Living in a small town in prosperous Western Europe, I could probably identify 100 good causes competing for the contributions of those who can spare them. How much more numerous, and more pressing, must be the needs of good causes across the world! There is thus an obvious market for books that will identify possible sources of funds, and while several well‐established directories are already available, there is not one offering the specialized coverage provided in this new volume. The funding bodies listed here are all international organizations (inter‐governmental or non‐governmental) that disburse their funds through non‐governmental organizations in the recipient countries. Representatives of these organizations would be the most likely users of the directory. By this definition, organizations under the aegis of a single national government, or those which operate only in a single recipient country, are generally excluded; however, organizations funded by a single government, but administered by an international organization, are included (e.g. Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, administered by the Asian Development Bank).
A total of 640 organizations are covered, in articles ranging in length from about 200 to 1,200 words. Each entry usually provides details of when an organization was established; who funds it; the purposes for which funds are given; any restrictions placed on the use of funds; the geographical areas in which donations are granted; budget size; how to apply for grants; contact information by address, telephone, e‐mail and internet, if applicable; and name of the parent body. However, not all these details are available for every entry, and in particular, the section on how to apply for grants is absent in many cases. The organizations are indexed by name, by broad subject category and by areas of activity, although the last of these is defined at a continental scale.
While some of the largest organizations listed are well known, and details of at least some of their activities could be found elsewhere (the various United Nations bodies cover 124 pages and European Union bodies 93 pages), many would be more difficult to discover. Few readers in Britain will have heard of the International Coral Reef Initiative or the Permanent Inter‐State Committee on Drought Control in the Sahel, and yet their names indicate how important their activities must be to the relevant countries. The range of available funding is equally diverse: the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria aspires to (but does not yet have) an annual budget of $7,000,000,000, while the Baltic Cities Environmental Award gives €5,000 every second year. The latter also serves to demonstrate that whereas the majority of organizations included, not surprisingly, direct their efforts to development aid in the Third World, a significant number operate in Europe. Although fairly specialized, this directory would be of value to libraries with a strong interest in international development. The main market would presumably be in countries that receive aid rather than those which give it.
