-centric, overview of CSO activity worldwide.

Each chapter is well-referenced, with a good mix of print and Web
resources. The associated CD-ROM includes the 1996/97, 1998, and 1999
Canadian Development Reports in Adobe Acrobat format. This publication
is a must-have for public, academic, and other libraries with an
interest in development issues.