Tag: "Procurement" in Building Markets
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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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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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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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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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Timor Party at Haven
12 October 2010 | Building Markets
PDT is hosting its first fundraising party in New York tomorrow night. You're invited!...
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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 ...
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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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In beer there is freedom.
6 December 2011 | Building Markets
Apparently, Benjamin Franklin once said, "...beer there is freedom..." On a recent trip to South Sudan I was reading an article in a local newspaper and it made me think of B...
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US government success touted as failure in Afghanistan
17 August 2011 | Building Markets
Some amazing good news was wrapped up in what appeared to be some shocking bad news today. Politico, AP, ABC, and others are reporting that a jaw dropping $360m of US govt mon...
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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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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...
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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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Bad news – Award-winning Timor Marketplace Project Shutting Down
3 June 2010 | Building Markets
We have a cool and innovative economic impact project in Timor Leste, and its about to close. Why? Lack of funding. We have several smaller donors supporting it, including ...
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Building Haiti First
26 January 2012 | Building Markets
The best news to come out of PDT’s recent survey of Haiti’s construction sector is that international organizations are starting to put “Haiti First.” That means they ...
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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. ...
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The Building Blocks of Transparency
5 July 2011 | Building Markets
Taylor Steelman learns that aid transparency is essential to measuring (and improving) local procurement in Haiti's construction sector....
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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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Big Day in Seoul (we won)
12 November 2010 | Building Markets
PDT was named a People’s Choice winner in the G20 SME Finance Challenge. Our winning idea? Factor Finance for Procurement, which will provide line of credits using soverei...
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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...
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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...
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