They say overall extreme poverty has declined since 2000, with a lot of credit given to the advent of the MDGs, serving its purpose as a coordinating framework for the plethora of existing development commitments already made by developed countries, particularly those belonging to the OECD, in the 1990s. We should give credit where credit …
Continue reading ‘Greater Global Inequality. Here’s One Reason Why’ »
I have been grappling with the issue of the ‘laws of war’ for nearly two decades, when I first began my studies and wrote a paper on the ‘Democratization of the Laws of War,’ and somewhat unwittingly anticipated the chaos of international conflict. At the time I was a young grad student with very little …
Previously on this site, we’ve discussed the refugee crisis in Europe; the international conventions that dictate and guide responses to refugee flows, in turn a response to the post World War 2 ‘never again’ moral affirmation. We have also discussed the refugees of the future – climate migrants – and the need, if we are …
Continue reading ‘The Absence of Policy AND Practice: the Refugee Crisis in SEA’ »
At a conference last week which focussed on disaster relief and disaster risk reduction in Asia, I had asked a question about the need to focus on local government for DRR implementation, and the reality of that happening anytime soon given that the global framework for DRR was, in fact, global. The speaker pointed to …
Following the COP21 in December 2015, the Pacific islands have a chance at survival in the face of an increasingly changing climate. Along with other small islands and highly vulnerable states, Pacific island advocacy achieved concessions to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celcius in the outcome document, the Paris Agreement. It is a huge …
Continue reading ‘Governance and the Survival of the Pacific Islands’ »
Melanie Phillips A friend mentioned to me recently that he was thinking of doing a course on development law. My highly eloquent response to that was, “Eh? What’s development law?” “No idea,” said my friend. Out of curiosity, I read few course descriptions and different words and phrases appear: creating legal institutions, international law, rule …
Continue reading ‘Growing Good Law: Discussing development law versus development and the law’ »
Hyun Jee[i] The Myanmar development context Since the opening of the Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (Government of Myanmar) in 2011, and its concurrent launch of four waves of national reform – political, economic, public administration, and private sector reforms – Myanmar has re-emerged as a member of the international community …
Continue reading ‘Sharing Experiences of Effective Development Cooperation in Myanmar’ »
Rajarshi Sen The priority and propensity for action with respect to inequality/social exclusion is a major focus of the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and yet, in poor countries, development programming tends to focus on growth and poverty reduction first, and inequality/social exclusion mitigation later. The question is, why? This essay examines the three paradoxes …
A few months ago, a rather controversial article – ‘NGOs – Do They Help’ – was published in the New Internationalist (http://newint.org/features/2014/12/01/ngos-keynote/. The author proposed some blunt arguments – that NGOs had compromised their values and mandates in order to ensure funding; and rather than fighting against the perpetrators of human rights violations or exploitation, …
Continue reading ‘What of the NGO? Working in Black, White and Grey’ »
Rina Meutia As a development practitioner I understand that women in politics is imperative for successful local development. A friend once told me that development without women’s involvement is like seeing the world with only one eye. You can still see, but not perfectly. Some even give a more radical view that it is like …
Continue reading ‘Lessons Learned: The Actual Cost of Doing Politics for Women’ »
