I try to keep up to date on developments and trends on a variety of international development topics – my ties to the Pacific mean that I spend a significant amount of time exploring ideas and opportunities around climate resilience. So there’s a backlog of articles on the topic bookmarked on my computer. This morning …
I read recently that we see diminishing creativity in society because we are too busy. We never take time to let our minds empty to allow those ‘ah ha!’ moments in. This is probably true. But I had a ‘seriously, it took me that long to realize that?’ moment this morning. Like, full on, I’d-like-to-go-back-and-rewrite-an-entire-evaluation …
Can donors promote reform while not undermining ownership? Is conditionality, or the requirement that aid recipients undertake certain actions in return for the provision of that aid, inherently inconsistent with an ownership agenda? So asks Matt Dornan in an interesting blog post discussing ownership and aid effectiveness. His post may focus on conditionality and ownership, …
Continue reading ‘Aid Effectiveness Triangle: The Type, Conditions and Delivery of Aid’ »
There was a series of three articles recently on cash versus programme aid in Papua New Guinea. The essence of the articles was to discuss which form of capacity building assistance is better – through advisors or through budget support. Obviously, we all have our own opinions on this topic, and it has been written …
Continue reading ‘What Kind of Aid is the Best Kind of Aid?’ »
Back in January I wrote about how, as we enter the second year of SDG implementation, it’s time to stop talking and planning and start doing. Doing the actual hard stuff that we’re really good at putting off because it’s uncomfortable and removes ‘safe spaces’ of corner cubicles, spreadsheets and monitoring plans. It’s painstaking and …
Continue reading ‘In Need of Some Development ‘Breathing Space’’ »
Social media is both a saving grace and a thorn in the side of intelligent discussion. For all of its failings, people are certainly more, if not accurately, aware of the world around them. Politicians and government both bemoan the impact of social media (that fickle public needing more accountability and rapid change) and love …
Continue reading ‘What Social Media Can Tell Us About SDG Localization’ »
A quote grabbed my attention the other day: “Innovation won’t cure global inequality – political action will.” The idea behind this quote struck me so ferociously that I actually took the time to read beyond the headline, read the article and think about it. It was on healthcare, not a field that I can claim …
Continue reading ‘Innovation is good, but action is better’ »
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’ »
From Trump to Brexit, the world seems an immensely terrifying place to exist these days, particularly if the values espoused by Trump and Brexit and their followers seem out of touch with the reality in which we live. This neoliberal, more or less realist, globalized, digitized world of competition and the constant need for the …
Continue reading ‘On Aid Part 4: Skills that Matter in a Globalized World’ »
It’s full speed ahead on building capacity for resilience to climate change and other shocks like earthquakes and droughts and flooding. It’s the thing that everyone (ie: the development community and donors) wants to be good at, known for. Because of course. Of course no one in a country vulnerable to climate change, on the …
Continue reading ‘‘Autonomous Adaptation’ – Have We Logframed Ourselves into a Corner?’ »
