Human Development Report 2009

In most people’s minds the word 'migrant' evokes images of people at their most vulnerable and marginalized – think displaced Tamils trapped on a coastal spit in Sri Lanka or Chinese cockle gatherers drowning on a beach in northwest England. This year's Human Development Report paints a refreshingly different picture: the vast majority of migrants move voluntarily, not under duress, and most make a success of their move, benefiting not only themselves and their families but also their new local community and the people they leave behind them. Superbly researched, the report argues powerfully for a more liberal approach to migration, including a lowering of the barriers to movement for low-skilled workers. 

A Green Ink team worked alongside HDR director Jeni Klugman to edit the report critically, then copy-edit and proofread. We also helped complete the layout.

"You did a great job in helping to pull us over the line."

Jeni Klugman, Director, HDR  

Download the summary or full report on the HDR website.

Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 

You see it on the news every week: thousands of people devastated by droughts, floods and other natural disasters. The poorest are especially vulnerable and will be hardest hit as climate change gathers pace, warns a new report from the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction that looks at ways of improving the international response to disasters.

Under exceptionally tight deadlines we edited, designed, laid out and proofread the 200-page report and accompanying CD, posters, flyers and summary, working on the English edition first before translating into Arabic, French and Spanish. From a standing start in March 2009 we completed the English and Arabic in time for the launch meeting in Bahrain in May, with the French and Spanish following soon after. Our superhuman efforts were recognized in a letter of appreciation from the Special Representative of the UN's Secretary-General for Disaster Reduction.

“Reception to the report has been overwhelming. Thanks for everything to you and the team, the gruelling labour has paid off."

Download the report from the  website.

Index insurance and climate risk

Believe it or not, we’ve co-written an interesting report on the subject of ... insurance! This is the second volume in the Climate and Society series published by the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), part of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York.

The report takes a cool look at the current fashion for index insurance as a tool for poverty reduction, examining the pitfalls as well as the successes. Green Ink's science writer Anne Moorhead once again worked with series editor Molly Helmuth and co-authors to bring this technically complex subject alive. We also collaborated on the design, laid out the report and proofread it.

“Thanks so much for the superlative writing and editing – and to the whole team for working overtime to pull it all together!”

Download the report. 

Global Biodiversity Information Facility

As climate change and habitat destruction alter the fate of the planet’s species, there is a call to make biodiversity data available to all. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is answering that call. It’s the world's largest network for scientific biodiversity data, with over 170 million digital records held in over 1000 databases worldwide.

GBIF deals with a range of complex biological data as well as technical issues related to identifying and cataloguing this information. Green Ink was brought in to edit GBIF’s 2008 annual report, to ensure that the language used was clear and comprehensible to the lay person.

“We have been very happy with the whole process. Sophie Higman has done a very professional job. All communication has been clear and she has been very quick to come back to us.”

CTA Annual Report 2008

This year, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), like many of our clients, went on-line only with its annual report. Starting with an on-line concept allows greater freedom and creativity than when adapting a conventional hard-copy model.

The report is about as interactive as you can get, with opportunities to share comments via a host of social networking tools. For those wanting a taste of CTA’s activities in the field, there’s a video clip that takes you straight to pastoral Namibia. Despite the bells and whistles we’ve kept the design simple and elegant, creating a slick, user-friendly alternative to a cumbersome PDF file. And it’s a smooth read too, packed with articles that demonstrate the relevance of CTA’s programme and the potential of information and communication technologies to transform prospects for the poor. Recommended reading.

“The electronic version looks really fine. … The Senior Management Group appreciates that this is very timely and probably unique.”

View the report at http://annualreport2008.cta.int and see other CTA publications on their website.

World Economic Forum
 
For too many in the public sector, 'profit' is a dirty word. A report just published by the World Economic Forum shows it shouldn't be. The next billions: Business strategies to enhance food value chains and empower the poor reveals the tremendous potential for equitable growth unleashed when companies take poor people seriously as a market and tap into NGO or government support to realize this potential. With Green Ink’s help this report was launched in February at Davos, where we’re told it ‘made quite a stir’.
 
“Thanks very much for your great help in a pinch – it was hugely appreciated!”

CGIAR Change Management

In early 2008, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) launched an evaluation of the changes it needs to undergo to remain a key player in the evolving global agricultural research and knowledge system.

Green Ink writers were closely involved, attending meetings in Washington, Brussels and Lima to help the Visioning, Partnerships and Funding working groups produce their respective reports. Writer Sue Parrott has acted as a ‘live blogger’, covering meeting sessions and interviewing participants at the Change Management Retreat in Los Baños, the Philippines in September 2008, the CGIAR AGM in Maputo, Mozambique in December, and most recently at the Donor workshop in London this April.

