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Tag Archives: Development
No future? The road ahead for development NGOs
Back in the day, when moving money around the world was a difficult operation and moving resources and people equally difficult, specialised international development NGOs made sense. Nowadays, communication and transport technology makes keeping in contact with people in developing … Continue reading
Posted in Aid ethics and policies, Uncategorized
Tagged Aid, Development, New Zealand, NGOs
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Changing Africa’s image, one panel at a time
One of the low points in the cultural history of the United States was the publication, in the late 1980s, of the Batman comic Death in the Family, an episode famous for the killing off of Robin, the hero’s sidekick. … Continue reading
NGO accountability and the future of aid
For NGOs working in international development, accountability is a huge can of worms. NGOs are in the middle of a complex chain of accountability – being accountable in various ways to donors, staff, aid recipients, the governments of the countries … Continue reading
Arms and the nice guy
What is the correct response to a repressive, nuclear-armed government with a history of sabre-rattling and whose agencies have been implicated in support for terrorism? Give it billions of dollars in military aid, of course. And because they’ve been naughty, … Continue reading
Aspiring to be peasants
For everyone from yuppies seeking lifestyle blocks to former slaves seeking a life of freedom, small farms have always been an attractive option. Making support for small farmers a priority is increasingly part of the development agenda, particularly in the … Continue reading
China: Failed development or just development as usual?
China’s new bullet train system is about to open, with 90 trains a day running from Shanghai to Beijing at 300km/h. The journey is expected to take under five hours. A similar length journey on the US rail system takes … Continue reading
Reporting development progress
The Overseas Development Institute in the UK has been producing a well-written series of short reports on development progress in particular countries. The results are synthesized into another report Mapping progress: evidence for a new development outlook but the individual … Continue reading
The politics of nostalgia
On sunny days at least, New Zealanders can be charmingly optimistic in a naive sort of way, which I guess is why New Zealand has a high profile in international trade negotiations. You’d need to be optimistic to be a … Continue reading
Posted in Sustainable development, Trade
Tagged Aid, Change, Development, New Zealand, Trade, WTO
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Development experts: The shocking truth revealed!
Anyone following current debates about our aid programme should remember the following rule of thumb for interpreting political discourse: once politicians and their ideological fellow travellers start attacking people who can’t fight back, it is a sure sign that they’ve … Continue reading
Moral muddles and aiding the banks
Moral hazard sounds like the sort of thing a politician ought to worry about. And it is, although not in the way you might imagine. While the name ‘moral hazard’ suggests theology, it’s actually an insurance industry term used to … Continue reading