A New Judicial Reform Knowledge Map

This last week, I submitted what I thought was the final product for a turn guide knowledge map- a resource manual for the various judicial reform and training centre projects in various regions of the world. I then learned that since the guide had not been previously updated, an overhaul would be more beneficial.
This new task will entail looking at the publications of global partners like the World Bank, USAID and others on the initiation and progress of judicial reform and training centres. I also suggested a new layout for this knowledge map which entails categorizing these new-found articles, documents and publications into world regions in which the judicial reform projects take place.
Our supervisor liked this idea and we have set up a meeting to discuss the progress in a couple of weeks.

I believe that this new construction of the knowledge map will be more user-friendly, a characteristic that was definitely lacking in the original. Considering the importance of this project, I was surprised that this resource was not more regularly updated. Indeed, the Turn Guide is an unique initiative in the region and Serbia has been at the forefront when it comes to the application of Judicial Reform and the Judicial Training Centre.
I am hoping that this new set-up will be more regularly updated in the future.

Empowerment Business
Meanwhile, our work in completing the global database on the various legal empowerment projects continued. The projects are quite similar with the majority focussing on the business and access to justice pillars. This is beneficial as the UNDP office in Serbia would like particular attention paid to the business pillar.
Most of the projects under this pillar entail contributions aimed at starting and maintaining small enterprises. Some merely include financing while others are more hands-on in providing training to small business owners and entrepreneurs. These latter projects seem more fruitful since they are teaching the actual skills that make an enterprise thrive.

Refining this global database is the task for this upcoming week. I believe this will allows us to gain a better understanding of which types of projects will be successful in the Serbian context.

Particular projects aside, Marlene and I have passed the midpoint of our placement in Serbia and reflecting on the past 6 weeks, I believe we have learned alot about the work and social atmosphere of the country. Part of this atmosphere is the slow progress of projects and at times the lack of communication and attention paid to tasks. This often lead to delays. For example, it was not until this week that the actual requirements of the Turn Guide knowledge map project was explained.
While this was initially frustrating for me, with my "North American" way of thinking, I soon re-framed the situation and am now looking forward to starting this defined task.