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    • Mr. Issa - please ask the Marines at Camp Pendleton.

    Banditry in the US Congress? USAID vs. Contractors.

    8 May 2012 | Building Markets
    In the coming days the US Congressional Committee on Oversight and Reform is going to hear arguments for and against USAID efforts to reform how it distributes US taxpayers&#... More
    Global Field Support Strategy

    I do not do this often. “Dear UN: Much Belated Kudos!”

    20 November 2011 | Building Markets
    This doesn't happen often: Edward Rees offers kudos to the UN Mission in South Sudan. ... More
    globalgiving

    Beneficiaries, Idealism and Admitting Failure

    20 October 2011 | Building Markets
    If the goal of development aid is to eliminate the need for aid, then publicly admitting failure is a necessity.... More
    Trolley Problem

    Aid “Industry” vs Humanitarian “Relief”

    7 September 2011 | Building Markets
    Too often in the debate about development reform and aid effectiveness we get sloppy and lump humanitarian relief into the mix. We shouldn’t. It’s not an industry and shou... More
    Charles Darwin was not an aid worker.

    In Defence of Duplication, Waste, and Ineffeciency

    30 June 2011 | Building Markets
    The structure of the non-profit sector is fundamentally flawed. More competition among NGOs can only make things better.... More

    The world will not be saved through spreadsheets

    3 June 2011 | Building Markets
    “Harvard MBAs,” a piece on Fortune magazine’s website read, are “putting goals of corporate domination aside,” and opting for careers in the non-profit and social ch... More

    Celebrating Tax Day with Transparency

    15 April 2011 | Building Markets
    At the PDT offices we're celebrating Tax Day by showing you where our money goes and what it does when it gets there.... More

    Oh Hell. This is so Freakin’ Good.

    9 March 2011 | Building Markets
    I often wondered about my peer group. Over beers, in my nightmares, as well as over long motorbike rides. My “wondering” has been answered! My very very sincere th... More

    Humanitarian Aid, the chicken or the egg?

    18 February 2011 | Building Markets
    Found this article about Wipro CEO Azim H. Premji in today's NYT interesting. I had incidentally heard Premji speak earlier this week about his efforts to raise India's educa... More

    World Vision: What are you seeing?

    15 February 2011 | Building Markets
    PDT is throwing its hat into the ring on the World Vision NFL T-Shirt debate. @good_intents (via @saundra_s) has an aggregated listing, thanks Saundra!... More
    Screen shot 2011-01-17 at 9.51.35 AM

    Tax Dodging, Aid, and Afghanistan

    17 January 2011 | Building Markets
    The UN and donors grants ridiculous carte blanche tax breaks to its contractors and sub-contractors. In the case of the UN, the 1946 Convention which allegedly allows this, do... More
    Executive Director Scott Gilmore being held accountable by PDT staff for his thought crimes and other counter-revolutionary failures.

    PDT’s Failure Report 1.0

    15 December 2010 | Building Markets
    We're rolling out Failure Reports at PDT. I began drafting the guidelines for staff to draft their contributions, and then stopped and decided failure starts at the top. There... More

    Walking on Sunshine

    4 November 2010 | Building Markets
    This is an odd blog posting. We often get knocked back by dinosaur donors, our own lack of capacity, and the fact that we lean forward hard. However, its all great fun. Thi... More
    Henry Theil: Econometrician and measurer of UN dysfunction

    Pareto Principle and the United Nations

    18 October 2010 | Building Markets
    They say 90% of the work at the United Nations is done by 10% of the people? Turns out this is a commonly observed phenomena and it even has a name.... More
    Screen shot 2010-08-25 at 4.43.24 PM

    How not to re-build a nation (The Haiti Edition)

    25 August 2010 | Building Markets
    Of the almost $2b of humanitarian aid distributed in Haiti, only $6m of has been channeled through the Haitian government. That is less than a third of 1%!... More

    Useful Transparency vs Meaningless Paper Chasing

    19 August 2010 | Building Markets
    This is not a debate about transparency vs secrecy. It’s about meaningful transparency vs useless paper chasing. If the goal is to make aid more effective, to save more liv... More
    Hmmm, not so generous.

    I was WRONG WRONG WRONG

    13 August 2010 | Building Markets
    Earlier this week I stumbled across some data sets which seemed to tell me that in Canada and the US, conservative governments spend more on aid. In part, I was right. In an... More
    Note the unmistakeable lack of a bottle

    When donor cuts are a good thing

    23 July 2010 | Building Markets
    I think it’s great that CIDA has untied aid. This is one step closer to creating an aid industry where the best ideas get funded, not the coziest partners. And I think it... More
    Poster 112

    We told you buying local would work

    5 July 2010 | Building Markets
    About ten years ago, a group of aid workers and UN staff sat around a legendary bar called the Dili Club (it’s gone now, alas) and complained. Our gripes were many, but one... More
    Space Program? No aid for you!

