aidinfo is hiring
The aidinfo team which I lead at Development Initiatives is hiring. Click here for our job advertisement (pdf). Closing date: 22 January. Feel free to ask me if you want more information. (Job descriptions now online here.)
Aid works even if it does not cause development
My article on OpenDemocracy today discusses whether aid works. Some supporters of aid have made what seem to me to be extravagant claims that aid should aim to bring about economic and social transformation of developing countries, so accelerating economic growth and industrialisation. But this is a very high bar Read more…
Who says aid doesn’t work?
The Independent reports Bob Geldof’s recent trip to Ethiopia: Though 35 per cent of Ethiopian children are malnourished, and 40 per cent are stunted when they start school, the number who die below the age of 5 is down 40 per cent on what it was 15 years ago. A Read more…
Raining when it shouldn’t
Over the weekend we were trekking in the north of Ethiopia. The fields were full of wheat and barley, looking (to my inexpert eye) about 3 weeks from harvest (see the picture, right, taken on 29th November). The farmers all said they were looking forward to a good harvest this Read more…
What is GAVI’s business model, and what should it be?
I like GAVI (the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) a lot. Childhood immunization is a hugely cost-effective way to help people in developing countries, and GAVI does very good work helping to get vaccines to children in developing countries. And it is because I like GAVI that I was Read more…
Making cows cooperate
I was fascinated to read remarks by the President of Israel, Shimon Peres on the efficiency of milk production in Ethiopia: In Israel, we have 100,000 cows that produce the same amount of milk as the 4 million cows in Ethiopia. I’m urging them to work together to increase yields. Read more…
Great Ethiopian Run 2009
Thirty four thousand runners gathered today in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, for Africa’s biggest road race, the Great Ethiopian Run. Koreni Jelila and Tilahun Regassa won the women’s and men’s races respectively, both with new course records. The world record holders for the marathon, Paula Radcliffe and Haile Read more…
Keeping promises
On 29 September 2009, Gordon Brown told the Labour Party Conference: (my emphasis) And let me say what was once an aspiration – 0.7% of national income spent on international development aid, has become with Labour a promise, and will in future become a law. We will pass legislation that Read more…
Fine athletes, and us
G and I had the privilege of joining great athletes and olympians including Haile Gebreselassie, Paula Radcliffe, Richard Nerurkar, Millon Wolde, Hugh Jones, and sponsors of tomorrow’s Great Ethiopian Run, for dinner at Castellis Restaurant in Addis Ababa. Here is a picture of G chatting with Paula. The Great Ethiopian Read more…
The lethal effects of development advocacy
Aid budgets are limited by the amounts that rich countries are willing to allocate for foreign assistance. There are limits to the generosity of parliaments, finance ministries and taxpayers. At the same time, in developing countries there is not enough money to pay for everyone’s basic needs for food, water, Read more…