Since 1992, IFORS has organized a series of International Conferences on OR for Development (ICORD), approximately every three years. In an effort to enhance continuity and sustain interest in the field, IFORS is launching a program to conduct more frequent workshops in different regions. Such workshops must be devoted to a particular theme for OR in Development (ORD), such as health, food, poverty, etc. The intention is that representatives from such workshops would present their findings and follow up work at a full meeting held in conjunction with the IFORS Triennial Conference.

The aims of the new structure are to achieve:
– A greater momentum for the ORD programme through greater frequency and visibility of actions;
– Improved focus for ORD activities on selected problem-oriented themes.

A further possibility is to include educational workshops linked to some or all of the regional workshops, aimed at developing appropriate OR skills in the region.

IFORS has provisionally reserved funds of US $10000 for the costs of each such workshop, and discussions are being undertaken with potential sponsors for the associated educational workshops.

At this stage, we are inviting proposals from member societies of IFORS to host and organize such an ORD workshop. One or two workshops are being planned for 2009. Proposals should be sent to the secretary of IFORS (secretary@ifors.org), and should contain detailed proposals on at least the following issues:

1.Proposed theme of the workshop, which should preferably represent application of OR methods to a specific development problem.
2.The region at which the workshop is targeted, which should include one or more developing countries.
3.Expected number of attendees and region/country to be represented
4.Benefits (social, economic, organizational, etc) and relevance of the workshop theme to the region/country
5.Dates and venue for the workshop
6.Names of the local organizing committee. (IFORS will appoint a programme advisory committee.)
7.A provisional budget.

Those intending to put forward a proposal are invited first to discuss the proposals informally with any of: the IFORS President Elise del Rosario (elise@JGdelRosario.com); IFORS vice president Horacio Yanasse (horacio@lac.inpe.br); or the Chair of the IFORS Developing Countries Committee Theo Stewart, (theodor.stewart@uct.ac.za).