    Today we’re fond of Andrew Mitchell

    23 June 2010 | Building Markets
    Here’s to you Andrew Mitchell. Ask questions. Demand answers. And when they don’t come, send your money elsewhere. Because what the developing world needs is not just ... More
    Chairman Mao: Aid visionary

    Chairman Mao knew how to improve aid

    30 May 2010 | Building Markets
    I’ve been recalling the period before I quit my job as a diplomat to launch Peace Dividend Trust. I was a rash thing to do. So, before I leapt, I cautiously tested the wat... More
    Screen shot 2010-05-15 at 12.34.10 PM

    What Aid can learn from Hollywood

    15 May 2010 | Building Markets
    The movie going public understands that spending more isn't the secret to success. This weekend at Cannes, you won’t hear people demanding that Hollywood spend more money o... More
    Don't Touch the Red Stapler

    Not Wanted: Mercenaries, Missionaries, and Madmen

    4 May 2010 | Building Markets
    It’s hard to compete with Wall Street and even Main Street, when the most you can offer is a slightly higher salary, longer hours, some good med-evac insurance, and all the ... More

    Bureaucrat Bob vs Bill Gates

    28 April 2010 | Building Markets
    I’m no fan of Bill Gates’ operating system, but I do like what he does with disease. Let me explain why. I came to the aid world from the government side. I was a diplo... More
    Private-sector-approach-paper-May2011_Page_01

    Music to my ears. “The engine of development”.

    10 February 2012 | Building Markets
    A few days ago I was catching up on some long overdue reading. An old friend in UKAid, or it is Dfid, sent me something to look over 6 months ago. Once I starting reading it... More
    Good news for South Sudan

    The Scramble for South Sudan.

    12 November 2011 | Building Markets
    In every challenge there is opportunity. In South Sudan, it will take decades to realize, but the promise there is clear as a bell. In the meantime, let's think of ways that t... More

    Double Your ROI – Invest in a Woman!

    4 October 2011 | Building Markets
    Today, we are happy to celebrate The Girl Effect. Over the past decade, recognition that women are one of the world's greatest "untapped" resources has gained broad credibili... More
    "...everything looks like a nail."

    Look out Libya, the airport’s about to get crowded

    22 August 2011 | Building Markets
    The one thing the international community is good at is helping to hold elections. The next best thing they can do is build up police forces. After that, its utility per doll... More
    Screen shot 2011-06-21 at 10.50.28 AM

    An Open Letter to Global Soap Project

    21 June 2011 | Building Markets
    Wherein I try a different approach to fight the burgeoning waste of the SWEDOW industry. As my prairie-born grandmother used to say "You gather more flies with honey than vine... More
    share

    Share, listen & engage: A Peace Dividend Trust Blog

    1 June 2011 | Building Markets
    Starting today, Peace Dividend Trust is rolling out a new blogging platform where we share, listen and engage through voices from the field, guest bloggers and op-eds. We hope... More
    admittingfailure

    Move Fast, Break Things

    24 March 2011 | Building Markets
    The aid industry needs to move faster, break more things. Don't believe me? Listen to Warren Buffet.... More

    What’s wrong with aid?

    28 February 2011 | Building Markets
    Why is aid broken? This animated video that we at Peace Dividend Trust created offers one explanation. Better yet, it offers a solution to make aid and peacekeeping more ef... More

    Help! They’re cutting foreign aid…

    17 February 2011 | Building Markets
    It's budget season again in Washington. And again it reminds me of a Looney Tunes skit: Congress as Bugs, outwitting and outmaneuvering the aid world that is Daffy.... More
    Thou Shalt Volunteer Wisely Or Risk the Holy Wrath of Chuck Heston (and various bloggers)

    Volunteers vs Interns – Getting it Right

    14 February 2011 | Building Markets
    I still dislike volunteers, but I'm willing to concede a couple of points (grudgingly and without grace).... More
    Steve Jobs? Geoffrey Canada? Same guy.

    Arguing in Public – A Three Act Play

    12 January 2011 | Building Markets
    Wherein I greet our new Communications Director Elmira Bayrasli by publicly disagreeing with her.... More
    From "Water Rights and Wrongs", UNHDR (2006).

