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Dear white middle class British women: Please don't send used bras (or anything, really) to Africa

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I am supposed to be on my summer blogging break , but the world of bad development does not seem to take a vacation... The first time I came across the #SWEDOW (Stuff We Don't Want) debate about what to do with unwanted stuff and whether to send it to 'Africa' was in 2010; in fact, I wrote about a shoe donation project on the blog in 2012. Fast forward to July 2019 and a local British Women's Institute Facebook page with about 500 page likes is posting a picture of two innocent-looking parcels that has been shared very widely. The vast majority of the 500+ comments under the post are positive and I am sure that both charities will receive quite a few parcels in the next few days. It seems almost futile and pointing out bad examples of charity and development is not always the best way to communicate, but I anonymize the post as much as possible to avoid simply shaming a particular Women's Institute chapter. 'Rapey men here are the same as rapey men t
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Links & Contents I Liked 424

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Hi all, This week's review features insights from Uganda, Madagascar, North Africa, Afghanistan, Mexico, India, Brazil, Australia, UK, the UN system & the World Bank! So enjoy your critical #globaldev readings! My quotes of the week Hunger is everywhere in southern Madagascar. Those who have livestock or land will sell it to buy food but they are taken advantage of because they are so desperate. Then there are others who have nothing. They eat cactus leaves mixed with ashes, just to not be hungry, to get rid of that empty feeling.  ( Madagascar is drying out – there’s no harvest, only hunger) It’s also important to take into account that the line that divides government and organized crime is often nonexistent. This needs to inform the discussion about whether it’s wise to create a centralized database of all people in Mexico with biometrics, where that information can be weaponized against its citizens. Because, obviously, the Mexican institutions are infiltrated by organized
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Links & Contents I Liked 425

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Hi all, Happy Friday, weekend & reading! From India's farmers to Beijing Olympics, unequal partnerships between 'North' & 'South' and Singapore's surveillance state we have another week of looking at an unequal planet, trying not to lose hope... My quotes of the week Chinese aid increases GDP growth, household consumption, and employment in recipient countries. So, contrary to conventional wisdom, the benefits of Chinese foreign aid spill over to ordinary citizens. (The Case for Chinese Foreign Aid) Despite these positive signs, some local activists and practitioners are worried. They argue that this is all smoke and mirrors; that we have seen all of this before and it came to nothing. Others are concerned that the definition of ‘local’ will be distorted to encompass international organisations registered in-country in order to maintain the status quo. (Dear USAID; let’s make sure that "local" really means "local") Development news I
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Links & Contents I Liked 423

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Hi all, I will keep it short & sweet today-so happy #globaldev reading from/about  Taliban, Tanzania, Libya, Yemen, Germany, China & more! My quotes of the week The carbon footprints of the richest 1 percent of people on Earth is set to be 30 times greater than the level compatible with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement in 2030 (Carbon emissions of richest 1% set to be 30 times the 1.5°C limit in 2030) Informed analysis has been hard to come by in the Yemen humanitarian response, which is marred by a willingness to tolerate partial data that is often biased, usually out of date and lacks nuance, all of which has made it easy to manipulate or ignore to suit priorities. An inflexible security framework, which prevents aid workers from engaging in the fieldwork needed to gain a true understanding of the operational environment, assess needs and determine what is required to resolve them, has allowed this flawed data to stand. (When Aid Goes Awry: How the International Humanit
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Links & Contents I Liked 426

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Hi all, Last week I included a Tweet about MSF using blockchain for patient data in my review ; after a message from MSF ('Hi Tobias, just to let you know that MSF is NOT putting patient info on Blockchain') I deleted the Tweet from my review on Monday. Even though I am quite careful about my sources, mistakes like this can happen-so please get in touch if you see a link, story or resource that doesn't meet the high quality standards you should expect from the blog! Otherwise, you can stimulate your mind with a new round of  free readings-no Black Friday discount, no judgement from your family that you are into #globaldev, no pressure ;)! Enjoy! My quotes of the week Within the charity ecosystem, the critical friend sits on the margins, often in a smaller or more precarious organisation. The critical friend has less power (of course: otherwise they would be taking the advice and making the decisions). It is often the lone lived experience ‘voice’ in a room full of commiss
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