Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP), Pakistan, is part of UNDP's global initiative in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for sustainable development. It has been in operation since early 1993 in Pakistan and is being managed by IUCN - The World Conservation Union.

Having pioneered the use of email and other Internetworking technologies in the country, it has launched another initiative - Pakistan's Development Gateway (PDG).

• PDG is envisioned to be a one stop website for all significant development information about Pakistan.

• Indexing of more than a thousand websites containing development information about Pakistan has already been completed and placed under 25 well known categories. This information is accessible through a searchable online database.

• In addition, selective international development information relevant to Pakistan has also been indexed and made available through the website under the same categories.

• SDNP has also trained more than a 100 development organizations, including about a third from the government to set up, maintain and update their websites. These websites have been hosted on SDNP's servers free of cost and have significantly added to the local development content about Pakistan. Some of the training modules developed by the SDNP team are also available through the website.

• A special section on 'News and Events' on sustainable development in Pakistan has been created. It contains the most important development news about Pakistan culled from the national newspapers on the web and is updated twice daily. It's supplemented by a section on news about SDNP itself.

• Forums for discussion on wide-ranging issues of sustainable development are available through the website.

• Work is underway on a section about development projects in Pakistan funded by various donor agencies.

Plans for the future include an Urdu gateway, a section on grey literature and more active knowledge networking through a group of local experts. The site is still in its infancy but is expected to evolve and grow to its ambitious billing. The url for the site is:

http://www.sdnpk.org

We welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Sustainable Development Networking Programme

House 12, Street 85, Sector G-6/4, P.O. Box 3099, Islamabad – Pakistan

Tel: ++92 51 270684 Fax: ++ 92 51 279072 Website: www.sdnpk.org