    Right message, right solution? The African Development Bank and Africa’s water crisis

    8 December 2010 | Building Markets
    The AfDB has accurately identified a serious crisis. What I am advocating for is a solution that does not repeat past mistakes while sufficiently addressing the problems at ha... More

    Building Stuff in Afghanistan: the view from the ivory tower

    3 November 2010 | Building Markets
    Why does development theory matter? What can it tell us about building stuff in Afghanistan? Find out inside! ... More
    Afghan_www-large

    Hope & Progress on a Tuesday Morning

    21 September 2010 | Building Markets
    Norway is challenging aid orthodoxy. Melinda Gates fails to ask an important question. Berkeley is full of smart people. And there are some Afghan female entrepreneurs feeli... More
    Count Schools, Not Vodka Bottles

    Overhead: Money to cause trouble

    23 August 2010 | Building Markets
    Investors and consumers don't buy Apple stock and Apple iPods because Steve Jobs spends very little on rent and salaries. They do so because Steve Jobs produces the best mp3 ... More
    Yes, we have no transparency today.

    Transparent, yes. But transparent what?

    18 August 2010 | Building Markets
    I find myself in the awkward position of disagreeing with Bill Easterly. Awkward, because a) he is very smart, b) he is very popular in the aid world, and c) I am a big fan.... More
    Alan Neal - The CBC Host (who can take the interview anywhere he damn well pleases)

    Advice to Donors on Spending Better

    3 August 2010 | Building Markets
    If Alan Neal had asked me the question the producer had asked (How can governments ensure their aid money is making a difference?) I would have cleared my throat, and in melli... More
    So true.

    It’s funny ’cause it’s true

    21 July 2010 | Building Markets
    There is a great little internet meme doing the rounds today. It's called "I Write Like" and the premise is simple. Cut and paste a sample of your writing, press ANALYZE, an... More
    An Afghan ATM

    Wall Street Journal gets it wrong (UPDATED)

    28 June 2010 | Building Markets
    There is an alarming Wall Street Journal article doing the rounds right now, and I don’t think the numbers add up. It states that $3.6 billion siphoned off of aid projects ... More
    Rajiv Shah: Not your parent's USAID Director

    Making the world safe for Bill Easterly

    18 June 2010 | Building Markets
    I’ve never met the man, though we have re-tweeted each other which is the modern equivalent of a polite nod across the smoke-filled dining room of a 19th century men’s clu... More

    The Aid Industry and Making Good Pencils

    25 May 2010 | Building Markets
    No one knows how to make a pencil. It looks simple, though. Wood. Graphite. Pink eraser. It’s not. There is the wood itself, which needs to be chosen for certain qualitie... More
    Afghan First

    “Shovelling S*%t Uphill”

    7 May 2010 | Building Markets
    In mid 2007 I told my boss in the Best Practices Section of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in New York that I would be resigning in September ... More

    Kim Kardashian Saves Haiti

    2 May 2010 | Building Markets
    Last year I gave a lecture at a Canadian university that culminated with one student standing up and shouting “This is bullshit!” before marching out. To be honest, while... More
    Screen shot 2012-01-17 at 1.48.03 PM

    Holy Cow! Aid industry gets hit by 8.5 richter scale quake.

    17 January 2012 | Building Markets
    Well I just about fell off my chair when hit by an email 20 minutes ago. How can an email shove me off a chair? It told me that the biggest aid actor in the world was about ... More
    Presentation to Council of Ministers, Dili Timor-Leste, 20 April 2011.

    “Welcome to Rwanda!”

    10 November 2011 | Building Markets
    Edward Rees discovers that Rwanda's rhetoric about being open for business is not just rhetoric.... More
    Timor_www_CMYK

    An Open Letter to Haiti’s President Martelly

    29 September 2011 | Building Markets
    In Haiti’s and elsewhere, again and again, the international community responds to war, tsunami, and earthquake the same way. Billions are pledged. Less is disbursed. And al... More
    New aid work slogan?

    Rethinking Efficiency

    27 July 2011 | Building Markets
    J. from Tales From the Hood thinks that the meaning of true efficiency in the NGO and aid sector is often misunderstood. "Aid costs what it costs," and being good stewards wit... More
    David and Goliath

    From “Independence”, to “Aid” Activism.

    21 June 2011 | Building Markets
    This story travels from Dili to Monrovia - with stops in Juba, Port-au-Prince, Kinshasa, Freetown and other tough places along the way. When occupied, the Timorese were indepe... More
    UNIFIL Magazine October 2010

    Buying Locally: A Spreading Ethos? UNIFIL, Norway and Xanana.

