Digital Archive....

Minister Ploumen moet durven vertrouwen Vice Versa In 2015 komt er een einde aan het subsidiestelsel voor het maatschappelijk middenveld zoals we dat nu kennen. Negen vooraanstaande vrouwen uit de ontwikkelingssector nodigen minister Ploumen uit om te kiezen voor een radicale koerswijziging en een systeem in te richten dat gestoeld is op  een onmisbaar basiselement: vertrouwen.  In 2015 komt er een einde aan veel van de bestaande Nederlandse subsidieregelingen voor ontwikkelingsorganisaties. En dat is goed. Want het huidige subsidiesysteem is eigenlijk een mislukking. Omdat het is gebouwd op gestold wantrouwen en boekhoudersdenken. De papieren werkelijkheid regeert. Dat er ondanks dit subsidiesysteem dag in dag uit ook goede resultaten worden behaald in de strijd tegen armoede is eigenlijk een wonder. Wij, negen betrokken deskundigen uit de ontwikkelingssector dagen minister Ploumen uit om nu te kiezen voor een radicale koerswijziging. Zodat ze haar...

Will the Post-2015 report make a difference? Depends what happens next From Poverty to Power by Duncan Green An edited version of this piece, written with Stephen Hale , appeared on the Guardian Poverty Matters site on Friday Reading the report of the High Level Panel induces a sense of giddy optimism. It is a manifesto for a (much) better world, taking the best of the Millennium Development Goals, and adding what we have learned in the intervening years – the importance of social protection, sustainability, ending conflict, tackling the deepest pockets of poverty, even obesity (rapidly rising in many poor countries). It has a big idea ( consigning absolute poverty to the history books ) and is on occasion brave (in the Sir Humphrey sense ) for example in its commitment to women's rights, including ending child marriage and violence against women, and guaranteeing universal sexual and reproductive health rights. The ambition and optimism is all the mo...

Soil atlas of Africa Africa Unchained From the European Commission : What is special about soil in Africa? The first ever SOIL ATLAS OF AFRICA uses striking maps , informative texts and stunning photographs to answer and explain these and other questions. Leading soil scientists from Europe and Africa have collaborated to produce this unique document. Using state-of-the-art computer mapping techniques , the Soil Atlas of Africa shows the changing nature of soil across the continent. It explains the origin and functions of soil, describes the different soil types that can be found in Africa and their relevance to both local and global issues. The atlas also discusses the principal threats to soil and the steps being taken to protect soil resources. The Soil Atlas of Africa is more than just a normal atlas. It presents a new and comprehensive interpretation of an often neglected natural resource. The Soil Atlas of Africa is an essential reference to a non-rene...

Why all the attention to cash transfers now? Chris Blattman That's the question Jennifer Lentfer  asked on the Oxfam blog following my post and paper last week on the amazing impacts of cash transfers in Uganda. Cash transfers are nothing new, though there's a lot of  hub-bub  about them this week in the  popular media . One researcher and blogger publishes a paper and, voilà, the next development trend is born! She points to a wealth of evidence on conditional cash transfer programs–CCTs in the acronym-laden world of development. These programs give regular payments to poor families (sort of like a welfare check) but only if they send their kid to school, get them vaccinated, and so forth. She is right, and you should see her post and links if you want more details. There is also a recent book (free to download) from some great World Bank researchers, summarizing all the evidence so far. I also disagree in two ways, though. Here'...

Measuring without measuring Seth's Blog As an organization grows and industrializes, it's tempting to simplify things for the troops. Find a goal, make it a number and measure it until it gets better. In most organizations, the thing you measure is the thing that will improve. Colleges decided that the SAT were a useful shortcut, a way to measure future performance in college. And nervous parents and competitive kids everywhere embraced the metric, and stick with it, even after seeing (again and again) that all the SAT measures is how well you do on the SAT. It's easier to focus on one number than it is to focus on a life. Paypal and Chase and countless other organizations do precisely this: they figure out a metric, decide it's important and then create a department to improve that metric. Consider the Chase Fraud Prevention department. It costs a credit card company (and especially their merchants) a lot of money when fraudulent charges a...

Gates v. Moyo: Are Aid Critics Getting Trolled? Open The Echo Chamber I'm late to this show – I was traveling last week when the whole Gates/Moyo throwdown happened. I was going to let it go, but I have received enough prodding from others to offer my thoughts – probably because I have offered extended critiques of Moyo's Dead Aid (links below), while also noting that Gates' understandings of the problems of aid and development are a bit myopic . So, here we go… Bill Gates finally voiced what has been implicit in much of his approach to development – he sees aid and development critics as highly problematic people who slow down progress (or whatever Bill thinks passes for progress).  Honestly, this is thoroughly unsurprising to anyone who has paid any attention to what Bill has said all along, or indeed anything the Gates Foundation does.  There just isn't much room for meta-criticism at the foundation or its work – sure, they evaluate their p...