UNV's Domestic Development Service (DDS) exemplifies people-centred development at the grassroots level. Its key component is the UNV/DDS field workers who join people in villages and communities to assist them in their own empowerment, facilitating development activities which are appropriate to local cultures and customs and draw on indigenous knowledge. This publication by the Participatory Resource Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, maps the history of the DDS programme in Africa which started in 1985 and was operating in 23 countries by 1995. Overviews of DDS activities in each of those countries are complemented by the personal stories of individual field workers and by appraisals of people from the communities, Government representatives and NGO leaders. Together with many illustrations, this gives a vivid account of the UNV's Domestic Development Service programme in Africa, demonstrating what can be achieved when people join forces and work together for change.

Annuska Derks
Trafficking of Cambodian Women and Children to Thailand
IOM/Centre for Advanced Studies, Phnom Penh 1997

Trafficking of Vietnamese Women and Children to Cambodia
IOM/Centre for Advanced Studies, Phnom Penh 1998

Belgian UNV anthropologist Annuska Derks, who worked with the Center for Advanced Studies in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, focuses in both these studies on the patterns that underlie the trafficking of women and children within and from Cambodia and Vietnam. Interviews which were conducted with victims and recruiters, with police and brothel-owners, with village leaders and human rights organisations provide often shocking insights into the practices and causes of trafficking - a particularly distressing effect of poverty that turns people into commodities. The majority of women and children are trafficked for prostitution, with smaller groups being recruited for begging, criminal purposes or domestic labour. The reasons for falling into the snares of ruthless traffickers are the same on either side of the borders: dire economic need. Each of Annuska Derks' studies published in cooperation with the International Organisation for Migration go beyond just assessing the situation. They conclude with recommendations that put high priority on information and awareness-raising in the communities, on better access to education and vocational training in particular for women, on proper implementation of protective and preventive laws, and not least on increased co-operation between Governments and NGOs at regional level.

H.B. Rozemuller
From Pig Rearing to Stock Marketing
Rice Milling, a Broad Spectrum of Entrepreneurial Activities
Centre for Advanced Studies, Phnom Penh 199

Another study conducted by a UN Volunteer at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Phnom Penh focuses on the rice business in North West Cambodia, one of the country's most important industries. The shift from a central to a market-oriented approach in Cambodia has resulted in a tremendous growth in the number of rice-related businesses, accompanied by a trend towards market professionalism. Author Bas Rozemuller describes the broad spectrum of entrepreneurial activities in this sector and points out issues that need to be addressed in order to promote further growth, such as easier access to credit and export licences and the building and reconstruction of roads to make markets accessible. Since the Centre for Advanced Studies aims to foster a wide dialogue between entrepreneurs, policy-makers and development specialists, the study includes a Khmer translation.