On Wednesday, I joined thirty of my fellow citizens to listen as my city and a local non-profit presented a land use and transportation plan for the next sixty years. The meeting, promoted as a call to arms, was slightly lackluster – as the city didn't seem full of passion for the plan, the non-profit […]
Michelle Obama's comments last night at the Democratic National Convention focused on “values” – the values with which she was raised and the values she hopes to pass to her daughters. Amidst the comments on Hilary Clinton's 18-million-cracks-in-the-glass-ceiling, mention of the historical significance of the convention's timing (anniversaries of the 19th Amendment and MLK Jr's “I […]
Catching up on some reading, this Chronicle of Philanthropy article sparked my interest – and goes back to my musings on counterterrorism laws and the sector. “Donors who want to provide aid in areas of the world threatened by terrorism should consider forming partnerships with the U.S. government to distribute their money, a top federal […]
I’m one of the many who can not get enough of the Olympic games this summer – the medals, the upsets, the drama – and am happy to see that philanthropy isn't being forgotten. The joint IOC (International Olympic Committee) and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) “Giving is Winning” initiative is only 574 donations away […]
While 9/11 sits nearly seven years behind us, the consequences of new laws and unintended effects are still coming to light. The public continues to debate the intricacies and politics of U.S. counterterrorism laws under the Patriot Act – from the ambiguity over what constitutes reasonable suspicion to whether electronic surveillance without a warrant is an acceptable policy of a democratic government. Last month, OMB […]
In my pursuit to better understand international philanthropy, someone posed the question to me, “Should western style philanthropy really be a world-wide model (the standard)?” I don't know how to fully answer and it is a question that keeps me thinking. The U.S. has a robust philanthropic sector – partially because the U.S. government doesn't provide […]
Last week's release of the 2008 Index of Global Philanthropy by the Hudson Institute, Center for Global Propsperity showed the power that private money is having on the world of philanthropy. Citing that in 2006 government aid equaled less that 25% of the all economic dealings with developing countries – with private flows making up […]
Anne Applebaum is a writer that I usually like a lot, and I usually try to maintain a more or less neutral stance on things, but this article in Slate is just wrong-headed. She attempts to make a case for a humanitarian military intervention in Burma, an argument I’ve heard others make. It is a […]
This report from the Center for Health and Gender Equity actually came out in April, but it just appeared in my Google Alerts today. The report argues that the US government – still one of the world's largest providers of condoms through foreign aid – should send more female condoms. They are currently 2% of […]
Rightfully there is a lot of attention going to the Burma cyclone tragedy, and the attempts to get aid to those in need. Personally I like this article from the BBC, which gives a good rundown of the specific risks and the political wrangling that surrounds the issue. At times like this it is helpful […]
The Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria is considering starting a loan program for countries that can afford it, but still need help buying HIV meds. I guess it makes sense in a way, but it is a pretty stark change from the traditional wisdom on foreign aid loans, isn't it? I thought […]
This op/ed from the Times of India is worth a read. It discusses the rising wealth of many Indians, and argues that a rise in personal philanthropy is not coming along with it. India has 52 billionaires, the most in Asia. But it has only 4 people on the Forbes list of 48 top Asian […]
According to a survey of Latin American immigrants, the number of people sending remittances home to Latin America has fallen significantly in only a few years. In 2006 73 percent of immigrants from the region sent money home, but now it is only half. The fall is credited to anti-immigrant sentiment in the US that […]
The British government has set up a new research center between six different colleges associated with the University of London. They’re going to be studying a broad range of international development subjects based in both the natural and social sciences including: Climate change Agriculture Growth Health Governance in challenging environment and Longer term development opportunities
Nice article in World Mag (Today's News, Christian Views) about work being done by Engineers Without Borders. As a case study it works well, but EWB also makes a very good argument for building local ownership of projects. Towards the end the article gets a little bit weird, as the author takes issue with EWB's […]