Tag: "aid reform" in Building Markets
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Free markets and labour and us.
11 July 2012 | Building Markets
A new post went up this morning from a guest blogger, Anthony DeMattee on wage levels among NGOs and other local employers. Less than a minute later, I got an email calling it...
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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...
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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...
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Want Performance? Fire a few of ’em.
5 September 2010 | Building Markets
In 1989 my boss fired me....
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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....
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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...
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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 ...
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How deep doth run the question of local procurement?
14 June 2012 | Building Markets
Welcome back readers! This week, Building Markets’ inquest will consider the impacts official development assistance (ODA) on local procurement. In the context of internatio...
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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...
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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....
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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...
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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 ...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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)....
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On being unreasonable: it gets you to the G20.
2 November 2010 | Building Markets
Being unreasonable has gotten Peace Dividend Trust (PDT) invited to attend the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in South Korea this month. Try that on for size. There have been many ...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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