The latest Development Drums – a podcast about development issues – includes an interview with DFID Permanent Secretary Minouche Shafik and a discussion about the Conference with Nancy Birdsall and Simon Maxwell.
Scarlett Lion writes about girls in Liberia. This is how Janice Pratt begins addressing her peers. She’s a slight girl with a strong voice that says to anyone willing to listen: I’m going to be someone. I am always struck whenever I travel in developing countries how similar people all Read more…
Paul Collier is interviewed on Development Drums about his new book, Wars, Guns and Votes, and his previous best-seller, The Bottom Billion.
Here is a job I might have applied for if I were in London: Director of Digital Engagement: Develop a strategy and implementation plan for extending digital engagement across Government But I’m quite glad not to be eligible. Here are some phrases from the job description that should give pause Read more…
Alex De Waal writes: The last ten years has been a remarkable experiment in using official development assistance (ODA) as a motor for development in Africa (and other developing countries too). It has been a bonanza for the aid industry and especially the favoured elements such as HIV/AIDS, which have Read more…
David Roodman at the Center for Global Development has begun an “open book” about microfinance. He is publishing chapters as he goes, with space for readers to comment. As well as an interesting way of working, this threatens to be a very interesting topic. David is not starry eyed about Read more…
The latest edition of Development Drums is now online. I fear it may not be of universal interest. The Chair of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, and the Director of the Development Cooperation Directorate of the OECD, talk about whether donors are living up to their promises, Read more…
Interesting idea from Homi Kharas at the Brookings Institution That is why the G20 should consider declaring a development emergency for 2009. They should urge aid agencies to take every step possible to accelerate the disbursement of already approved funds. They should support staff and managers for taking risks to Read more…
Our Sunday runs start on Entoto, the mountain to the edge of Addis Ababa. We start and finish at an altitude of about 3,000m. Here are some things we’ve seen on our runs in the last two weeks: a leopard, crossing the path about 20 metres in front of us Read more…
Alex Singleton is the man who called himself the Globalisation Institute for a while, which he used as a platform to argue against things that would help poor people, like fair trade and aid. When that folded (presumably on account of talking rubbish) he now seems to write leadrs for Read more…