    18 April 2011 | Building Markets
    Well its moving around, popping up in Lebanon, moving quietly to Norway, the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (known as the C34), and even in speeches given by lea... More

    Considering Liberia’s Marketplace

    16 March 2011 | Building Markets
    The UN Security Council takes up the “matter” of Liberia again today. It’s been a while. The last time the Turtle Bay diplomats considered the West African nation still ... More

    Aid & development: A few good posts

    24 February 2011 | Building Markets
    Notwithstanding Arab uprisings and Qaddafi rants, there has been a lot of good stuff on aid and development this week. Some of the must reads from this week. The best by far i... More

    Challenging Down with the People

    16 February 2011 | Building Markets
    Last week PDT bossman Scott Gilmore went on a rant about volunteering. This week Habitat for Humanity Ireland's Executive Director Karen Kennedy sent us this response.... More

    Down with people

    10 February 2011 | Building Markets
    I'm no fan of volunteers. And I have several angry reasons why.... More
    And now, a word from our sponsors?

    Bringing some sex appeal to the aid industry

    5 January 2011 | Building Markets
    Wherein I argue that the new, ridiculous, ABC doctor drama Off the Map will actually be good for the aid industry. I know, I can't believe I wrote that either.... More
    42nd St. from the PDT office. Not the best place for a debate.

    Aids vs Cancer. You choose.

    7 December 2010 | Building Markets
    Can the social benefit of condom distribution be gauged accurately enough that you could say “If we distribute 200,000 condoms in the Nyanza province of Kenya, it will preve... More
    Screen shot 2010-10-18 at 12.29.56 PM

    Polman, Collier, and the Rational Actor Model

    18 October 2010 | Building Markets
    Aidwatch has another interesting post up, featuring David Zetland and his review of the review of Linda Polman's new book "Crisis Caravan". I made a snide remark about it on ... More
    Latrines: Maslow would have found these very sexy

    Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs and the aid industry

    28 August 2010 | Building Markets
    Every aid worker, ever donor, every UN manager needs to have a copy of Maslow's pyramid taped to his desk (or tattooed to their hands in the more stubborn cases.)... More

    Till Bruckner is (partially) right, but so am I

    20 August 2010 | Building Markets
    Till Bruckner came back to me with a very thoughtful response at AidWatchers. In reading it, I found myself agreeing with much he said. This is because I am not suggesting h... More
    DfID Chief Andrew Mitchell: Visionary or Villain?

    Is DfID’s Andrew Mitchell A Visionary or a Villain?

    16 August 2010 | Building Markets
    DfID internal memos were leaked to The Observer, revealing that Andrew Mitchell, the new International Development Secretary, plans to renege on some 90 international aid comm... More

    Folk Songs From the Aid Industry

    3 August 2010 | Building Markets
    Last week, in a flash of pique, I dashed off a blog entry welcoming the funding cut to a Canadian aid industry association which had been mostly funded by the Canadian Interna... More
    Donors are a long way from 50%

    The Aspirational (and imaginary) 50% Goal in Kabul

    20 July 2010 | Building Markets
    The draft communique from the donor meeting in Kabul has leaked. Tucked in among its 5900 words is a reaffirmation of their desire to channel 50% of donor spending through th... More
    Screen shot 2010-06-24 at 5.29.11 PM

    Unexpected Good News

    24 June 2010 | Building Markets
    Ban Ki Moon drops a (good) bombshell in Toronto: the world is on target to actually meet one of it's Millennium Development Goals, halving the number of people living in extre... More
    Quick! If the Gulf oil spill were a continent it would be....?

    Try Something, Anything: Aid Ideas and the Gulf Oil Spill

    8 June 2010 | Building Markets
    Imagine the oil spill as a metaphor for Africa. We’ve been trying junk shots for 50 years. It ain’t working. Time to try something else. ... More
    SWEDOW Flowchart V2

    Send, Sell, or Trash? Use the SWEDOW Flowchart (2.0)

    17 May 2010 | Building Markets
    Got a million t-shirts to give away? Aid mob hot on your heels? Don't know if you should send the shirts to Africa? Sell them? Trash them? Worry no more. This handy SWEDOW ... More

    Donald Rumsfeld, Naked Joe, and Aid Data

    6 May 2010 | Building Markets
    In the bustling world of epistemology, however, Donald’s ramblings were not dementia, but a good summary of an important element of decision theory (which can be applied dir... More
    Hand Relief International

    Mystery man who is so funny, you cry

    30 April 2010 | Building Markets
    The staff at PDT have a new hero. His name is Dr. Kurtz, and every time he uploads a new blog post or tweets a new tweet, there is a buzz of joy that goes around the office. ... More
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