Laura Ivers
Team Leader, Information and Corporate Communications Team
CGIAR Secretariat

View the Change Management blog on the CGIAR website.  

Planning for a Water-Secure Future

The Global Water Partnership (GWP) has supported several African countries in their efforts to achieve the water-related Millennium Development Goals through the development of Integrated Water Resources Management and Water Efficiency plans, according to targets set at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development.

GWP asked Green Ink to write and produce an analytical yet accessible summary of these activities that would describe important steps and identify gaps and lessons learned. Using supplied background information, our team members wrote, revised and copy-edited the 10,000-word report, then created the design, selected the photos and followed through to layout and proofreading. The result was a colourful, highly readable presentation of the programmatic material.

Download the publication here or visit the GWP library.

Human Development Report (HDR)

The 2007/2008 HDR focussed on global climate change and the real and present risks of irreversible ecological catastrophe and unprecedented reversals in human development.

A Green Ink writer worked alongside the report’s main author to edit the content and structure, then our editors worked together to take this complex report of nearly 400 pages through copy-editing and proofreading. We then took on the task of translating and laying out the Arabic edition.

"Let me express my warmest appreciation for your team's flexibility and hard work, combined with exquisite kindness and availability."

Carlotta Aiello
Human Development Report Office
United Nations’ Development Programme (UNDP)

Download the complete report or summary from the UNDP website.

Climate Risk Management in Africa

This was the first of a series of reports on climate and society for the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), part of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York.

Green Ink's writer/editor Anne Moorhead worked closely with the series editor Molly Helmuth throughout the project, helping to flesh out the concept and to write and revise chapters. We collaborated on the design, laid out the report, and proofread it before printing and mailing out in India. We then wrote a policy brief to accompany the full-length English report, and translated the main report into French and the brief into French, Portuguese and Arabic.

Download the complete report or summaries from the IRI website. 

Global Water Partnership (GWP)

GWP is an international partnership among all those involved in water management: government agencies, public institutions, private companies, professional organizations, multilateral development agencies and others committed to the Dublin-Rio principles of water stewardship.

Green Ink has written the GWP In Action annual reports for GWP since 2001, based on background information they have supplied and on correspondence with stakeholders. The 2007 annual report marks the organization's 10th anniversary. 

"Great text ... just the style and approach I was looking for – great work!"

Download the report from the GWP website.

United Nations Task Force on Hunger

The task force's report, entitled Halving Hunger: It Can Be Done, addressed the first and most fundamental target of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. Green Ink’s director, Simon Chater joined the task force at its final meeting in Bellagio, Italy and worked with the editorial group responsible for the final draft of the main report — editing more than 250 pages in five days.

We then created an executive summary for publication as a stand-alone booklet, completing the layout and proofread during the Christmas–New Year period of 2004/2005. Our printer in India did an excellent job of printing the booklet at a time of year when most printers in the West are closed. Five thousand copies were sent to major cities all over the world in time for launch events in mid-January 2005. The report was so well received that the client immediately ordered 10 000 more copies.
 
"All agree they look BEAUTIFUL. We are so thrilled... I'd give [Simon Chater] our highest recommendation as not only a top-quality editor / designer / producer, but a delightful person to work with as well."

Download the PDF report online.

Africa Harvest 5-Year Report

Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International promotes the use of science and technology to fight hunger, malnutrition and poverty in Africa by increasing agricultural yields. In 2007, Green Ink was asked to produce a report on Africa Harvest’s first five years, aimed at stakeholders and prospective donors as well as the wider agricultural development community. Writer Sue Parrott interviewed the foundation’s staff and partners in Nairobi and visited participating farmers, then wrote the report with communications staff and did the layout.

“Overall, the report is great!  I do not have any changes for the document”

Africa Harvest Banana Report
Sue also wrote, edited and laid out a report that summarizes the project activities that have been successful in introducing tissue culture bananas to Kenya.
 

FARM-Africa's annual review, 2006/2007

Launched in 1985, FARM-Africa is an NGO dedicated to improving African agriculture by designing and disseminating models of good practice in crop production, animal husbandry and natural resource management.

The production of this 36-page report, titled Scaling-up Success, was a close partnership between FARM-Africa and Green Ink. Supplied with a wealth of background information, two of our staff members wrote or rewrote the report in five main sections. We also conducted an interview with an internationally respected agricultural economist and wrote it up in question-and-answer format. Other Green Ink staff designed the cover and inside pages, laid out the publication, proofread it, then arranged printing and delivery.
 

Download the PDF review from FARM-Africa's website.