Editorial - Information technology as a development tool

Welcome to the first issue of Alliance to be published by Allavida. For all of us involved with Allavida these are exciting times, if a little daunting too. We have a tremendous foundation on which to build, with Alliance itself plus the grantmaking and capacity-building programmes of the former Charity Know How. However, Allavida will be much more than simply a new home for Alliance and CKH.

Alliance's primary concern is to monitor and report on civil society developments around the world. It aims to cover new resource development initiatives and thus to encourage innovation and creativity in the creation and application of resources. In a way this sums up Allavida’s aspirations as a whole. We will build on the experience of CKH – itself an innovative re-granting institution – by seeking to mobilize new sources of funds for international grantmaking. We will also increase our emphasis on working with in-country civil society organizations, including emerging grantmakers, and in so doing we will hope to find new voices and initiatives of interest to Alliance readers. We will continue to develop and run longer-term training and capacity-building programmes wherever we work, but these will increasingly integrate research and dissemination of learning.

Allavida’s holistic approach to development provides a comfortable backcloth for Alliance, one that should stimulate fresh ideas and help ensure that the full spectrum of civil society is represented in its pages. From time to time I might even convince Caroline to cover some aspect of Allavida’s work!

Andrew Kingman
Director, Allavida