Aidnography

Hi all, Critical food for thought and uplifting stories from around the #globaldev world from Nepal, Rwanda, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Colombia, the US and the UK and from inside large aid organization - with a little sprinkling of tweet-able insights. Enjoy! Development news Nepal's female masons dig deep to lay foundations for change and renewal “Some people complained that it would take women two months to build it, but we finished it on schedule in a month,” she says. “People acknowledge that we are capable now, even if they do not specifically praise us.” Because of her building work, Ranjana is earning an income for the first time – about £6 a day. “I used to be totally dependent on my husband’s money, but now I can contribute to the children’s expenses. I can stand on my own feet.” Sharmila Tamang has become a contractor, overseeing the building of 12 houses, with three more under way. “I do contracted work as if I was building my own house. People say I work hard. We women h...

Hi all, I think this week's review has all the features of yet another enjoyable read-if I say so myself :) ! There is Jeff Sachs, pertinent career advice (two weeks-that's how long it takes before you are forgotten once you left an organization), fundraising dilemmas, ivory trade in Uganda, manufacturing success in Vietnam, One Laptop Per Child again, a cautionary tale on mobile phones, the tale of two UNESCO chairs for ICT4D, safeguarding policies in Haiti-and pop-up skyscrapers for disaster zones... Elon Musk wants you to walk out of meetings, blockchain is overrated + more snarky tweets on technology. New articles on fieldwork ethics, Australian public opinion on aid policy & #CommunicationSoWhite. And finally some anthropological insights into changing inequalities around giving birth in Mexico! Enjoy! New from aidnography Squeezing development research juice out of the Millennium Village Project evaluation There is no doubt that the MVP debate will find its way ...

Thirteen years after the project started in 2005, the Millennium Village Project (MVP) founded by Jeffrey Sachs, has reached ‘peak evaluation’ with an article by Shira Mitchell and co-authors , ‘ personal perspective ’ by Jeffrey Sachs and another comment on the ‘ fog of development ’ by Eran Bendavid in the recent issue of The Lancet (all open access). "The Millennium Villages Project: a retrospective, observational, endline evaluation" * The evaluation in @TheLancet : https://t.co/M1HkL8jR9s * Reaction from @JeffDSachs : https://t.co/JWJBEAA8JV * Andrew Gelman's ( @StatModeling ) summary post: https://t.co/zjTCd8Bw4m pic.twitter.com/X752Ffbgko — David Evans (@tukopamoja) April 14, 2018 Some commentators were quick to point out that the final-final word may be left to yet another evaluation with a DfID-IDS-3ie-connection, but right now, the discussion about the findings is in full swing. Not sure how I missed this, but the evaluation of the Millennium Vil...

Hi all, Some of the highlights from this week's review: ICC prosecutes gender-based violence; how we are getting China in Africa wrong; OLPC in Madagascar; the blockchain refugee camp in Jordan; the value of communicating 'human experience' & in Japan an AI is running for a mayoral position! Enjoy! New from aidnography Our Communication for Development program is hiring a full-time, permanent teacher & researcher! Development news ICC prosecutes Islamist militant on groundbreaking gender-based charges The former extremist fighter is accused of a long list of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture, extrajudicial punishments and participation in a policy of forced marriage, which the court argues “led to repeated rapes and sexual enslavement of women and girls”. Jason Burke for The Guardian on latest developments in how the ICC includes gender-based violence in its charges for war crimes. NGO Leaders Sign Pledge to Show Commitment for Change...