The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently issued a report summarizing the foreign aid activities of its 22 member countries – which includes all of the major foreign aid donors. A group of British PhD candidates who blog on International Political Economy give a very good rundown of the main points. They focus on […]
Alanna Shaikh (my wife) recently wrote a very useful post on how to research NGOs. To paraphrase her advice, there are ways that you can tell what an NGO really is – not just what its press releases say. To do this you have to put in some time on the NGOs website and Charity […]
I came across a video posted to YouTube today by a group called Media For Good. I couldn't find much about them, this is their first video, and all their profile doesn't say much. The video starts off strong. Production quality is high, and it is actually quite moving. It starts by giving poignant examples […]
The FT reports that a large number of wealthy private philanthropists see the advantage in living like the world's poor for a week – and are willing to pay 8,000 pounds for the privledge (along with a course on how to be a better philanthropist). That's a lot of money, but the organizers say they […]
I’m not British, but can I please work for the British Department for International Development? They’ve just announced that their international staff will be immersed for one week with poorer communities every time they reach a new posting. The idea is to give them a clearer perspective on who they are trying to help – […]
A coalition of local and international NGOs in Afghanistan have issued a negative report on the foreign aid effort so far. The two major complaints were that donors hadn't given as much as they promised ($15 billion has been obligated on $25 billion in promises) and that too much of the money has been spent […]
This isn't a surprise, I guess, but a group of relief agencies announced that the security environment in Somalia has become too dangerous for them to reach millions of Somalis. The CNN headline reads “Relief agencies: Somalia too dangerous for us to work” and although they may have said that, the article doesn't quote it, […]
AsianWeek ran an article yesterday discussing the differences between oriental and occidental philanthropic practices. The Asian model, they say, is more based on quiet philanthropy and assistance to families and communities. I commented on a similar article back in January. It doesn't presume to establish large foundations. I’ve seen this practice for myself in Russia […]
I wrote a post recently on a British program to encourage volunteerism abroad. For those of us who aren't extremely wealthy, sometimes it seems like the only way to make a difference is to give our own time. I also think it is natural for people who become very interested in a movement as important […]
This Wired blog post is a couple weeks old now, but interesting if you didn't see it. The article discusses a presentation given by Joel Selanikio of the non-profit tech consultancy Datadyne. He makes a convincing argument that cell phone based text messaging are a more important and powerful tool for development than the internet. […]
The British Department For International Development is partnering with the Guardian to sponsor a journalism competition on international development and reducing global poverty. Only UK residents are eligible, and they have separate categories for true amateurs and freelance writers. The finalists get their articles published and some computer equipment. This one essay contest isn't going […]
This might only be amusing to me, but today my google alerts inbox had articles with African leaders stating completely opposite views on foreign aid. Gaddafi warned against imperialist powers using their foreign aid to buy influence in Africa. Meanwhile, the new leaders of the new coalition government in Kenya were asking Western diplomats to […]
The UK government has decided to set aside 13 million pounds to encourage public servants (doctors, nurses, teachers, and police) to volunteer in the developing world. As I understand it, the program will pay into the pension funds for volunteers while they are away from their primary duties in Britain. As always, a lot depends […]
The astoundingly influential economist and development guru Jeffrey Sachs has a new book coming out next week. It is called Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet, and has laudatory blurbs by both Al Gore and Kofi Annan. Sachs is a great writer, and although I sometimes disagree with him (among other issues I disagree […]