International Development Research Centre

I didn't know about the IDRC ... discovered the organization today, and they were too exciting not to share.

IDRC - International Development Research Centre

This how they describe themselves:

IDRC believes that research and innovation hold the keys to progress in developing countries. 

To make knowledge a tool for addressing pressing challenges,

• we provide researchers in developing countries with the financial resources, advice, and training that will help them find solutions to the local problems they identify
• we encourage sharing knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world
• we foster new talent by offering fellowships and awards
• we disseminate research findings and strive to get new knowledge into the hands  of those who can use it.

In doing so, we make an important contribution to Canada’s foreign policy, complementing the work of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, and other government departments and agencies. This helps promote Canadian values such as political and intellectual pluralism and intellectual diversity, evidence-based policy-making, and democratic dialogue.

They do some amazing research, and their publications are freely available.  Topic areas that may be of interest to us standards folks, include: natural resources, the environment and health.

I'm currently browsing, Women and Land: Securing Rights for Better Lives (http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/bitstream/10625/47431/1/IDL-47431.pdf), 2011.  

Land is an important source of security against poverty across the developing world, but, in many places, unequal rights to land put women at a disadvantage, perpetuates poverty, and entrenches gender inequality. Surprisingly little detailed information exists on women’s relationship to land, and even less is informed by women themselves. This book aims to help fill that gap, drawing on research funded by IDRC over many years.

The core of the book focuses on recent findings from sub-Saharan Africa, where researchers in 14 countries explored the topic from many angles – legal, customary, political, and economic. Researchers from non-governmental organizations, academics, and grassroots activists worked together with communities on the research, exploring the experiences of women in specific contexts.