Comments for Building Markets Blog

Comment on Old aid vs new. by Millennium Villages Project Retracts Controversial Report « Hyperbolia

Millennium Villages Project Retracts Controversial Report « Hyperbolia — Sun, 20 May 2012 01:50:44 +0000

[...] help improve its accuracy.” In what may be a bad omen for the MVP, on the day of the retraction President Obama announced The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a USAID-brokered initiative focusing on private [...]

Comment on Old aid vs new. by “Bono” Fides « Building Markets Blog

“Bono” Fides « Building Markets Blog — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:08:36 +0000

[...] the sidelines of $3b deal to leverage private sector investment in Africa. That deal reflects everything Building Markets supports: public-private partnerships, the power of entrepreneurship, sustainable innovations to fight [...]

Comment on PDT Celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week by Kabul Innovation Lab & Herat Incubator

Kabul Innovation Lab & Herat Incubator — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:54:43 +0000

[...] Startup Weekend or perhaps even an addition to the Peace Dividend Trust (PDT) effort for their own Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) event held in Q4 [...]

Comment on Foreign Direct Investment vs. Overseas Direct Assistance: The Battle is On! by edward rees

edward rees — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:02:58 +0000

Typo. ODA – the “d” is for development, not direct surely? Cool research project though.

Comment on The Painful Story of Contracting in Afghanistan: I know a guy… by Ziaurahman Habibi

Ziaurahman Habibi — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:07:28 +0000

how can I register my Khurasan Mountains Construction and Construction Materials Company with NATO camps in afghanistan?

Comment on Banditry in the US Congress? USAID vs. Contractors. by #11 Links Expat Aid Workers Like « Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like

#11 Links Expat Aid Workers Like « Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:40:23 +0000

[...] USAID’s new ‘buy local’ rules. Also providing commentary is @ReesEdward who explains: “What is USAID’s reform all about? It wants to do three things to get better [...]

Comment on Banditry in the US Congress? USAID vs. Contractors. by Oxfam Takes on Implementation and Procurement Reform • Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network

Thu, 10 May 2012 21:21:37 +0000

[...] Banditry in the US Congress? USAID v. Contractors (Edward Rees, Building Markets blog) [...]

Comment on The Peacebuilding Evaluation Paradox by How can we Measure the Impact of Peacebuilding? « Building Markets Blog

How can we Measure the Impact of Peacebuilding? « Building Markets Blog — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:47:58 +0000

[...] the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Alliance for Peacebuilding (AfP) hosted the first Peacebuilding Evidence Summit in December 2011 at the United States Institute of Peace thanks to support from the Carnegie [...]

Comment on Donald Rumsfeld, Naked Joe, and Aid Data by PDT’s Failure Report 1.0 « Building Markets Blog

PDT’s Failure Report 1.0 « Building Markets Blog — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:36:38 +0000

[...] functions well. While we rail about the importance of the aid industry and the UN capturing what Donald Rumsfeld called the “known knowns”, we have failed to systematically capture our own knowledge. This makes it especially hard on our [...]

Comment on Banditry in the US Congress? USAID vs. Contractors. by Masood

Masood — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:06:21 +0000

In 1995 I visited the US as a Hubert Humphrey Fellow and had a chance to meet extra ordinarry people working in the non profit sector. These were people who were examples and would stand out anywhere for the commitment, leadership, compassion and empathy and professionalism. Then after 9/11 I witnessed the large aid inflow into Pakistan. What saddened me was that the people implementing it had none of these quality. The US taxpayer contributed to the Aid to win friend for their country. The contractors who filled the Aid business could only win it enemy. Sitting in Peshawar I saw some of the best local organisation almost wiped out because the contractors wanted to pay them four times what we paid them. We worked in Peshawar on the doorsteps of FATA. The contractors decided to move with these people to Islamabad over a hundred mile away and in the posh and serene settings of Islamabad work on FATA projects to handle the most turbulent parts in this war. When a US congressional delegation visited here I pointed out to them that not long ago a contractor turned up my office planning to set up milk chilling plants in the turbulent region. I had to remind him that little grass grew there. Very soon they were talking of implementing micrffinance there. Little did they realise that even in Peshawar which was more urban and densely populated we found delivering micro finance very expensive because of the high risks and costs of delivery. The US congress man replied that the you may be good at working locally but the contractors were very good at reporting back to congress. Accountability they called it. Little did they realise that the congress reports to the US public which would be horror struck to find that you can report perfectly without ever doing anything on the ground. No wonder the US wins so few friends. Its so sad because the US tax payer and the non profits in the State were so different and anyone coming in touch with them would admire the people who ran them