ANNUAL REPORT 2008
Table of contents
- Mission and Approach
- Clients
- Board of Advisers
- Partners and Collaboration
- Training
- Consultancies Worldwide
- Product Development
- Our network of Branch offices
- Most salient features of 2008
- Financial results
- Overview of facts and figures
BOARD OF ADVISERS
MDF avails of a Board of Advisers (BoA) which clearly reflects the diversity and richness of the development sector. This BoA assists MDF in finding its way in the ever growing complexity of the world of international co-operation and development architecture.
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MISSION AND APPROACH
Our mission is to support and facilitate improvement of management practices within organisations active in the domain of development and development co-operation. MDF is an organisation in which staff is not only motivated and qualified for the job, but also motivated to develop themselves further. We are convinced this attitude is reflected in our training courses, tailor-made training workshops and advisory services and leads to enthusiastic and satisfied participants and clients. We believe in a plural civil society development concept, in which all stakeholders are actively involved in the development process. In our approach we therefore combine the role of an active broker, who listens to the demands of these stakeholders and who delivers the required expertise, and know-how in a professional, but also open, inviting and friendly style.
CLIENTS
Over the years the number of clients has grown to more than 130 worldwide and they range from small NGOs in the Netherlands or Congo to large organisations, such as 'EuropeAid' from Brussels. More and more clients from the South know how to obtain our services directly without passing through the donors. Twenty of our clients constitute 70% of the total turnover: among them Nuffic, AGEH, Cordaid, SDC, EuropeAid, FNV International, GTZ, Ministry of Foreign Affairs-NL, INWENT, Plan International and Oxfam Novib.
PARTNERS AND COLLABORATION
Apart from our own 110 permanent staff, MDF is pleased to work with over 50 free-lance, satellite consultants, who
know our methods, our approach,
our style, our culture and above all, our regular staff very well. Moreover, we frequently collaborate with similar and
like-minded organisations in the Netherlands, Europe, as well as in the South. This number is ever increasing, not only
in Europe, but especially in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
TRAINING
In the Netherlands we organised 45 regular courses in the field of project management, project cycle management, human resource development, organisation development and additionally a number of courses with specific themes. In total these courses attracted 359 participants.
Furthermore, we organised tailor-made courses for 27 clients in the Netherlands on similar aspects of organisation and management but oriented and adapted to the needs of the demanding organisation.
Our offices in Hanoi, Colombo, Arusha, Goma and Brussels together organised 119 open-entry courses and 91 tailor-made courses. The total number of participants in all our courses world wide grew from 2,476 in 2007 to 2,639 in 2008.
CONSULTANCIES WORLDWIDE
We deliver small and large consultancy assignments to nearly every corner of the world. Small consultancy assignments remain important to keep in contact with a wide variety of organisations. Staff deals with these assignments directly, without much bureaucracy from MDF. Very often we render services which are actually 'train-sultancies' or 'con-training' and that, in our case, proves to be a good formula. Larger assignments are long-term change processes of NGO's, Higher Education Institutes or Ministries; in Congo, Bolivia, Bosnia, Guatemala, Peru, Laos, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Rwanda and Indonesia. Funding often comes from either bilateral donors, Nuffic or European Commission.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
In the Netherlands three new courses were developed, mainly in the domain of the new aid modalities, but our branches also redesigned courses and developed some new ones tailored to the needs of their clients in their regions. We also continued improving the concept of the International Advisory Trail, which was developed in 2004. This new concept of hybrid learning, combining learning on-the-job and coaching, resulting in improvement of advisory competencies, has now been under way for three full years and proves to be a valuable addition to MDF product lines. Now this approach can be extended to other professional groups.
PO Box 430
6710 BK Ede
Netherlands
PO Box 430
6710 BK Ede
Netherlands
T +31 (0)318 - 650060
F +31 (0)318 - 614503
E mdf@mdf.nl